The War God's Woman

20. Events in Crete

Jaz sat at one of the tables in his café, his phone out on the table in front of him. He was waiting for a call. He'd been waiting for the call all night. A tap on the door made him look up. The shutters were down on the windows so Jaz approached the door.

"Who is it?"

"Jaz, it's me." He recognised Sage's voice. 

He unbolted the door and pulled it open. Sage stood awkwardly on the mat, clenching tightly on the strap of her handbag. 

"I've been waiting for you to call me."

"I thought about calling, but..."

"But?"

"I wanted to see your face."

Jaz made tea. As the water boiled, he watched Sage. She couldn't keep still. Her fingers kept drumming against the counter or pulling at the threads of her hoodie. Her gaze was darting about the place like a ping pong ball. Jaz sighed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Since discovering my boss is some immortal god, you mean?" Sage's voice was more snappish then normal. She started scratching her neck and Jaz saw that the skin was red raw.

"Not everyone calls Aphrodite's curse obsession. The Romans called it proclivitas – the addiction."

He set the cup of tea down in front of Sage. She reached out and they both saw how her hand trembled.

"If I'm an addict, am I fired now?" Sage smiled, trying to keep her tone light.

"Do you still want to work here? Even though you know I'm not... normal."

Sage gestured for Jaz to sit down across from her. They sipped their tea. Sage sighed in relief, the warm liquid easing the feeling of ants crawling beneath her skin. She drank more, ignoring how the tea burnt her tongue. Once the cup was empty, she finally looked up at Jaz and saw the uncertainty in his gaze.

"Thank you for the tea."

"You're welcome."

The sat awkwardly, the sound of a ticking clock filling the silence.

"Are you a god?" Sage blurted at last. Jaz bit his lip.

"I was born mortal. I was just an average human, well almost average. Unlike most, I at least had the advantage of being born royal."

"A prince?"

"Err... something like that."

"When was this?"

"Hmm... I don't know exactly. For a long time, I lived outside of society. I didn't keep track of time."

"Give me a rough estimate."

Jaz smiled at her tone.

"I saw the city of Troy. I didn't see it's fall but I heard about it, from people who had."

Sage digested this. Learning about Ares had been unsettling enough, but discovering that somebody she'd trusted (and known most of her life) was also... immortal. For some reason it felt worse. Tears pricked Sage's eyes and she tried to brush them away.

"When I brought Ares here, did you know what he was?"

"Yes."

"You called him Zorg."