Page 25 of Blood of Hercules
“Ohmygod, did you guys fucking see that? Holy crap, I can’t breathe right now. That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I can’t even?—”
RINGGGG.
Homeroom was over.
Students buzzed with excitement as they packed their bags and filtered out, but they made a point of leaving a large space around me, like I was Pestilence himself.
The sky lit up a sinister shade of green that matched the flickering lights in the classes and halls.
“Well, kid, that was more entertaining than usual,” Nyx said from my neck, and I discreetly shoved her back under my sweatshirt.
I grabbed my bag and headed for the library. “It was horrifying,”I whispered.
A student gave me a weird look.
“If by horrifying you meanbrilliant, then sure,” Nyx said and mumbled something upsetting about a woman having needs.
I tuned her out.
Faces blurred as I moved through the flickering-green-lit crowded halls, my thoughts racing.
Technically, I’d finished high school three years ago, but only nineteen-year-olds could take the Spartan merit test and graduate.
I spent my days in the library, studying for the merit test and self-teaching myself advanced classes from old college textbooks.
Titan screams still rang in my ears as I walked faster among the crush of bodies.
Men in all black stood along the walls with their hands resting on top of gun handles, “WSDL” engraved in gold on their holsters.
The Minotaur of the House of Ares and the skeleton hellhounds of the House of Hades flashed on their ID badges.
What was left of the US government made state workers wear the symbols of the Spartan Federation, especially the Chthonic Houses. At the end of the day, it really meant nothing, but it made people feel safer.
One mercenary made eye contact with me.
He looked away first.
Men always did. They liked to pretend otherwise, but my different-colored eyes freaked them out.
The mercenaries were bait.
Titans were lone hunters—but since they were powerful immortals who were barely slowed down by advanced Spartan weapons, the lack of numbers didn’t matter.
A single Titan could destroy an entire city if it wanted to.
When they’d first emerged in 2050, governments had tried dropping nuclear bombs on them.
It had been a disaster.
There was an infamous image of a lone Titan emerging from the blast, disfigured but still moving, eyes locked on the injured humans caught in the blast zone.
The mercenaries in the hall were five seconds ofdecoys atbest, but apparently armed men glaring at students made everyone feel safer.
The hall was a blur of strangers.
A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I lunged back and slammed into a locker.
“Whoa, calm down, it’s just me.” A boy moved into my personal space.
