Page 186 of Bonds of Hercules
The rest of the Chthonics sat around us.
Patro and Achilles were a few seats down—both glaring.
The former opened and closed his mouth like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know what; the latter smoked a cigarette—his hands were clenched into fists on the table like he was stopping himself from signing angrily.
I tipped my head to them.
Patro frowned at whatever expression he saw on my face.
Achilles remained unmoved, smoke tendrils lazily rising around his muzzle.
We were all prisoners these days.
Hades said something about “the importance of solidarity and appearance of unity.”
I nodded in agreement.
Kharon placed a slice of meat on the empty plate sitting in front of me, and I shoved it into my mouth, not tasting anything. I’d never turn down free food.Ever.
Kharon shot me a worried look. He snapped at a person who passed us without offering me food from his tray. He kept his hand on the back of my necklace.
He handed me a pastry with one hand, fingers caressing the back of my neck with his other.
I ate every morsel he offered.
Augustus stared down at me like he was afraid I’d disappear if he blinked.
Neither of them asked about Lena.
I didn’t offer.
A strange energy wrapped around the three of us. It seemed to be growing with every second we spent together sleeping in the same bed, eating at the same table, sharing a stone bench.
Their thighs brushed against mine on either side.
A small touch.
My nerve endingssizzled.
There was a clatter as a siren put the day’sFalcon Chroniclesscroll on the table next to the food—Agatha leaned forward next to Kharon and unrolled it, showing off the headline.
The table craned to look.
Literacy was a curse.
“Hercules’s protector is seriously ill and unfitting of the heir to the House of Hades—how did she choose so poorly?” Below the news line was a picture of me kneeling next to Fluffy Jr., Augustus and Kharon were a blur, caught mid-motion as they moved to stand in front of me.
Kharon banged his fists on the table and swore vehemently.
Augustus still hadn’t blinked.
I reached my hand down under the table, where all our protectors were lying, and pet the top of Fluffy Jr.’s sleeping head.
Poco climbed off my protector and into my lap. He chirped and curled up in a ball, purring.
Agatha unrolled the scroll further—she glanced around with a worried expression.
The next story was worse.
