Page 225 of Blood of Hercules
“What... is that?” Augustus pointed to Fluffy Jr., and Poco also pointed.
“This is Fluffy Jr.,” I said confidently. “My protector.”
Poco hissed.
Augustus took a step forward, and blood pooled in the whites of his eyes.
Pressure spiked painfully in my skull.
I ripped my gaze away.
Staring at the floor, I gasped for air.He tried to violate my mind again. What the actual hell? I thought he wanted toprotectme, not boil my freakin’ brains.
Augustus’s breathing was loud and harsh. In my peripheral vision, he clenched and unclenched his fingers, like he wanted to hit something (I was definitely the something).
“Is there a p-problem, Professor?” I whispered calmly, like I didn’t want to throw up from fear.
The initiates are a few feet away. I can scream for help, and they’ll know what he’s doing.
We both knew no one would do anything to stop him.
He was a famous full-blooded Chthonic heir, and I was an abandoned Olympian mutt. He was ancient royalty. I was nothing.
Fluffy Jr. growled. The sound was low and menacing, the noise of a much larger predator.
The cord in my chest burned with heat, and the urge toprotect and killthrummed through me.
Poco flashed razor-sharp fangs.
Augustus muttered something under his breath about Chthonics, dishonor, and women who couldn’t take care of themselves.
Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, “No. That is... all, Alexis.”Once again, Augustus said my name with a strange inflection, like it meant something to him.
He gestured as he stepped aside so I could enter the library. There wasn’t enough room to pass.
Girding my lady loins, I pushed past him.
Goosebumps exploded across the right side of my body—his muscles flexed beneath my touch, and Augustus made a low throaty noise in the back of his throat.
The strange queasiness in my stomach spiked hot.
An inferno raged.
Poco leaned out and grabbed for my curls with both of his little hands.
I stumbled into the room.
It was a second of contact between us, if that, yet my heart raced like I’d run the circuit.
Augustus stalked away without another word, and I slumped with relief.
Something about him drives me crazy.
Whatever it was, I had a bad feeling it was going to spell my demise.
Chapter 26
Gifts
