Page 64 of Bonds of Hercules
Not anymore.
Achilles stepped toward Patro protectively.
“I bet you’re looking for a wife,” I said. “Someone Chthonic.”
Patro’s eyes widened as he donned a fake mask of surprise. “What? Alex, that has nothing to do with—”
“Stop calling me that name!” I shouted.
Patro’s jaw slammed shut.
His handsome face contorted back into a sneer of hatred, the one I was used to—the one that fit him.
“Just, what the fuck are you trying to insinuate?” he asked.
“I’mnot insinuating anything.”
Achilles stepped closer to him like he was offering him strength.
Two versus one.
It always was with them.
“This isnotjust about us wanting to marry a Chthonic.” Patro crossed his arms. “We aren’t likethem… We were actually worried about you. Forget I said anything—enjoy your wedded fucking bliss.”
I smiled slowly. “So, what else is it really about—if it isn’tjustabout me being Chthonic?”
Patro froze as he realized his slip, but he recovered quickly, his face hardening. He was carved from marble and cruelty, just another dangerously attractive member of the House of Aphrodite.
“I’msureKharon’s a real gentle lover,” Patro said quietly as he stepped closer. “I’m sure he holds you and whispers sweet nothings after he fucks you. Everyone knows about his morevicioussexual tastes. I’m sure you’re notscaredat all—little girl.”
We stood face-to-face.
“Go fuck yourself,” I whispered.
Patro laughed, the sound loud and manic.
Achilles grabbed his bicep and wrenched him back. “Shut the fuck up,” he signed in big slashing motions. “What are you doing? You’re ruining everything.”
“Careful.” I walked around Achilles so I was once again in Patro’s face. “You almost sound …jealous. Do you wish Kharon could have chosen you?”
Patro recoiled.
“Yesss,” Nyx hissed encouragingly. “Ruin him. Men don’t deserve to feel good about themselves. Make him cry.”
Patro ripped his arm out of Achilles’s grasp and lunged at me.
I held my ground.
Achilles grabbed him again, stopping him a few inches from my face.
“Aw,” I taunted, pursing my lips and channeling my high school bully Jessica. “Do you wish you two could havemarriedhim? Is that what this is about? Are you mad Kharon chose apatheticgirl over you?”
“Fuck you,” Patro spat. “You don’t knowanythingabout Sparta. You’re playing a game you can’t win. Augustus and Kharon willnevercare for someone as weak as you. Two dominant,powerfulmen like them. You’ll always mean nothing to them. You’re just pathetic.”
The ice inside me became stone.
I’d forgotten how it felt when Patro taunted me, how my heart dropped as he’d mocked me for eating too fast.
