Chapter 8 Men Who Kneel
MEN WHO KNEEL
ALEXIS: ZERO DAYS UNTIL THE FIRST TITAN ASSIGNMENT
Moonlight reflected off the still lake outside and filtered through the villa’s windows.
I closed the bedroom door gently behind me and Nyx snored around my waist.
The week had passed in a blur of shooting simulations, but my aim had barely improved.
Today we were going into battle against Titans.
I would have been depressed, but since I also had to fight to the death in the SGC this summer, I felt nothing at all.
Fluffy Jr. crouched at my feet; Poco sat on his neck, holding his ears with tiny black fingers, like they were reins.
Wait, shouldn’t he be with Augustus?
Shrugging, I moved down the gilded hall toward the atrium where we’d all agreed to meet. The predawn hour was fraught with anticipation.
Crack.
Smoke rose around a short figure in a green toga with long curly blond hair. Her shoulders slumped as she sighed with relief.
“I’m so glad I caught you, daughter,” Persephone said as she stepped in front of me, a sleeping dragon on her shoulder.
Fluffy Jr. wagged his tail and Poco chittered a greeting.
“Hello, M-Mother.” The word was unfamiliar and foreign in my throat.
What is she doing here?
Persephone opened her arms wide and waited, eyes glittering with tears. “I didn’t want to burden you with … our heritage,” she whispered. “The federation doesn’t want you to know the truth—but I realize the burdens are already there.”
I stepped into her embrace. Her warmth engulfed me as she held me tightly, rubbing my back. It felt right.
Her dragon shifted and its leathery wing poked the side of my face.
Persephone’s power was a living, prickling thing, and she smelled like wet earth tinged with hunger.
I breathed in deeply.
“You have the blood of the House of Hades and the House of Demeter,” she said into my curls. “Do you know what that means?”
I tried to reply, but there were no words inside of me.
“It means you’re my daughter, and our power is … unique.”
“Because of my grandfather—Iasion?” I whispered the name of the infamous dark creature who had sired her.
She squeezed me tighter and nodded.
Nyx grumbled about being crushed to death.
“It’s why Demeter disowned me,” she said quietly. “Why the federation exiled me, and why Hades had to take me in. Sparta prefers it when people fall into neat boxes.”
She’d claimed the land on Crete. The earth itself had responded to her.
Persephone pulled back and looked at me, her eyes twinkling with something mischievous.
“Remember—” She leaned closer like she was letting me in on a secret. “It’s much easier to wield power that is insignificant. If it’s difficult to harness, that’s how you know it’s going to be good.”
She winked, then glanced down at her watch with a sigh. “I have to leave. The federation can’t know I’m here—be strong, my daughter.”
Crack.
Persephone disappeared in a haze of smoke.
I stared at where she’d stood.
In a daze, I staggered forward through the villa. Nyx hissed as she slithered around my shoulders.
When I finally made it to the atrium, the sky outside the grand windows was a never-ending sea of stars. Their twinkling light reflected off the shadowy black marble floors.
Assembly of Death members were all getting ready, adjusting their weapons and buckling harnesses. Protectors sat next to them, half asleep.
Time had run out—the Titans were waiting.
Fluffy Jr. plopped down, belly up on the marble. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, as Poco lay next to his head, playing with his floppy ears.
Nyx hissed something in her sleep about murdering everyone.
Dragging my hands over my face, I calmed myself by humming a classical tune and mentally working through a differential geometry problem that would hopefully make Carl Gauss proud.
But he’s not here and you’re a soldier, not a scholar.
I sat down on the hard marble (collapsed from exhaustion that had nothing to do with sleep deprivation) and retied my combat boots.
A shadow fell over me and I looked up.
Augustus stared down, the harsh planes of his face even more severe than usual as he held out a black pager. “Press this button if you get into any trouble. We’ll come immediately.”
Before I could respond, he crouched in front of me with the device. It was similar to the pager General Cleandro had used to summon mentors during the crucible.
Augustus breathed out heavily as he knelt before me. Long sooty lashes surrounded eyes as black as a starless night—he was so close that I could make out every jagged edge of the scar that intersected his cheekbone.
I had a bizarre urge to run my fingers over it.
He tucked the pager into the pocket of my cargo pants.
