Page 2 of Bonds of Hercules
Nyx shifted beneath the loose folds of my exercise toga, her grip tighter than usual around my torso. Fluffy Jr. let out a low whine as he crouched at my feet, our protector bond trembling.
Trepidation prickled the back of my neck.
Every instinct screamed at me to wrap myself around Charlie.In a perfect world I’d never leave his side. In a perfect world I’d be human.
I wasn’t.
This was Sparta.
God, please save my soul.
The flame from the torches lining the palace entrance cast warped shadows across our faces: mother, daughter, and newly adopted son.
It wasfartoo late for my salvation.
“I know exactly what you’re feeling.” Persephone’s voice echoed, her bare toes curling into the short grasses that competed with rocks to decorate the landscape. “Your fear and rage leave a bitter residue in the earth. I can taste your …impulses.”
She was being kind. Holding back from airing the depth of my shame in front of Charlie. But I saw it in the panicked expression on her face.
She could taste my delirium. She knew my murderous blood was boiling me alive and my thoughts were slowly melting with it.
In my mind, Father John was throwing holy water at my face. “You’re possessed,” he whispered, eyes wide with terror. “You’re one ofthem. An abomination.”
I nodded solemnly in agreement.
“Alexis, snap out of it.” Persephone’s voice vibrated with power.
I startled back into reality.
Father John was somewhere in Montana.
I was hyperventilating on Crete.
The blessed and the cursed, existing beneath the same stars.
“Alexis,please,” Persephone urged, blond curls rising beneath her gold laurel crown as she used her powers to commune with the land.
Her mother was Demeter, but her father was Iasion, a terrifying dark creature who was rumored to have power over plants—she took after him.
Persephone was gentle and caring, but her powers werepetrifying.
Case in point: I was losing my mind, and she could literally feel it happening.
In the last few months living on Crete—avoiding Satan and Evil Incarnate (my husbands) and trying to find a single smidgen of mental health (still searching)—I’d learned that it was a common misconception that the House of Hades owned the island.
Hades didn’t own Crete.
Persephone did.
Their marriage bond had twisted her creature powers into something insidious.
She’d sunk them deep into the rocky soil and claimed the land. She could literallyfeelevery person, animal, and plant that roamed across it. The longer anyone stayed, the more attuned she was to them.
You could never deceive her.
It was why, except for my parents, the island was abandoned.
No one from Sparta visited.Ever.
