Page 60 of Bonds of Hercules
Artemis clapped her hands.
“Patro, Achilles, and … Hercules, I mean—Alexis.” She looked at me suspiciously, like it was my fault that she wasn’t sure what to call me.
“We changed your initial location. You three lucked out—you’re now staying close,” Artemis said flatly. “A Titan was just spotted in Rome.”
She handed the coordinates to Achilles, who took them with a nod, but like Augustus, the mist didn’t surround him. He was untouched by her power.
Is Artemis afraid of the children of the House of Ares?
Why?
Patro furrowed his brow. “Are you sure it waswithinthe city—inside the protected zone?” He scoffed with disbelief.
Artemis’s face twisted with malice. “Yes.” Her brown hair stood on end with power. “As you’ve been told, there’s been a change in their behavior. That’s what Hades and Ares are investigating. Youwillhandle this.”
Patro bowed low. “Of course.”
Artemis ignored him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like multicolored tags. “One more thing.” She walked around the atrium handing them out. “The federation has passed a new decree for us to follow—going forward, whenever you capture a Titan, you have to tag it.”
The gold tags were cool and heavy between my prickling fingers.
I looked at one. “Hercules, House of Hades” was engraved in black on one side, and on the back, there was a thick pin.
“Once you have your Titan cuffed, put this tag through their lower lip. That way it’s easily identifiable who captured them.”
I put the tags in one of my cargo pockets.No way am I doing that.
“Good luck, soldiers,” Artemis said, her voice emotionless. “Because of Medusa, the federation is watching all of us closely.Don’treturn until you’ve captured your Titan.”
Everyone nodded.
“Medusa has ruined our plans to surprise the Olympians. War is already escalating. These are dark times for Chthonics … Beware.”
I struggled to inhale.
Artemis bared her teeth. “May Kronos bless your hunt. Crush your enemies … or you better die trying.”
Crack.
Artemis leapt away.
Smoke swirled around the atrium as the glittering scarlet disappeared, but this time the terror remained.
9
POISONED TONGUES
ALEXIS
“Don’t worry, just stay behind us. We’ll take the lead and handle this because it’s your first mission.” Patro winked. “Just observe and learn.”
Oh great, men making all the important decisions.
I was worried.
Steeling my nerves, I focused on staying calm as we crept down the street.
The late May morning air was crisp.