I shivered.
“Please use this,” he said. “Even if you’re not sure but you feel threatened, use it … We’ll be there.” His hand lingered, fingers spanning across the top of my thigh.
Ozone and musk filled the air.
His hand flexed possessively across my leg and he leaned forward, until our faces were close.
“Alexis,” he whispered as he pressed his forehead against mine.
I wanted to collapse into his arms and let him shield me from the world.
There was no doubt in my mind that he’d protect me. He’d always been vocal about women not having to fight. The idea of sitting back and relaxing while someone else handled everything was intoxicating.
But the world didn’t work that way.
You had to save yourself.
Always.
“Please—promise me, Alexis.” His baritone voice was smooth as silk, dark eyes flashing. “I hate that we can’t be there to protect you—I hate … that you’re fighting at all.”
He clenched my thigh, nails digging through my cargo pants. “You should not be in the Assembly of Death. It’s fucking ridiculous.”
He didn’t think I was made for this.
Neither did I.
Sometimes what we were made for was different from what we wanted. The lines were blurring, and I needed to remember.
Pulling my head back, I squared my shoulders.
“I can look after myself.” I didn’t stutter.
All traces of the gentle, caring man disappeared. If he’d ever existed to begin with.
His face was a dangerous mask. “Let’s agree to disagree, wife.”
The devil incarnate was here to see me off to battle.
Augustus pressed his forehead against mine and our breaths mingled. The gesture was wrathful.
“You better keep yourself fucking safe.” His voice vibrated. “If you need to leap to safety, do it. Do you understand? Protect yourself at all costs … No one else matters. Only you.”
Zap. Our bond fired.
“Take care of yourself,” he said quietly. “Or there will be consequences, my carus.”
It was a threat.
He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. His lips were featherlight—my skin burned, breath catching, as a fever spread through me.
“My precious wife—familia ante omnia.” Augustus kissed my forehead again.
I leaned into his touch.
Family over all.
“I think I just fell in love,” Nyx hissed dreamily.
He waited for my response.
Words bubbled up, but they died on my tongue. Augustus didn’t pressure me to speak, instead he offered me his hand and he pulled me to my feet.
My fingers tingled where he held them.
“Alex will be fine with me.” Patro’s voice broke the trance we’d both fallen under as he sauntered over with his arm wrapped around Achilles.
The muzzled man was glaring at me. Again.
“Don’t worry.” Patro smirked as he adjusted the buckle on the back of Achilles’s armpit harness. “She’ll be completely safe with us—we’re her mentors. Just like old times. When she used to live with us. You remember?”
Augustus straightened to his full height, looming above Patro. “Oh, I remember,” he said. “How you called her spoiled and pathetic.”
“People change.” Patro yanked harder on Achilles’s holster and repositioned a gun.
WSDL glinted on the handle.
War. Sex. Death. Lies.
It was all so disturbingly fitting.
Augustus’s expression was cold as he focused on me. “They’re young—they can’t protect you. Remember to use the pager and leap to safety.”
“Interesting,” Patro sneered, a cruel edge to his voice, like he was going in for the kill. “I’ve never heard a complaint about the Crimson Duo’s fighting ability before. We’re not losers.” He pointedly rubbed at his chest. “Unlike your partner.”
“Here, put these on,” Kharon said abruptly, breaking the tension.
I jumped.
He was standing in my blind spot, and I hadn’t heard him approach. It was as if he’d been summoned. Like Satan.
Hell and Hound sat at his feet, shaking their bony tails, and Fluffy Jr. threw himself at the dogs in greeting, the three of them pouncing on each other (wrestling violently).
Patro turned, giving us his back.
Achilles rotated with him, but he looked back over his shoulder, eyes blazing as he glared at me.
What is his problem?
“Here.” Kharon held out leather holsters filled with knives and guns for me to take.
I pointed to my already loaded chest and hip holsters.
“You need more,” Kharon said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Put them on now. Also, you need these handcuffs if you capture a Titan.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
Patro had already told me not to worry about handcuffing any Titans because he and Achilles would handle it.
My jaw clicked shut, and I held out my hands for him to give them to me.
Kharon ignored my outstretched arms. He moved into my personal space, fastening the buckles around my waist and thighs, black nails flashing.
