Chapter 34 The Battles We Wage
THE BATTLES WE WAGE
Sparta cheered thunderously.
Sitting between Kharon and Augustus, with my buzzing hands clasped tightly between my legs, I prayed to a god who probably despised me.
Far below, the arena was full of inky fog, so thick and dense, it looked as if black tar had been poured over the sand.
Hades—my father—stood tall in the middle, his pale hands held high above his head, blood glowing in his eyes.
There was nothing survivable about what was flowing out of Hades. It was a thick vicious flood of death.
Apparently, he’d gone easy on us in the initiation massacre.
The Cyclopes’ screams echoed, but they were barely visible in the dark fog. They were nothing but glimpses of hands tearing at skin, of flesh collapsing onto sand, of single eyes wide and terrified.
Blood splattered.
Hades—contributor of half of my genetic material—didn’t have to lift a finger as all five of them tore themselves apart.
The whole thing barely took ten minutes.
Nyx slithered around my neck as the fog pulled back into Hades with a whoosh. “That was impressive,” she hissed.
I shivered because she was right—his power was magnificently terrible.
It was a startling, graphic reminder of what it meant that I was a Chthonic heiress. What it meant that he’d made me in his image.
The same lethal energy was dormant, waiting inside of me.
SGC DAY 4
Yesterday’s symposium had passed in a blur. I didn’t remember falling asleep at night—one second I was out, the next I was awake, filled with terror.
My teeth chattered as sweat dripped down my back.
I was back in my seat in the coliseum.
Kharon and Augustus were yet again flanking me. Their thighs brushed against mine and I tried not to jolt each time.
Drums pounded and electricity hummed above the arena.
“Today’s competitor is …” Zeus paused, his voice echoing around the stadium as sparks leapt around his raised arms. He stood on the walkway that jutted out over the arena, an overseer—an emperor—commanding destruction. “EREBUS!”
The crowd lost it.
Chants echoed all around. “Primordial god of darkness … shadow hunter … nightmare harborer … bow before his shadowy plain, or YOU shall be slain!”
Erebus prowled out onto the sand, bone-white mask gleaming, tattered black cloak fluttering behind his tall figure.
He had no weapons; no visible protector; no armor. The edges of his figure blurred, as if he was transparent, and not a being of flesh and blood.
A man who was rumored to live with wolves.
“He’s so dreamy,” Helen said in the seat ahead of me as she covered her mouth. Charlie nodded in agreement beside her.
I tilted my head to the side.
I could see it.
“Oh, I could beat him,” Nyx hissed with awe as she twined slowly around my waist. “And I’m not talking about in a fight.”
I choke-coughed violently (apparently, everyone was getting more sexually aggressive these days).
Augustus smacked my back.
Steel rattled as the heavy gate on the other side of the arena slowly rose up—five Cyclopes charged out, growling with their meaty fists raised.
Erebus casually raised his hand and pointed his finger at them.
Oversized shadows distended and morphed behind each Cyclops—pure inky darkness warped and rose from the sand—sharpening into five tangible, vicious-looking knives.
The black blades hovered in the air for a second.
Erebus pulled back his raised arm as if he was tugging on a rope.
The shadows speared each Cyclops through their back, straight through their heart.
Blood sprayed as the Cyclopes dropped like rocks—dead—with a thunderous boom.
A horrible thought struck me, and I peered up through my lashes at Kharon.
His features were hard, eyes haunted.
That’s his father.
SGC DAY 5
Augustus and Kharon sat close beside me. It was Aphrodite’s round.
Our thighs were pressed together.
The three of us hadn’t spoken since yesterday when Erebus had wielded his shadows on the sands.
Now we were back for more.
Aphrodite sauntered out into the arena.
She wore a Spartan helmet. Her long braids were covered in crystals, which sparkled as she leaned down and deposited her house cat–sized sphinx protector at the edge of the sandy ring.
She patted its head, like she was making sure it stayed out of the battle.
Then she stood back up and moved to the center of the sand with a golden ax slung casually over her shoulder.
“Fuck me, you sexy bitch!” a male screamed nearby, and the entire section erupted in laughter. Sexual innuendos and other lewd propositions were shouted with increasing frequency.
Aphrodite appeared completely unbothered as she waited for the steel gate to rise and release the Cyclopes.
The sky was mostly overcast, but humidity made my toga stick uncomfortably to my skin.
