Page 174 of Bonds of Hercules
Two Cyclopes collapsed, long metal shafts protruding from the stadium shook beneath us from the force of their falls.
“YES,” Nyx shouted around my neck. “Slaughter them!”
Artemis fired in a blur.
Cyclopes dropped and the stadium rocked so aggressively, stones cracked.
Dear God, please let the stadium collapse and kill us all. Thank you.
The shaking died down and the structural integrity of the coliseum was left unscathed.
Disappointing.
Her mist dissipated and five Cyclopes lay in the sand, blood pouring from arrows embedded in their eyes. Their dirty limbs in a tangle.
The force field hummed.
“Are they …” I swallowed thickly, unable to say the word.
Augustus nodded.
The Olympian crowd went wild, screaming and chanting at the top of their lungs: “Monsteress of the Hunt … Monsteress of the Hunt … Monsteress of the Hunt!”
I clasped my cold fingers together.
Artemis stood up on her rabid stallion’s back and raised her bow to the sky with a smirk.
She balanced as her steed jumped over the fallen Cyclopes, sand spraying behind as they galloped out of the arena.
The crowd clapped and screamed louder.
No one could say Arthritis (Artemis) doesn’t have flair.
Augustus pressed a gentle kiss to the top of my head. “Now we have the symposium. It’s in the coliseum.”
I turned to him with surprise.
“Not the same one you attended,” Augustus said. “It’s in the same room—but it’s where all the competitors, leaders, Househeirs, and some of the most important Spartan creatures and dignitaries mingle and eat during the competition.”
“But there are still some …explicitactivities,” Kharon muttered, a muscle in his jaw ticking.
Relief filled me.
If the Olympians were going to make us fight to the death, theleastthey could do was put on a performance. Flash a penis, show a boob.
“Why are you smiling?” Kharon asked suspiciously.
“I’m not.”
“That!” Kharon pointed at my mouth.
I bit down on my lower lip to try to look less like an awkward sexual degenerate.
Kharon narrowed his ice-blue eyes. “Sohelpme Kronos, Alexis, if you try that little strip routine again, I will—”
“I wasn’t going to do anything,Karen.” I rolled my eyes (I’d been considering it).
He breathed roughly through his nose like he was having an episode.
