Page 94 of Blood of Hercules
I’m going to devour her.
I stood up, the boy forgotten, as I slowly turned my boat toward her.
Alexis swam away frantically.
I tipped my head back and laughed as I followed.
Glory be to Kronos. Thank you for delivering this exquisite creature to me like a lamb for slaughter.
It was a great fucking day to be a Chthonic monster.
Alea iacta est—the die was cast.
A great day indeed.
Chapter 11
Hell
Alexis
“BREAK’S OVER!” The general’s voice ripped through the library like a nuclear bomb, the ones humans had unsuccessfully used against Titans when they’d first appeared.
I sat up with a start and groaned in pain. It felt like I’d been asleep for mere seconds.
“Ten more minutes,” Nyx grumbled as she tightened around my neck. I rubbed at my groggy eyes and moaned louder as I stood up.
Every muscle in my legs screamed with pain. Each step forward was agony, and I wanted to collapse.
I wobbled off the settee and face-planted into a bookshelf.
Great, now inanimate furniture is trying to off me.
My right eye was blurry with exhaustion—my field of vision was 35 percent at best—and my face throbbed where I’d slammed into the bookcase.
“FORM A LINE, INITIATES!”
From the sleepy groans of the other initiates, I wasn’t the only one suffering.
Of course, General Cleandro decided it was the right time tolaunch into an unhinged rant about the importance of mental toughness and being gritty. His hawk bobbed up and down on his shoulder like it was agreeing.
Birds are the worst.
The hawk let out a screech, and Nyx hissed.
General Cleandro wentonandonabout being strong.
Personally, I preferred to be mentally weak—it made life more interesting.
Will I kill myself today dramatically or barely survive?Every day was a new mystery.
I didn’t remember walking back into the classroom, but suddenly I was seated in my same spot on the cold rocks, shivering and humming to myself. General Cleandro was seated at the front of the room with his demonic bird on his shoulder.
Professor Pine drew equations on the board with his raven staring at us as he taught Thagorean. Numbers blurred together, and my usually neat handwriting was illegible as I haphazardly scratched out notes.
At some point, class ended and Professor Augustus entered to teach Discipline and Power. Poco loped in behind him, clapping his little black hands together like he was excited.
Professor Augustus spoke slowly, “There are some different rules that govern the lives of mutts and heirs, and this is especially true when it comes to females, since they are so rare. For example, a female mutt may participate in the crucible.”
