Page 168 of Bonds of Hercules
“A while ago …” Alexis shifted between us. “I made a choice—a dangerous one … You’re both going to be … angry with me.”
There was a long pause.
She audibly gulped.
“I forgive you,” Kharon and I said at the same time.
“No—youdon’tunderstand,” Alexis said with agitation. “It’s bad …reallybad. It has larger consequences for all of Sparta and—”
“No, princess,” Kharon cut her off. “You don’t understand. We don’t care if you went on a murderous rampage—you’re forgiven … you’re our wife.”
“We’realwayson your side,” I said.
Alexis pressed against my back as she shifted. “Don’t lie—please … you’re both going to loathe me,” she said.
“Never,” I said with vehemence.
“Carissima,” Kharon chuckled harshly. “We’re fuckingobsessedwith you. In fact, it’s taking every ounce of control I have to not ravage you right now. Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep. You need your rest.”
Alexis sputtered. “You really want to ravage me … now? Aren’t you stressed? We need to be on top of our game for the SGC and—”
“Oh—I’m always on top,” Kharon said.
There was a long pause.
“You’re ridiculous.” Alexis hit him with her calculator.
“For you, I’m many things. You can call it whatever you want, carissima.”
“Can we please concentrate on thefighting to the deaththat we have to do?” Alexis asked.
Kharon and I both froze.
“Don’t …” I warned softly, unable to verbalize the devastation.
“No one isdying,” Kharon snarled. “Do you understand me, Alexis? We will wage a war on Olympians before we let them kill you.”
Alexis made a sound like she didn’t believe us. “Oh please.”
“We’re not joking,” I said.
The three of us breathed heavily in the dark, no one speaking.
“There isnothingmore important than your life,” Kharon said, breaking the growing tension. “That’s all we give a fuck about. So, STOP talking about other issues … Your safety is the only fucking issue that we care about.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Alexis gasped like she was suffocating.
This was our exact problem—we didn’t know how to love softly. While Alexis was spiraling, I couldn’t stop creating a mental hit list, imagining all the painful ways Ajax would die.
“Stop worrying,” Kharon said. “You need to rest and stay focused. The competition starts tomorrow. If you murdered an entire village, we would take your side. Every. Single. Time.”
“You’re actually mad,” she whispered.
Kharon clicked his tongue. “You’rejustrealizing that now?”
“Personally … I’veneverliked villagers,” I said.
