Page 46 of Blood of Hercules
I bared my teeth and shrieked at them as my heart burned like it was breaking into a million pieces.
The three of them took a step backward and gaped at me.
I took a step forward.
Rage filled me.
Someone shouted—all four of us whipped our heads to the right.
A shadowy figure was silhouetted by the fog. There was movement, and his hand extended toward my attackers.
Glowing red light reflected off the black fog.
I forgot how to breathe.
Pain stabbed my chest.
The boy in the fog had Chthonic power—he could hurt us, and we’d have no way of stopping him. As if to punctuate that thought, my three attackers fell to their knees and cried out in pain as they stared up at me with horrified expressions.
Zeus said there were no Chthonics this year. Does no one know what he is?
Foam dripped from the dying boys’ lips, and their bodies arched like they were on fire as they stared at me and bellowed.
The fog in the immediate vicinity thickened and rushed toward me like it was attacking. Male voices in the fog shrieked at me.
I closed my eyes.
The screams intensified: real and imaginary.
Panic stabbed hotter through my heart.
Icy fog twisted against my skin.
I was frozen, glad they were dying but unable to stomach the sight. Finally, the three of them let out the most god-awful stomach-curdling wail, then fell silent.
Rain splattered softly against sand.
It’s over.
Panic abating, I peeked open my eyes.
The pale Chthonic boy stepped forward out of the fog. A few scraps of his clothes were left around his shoulders, but the rest had been torn off. He glared at me with a disgusted expression.Loathing rolled off him.
Lightning cracked, and a crescendo of thunder made the sand vibrate.
I stared back.
Waited for him to make his move.
He took a step?—
“THE MASSACRE IS OVER.” Hades’ voice crackled through the air like electricity. “THE FINAL TEN HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE CRUCIBLE—CONGRATULATIONS.”
The black fog cleared. It retracted up the walls and curled around Hades’ feet. The awful screams dissipated. The temperature returned to normal.
Mangled bodies were strewn everywhere.
Everything—the sand, the fallen, the ten of us standing—was coated in red.
