Bonds of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #2)(23)

I gasped.

Kharon was using his Chthonic powers—I could hear what he was feeling.

Blood rushed from my face.

He was more animalistic than I could have ever imagined. The level of obsession flowing from him was incomprehensible.

Karen was truly feral.

“If you don’t take this seriously, shoot me.” His fingers tightened mercilessly. “You won’t sleep for a week—we’ll hold you hostage in this training room.”

“Physical … Nothing m-more,” I whispered.

His feelings took a dark turn.

Kharon ripped himself away from me with a strangled sound.

“You’re wrong.” He pressed the gun into my palm.

Fuck you.

“No, I’m not.” I aimed for his handsome face.

Kharon twisted to the side and dodged; the fake metal tree exploded where his head had been.

“Closer, baby,” he taunted. His raspy laugh echoed, and it had a cruel brittle edge. “If it was just physical, I would have fucked and discarded you like I’ve done with dozens of other—”

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

I fired, dread crawling up my throat at the mere thought of him with other people.

Kharon laughed louder as I stalked after him, fire, explosions, and Titan yells echoing all around.

Screaming, I followed him deeper into the darkness. It was where we both belonged.

“Alexis, where are you going?” Augustus’s voice cracked like a whip.

To go drown myself in the shower. Obviously.

“Stop!”

I halted. Drex and Agatha disappeared into the bunker’s locker room.

Slowly, I turned.

Kharon glared at me. “You’re not dismissed, darling.” He said the endearment like an expletive. “They get the showers first, and you get to explain yourself. Drex grazed one of us—you hit none.”

Patro and Achilles stood beside them, both staring at me with angry expressions.

Wonderful, everyone’s mad at Alexis. It’s a party.

I flipped them all off in my head.

“Do you care to explain your performance?” Augustus asked slowly, the harsh planes of his face unmoving.

I didn’t want to speak, so I didn’t.

Kharon narrowed his eyes, and Augustus twitched like he was having an aneurysm.

Sure, I had the potential to be physically fit and athletically competent. The problem was, I didn’t want to be. I enjoyed sitting. A lot.

Also, I was partially blind and deaf, so there was that.

“ANSWER ME!” Augustus bellowed.

“Don’t speak to my mentee that way,” Patro snapped as he crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ll deal with her performance issues in private. She chose us after all.”

I choked at the double entendre.

Kharon turned with a snarl. Achilles cracked his knuckles, DEATH tattooed across them.

“Do you people ever shut up?” I asked with a mumble, genuinely curious.

Kharon stilled. “What was that?”

I turned and walked away from all of them, collapsing on the bench outside the locker room to wait in peace.

Augustus followed and sat down on my left, in my blind spot.

I stared straight ahead.

Kharon chose that exact moment to aggressively shoot at a target across the training room. My bad ear rang with sharp feedback as a headache pounded in my temples.

“How come your aim is so off?” Augustus asked quietly.

I kept my expression blank. “No idea.”

Augustus made a noise of disbelief, and the side of my face prickled under his intense gaze.

I glanced over.

His midnight eyes were narrowed with suspicion.

It felt like he was staring through me, straight into my soul. He doesn’t know about your eye and ear. Don’t panic.

Patro and Achilles were having a tense conversation at the edge of the metal forest. Achilles signed something about “Alexis, patience, trust” and “needing a plan.”

Do men think they’re subtle?

When Agatha and Drex finally emerged clean and in fresh clothes, all five of us awkwardly moved toward the showers.

Patro and Achilles glared at my husbands.

Kharon raised his gun.

“Careful,” Augustus said darkly. “I’m still the eldest heir.” His eyes filled with blood, and a few droplets dripped down his cheek, trailing across his scar.

Tension increased.

“Fine—” Patro spat after what felt like an eternity. “We’ll wait … this time. But don’t forget, she chose us.” He smirked mockingly.

I made a face at him. Stop antagonizing them.

Achilles scowled.

Kharon elbowed Patro as he stomped over and shoved past him into the changing room. Augustus and I followed.

The room was smaller than I expected. About a dozen lockers filled with folded clothes faced a bench with towels.

The other side had a narrow hall with two shower stalls positioned across from each other.

I stared at them suspiciously.

Showers were a luxury I was still getting used to, but I was pretty sure they normally had doors—only the one on the left did.

Augustus saw where I was looking and explained, “It’s because Hermos is a Gorgon. They’re notoriously bizarre about their privacy. We added the door for him so he’d stop complaining about nudity.”