Bonds of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #2)(122)

I ran my hand down my leg, across Nyx’s blood-crusted scales. Words, whispers, pleas—I wasn’t even sure what I was saying.

As a child, I’d always thought I’d die in the cold, alone in Montana, surrounded by monsters of the human variety, starved and weak, all alone.

Instead, I would perish loved by many, and my death would start an apocalyptic war—both thoughts were comforting.

I dipped my fingers into blood, and a rod solidified in my palm. I planted it into the sand and hoisted myself up, leaning against Fluffy Jr.

Better to die fighting monsters, than to live cowering at their feet.

Something soft moved against my side.

Oh my god.

Fluffy Jr. rose to his feet with a loud flapping noise—he towered above me, his head taller than mine. He opened his mouth, and the sound that rumbled out was straight from my memories.

It was the terrifying noise from the back of the menagerie.

Flaps echoed, appendages moved, bright blue feathers shimmered.

Fluffy Jr. bellowed louder—majestic wings protruded from his back.

Mother of God.

Goose bumps exploded across my body.

Augustus had been wrong.

Fluffy Jr. was one of the rare creatures who molted, and he’d just grown wings—they were stunning shades of sparkly blue, straight from lore.

I had in fact bonded with a horse, and it all made sense, he really wasn’t the brightest.

He was a half-breed—part dog, part Pegasus.

His wingspan was at least thirty feet, bigger than the Titans, his feathers glorious.

Fluffy Jr. tipped his head low, as if he was asking me if I was ready, determination and love strumming through our bond.

His intentions were clear.

He bent his body low onto the sand so I could climb on. Holding my blood rod out so I didn’t accidentally cut him, I mounted his back.

I sat at the base of his thick neck, straddling him like a horse.

He rose up to his full height.

Wings flapped downward, air whooshing—we jerkily flew up above the blood-soaked sand.

From my higher vantage point, the world moved in slow motion.

Zeus was standing at the end of his podium, donned in white, holding his scepter—Hades had moved and now stood with Cerberus, blocking Zeus’s path, black toga trailing, fog swirling at his feet.

Gods of a golden era—facing off—in these tragic modern times.

Both were frozen, their heads tipped back as they watched me.

“Behold.” Hades’s voice strummed with pride as he raised his arms wide. “The heiress to the illustrious House of Hades!”

Zeus flinched.

Make Sparta fear you, daughter.

Shrieks echoed as both Titans rose from the sand to meet us in the air—their black patchy wings unfurled wide, and they hovered, toes dragging across the sand—Fluffy Jr. barked, a thunderous, booming warning.

Luminous wings beat faster around me.

The crowd gasped.

We rose higher until we hovered just below the dome of the electric grid.

The Titans matched our height, hovering fifty yards away, monsters in the sky.

Power deserves to be seen.

Far, far away, a little girl freed herself from a rope outside a dilapidated trailer. She ran into the woods, climbed under a fence, and collapsed into a field of wildflowers.

I raised the rod up high.

For her.

Pleasant humming buzzed along my palm.

Shakily, I got to my knees.

I planted my feet and slowly stood up in the middle of Fluffy Jr.’s thick back, rocking back and forth to keep my balance, as his wings flapped.

Gasps echoed.

“Angelus Romae!” people called out from every direction.

Screeeeeeech.

I pointed the end of my rod at the Titans.

They shot toward me, a blur of black.

Everything slowed as blood lust pounded through me, my senses heightening.

I raised my rod and, once again, swung—one Titan screamed, slashed mid-flight. Agony exploded inside my sternum as it dropped like a rock toward the sand.

The other Titan dodged my swing. It turned around midair and streaked toward me.

I leapt forward.

Legs wide, rod extended.

Suspended over free air, I slammed into the remaining Titan.

Everything blurred.

Talons scoured my side. Shrieks echoed. I stabbed it with my rod.

We careened to the side, its patchwork wings struggling to keep the two of us up as I ripped downward with all my might, dragging my rod through its innards.

Air whistled. The sand approached.

The classic Euclidean problem: What is the closest distance between two points? A straight line.

Pressure exploded as we slammed into the sand in a tangled roll.

The world went still.

A loud ringing muffled both of my ears.

Peering groggily through my obstructed eye, everything was fuzzy and out of focus.

I was lying on my side.

Nyx moaned miserably as she shifted around my leg.

A Titan lay limp beside me—a crimson rod was protruding from its open stomach; black blood was everywhere. I was covered in it.

I rolled onto my side, clawing at the sand. I pushed and heaved, fighting gravity.

Thud.

Fluffy Jr. landed beside me.

In a blur of white, he ripped off the Titan’s head—bones crunched and snapped—he tossed it in the air and swallowed it whole.