Anticipation mixed with electricity.
Everyone in the arena was leaning forward in their seats, waiting to see what Aphrodite—the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth—would do.
She was nicknamed the Goddess of Sex because her Chthonic power was in her saliva. One kiss, and a person was a slave to her, mindless with agonizing sexual desire.
From the heckles echoing around the stadium, a lot of men would gladly volunteer to be her victim.
Helen sat ramrod straight ahead of me, her legs bouncing. She glanced back over her shoulder at Augustus, worry on her face.
“She’ll be fine,” Augustus said smoothly, but his eyes crinkled. “Don’t worry.”
Helen nodded and turned around. Charlie slung an arm around her and squeezed.
A few seats down, Patro nodded in agreement, but his eyes were also full of concern, and Achilles rubbed his back.
She’s their mother.
Helen looked like a younger version of her, and Patro was the masculine equivalent. They both had her breathtaking, almost sculpturesque beauty.
In contrast, Augustus took mostly after Ares in coloring and looks. His features were harsher, more biting.
I jolted in my seat as I realized Augustus and Patro were technically also half brothers. From the way they acted, you’d never know.
In contrast, Augustus and Achilles seemed to have some sort of brotherly bond. From the snippets they’d shared, the two of them had grown up together in the House of Ares.
Patro seemed almost … left out.
My heart pinched as I thought about how everyone in Sparta, including him, had called me an abandoned mutt like it was the worst sort of offense. It must have been hard for him, growing up in a civilization that viewed him as lesser because of his human heritage.
It never failed to surprise me how small Sparta was. It was nothing like the human world, in so many ways.
Case in point, the gate lifted and five Cyclopes charged out.
Aphrodite sprinted toward them, her muscles rippling as she raised the oversized ax above her head.
The crowd “oohed” with anticipation.
Aphrodite leapt through the air and swung her ax with impressive Spartan strength.
Blood exploded.
She landed in a crouch, beside a decapitated Cyclops head—drenched head to toe in red.
The cheers stopped.
Before the other beasts could react, she leapt at them quicker than my eye could track, wielding her ax like an extension of herself.
Chunks of Cyclopes esophagus sprayed.
Aphrodite didn’t use her powers, just sheer brute force.
After long minutes of aggressive hacking, the sand was a mess of severed body parts. Aphrodite let out a war cry of satisfaction as she kicked a head, the size of a boulder, and it rolled across the sand.
There was nothing left to kill.
No one cheered.
Her sphinx sat at the edge of the arena, licking its paw with boredom.
Helen visibly sighed with relief and slumped against Charlie.
Down below, drenched head to toe in blood, Aphrodite rose up to her full, majestic height and smiled, diamond braids sparkling down her back.
She blew a kiss to the silent crowd.
She’d silenced the men.
Hades stood up, and we all followed his lead. Our section clapped and cheered loudly, as the rest of the stadium stared at the sand in shock.
Aphrodite scooped up her sphinx, kissed its head, and disappeared from view.
I smiled. Satisfaction unfurled in my gut.
It was the first fight I’d enjoyed.
Guards arrived at our section, and escorted us to the symposium.
When we stepped through the doors, the harp music had been replaced by electric guitars and a scantily clad male singer. I recognized him as a popular human rock artist. He screeched into a microphone as Spartans jumped on the dance floor.
Well, this is unexpected.
More people streamed into the room than usual. Spartans and creatures of all designations had decided to attend.
The space was already close to capacity.
In the unexpected crush of bodies, I got separated from Augustus and Kharon.
Turning, I stood on my tiptoes and looked over heads as I searched.
I bumped into something hard.
Hands steadied me and a familiar voice said, “Alexis, I was hoping to see you.”
I stared into the eyes of a tall, skinny boy with flame-red hair—we were the same height—the goat of the House of Dionysus was embroidered on the pocket of his guard uniform.
Oh goody. Not.
Titus, the bully who made my life hell during the crucible, was standing in my personal space, touching me.
“If he does anything, I’m biting him,” Nyx hissed into my ear as she tightened around my neck like she was getting ready to lunge.
“No,” I said quickly. “I’ll handle him.”
Titus shifted awkwardly, his eyes squinting with confusion at what was probably a jumble of sibilant sounds coming from my mouth, but he kept his hands resting on my shoulders.
