Page 210 of Bonds of Hercules
Ready to kill.
Achilles raised his arms to the back of his head; the Minotaurs bent their knees.
Slowly, Achilles pulled the leather straps apart.
Sparta stopped screaming—the coliseum was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even the Minotaurs stopped roaring, creatures and Spartans all holding their breath.
Achilles’s muzzle dropped into a puddle.
It was worse than I could have ever expected.
Smooth bronze skin pulled across a sharp jaw, framing wide, full ruby lips. Achilles was conventionally handsome, rivaling even Patro for beauty. At least, he would have been.
An X of thick white scar tissue slashed across his lips. Raised and puckered, it reached up to his cheekbones and ended under his chin.
Drex gasped as he also realized.
Someone had tried tosewAchilles’s mouth shut.
They’d tried to silence him.Brutally.
Stomach roiling with nausea, I covered my mouth.
All four Minotaurs leaned forward, their sharp horns pointed directly at Achilles.
Anticipation pulled taut—a razor tripwire attached to a nuclear bomb—as everyone held their breath.
I waited for Achilles to speak, to use his rumored voice powers, and command the Minotaurs.
His lips stayed pressed together in a harsh line and he slowly backed away.
Wind howled as it whipped through the basin, the rain pounding down in harsh sheets.
The Minotaurs watched him move, tense and ready.
Achilles just kept stepping back, putting more space between them. Behind him, Nero curled himself into a ball at the edge of the arena like he was trying to disappear.
Scales slid across my cheek as Nyx leaned forward.
Achilles stopped when he stood in front of Nero, his back to the stone wall.
ROARRRRRRR.
The stadium shook as the four Minotaurs slammed their hooves in unison, wet sand spraying behind them as they kicked back.
The beasts were done waiting.
Achilles stared down at the wet sand, staring at himself in the puddles, as he cracked his neck back and forth.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
