Bonds of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #2)(35)

“Move!” Nyx hissed with panic as her scales slid like she was looking up. “Faster.”

I skidded out from the safety of the alley. Arms pumping, I headed straight for the sheltered walls of the Colosseum.

A boom echoed and the ground shook.

Both Titans slammed down into the grass park that surrounded the ancient structure, directly in front of my path.

Their tattered wings slowly folded in.

What a nice day to die.

Stumbling back, I raised my weapons.

They stalked forward in a slow approach. Fluffy Jr. barked, the sound loud and harsh, as he once again stood in front of me defensively.

I unclicked the safeties.

“You need to get out of here,” Nyx hissed. “Right now.”

I nodded in agreement.

A light flashed brightly and a camera clicked.

Both Titans stopped moving, their heads tilted to the side—they focused on something off to my left. In tandem, they opened their mouths, razor teeth glinting. Saliva oozed as they licked their mangled lips with long black tongues.

I mentally focused on leaping to a safe destination.

“Dom—”

Someone whimpered.

I turned my head, heart dropping—I’d missed them in my blind spot.

A group of a dozen elderly men and women were frozen with horror, seated at concrete chess tables set up in the grassy park. One of them lowered a camera.

The Titans were zeroed in on the people, their intentions clear.

“Leap away, Alexis!” Nyx shouted. “Go—save yourself while you still can!”

I tipped my head back.

“Were the human casualties avoidable?” Persephone whispered in my ear.

I raised my guns and fired.

Bullets peppered the Titans’ flesh; they shrieked, but their attention remained locked on the group of people.

Arms wide, I jumped in front of the humans protectively.

“Pater noster, qui es in caelis,” someone cried out in Latin. Our Father, who art in Heaven.

The Titans prowled toward me, talons extended, mouths open.

Amen.

I raised both guns and kept firing.

Poppopopopopop.

Some bullets hit, some missed, but the monsters kept advancing, slow and steady. They were toying with their prey.

Ten feet away.

Poppopopopopop.

Five feet.

Poppopopopopop.

Two feet.

Poppop—Click. Click.

A ferocious growl echoed as Fluffy Jr. leapt forward, slamming into one of the Titans. The beast tried to shake him off, but my protector held on, his teeth locked around its throat.

It crumpled to the ground—Fluffy Jr. had ripped out its throat.

Jerkily, I reloaded both guns, raised my arms, and fired at the second screeching Titan.

In a blur of white fluff, Fluffy Jr. launched himself at the remaining Titan, but it was quicker, raising its forearm. He bit down on its arm.

I lowered my guns, unable to get a clear shot.

“Adveniat regnum tuum, fiat voluntas tua,” chanted frantically behind me. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.

Sobs became wails.

“Genuine question,” Nyx hissed. “Are we trying to die? Because if not, we should be running away right now!”

“I just need a plan,” I whispered.

Gritting my teeth, sweat burning my eyes, I bounced back and forth on my toes as the Titan spun, trying to dislodge my protector.

My thoughts raced desperately—a times x squared plus b times x plus c equals zero.

New plan: never think again.

Reciting the quadratic equation was not helping anyone.

I threw my guns down because the weapons were barely doing anything.

Try visualizing your success—a dead Titan morphed into the triangular function graph of Collatz conjecture.

I grabbed the hilts of the long daggers strapped to my thighs—the pair Kharon had insisted I wear—and pulled them both free.

All I had was poisonous blood and an unhealthy amount of theoretical math knowledge.

So be it.

I pointed both daggers at the Titan that was still on its feet, trying to shake off Fluffy Jr., and careening closer.

“Don’t you dare.” Nyx clicked her teeth. “Alexis, I have not raised you from a hatchling for you to throw it all away for some random humans.”

I bent my knees, weapons ready.

“Fine. You better survive.” Scales scraped—Nyx launched herself off my neck.

Bite marks bloomed across the Titan’s face as it spun, Fluffy Jr. gnawing on its arm.

Eyes narrowed, my fingers tingled. Closer.

The Titan turned as it struggled, its front wide open.

I leapt forward, stabbing both daggers into its blackened chest cavity. It shrieked and staggered.

I’m doing it!

I’m actually amazing at fighting!

A terrible slicing sensation exploded down my back—the Titan used its free arm to shred my spine.

There was no resistance.

I screamed.

Never mind, I’m not doing it.

“Alexis!” Nyx called.

Everything went fuzzy, the world blurring at the edges as I loosened my grip.

The monster spun.

All pain cut out, as if a switch had been flipped.

Eyes closing, I drifted into the peaceful dark, calm settling over my limbs.