The scent of a rainstorm made it hard to think.
Augustus watched us both with a heated gaze.
When Kharon finally stepped away, I gasped for air like I’d been running.
“This is a little overkill.” I was now a walking arsenal.
Pale features tensed, and for a second, Kharon reminded me of the grim reaper. The one I had nightmares about; the one that watched me sleep.
“I’ll decide what’s necessary for your protection,” Kharon said. “You’re the newbie and a woman. We’ve been soldiers for years.”
“That’s sexist,” I said.
“Exactly.” Kharon smirked and arched his brow, not even bothering to deny it.
I sputtered with outrage. He was such a walking red flag it wasn’t even funny.
I shook my head. “You’re horrible.”
A sinful grin split his face. “Carissima—when have I ever said that I was a good man?”
Flushing with a heat that I refused to identify, I turned and walked away from him.
I moved around Agatha, who was in a full front split touching her face to her thigh, and stopped beside Drex.
“How do you feel about a suicide pact?” I asked casually. “Also, on a completely unrelated note, do you want a gun? I have extra.”
Kharon said something muffled behind me (most likely derogatory), and Nyx hissed something in response (most likely sexual).
I fantasized about throwing her at him.
Drex chuckled, then his expression became deadly serious. “I’m in.”
“Thank God.”
Drex shuddered. “I am not feeling good about today. It’s very—”
Crack.
A woman leapt into the atrium and Drex stopped talking as glittering red mist spread out and filled the room. It felt like a blanket of terror.
Arthritis (Artemis) was back.
“I’m here because Hades is indisposed,” Artemis said coldly. “He and Ares are still tracking an abnormal Titan sighting in Australia.”
“Agatha and Drex—there’s been a sighting in the mountains of Canada.” Artemis pulled a small piece of paper from her toga pocket and handed it to Agatha. “Here are your coordinates.”
Artemis turned to face the rest of us.
Fear was sour on my tongue.
“Augustus, you and your partner are going to South America—we’ve tracked one into the .” She handed another set of coordinates to Augustus.
Kharon’s face went blank as she approached.
Artemis didn’t glance at him, but her mist thickened and surrounded him, pulsing, like it was attacking. The scarlet avoided Augustus completely.
Kharon’s expression was blank as he was engulfed.
She’s tormenting him.
Artemis clapped her hands.
“Patro, Achilles, and … Hercules, I mean—Alexis.” She looked at me suspiciously, like it was my fault that she wasn’t sure what to call me.
“We changed your initial location. You three lucked out—you’re now staying close,” Artemis said flatly. “A Titan was just spotted in Rome.”
She handed the coordinates to Achilles, who took them with a nod, but like Augustus, the mist didn’t surround him. He was untouched by her power.
Is Artemis afraid of the children of the House of Ares?
Why?
Patro furrowed his brow. “Are you sure it was within the city—inside the protected zone?” He scoffed with disbelief.
Artemis’s face twisted with malice. “Yes.” Her brown hair stood on end with power. “As you’ve been told, there’s been a change in their behavior. That’s what Hades and Ares are investigating. You will handle this.”
Patro bowed low. “Of course.”
Artemis ignored him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like multicolored tags. “One more thing.” She walked around the atrium handing them out. “The federation has passed a new decree for us to follow—going forward, whenever you capture a Titan, you have to tag it.”
The gold tags were cool and heavy between my prickling fingers.
I looked at one. “Hercules, House of Hades” was engraved in black on one side, and on the back, there was a thick pin.
“Once you have your Titan cuffed, put this tag through their lower lip. That way it’s easily identifiable who captured them.”
I put the tags in one of my cargo pockets. No way am I doing that.
“Good luck, soldiers,” Artemis said, her voice emotionless. “Because of Medusa, the federation is watching all of us closely. Don’t return until you’ve captured your Titan.”
Everyone nodded.
“Medusa has ruined our plans to surprise the Olympians. War is already escalating. These are dark times for Chthonics … Beware.”
I struggled to inhale.
Artemis bared her teeth. “May Kronos bless your hunt. Crush your enemies … or you better die trying.”
Crack.
Artemis leapt away.
Smoke swirled around the atrium as the glittering scarlet disappeared, but this time the terror remained.