Bonds of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #2)(31)

“I can … what?”

Patro’s eyes glinted like uncut emeralds. “If you bring them to the brink of death, it will break your oath.”

Sludge filled my veins.

“You want me to … kill Kharon and Augustus,” I said, feeling faint. “You want me to murder your friends.” I pointed to them. “Kill your brothers.”

Achilles flinched like I’d struck him.

Patro huffed. “Don’t be so dramatic. You don’t actually kill them—just bring them to the brink.” He snapped his fingers. “They’re strong, they’ll recover. Then … you’ll be free.”

I’ll never be free.

I could taste the vengeance; I could taste the regret.

Dragging my hands down my face, I pressed my palms into my eyes and tried to stop the racing thoughts. When I finally lifted my head, Patro and Achilles were staring at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.

Aren’t we supposed to be fighting Titans? Why would they do this now?

My vision tunneled.

“Why?” I asked as I stared at my mentors like I’d never seen them before.

Patro flicked his cigarette onto cracked pavement and stomped on it. “Because—what they did to you was wrong.” He made a face, like he was trying to convey that he was sympathetic to my plight.

He failed.

Numbness washed over me.

Patro fidgeted.

I wish I had his power.

“So, there’s … no other r-reason?”

Patro rubbed the back of his neck, eyes darting to Achilles. “No.”

He was a crap liar. How ironic.

The sneaking suspicion became an avalanche, and I’d already played the fool.

“You’re both under twenty-six,” I whispered. “Right?”

Nyx hissed.

My face twisted. I let them see the angst, the sleepless nights, the dark choices I’d made—two times over.

They had no idea who I was.

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’m not insinuating anything.”

Achilles stepped closer to him like he was offering him strength.

Two versus one.

It always was with them.

“This is not just about us wanting to marry a Chthonic.” Patro crossed his arms. “We aren’t like them … 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’t just about 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’m sure Kharon’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 more vicious sexual tastes. I’m sure you’re not scared at 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 have married him? Is that what this is about? Are you mad Kharon chose a pathetic girl over you?”

“Fuck you,” Patro spat. “You don’t know anything about Sparta. You’re playing a game you can’t win. Augustus and Kharon will never care for someone as weak as you. Two dominant, powerful men 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.

How he’d always called me pathetic.

I remembered.

“Shut up,” Achilles signed angrily at Patro. “You’re losing control and ruining everything. This isn’t what you wanted. I told you—you should have waited to talk to her at a better time. This isn’t at all what you were supposed to say.”