Instead of stepping back, he leaned closer. “I wanted to get a chance to talk to you!” he shouted over the rock music and buzzing sound of conversation. “I wanted to—”
“Get your hands off m-me!” I yelled back. “Now.”
Titus dropped them, but he didn’t step back.
We were still standing close together, the crowd of people streaming into the symposium swirling around us.
“I wanted to apologize!” Titus shouted louder, offering a sheepish smile. “I was wrong to target you and …” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, now that I’m a guard. It’s …”
He kept talking, but his voice faded away as I stopped listening. I didn’t care what he had to say.
I stared at his moving lips, searching my brain for empathy or some deep-seated urge to forgive him. I sank into myself, looking for goodness, for the ability to forgive and heal. This was the perfect opportunity to be the bigger, more mature person.
I stood on my tiptoes, so he had to look up at me.
“Don’t t-talk to me.” I smiled coldly. “Ever again.”
I’d found nothing inside—just rage.
Titus’s jaw clamped shut, his eyes narrowing, anger sparking in them.
“I’m trying to be better,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry for what I did. You were never really an abandoned mutt and … I’m really sorry and I would really appreciate it if you accepted my apology and—”
I made a mocking sad face back at him. “Apology not accepted.”
So, this is about my newfound heritage. Asshole.
“No.” Titus shook his head with agitation, his neck turning a splotchy scarlet as his chest bumped against mine. “You don’t understand … I’m being sincere. I’ve been working with a therapist. I feel like it’s—”
I laughed harshly. “Try a shovel, it’s cheaper.”
He frowned with confusion. Someone had clearly never heard of the good old whack to the head.
He continued. “Anyway, I feel—”
“It’s not my job to care about your feelings.”
Titus bared his teeth. “Stop interrupting me. It’s—”
“It’s annoying, isn’t it?” I said. “When someone doesn’t give a fuck about how you feel.”
Titus shook his head, bodies streaming faster around us as more people tried to run inside the room.
“I know what I did was wrong!” He pointed at my crown. “It’s important to the House of Dionysus that we have good relations with the House of Hades and—”
“So your House is making you do this?” My smile fell and brow furrowed in (mock) concern. “How pathetic.”
The scarlet crept up his face. “Why are you acting like this? You never used to talk so much. You were quiet and you didn’t—”
“Don’t you dare.” I batted his hand away and raised my own finger to his nose. “Don’t pretend you know anything about me. Just b-because I didn’t say it aloud didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking it.”
He ran a hand roughly through his messy red hair. “It’s just you’re not listening to what I’m trying to … Wait, what were you thinking back then?”
I leaned closer. “I used to wish that you were dead.”
“Excuse me?” He recoiled as he stared at my eyes, which must have filled with blood. “What did you just say?” he asked. “You’re the heiress to the House of Hades! You can’t just speak like that. Where’s your honor and—”
“Walk away before you embarrass yourself further. I’ll never forgive you because—” I stabbed my finger into his chest “—I don’t fucking want to.”
Rock music blared around us.
Mozart would have hated this.
I smiled wider.
Titus sputtered with outrage. “You Chthonics really are all fucking crazy.” He made a face. “You probably helped them free Medusa—you’re all murderous psychopaths.”
I tipped my head back and laughed.
From his aghast expression, he didn’t think this was how our conversation would go.
There was a commotion around us as three Olympians were physically thrown out of the way to make room.
“There you are,” Augustus said. “We’ve been looking for you.”
Kharon stiffened as he realized who I was talking to. “Is he harassing you?” he asked quietly, his voice filled with promises of carnage. “Do you need me to … handle him?”
Titus recoiled again, holding up his hands in a surrender gesture. Pathetic.
“No.” I led Kharon and Augustus away into the crowd. “I was harassing him.”
Augustus shook his head, but the corners of his lips pulled up.
Kharon smirked down at me with pride. “Excellent work.”
For the first time in days, I smiled and I actually meant it.
“A toast!” Zeus shouted a few feet away. The music stopped with a metallic screech and everyone in the room fell silent.
Zeus grabbed a drink off a tray and held it up.
“To the younger Chthonics starting their rounds tomorrow.” The glass of ambrosia sparked in his hand. “May you prove yourself half as competent as your impressive House leaders.”
His gaze roamed over the room and landed on me.
Still smiling, I didn’t look away.
Gray eyes narrowed with confusion, like he didn’t know what to make of me.
Remember, daughter, no one fears the sane.
Two could play at psychological warfare.
I winked.