“That was you?” Rydon asked harshly.
Again, the tracker shrugged.
“I enjoy my privacy, merc. And I’ve had enough of men trying to control me.” Turning her gaze to Terena, she added, “I thought by asking for you, he’d lose interest. I didn’t know you were with him.”
“How is it you know who I am?” Terena asked.
The woman canted her head, regarding Terena for a long moment. “Let us just say, I know someone with a vested interest in your ascension.”
“What’s that mean?” Croak asked at the same time Terena asked, “Of whom do you speak?”
“But even for you, God of War,” the woman continued, “I will not bow to Hermes.”
“Why do you call me that?”
Even as the woman smiled, Rydon’s hand settled on the hilt of the sword, his grip tightening as he shifted his legs wide.
“I’m an admirer.” The woman shrugged. “Soon, everyone will know of you.”
“I am a daughter of Ares, aye, but please call me Terena. And you’ve not answered my question. I can count on one hand the number of people who know who I really am.”
“Two. Two hands.” Croak said, holding up his hands. He shrugged. “Maybe three.”
“Either way, the word is out. Especially for someone as interested in you as I’ve become.”
“What’s your interest in me?”
“It started with Metilai, as I’ve said, but when I heard Ares is your father, well… I had to meet you.”
“Why?”
“I have a proposition.”
“Here we go,” Croak muttered.
“What do you want?”
“If you promise I won’t be forced to bend the knee to Hermes, I will come with you.”
“Why now when you were so reluctant earlier?”
“I didn’t know it was you when you found me. So I’ve changed my mind.”
“In exchange for what?”
“A drink. Have one drink with me. If you still enjoy my company in the morning, I will join you.”
“Ren—”
“A drink it is, then,” Terena said, frowning at Rydon as he moved closer. She turned back to the woman and waved a hand. “And you will not bow to Hermes. I vow to you, if you come with me, you are my sword, as Rydon here is. He is?—”
“I know who—and what—he is,” the tracker interrupted quietly.
The air thickened with something Rydon could not name, the hairs on his arms standing on end. Her next words almost stopped his heart.
“You’ve yet to find Sonah Yahn, I see.”
Rydon did not need to look at her to feel the tension wafting off Terena. Her voice held a note of steel in it when she spoke.
