Page 137 of Bonds of Hercules
Her face twisted as she whimpered in her sleep.
I wish I could take away your pain.
This time, I had another gift besides the roses. Perhaps they weren’t flashy enough for her, weren’t enough of a statement of what she meant to me.
It was time to do more.
I pulled the long glittering strand out of my pocket and carefully draped it around her neck. The strand of priceless blue diamonds danced in the moonlight. Gently, I hooked the fastener.
Alexis mumbled, turning her head to the side—I held mybreath—she pursed her lips together and made an agonized sound, but didn’t wake.
She hadn’t had a nightmare this bad since she’d fought the Titans.
What’s wrong, carissima?
I traced my fingers gently over the row of glittering gems.
Dark possessiveness filled my chest.
My woman.
The rare blue diamond was the official stone of the House of Artemis. Our vaults were overflowing with them, and since the jewel matched my eyes, it was the only type I ever wore.
Seeingmystones around Alexis’s neck made something primal and unhealthy rear up inside of me, even more so than usual.
Augustus could give her calculators and books. He understood her love of academia in a way I never could.
I was a simpler man.
Diamonds, roses, weapons, and blood were my love language.
Amor gignit amorem.
I laid the black-and-white rose next to her pillow, hoping it was true thatlove begets love.
Augustus’s headache abruptly stopped as I stepped back into the shadows.
I barely noticed the lack of pain becausenothingin life compared to the agony of of my unrequited love for Alexis.
24
THE ELDEST HEIR
AUGUSTUS: THATSAMENIGHT
Marble cracked beneath my fingers as I gripped the sink, the bathroom spinning.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Scarlet splattered violently across the white sink as it fell from my lashes.
The madness of the House of Ares was breaking free, and it only wanted one thing—Alexis.
When I’d crawled across the floor toward my wife with regret, lust, and emotions smoldering inside my chest, my headache had sharpened into a razor blade.
