Bonds of Hercules (Villains of Lore, #2)(48)

Nothing worked out.

Augustus’s eyes darted to my ear, then back to the men behind me, and a vein in Kharon’s forehead pulsed.

That was my only warning.

Air whistled against my cheeks as my curls lifted and whipped across my face—in complete silence, too quickly for my eyes to track, Kharon and Augustus moved across the marble.

I turned in slow motion.

“Stop it!” I shouted, as Nyx hissed, “PAINT THE WALLS RED WITH THEIR BLOOD.”

Augustus threw himself at Achilles.

Kharon tackled a heavily bandaged Patro to the floor, and Patro’s metal neck brace clanged.

Nails clacked against marble as the protectors all leapt into action, sprinting after their owners, joining the chaos.

One hellhound tackled Nero and the other tackled Poppae. Guttural growls echoed as the four predators rolled about on the floor, and Poco hissed from within the fray.

“STOP IT!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, because I was so tired of the never-ending violence.

Kharon pinned Patro to the floor, crawling over him viciously to get purchase as he shouted in his face.

Achilles tried to get to Patro, but he fell to his knees as Augustus engaged his power and stared into his eyes.

Kharon bellowed with frustration as he looked down at an injured Patro like he was going to strike, but at the last minute, he held himself back, punching the marble floor instead.

Sharp pain flared through my hand. I covered my mouth.

I just felt … Kharon’s punch, like it was my own.

Across the room, Augustus stood over Achilles with glowing Chthonic eyes.

White lights exploded in my vision—a fresh stabbing sensation pierced behind my eyes—I swallowed a whimper of pain as a migraine slammed into me.

Headaches had recently become an issue for me—around the same time that blood started leaking from Augustus’s eyes.

Clammy and weak, I stood up straighter.

Kharon got to his feet, limping as he backed away from where Patro struggled on the floor, looking near death.

Augustus staggered away from his brother.

Achilles crawled toward Patro.

I ran forward to try to help Patro—Kharon turned with surprise and his elbow slammed into my solar plexus.

All three of us came to a stop.

Kharon clutched his stomach in shock and Augustus also grunted—no one had touched either of them.

Our gazes locked.

Sick realization dawned on their faces.

“Our bond. We’re connected,” Augustus said. “By … pain.” He blinked at me, then keeled over and threw up.

Kharon’s face twisted. “Can you … feel … ours?” he asked me with a look of horror as he glanced down at his ruined knee.

I took a deep breath. It would be just another reason for them to coddle me.

“No.” I cleared my throat and schooled my expression. “Why? Can you feel mine?” I didn’t stutter.

Augustus and Kharon visibly relaxed with relief, shoulders slumping, breath whooshing.

A dark memory surfaced. “Father killed her,” I said calmly to the police officer.

They thought I was a bad liar.

I wasn’t. Not when it really mattered.

On the floor, Patro struggled to sit up as he looked at me. “I’m … so sorry. For everything,” he whispered brokenly.

For the first time, Patro looked so young.

He was only twenty-two years old.

We were about the same age.

I tried to tell him it was fine, but the words got stuck in my throat. My back was still wrapped in bandages, and Titans were still shrieking in my ear.

Instead, I looked around the room. “Stop fighting. All of you.”

“Why, Alexis?” Augustus asked, his voice strained with confusion. “They left you to die.”

“Because—” I took a deep breath. “I won’t treat any of you like you treated me.”

Taking a step back, I put more space between us. “I won’t be another reason for your violence—I won’t be like you two.”

“And just … what are we, carissima?” Kharon’s tone was poisonous, shadows crawling across him.

“Belligerent,” I said as I held up my fingers and ticked them off. “Misogynistic, cruel, hyperaggressive, despotic megalomaniacs. You don’t even know what happened, yet you would attack Achilles and Patro.”

As I spoke, Fluffy Jr. moved so he stood in front of me protectively, and Nyx slithered up my leg.

Augustus glanced down, then back up to me, face paling like he’d seen a ghost.

“Poco,” he whispered.

The raccoon climbed up my back, then stood up on my shoulder with his tiny fists resting on his hips.

Kharon’s face dropped as his hellhounds slunk across the atrium to flank me. Bony tails lowered as they growled menacingly.

I reached down, one hand resting on a hellhound’s surprisingly warm head.

“We … protect,” the hellhound said in a garbled voice.

I smiled with gratitude, then straightened.

“Let’s go.” I gestured to Fluffy Jr., my voice echoing in the atrium, the meaning clear.

Kharon made a strangled sound.

“Wait,” Augustus whispered.

Achilles helped Patro to his feet, the two of them watching us silently.