Ares sat quietly beside me, and I knew that we should have gone back to the others a while ago, but I couldn't force myself to leave the peaceful solitude of the moment.
He was feeling vulnerable, and I knew that it would sting if Aleks made a barbed comment about that.
"I'm sorry I abandoned you."
The words came from nowhere, cutting into the pleasant silence between us.
"Abandoned me? Ares, it was important for you to talk to Rayden. I understand that."
"But I shouldn't have run off the way I did. I just left you there to deal with the others; it's easy for me to forget that you don't see yourself the same way that I do. I didn't question whether you would be able to manage them, and that was wrong of me."
"Well… I hope that I didn't let you down. I got people here without incid
