Page 154 of Bonds of Hercules
Hades’s eyes were bloodred—a menacing scowl contorted his features. For the first time since I’d known him, he looked like he was seconds away from losing control. Inky fog pulsed violently around him.
He scanned the sand, and his back straightened as his gaze landed on me.
I gave him a small reassuring smile.
His fog stopped pulsing, tendrils slowly wrapping around his feet as he visibly relaxed.
Behind him in the stadium, Persephone sat next to Charlie and Helen in the front row. She waved to me and shouted something, but I couldn’t hear it.
“Never give up, never surrender.” The chant increased in decibel as we were escorted toward the center of the arena.
Augustus and Kharon pressed closer.
To our right, Patro and Achilles stalked forward with three guards standing a distance away from them like they were afraid to get too close.
Achilles looked at me, then turned away.
Patro grimaced.
To the left, Agatha blew kisses at the guards. Behind them, Drex was once again looking sickly as he stumbled forward.
“Form a line!” Vorex shouted over the clamor, as he gestured with his sparking baton to a perpendicular strip of empty sand that faced the altar and half of the stadium.
Kharon and Augustus stopped walking, their fingers curling where they rested against my skin, and scowled at him.
“Uh … please,” Vorex amended with a wince as he looked down, unable to meet their gaze.
“Watch your fucking self,” Kharon warned Vorex as he pulled me closer to his side.
The three of us lined up next to the others.
Hades, Artemis, Ares, and Aphrodite stepped away from the flags and joined the end of our line.
Sparta chanted all around.
There was a thud as a cloaked figure jumped over the edge of the stands and landed in the arena.
Erebus stood to his towering height, a sinister white bone mask obscuring his features. He straightened his tattered cloak, shadows clinging to him as he stalked across the sand.
The poster hanging in Helen’s room failed to capture histerrifyingaura.
Erebus came to a stop at the end of our line and Aphrodite leaned up to whisper something in his ear. His masked face snapped down to hers, posture sharp.
Fear sank its teeth into my spine.
If the leaders were unnerved, then I needed to preemptively exit left (die).
Hades leaned forward in the line. “It will be okay,” he mouthed silently as he stared at me. “Don’t be afraid, daughter. You are the best of both of us.”
I wasn’t so sure of that.
“Welcome, Chthonics.” Zeus’s voice projected as he walked out onto the sand, electricity jumping across his skin.
The crowd went wild.
Fate walked beside him with a clipboard in her hand—rage filled me—Why did you deliver Charlie to that toxic trailer?
She glanced my way, and a small knowing smile curled her lips.
