Page 240 of Bonds of Hercules
They would try to constrain him, just like they did Achilles.
He’d just riskedeverything.
Zeus glared down at Augustus from his podium.
The Chthonic leaders clapped respectfully, but their faces were pinched—he’d revealed his hand—he wassupposedto be the diplomat.
From the nervous murmuring in the coliseum, no one in Sparta would think of him that way again.
Poco let out a mighty screech, the noise echoing as he banged his tiny black hands against his chest plate.
Augustus smiled at his antics.
They made quite the sight—a monster and his dressed-up raccoon.
Augustus stopped and turned to our section of the stands. He shielded his bloody eyes from the sun and put a hand on his heart.
“What … is he doing?” Alexis asked.
I swallowed thickly, fingers curling around hers.
“This was—” I struggled around the lump in my throat “—all for you.”
“What?”
“Augustus … revealed the full extent of his power—to keep you safe. He ended it quickly so the Minotaurs couldn’t hurt him,noryou … It was all so you wouldn’t feel his pain.”
Alexis looked around the stadium. “But now they’re afraid of him.” Her voice was small, unsure.
I brought her hand up to my beating, blistered heart.
“He doesn’t care about them,” I said. “You’re all that matters to us.”
Gratitude for him swelling, I nodded down at Augustus.
Alexis’s fingers trembled in my grip.
Soon … it would be her turn to fight.
Lifting her hand up to my mouth, I softly kissed each of her knuckles.
She was going to be okay.
She has to be.
If not, we were going to war.
43
THE 12 LABORS OF HERCULES
ALEXIS: SGC DAY13
Fists banged on the door as Olympian guards shouted something.
My eyes shot open.
Phantom aches coursed along my limbs.
