Page 161 of Blood of Hercules
Phantom pains shot down my wrists, and I rubbed at the scars.
An ember of rage smoldered in my sternum as “sheltered” repeated mockingly in my head.
You know nothing of what it takes to survive the human world.
“No offense, Professor,” I whispered as I held his burning gaze, tired of being pushed around by everyone. “But I know what’s good for me. I don’t need your help.”
Pride filled my chest.
I’d finally done it; I’d talked back.
Augustus clenched his square jaw, the vein in his forehead jumping. That was the only warning I got.
Blood covered the whites of his eyes.
Heaviness slammed against my mind like a battering ram, and acute pain throbbed at the front of my skull.
The pounding sensation intensified, like someone was hammering behind my eyes.
There was blinding pressure.
The world was on fire.
His lips didn’t move, but a distorted masculine voice boomed through my skull.You don’t want to go to the symposium.Pressure and flames tore through my mind, razing all thoughts.You will notgo,it ordered.
The voice was right.
I didn’t want to go.
The burning pain ratcheted up into an inferno, the order repeating on loop, tearing apart my mind and my will.
Wait—no.
Terror sparked hotter, and I mentally pushed with everything I had, shoving at the intruder.
The pressure in my skull suddenly disappeared.
Staggering, blind, head aching, I slammed back against the board and barely held myself upright.
When my vision finally refocused, I was bent over with my hands on my knees, covered in sweat.
Shakily, I rubbed away the moisture beneath my eyes. My fingers came back stained red—I was crying blood.
It was also trickling out of my nose and ears.
Looking up at Augustus with horror, I slid away along the blackboard toward the door.
His expression was harsh and unrelenting. Unmerciful. Like he didn’t regret it. Like he wanted to do it again. Like he wanted to hurt me. Break me. Destroy me. Torture me.
I averted my gaze.
He tried to crack my mind. He tried to... change my thoughts. He tried to force me not to go.
His power was so much worse than I could have ever imagined.
He didn’t read minds—he broke them.
Teeth chattering, arms wrapped around my torso, I backed away from the Chthonic monster that had violated my thoughts.
