Page 58 of Blood of Hercules
“Have you been giving her the weight-gaining nutrient pill like we instructed?” the male doctor asked as he pulled supplies out of a bag.
Achilles and Patro glared at him.
“Right, of course you did,” the doctor said shakily. “Since it’s been a week, we’ll need to take the sheet off so we can remove her casts.”
“No,” I rasped loudly, clutching the sheet tighter.
Father grinning as he leered over me and pushed a cigarette against my stomach. Mother’s fists slamming against the side of my face.
My flesh was mine, and no person was seeing it unless I wanted them to.
Unlike Charlie—whose entire back was a mutilated twist of scar tissue, which he’d never spoken about—I had dozens of small, mostly unnoticeable scars. The raised ridges on my wrists were the most prominent.
My midsection was littered with the most marks.
Thin, faint scratches from moving tree branches with pointyends. A puckered red circle from a cigarette. Tiny dots where broken glass pieces dug into my back as I scrambled across it. A jagged divot where I’d fallen on ice. Then there was the puckered scar on my sternum, the one I’d had since a baby.
But I still felt protective of my skin.
The events of the coliseum were different. I’d been pumped full of adrenaline and covered in enough blood that no one could see anything.
Thiswas personal.
I wasmeagain.
Achilles stopped at the edge of my bed and stared; his muzzle obstructed his expression.
I waited for the attack.
I’d seen what he’d signed to Patro.
He was vicious.
White-knuckling the sheet, I prepared to fight if they tried to take it from me. They would win... eventually, but I could make it hurt. Straightening my spine, I breathed in deeply. Tensed my thighs.
“Everyone out but you.” Patro’s voice whipped through the room as he pointed at the female doctor.
The male packed up andranout of the room as fast as he could. Slowly, the Crimson Duo followed him out.
Patro stopped at the door and looked back. “She’s under the protection of the House of Ares and Aphrodite. Doanythingto harm her, and no one will ever find you.”
The woman gulped.
“Understood?” Patro bellowed, eyes filling with blood, and I jolted at the ferocity of his voice.
“Yes. Of course. I’m from the Assembly of Healers. I’ve taken a healing oath,” she said quickly. “I would never do anything to?—”
Patro slammed the door shut and cut her off.
She exhaled and tipped her head to the ceiling like she was praying.
I would have joined her, but I was 99 percent sure God hadabandoned me. Also, I was nervous about the fact that she’d be touching me. It was better than a man—but not by much.
There was one thing I’d learned over the years: most people didn’t like me.
The wolf and jaguar growled viciously at both of us, then sat down in the corner of the room.
After a long moment of collecting herself, the doctor gathered her tools and turned to me.
