Page 181 of Blood of Hercules
Moonlight cast strange silver shadows, and I shivered in the cold.
“Put me d-down,” I demanded when the shock wore off enough that I could speak.
His grip on my thigh tightened.
That was his only response.
A strange queasiness burned me alive, and dark butterflies fluttered inside my stomach.
“Uh—should I do something?” Nyx asked around my neck, and even she sounded unsure, like she didn’t know what to do.
Her voice pulled me out of my shock. “No,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
After a deep calming breath, I beat my fists against his back and wiggled as much as possible.
“Release me!” I demanded, punching with all my might, fighting for freedom.
Muscles bunched beneath my fists, but Augustus’s steps didn’t falter.
He didn’t even grunt.
I fought harder and screamed with everything I had, bucking and kicking. Desperate to get free.
Minutes later, I hung limp.
Panting with exhaustion, I was too tired to fight anymore. Poco tittered up at me—I made a face at the racoon.
Your taste in Spartans sucks. How could you bond with him?
Poco hissed.
I hissed back.
Fingernails dug harder into the back of my thighs as he carried me, hard enough to bruise. I shifted slightly, and Augustus made a rough noise in the back of his throat.
“One hour,” he said silkily. “Kick me one more time, and I’ll add another hour on top of the one hour punishment you’ve already earned.”
I froze, leg stilling.
“What punishment?” I asked. It was the first time he’d spoken since the symposium. “One hour of what?”
“I warned you,” he said softly, his voice vibrating with rage. “You’ve pushed me too far this time.”
“Wait—what did you warn me of?” I asked, genuinely confused.
He didn’t answer.
Not cryptic and creepy at all.
Great, he’s definitely going totorture me.
“Uh—kid,” Nyx whispered as she clung to my upside-down neck. “I think Augustus really is into you, likereallyinto you.”
I shook my head and breathed deeply. “No way,” I breathed out quietly. “He hates me.”
“Yes, way,” Nyx shivered. “He’s wild for you—practically savage. You’re in deep shit, sister. This is way worse than I thought. He hates you so much that he wants to fight—in the bedroom.”
I choked. A manic bubble of laughter burst out my throat, and tears of despair streamed out of my eyes.
