Page 120 of Bonds of Hercules
He’d leapt away.
“Whatthe fuck?” Kharon turned to me. “Who was that?”
“Not who—what.”
Kharon stomped into the trailer, opening drawers and pulling shit apart as he searched for a clue. “Was it an Olympian?”
“He was primordial—ancient.” I shook my head. “I think … I think he was part creature. His defenses were animalistic, but he was strong. Extremely so.”
No one had ever fully stopped my mental attack.
Minds were breakable.
Always.
Kharon threw down the letters with frustration. “Why would a powerful ancient creature be livinghere?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fuck!” Kharon kicked at the trailer wall; his foot dented the metal. “I don’t like this—I don’t like this at all.”
“Me neither,” I said. “We need answers.”
Kharon straightened his dark cloak, determination on his face. “Well, then let’s get them.”
Crack.
White flurries fell furiously through freezing air and I exhaled an icy cloud—a white-covered concrete building towered before us with a tall barbed wire fence surrounding it.
The only human prison in the Northern Hemisphere.
Snow crunched beneath our boots as we walked up the path to the guarded entrance.
The human guards paled as we approached.
“We’re here on official Spartan business,” I announced. “We’re looking for a prisoner.”
They blinked up at me.
“My name is Augustus. I amtheheir to the House of Ares. I suggest you open the door for me. Now.”
The gate rose.
Kharon’s cloak whipped behind him as he stalked forward, a jagged ruby crown gleaming on his head.
It was time to avenge our wife.
The next morning, I stomped up the steps leading out of the villa dungeon with Kharon trailing behind me.
Both of us were vibrating with fury.
“Her stepfatherbraggedabout hurting her as a child,” Kharon said. “Fuck this shit—we need to kill him.”
I nodded in agreement.
He injured little Alexis. He needs to die.
We both turned and had made it down a few steps before I gathered my wits about me.
