Page 79 of A Touch of Chaos

Ariadne turned to face the bull as it raced toward them.

“What are you doing?” Persephone demanded.

“Go!” Ariadne ordered as she drew her gun, aiming at the bull.

“What the fuck? You’ve had that the whole time?”

“Bullets wouldn’t work on the boar,” she said, shooting several into the bull’s face, but they bounced off, unable to penetrate its hide. “Fuck!”

That was usual of divine creatures—they almost always had one weakness but were otherwise invincible.

“Let’s go!” Persephone snapped, pulling on Ariadne’s arm.

They turned and ran again just as the creature bellowed and a searing, blustering wind slammed into them, causing Persephone to stumble. The wind was so hot, it immediately stole her breath, and she gasped for air.

As they ran, she looked at Ariadne.

“We have to split up,” she yelled over the roar of the bull.

There was one bull and two of them. It couldn’t charge them both at the same time.

Ariadne glared her dislike of the plan, but even she couldn’t argue. They nodded at each other and then changed course, running in opposite directions.

The bull didn’t hesitate.

It followed Persephone.

Fuck.

She pumped her arms and legs harder, though they burned as she raced away. She thought of what Hecate had told her about the labyrinth, that she was best equipped to handle this because she was not dependent on magic, except right now, she felt completely powerless against this creature, with or without magic.

She knew the bull was gaining ground because she could feel its hot breath all around her, and the roar of it drowned out any sound. Then she felt its head againsther back, and suddenly she was flying through the air. She didn’t even have time to scream as she flailed and then landed in the dirt a few feet away. Before she could rise to her feet, the bull was already charging.

Persephone dove out of the way and scrambled to her feet. The bull made a wide circle as it came to face her again. This time, she noticed that the bronze armor over its body did not cover its belly.

She went to reach for her blade in the holster at her thigh but found it was missing. Panicked, she checked each of her pockets but only found Ariadne’s gloves with the claw.

Fuck. She must have dropped it.

The bull tossed its head and charged. Persephone tried to run, but she had waited too long. The armored creature barreled into her, knocking her to the ground, the impact forcing the wind right out of her lungs. As she struggled to breathe, the bull came after her with its horned head. Persephone rolled, trying to escape the brutal attack—and then suddenly, it was gone. When she looked up, she saw that Ariadne had managed to mount it, and she was hanging on to it by the horns.

The creature bucked, trying to free itself from Ariadne’s weight.

Persephone rose to her feet, holding her ribs as tightly as possible. Each breathhurt.

She cursed herself for losing her blade. Now, her only weapon was the lion’s claw. The challenge was accessing the bull’s belly without getting trampled to death.

Gods, she hoped this worked.

The bull was still trying desperately to get Ariadne off its back, bucking in a haphazard circle, but whenshe went flying, Persephone broke into a run, sliding under the bull and shoving the claw into its exposed stomach before rolling to the side as the creature roared and bolted. It made it a few feet, blood pouring from its wound, before it staggered and fell.

Persephone’s head swam, and breathing still hurt, but she got to her feet.

Ariadne approached, holding her arm to her chest.

“Is it broken?” Persephone asked.

Ariadne shook her head. “I don’t think so. It just hurts. Are you okay?”

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