The Ace of Queens ( Ace of Queens #7)

Ch.20 Red

Sorry for the confusion in the last chapter. It's Dionysus, the god of Wine. Not Dionesis.

Also Happy birthday to my friend @alexandrame_ 

Thank you for all that you do, this chapter is for you <3 

Chapter 20

"I really don't care what your deal with him is," Clare said as she followed Ares through the portal back to his apartment. "I need to find my friend. Tell me where Dionysus is."

"He's a prick!" Ares yelled. "He'll get a thrill out of seeing me go to him for help."

"Put your goddamn ego aside and think about Thea," Clare glared. "She's a baby. And she needs us right now."

"We'll think of some other way."

"We don't have time!" Clare stomped her feet. "What's wrong with you?"

Ares didn't respond. He glared at Clare as his hands balled into fists.

"Lower your voice, princess," he warned her. "I am not your queen's guard."

"You know what?" Clare threw her hands up in the air. "I'll do it myself."

"You'll fail."

"Thank you very much, dickhead."

Before Ares could utter another word, Clare opened a portal and jumped through. She landed in her bedroom at the palace right in front of Layla.

"Princess!" Layla said in shock.

"I'm not here," Clare poked Layla's forehead and the woman instantly forgot all memories of seeing her. "Leave the room, please."

Layla obeyed without a word. She walked to the door and exited silently. Clare let out a sigh and grabbed her laptop off the table, right where she had left it five months ago. She was surprised to find it was still charged. Despite the anger she was feeling a small smile appeared in her lips when she realized her father must have made sure everything was ready for her.

Opening a new browser, Clare typed in Dionysus' name. She hit enter and instantly a million hits appeared. She scanned the results until she found one that seemed promising.

Temple of Dionysus.

Clare clicked on the link and started to flip through pictures of the small temple in California. She memories the structures before closing the laptop and summoning a portal. She imagined the rows of grape vines and pretty soon as the portal grew, she could feel the warm California air brush her arm.

Gathering her hair in her hands, Clare pulled it up to a bun and tied it back. She redid the laces of her sneaker before getting up and cracking her neck from side to side. With a final look around her room, she jumped through.

Unlike most temples she had visited in the short span of time, Dionysus' was the most well lit. He had colorful LED lights around the rim of the place and if Clare didn't know any better, she would have thought the whole thing looked like a sketchy biker bar in the middle of nowhere. She looked around at the empty streets before crossing the road and knocking at the wooden doors.

"Hello!" She called. "Anybody here?"

No answer.

"Hello!" Clare knocked again.

Looking over her shoulder, Clare decided to go around to the back. She carefully stepped around barrels upon barrels of wine before spotting a small back door. Making her way over to it quickly, Clare began to search for something sharp on the ground.