Page 28 of Bonds of Hercules
Poco clambered up my chest, whiskers prickling my cheek as he licked at my eyebrows.
“Thanks, buddy,” I whispered, not really sure if he was helping or making it worse.
He purred and pulled out a chunk of my eyebrow.
Definitely worse.
Kharon picked upThe Falcon Chroniclesand sat down next to me on the couch. He unrolled to the next story.
“Interesting,” Kharon said as he read. “An Olympian doctor has successfully stitched human body parts onto a Spartan.”
I grunted, not really that surprised.
Spartan physiology was adept at transmutation.
We could regenerate soft tissues like brains, eyes, and organs. But we couldn’t regrow missing hard tissues—bones and cartilage. If a bone was badly fractured, it would heal with time because most of the pieces were still intact.
As a result, we couldn’t regrow missing appendages, but our bodies could accept other people’s.
Immortal biology was nothing if not fucked up.
Thousands of years ago, it was even a tradition for lower-ranked Spartan soldiers to slice off their fingers, hands, feet, and sometimes entire legs. They’d stitch them onto higher-ranked Spartans who’d lost appendages in battle.
It used to be the ultimate sign of respect and honor, but the practice was now considered barbaric.
For good reason.
Poco chittered, clapping his hands to get Kharon’s attention.
Kharon put the scroll down, then pivoted. “Pow,” he said as he pretended to shoot Poco with a finger gun.
There was a long pause as they stared at each other.
Poco slumped over like he was dead.
Three seconds later, he popped up and screamed, gray fur sticking out in all directions, as he aimed two finger guns back.
Kharon slumped back with his eyes closed, tongue out.
Poco chittered with excitement.
They high-fived each other, then proceeded to play the “shooting” game no less than a dozen times.
I closed my eyes.
Sleep came quickly.
Bang.
I jolted awake when the door swung open. It felt like I’d been asleep for seconds, but the clock on the wall said it had been hours.
Artemis walked into the room.
The lights above hummed their usual green hue. It was quiet. Poco was draped over my head like a hat, snoring.
Achilles jolted awake where he was asleep next to me on the couch. Patro sat between his knees, still reading the scroll with a frown.
Kharon and Agatha were playing a game of chess on the floor. Drex was cowering in the corner.
