Page 49 of Blood of Hercules
“Drex Chen,” Zeus said, and I jolted because I recognized the naked Chthonic boy who stepped forward. It was the one who’d killed my three attackers.
No one in the crowd cheered.
Zeus’s smile slipped.
“Abandoned mutt!” someone yelled.
That must be why I don’t know about him. Am I the only one who knows he’s Chthonic? That’s not good.
Zeus nodded toward a handsome blond man with deep-golden skin and storm-gray eyes. A gold-headed vulture sat on the man’s shoulder. “Your mentor is Theros, heir to the House of Zeus.”
This time the coliseum erupted in cheers.
Theros frowned, the small gold laurel wreath gleaming atop his head, but then his face transformed with a brilliant smile, and he waved to the crowd as he walked over and clapped Drex on the back.
Zeus cleared his throat. “Finally, we have Alexis Hert—the fates have... blessedus. Pleasewelcomethe first female mutt in centuries.”
There was a splattering of awkward applause as hundreds of Spartans scrutinized me. Drex looked over at me with a pinched expression.
The air hummed with whispers about me being unwanted. Since I lived in a cardboard box behind a trailer park, their judgment was easily ignored. Their derision had nothing compared to Jessica, my high school bully.
“Because of her and their... special circumstances, Alexis’s mentors are—” Zeus paused and stared at me with an inscrutable expression. “—Patro the mutt of the House of AphroditeandAchilles the mutt of the House of Ares.”
The Olympian section was mostly silent; there was a splattering of applause.
But the Chthonic section stomped and screamed at the top of their lungs, waving their flags.
Two tall shadows stepped forward from the edge of the arena.
They stalked across the bloody sand.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
As the two men headed in my direction, they were somehow more feral than the monstrous wolf and jaguar that walked beside them. Both animals bared their teeth as they stared at me.
Run while you can.
I took a step back.
They stopped an arm’s length away—one handsome as sin, the other savage with a muzzle stretched across his jaw. The videos didn’t do their size justice. I had to tip my head back just to see their faces.
Close enough to maim me.
They towered above me in their perfectly tailored suits. On their wrists, gold cuff links glinted with diamonds, but unlike everyone else, they had weapon holsters strapped across their chests, thighs, and arms. They were covered in guns and knives.
Lucifer himself would have been less intimidating.
“You’re ours now,” Patro said slowly, his voice cold.
What a way to greet someone.
He took a menacing step closer.
“Let me be crystal clear,” Patro snarled. “We own you—and we won’t go easy on you because you’re an abandonedgirl.” His lips curled.
“Also—you disgust us, we don’t like you, and weneverwill, so rid yourself of all romantic delusions. Here’sexactly what’s going to happen... you’re going to survive the crucible and make us generals, then—we’re going toforgetyou ever existed. You’re Olympian, and we’re Chthonic—we don’t give a single shit about you. Got it?”
Green eyes flashed with warning, like flickering trailer lights in the middle of a storm. Unsettling and sinister.
