Page 221 of Blood of Hercules
Wow.
That was a bold statement, especially since he wasshorter than me.
I narrowed my eyes and grunted eloquently.
“Do you want me to rub your arms, to warm you up?” Maximum smiled as he held out his hands.
“No.” I reeled back.I’d rather die.
“Okay.” He winked and kept his hands extended toward me. “Offer’s still on the table.”
That’s too bad.
The door was thrown open.
Augustus stalked into the room with Poco sitting on his shoulder.
He looked down at where Maximum was leaning toward me, and his expression contorted with fury.
Black eyes flashing, he clenched his jaw.
Poco clapped and poked his cheek.
Pine hurried in after him.
Everyone sat up straighter because unless they were reading test scores, both professors were never in the classroom at the same time.
We held our breath.
If they made us run the crucible right now, I would perish from hypothermia (throwing myself off thetop of the mountain).
The only good part about this week was we’d meditated a lot because we were learning about leaping, so I hadn’t had to take many notes.
But overall, the last week at the academy had been the worst one yet.
So far.
It will probably get worse.
Everything in life does.
A chair scraped at the front of the class as General Cleandro stood up beside Pine. Both men wore long heavy coats.
Augustus was still the only one dressed in a toga. His bare vein covered arms were crossed nonchalantly—biceps bulging obscenely—like he wasn’t even cold.
I rocked faster to warm myself.
“Today is an important day for all of you,” Augustus said with a serious expression, and Poco nodded his head in agreement. “Today is the day you bond with your chosen protector.”
I stopped rocking.
This isn’t good.
We’d been to the menagerie a few times over the last few months, and each time, the animals had reacted the same way.
They hated me.
Freezing, and sick to my stomach with nerves, I followed the rest of the initiates down the narrow ice-covered hall.
