Page 117 of Blood of Hercules
Instead of being glad that I wasn’t running the circuit, I spent every secondanticipatingit. Trying to figure out what General Cleandro and the professors were thinking. What mind games they were playing.
I was jittery and on edge. My teeth chattered as stress sweat dripped down my face.
Candle smoke made the room hazy, and my eyes watered fromirritation.
Turning to a fresh page in my notebook, I ignored the needle sensation prickling down my legs and the fact that my butt had gone numb days ago.
Shockingly, sitting on the floor hunched over a notebook was not an ergonomic position, and if Kharon didn’t murder me (he wasdefinitelygoing to), late-onset scoliosis would.
“Are the classes over yet? It’s been like a million years,” Nyx asked sleepily as she coiled herself tighter around my neck.
“No,” I whispered under my breath.
“Kill me,” she whined. “I’m so bored.”
I rubbed at my aching head. “You’re the one with the venom. Kill us both.”
Nyx huffed. “Don’t tempt me.”
The pain in my lower spine spiked as I shifted. “I’m not joking,” I groaned.
There was a long pause, like Nyx was considering it.
“Nah,” she said finally, then there was a low hissing noise as she resumed snoring.
I rolled my eyes. “Wimp.”
She grunted in her sleep, and I was jealous. I would dounholythings for a sip of water and ten minutes of sleep—like, sell my organs on the black market type of things.
Who needs a gallbladder or a kidney? Not me. For the right price, I might even throw in some fingersand teeth.
I high-fived myself (clapped like a weirdo, and everyone stared at me).
It was official: I was losing it.
Nyx snored louder.
Bang.
“Are we being shot at?” I asked and Drex laughed next to me.
It was the door.
Professor Augustus swept into the room, his two-toned hair and silver crown shining in the dim candlelight as he dumped a pile ofpapers onto the desk. Poco was wrapped around his neck like a rabid fluffy scarf.
So cute. He’s a raccoon mother.
He nodded to the class with a small smile.
“Instead of starting with a meditation,” Augustus said as he turned and glared hatefully down at me (not cute).
His expression had a strange edge to it that hadn’t been there the last class. He was staring at me accusingly, like I’d recently done something unforgivable.
I squirmed with discomfort, neck prickling.
Soulless black eyes stared at me with laser focus.
He refused to look away.
