Page 203 of Bonds of Hercules
The number of snakes and their length symbolize how powerful a Gorgon is. Augustus’s crucible lesson on Gorgons came back to me.Having more than one snake is extremely rare. Their paralyzing bite does not work on their own species.
Hermos cracked his neck back and forth as the four Gorgons charged in a blur of swinging swords.
“Snake scum!” chorused around the stadium.
Screams echoed.
What felt like forever later, but was probably only a few minutes, Hermos tipped his head back and bellowed with victory.
Pale, blood-splattered muscles straining, Hermos planted the spear in the middle of the sandy arena: four Gorgons were skewered through their stomachs, hanging limp on his spear.
Nyx slithered around my neck. “Okay, now this istoofar,” she hissed, sympathetic for the snakes. I shielded her head so she didn’t have to look.
Charlie nudged my side, distracting me from the carnage. “I’m glad you’re sitting next to me,” he signed.
“Me too.”
We leaned closer.
Agatha stood up and clapped in the row before us—our section tensed—she had two black eyes. Thick black and green bruises also covered every inch of her arms and legs. The purple chain marks around her neck were from Hermos, but the rest of the wounds were new.
Agatha had cannibalized her labors without them laying a single finger on her.
The bruises were from her interrogation.
The Olympians hadtorturedher, and it was all because of Medusa.
Head spinning, I fought the urge to retch. Everything became hazy and nightmarish.
Time drifted away from me.
I remembered sitting in the symposium.
The rest was a blur.
Later, I lay beside my husbands in bed.
Kharon fell asleep first.
I woke up in the middle of the night as something moved beneath me. It took me a few groggy seconds to realize I was no longer lying on the mattress.
Kharon had pulled me on top of him like a blanket.
His arms and legs were wrapped around me, holding me in place.
He snored loudly, chest rising and falling.
Augustus grumbled and shifted closer, adding his arms around my back as he pulled us both close against him.
Poco was curled up in a ball on my back. My scalp prickled as he tugged on my hair and chewed on it.
I turned my head.
Augustus was lying in a contorted position, half on top of both of us, and his dimple was showing—he was smiling in sleep.
My expression matched his as I drifted back to sleep.
SGC DAY8
