Page 152 of Bonds of Hercules
“Not …helping.” Augustus’s muffled voice shook, like he was gasping.
I sagged against the shaking wall. Head spinning, thoughts scattered, I slid down to sit beside my sleeping protector, patting his head.
Poco chittered, his little black fingers touching my arm gently, and I gave him a shaky smile. He nodded his furry head, like he understood that I was trying to keep it together, then he climbed up and curled into a lumpy gray ball on my lap, purring.
The hellhounds lay behind Fluffy Jr.’s butt, pressed against the wall, barely fitting.
“He … big dog,” Hell said in his strange, scratchy voice as he tipped his head toward Fluffy Jr. “He … okay.”
Hound nodded in agreement. “We … together … all good.”
“Of course,” I whispered to them, infusing my voice with confidence. “Everything is going to be alright.”
The whiplash of power, imprisonment, fear, and then lust was making it hard to focus on any one thing.
Sparta will not break me.
There was only one thing to do in this type of situation. I pulled out my calculator and clicked the recorder.
“Dear Diary,” I whispered.
“I’m scared Fluffy Jr. is sick. Kharon and Augustus don’t scare me … but I’m afraid of how I feel around them. The gladiator competition is starting early, and I haven’t figured out how to wield my power. Yesterday, my hands glowed with a bright light. I don’t know what any of it means.”
With a shaky exhale, I pulled the recorder away from my lips.
Toggling through my settings, I found my saved work and lost myself in the numbers. I graphed until my neck hurt and my fingers went numb.
Time lost all meaning.
Guard voices echoed outside—Kharon and Augustus came out of the bathroom, their expressions perfectly calm.
You would never know they’d been fighting.
Clang.The cell door slammed open and Nyx hissed.
I hastily tucked my calculator away and lifted Poco off my lap. Batons sparked brightly in the dim light as guards stood framed in the doorway.
“It’s time for the opening ceremony,” Vorex said, wreath gleaming atop his head. “Come with us.”
28
SOFTLY IT BEGINS
ALEXIS
Augustus pulled me to my feet and Kharon finger-combed dust out of my hair as he straightened my crown. Nyx slithered, wrapping herself around my leg.
“No protectors allowed for the ceremony,” Vorex said as the animals walked forward with us.
I stared down at Fluffy Jr.’s sleeping form.
“He’ll be okay,” Kharon said quietly.
I straightened and held my head high. “I know.” I glared at Augustus, daring him to argue.
He didn’t.
Deep inside my chest, my protector bond strummed, warm and alive. Everyone else might underestimate Fluffy Jr., but I wouldn’t.
