Page 8 of Blood of Hercules
Augustus, Kharon, Patro, Achilles, and Helen.
Technically, there was another child—Medusa—but she was incarcerated in the underworld, which was the infamous maximum-security Spartan prison.
There were also a handful of creatures, who fought for the assembly alongside the Chthonic leaders, but they rarely had children.
Also, since Chthonics didn’t join the assembly until immortality at twenty years old, there was onlyoneChthonic male heir—full-blooded Chthonic—who was of age right now to fight with the leaders.
Augustus, heir to the House of Ares.
He was the twenty-three-year old son of Ares and Aphrodite.
The next child to come of age would be Kharon, the eighteen-year-old son of Artemis and Erebus.
Augustus’s half sister, Helen, was the eight-year-old heiress of the House of Aphrodite.
Not much else was known about them because heirs and heiresses were infamous for being reclusive.
They were modern-day Spartan elites, more important and powerful than any human royal could ever have dreamed of being.
The last of the Chthonic children were two rare half humans called mutts: Patro and Achilles.
Patro of the House of Aphrodite was thirteen years old, and Achilles of the House of Ares was fourteen.
They were the future of the Assembly of Death, but until they came of age, there were barely enough monsters to fight Titans.
Humanity was still in grave danger.
The federation kept civilization running, but everything that wasn’t a necessity fell through the cracks.
Charlie and I were below the cracks.
We were in the dirt.
“Go—now,” I whispered to Charlie, then leaned forward and gave him a big hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
Both of us were shaking as we embraced.
When I pulled away, Charlie nodded and crawled silently into the bathroom next to where we slept.
Emmy and Carl fought to become pioneers of mathematics. Emmy dealt with evil in her time and stayed strong.
Be like her, Alexis.
I wanted to pretend I hadn’t heard Mother, but I had.
I can’t do this.
There were two of them and one of me. I was tall for my age, but not that tall. They were still much bigger than me.
Yes, you can.
I took a shaky breath and stood up.
Wrists tweaking with phantom pain, I rubbed at the hair ties that covered the raised skin of old scars.
There would be consequences if I acted—there always were in hell.
You need a plan.
