Page 47 of Blood of Hercules
“Welcome to Sparta!” the crowd cheered as they waved their House flags through the rain.
I looked down.
My clothes were torn and hanging off my body as rags, but at least the hair ties still covered the raised scars on my wrists.
I was half-naked, covered in scraps and streaks of sand, but I couldn’t find the energy to care.Free the nipple and the lips (vaginal)?
My head spun, and the world kaleidoscoped.
The adrenaline was still affecting me.
Nothing seemed real.
I exhaled with relief as I felt Nyx slither up my legs and around my neck. “Need... rest,” she whispered weakly.
Through the rain, Hades stood calmly on the edge of the podium with his heinous black fog swirling around his ankles.
His power had felt like insanity.
Father John was wrong; the devil was real, but there was no god to stop him.
The leader of the House of Hades stared down at the sands with an uncaring, ruthless expression.
Nothing could save humanity fromhim.
He was the reason Nyx was hurt, the reason so many were dead.
I’d never hated anyone more.
“Congratulationsto our ten Spartans who showcased the mental and physical fortitude of gods,” Zeus said, sparks leaping off him as he stepped beside Hades with a smile. “Welcome to the crucible. Survive this next year, and you will be named a citizen of Sparta. Immortality is within your grasp.”
The coliseum cheered louder.
I could still feel the black fog wrapping around me like a vise.I’m losing my mind.
Zeus beamed at the crowd and glowed brighter. “Thank you all for joining us. Sparta, and the Spartan Federation, are stronger than ever because of you! Now, honored Spartans who’ve been chosen as mentors, join me now on the sands.”
Boom.
Zeus and a dozen men jumped over the edge of the wall and landed in the sand with bent knees. Their animals followed.
The wall was at least five stories tall.
I stared at the approaching men blankly. Everything was fuzzy.
Time warped.
Zeus was speaking on the other side of the sand. “Being a mentor is a great honor. As you know, if your initiate survives the crucible, you will be granted general status... the highest demarcation a Spartan can reach, and a chance to join the federation!”
The Spartan men who’d leaped from the stadium fell to one knee and bowed their heads toward him. “It is our honor!” they chorused back.
They knelt in blood.
There was a muffled sound. “What . . . name?”
A diminutive elderly lady stepped out from my left side. “What’s your name?” she repeated. Her hair was bright white, eyes a strange shade of violet.
I stilled.
