Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore Book 1)

Alexis

My stomach turned to ash.

No break, no food, no rest, no mercy.

Sobs echoed.

“Please no,” Maximum whispered in the front of the class (relatable).

Professor Augustus sighed. “Pull yourselves together. For Kronos’s sake, you’re Spartans. Start acting like it.”

There was no god in this cruel, monster-filled world.

“Only two more weeks of study.” Augustus scowled down at me, like everything in the world was my fault. “Then you’ll get your days off.”

Study was an interesting word choice. I would have chosen torment or hellacious suffering.

Augustus rubbed his temples. “Stop with the dramatics—or you’ll all join Dimitrios on the circuit. Is that what you want?”

The room fell dead silent.

Is there a third option?

“After these two weeks”—Augustus paced at the front of the room—“you’ll have survived the summer—the hardest part. The fall is easy. You’ll start visiting the animal menagerie to choose the animal you want to bond with, we’ll give you more frequent breaks, and you’ll gain access to the local symposium.”

Where all the buxom sirens are subjugated? I’d rather not.

Augustus continued, “There will be food at the symposium.”

Sign me up. I’ve always wanted to meet the sirens. They sound like good, hardworking big-breasted people.

Augustus narrowed his eyes at me. “Only fourteen more days,” he said. “Then your lives will get immeasurably easier. Stop bitching and pull yourselves together—what is a measly fourteen days compared to immortality?”

It sounded so simple when he put it like that.

But my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I couldn’t feel my limbs, or my face or . . . Is that a raccoon eating a candlestick?

“General Cleandro,” he said, “wanted to have you run the circuit, but I petitioned for a break. You have five hours right now to study in the library. Use the time wisely. Calm your minds, it will be okay.”

Someone gagged loudly.

It was me.

“Everyone will get a sip of water as a treat.” He walked around handing out (throwing) cups of water to us. I barely caught mine and greedily sucked it down.

If a sip of water is a treat, I don’t want to know what he views as a punishment.

Augustus mumbled something about an ungrateful girl (he was probably talking about Titus), then he said, “I recommend using your time wisely and reading ahead in your Thagorean textbooks. It’s where most of you struggled. You’re supposed to be intelligent, powerful Spartans. Start acting like it.”

He turned his head.

“Your . . . rare abilities,” he said slowly as he stared directly at me, not blinking, “won’t be enough to carry you forward.”

Who is he speaking to?

“Go on, get out of here.” He clapped his hands. “Move, it’s going to be okay. Focus on gaining control of your thoughts.”

My spine screamed as I unfurled to my full height (I stood hunched over with my hands on my knees).

Nyx’s weight didn’t help.

I took a shuffling step forward, then stopped as I almost lost consciousness. Maximum crawled past me on his hands and knees.

Crap, I should have done that.

Somehow, someway, against all the odds in the universe, I made it into the library (I passed out, and Augustus carried me from the classroom while mumbling something that didn’t make sense about dishonor, legacies, and lies).

“Finally, a freaking break,” Nyx groaned, and I jolted awake.

I was lying in front of a library hearth, spread-eagle.

Nice.

“How are you still alive, kid?” Nyx asked, and I groaned as I sat up. “Genuine question, because I slept the entire time and I feel dead.”

I grunted in response, lips dry and cracked, tongue too heavy to use.

Who am I?

Slowly I stood up and hobbled across the room. I lowered into a seat at the table (I clipped the chair and crumbled to the ground, then crawled forward and lay atop it, and a muse picked it up with me in it).

When I was finally seated (kinda), I leaned my head back and closed my eyes with relief.

Please God, give me a sign that it’s all going to be okay.

“You think you belong here,” a muffled voice taunted. “You’re an abandoned mutt, a nobody. A defect. A daughter of a slut who fucked her betters.”

Message received, God—things are not going to get better. I understand. Praise be.

I turned slowly to the left.

Titus sat a few chairs down and leaned forward threateningly. He sneered, his expression drenched in shadows, and in the muted firelight, his red hair spiked out like angry flames.

He opened his mouth.

I turned my head forward and sighed with relief as he disappeared in my blind spot.

Sharp feedback rang through my left ear as Titus spoke, and I easily ignored it.

Drex rolled his eyes across from me. “This sucks,” he said.

I waited.

Who is he talking to?

He waited.

We both waited.

Nyx made the snake equivalent of a heavy sigh. “He’s talking to you, kid,” she said with exasperation.

Why?

I licked my lips and tried to find some moisture. “W-What?” I croaked out raspingly, throat burning like I’d swallowed glass.

“This entire crucible bullshit sucks,” Drex said. “Don’t ya think?”

I nodded jerkily.

Pages rustled and textbooks cracked as initiates opened them up throughout the quiet library. With shaking fingers, I did the same.

Vision blurring, I stared at the book for long minutes until an excessively long Thagorean math equation came into focus.

Sighing internally—it was too much work to continue breathing heavily out loud—I read the directions: “Assign the word problem to variables and solve.”

“I propose an alliance,” Drex said.

Hmm. The abstraction makes sense, if you divide the prime numbers by⁠—

“He’s still talking to you, kid.” Nyx interrupted my train of thought.

I looked up with surprise, and the movement hurt my neck. I’d know if it was broken, right?

Drex was staring at me, his expression expectant.

“What?” I repeated, chapped lips splitting open attractively.

Drex leaned forward and glanced around like he wanted to make sure no one was looking at us. “We’re the only two people who grew up in the human world,” he whispered. “There are only eight of us left. We need all the support we can get—I propose the two of us form an alliance.”

I squinted. “To do . . . what?”

Is he trying to recruit me for a cult? I’d read that was a big problem happening these days. Dark times and all.

Titus said something derogatory at the end of the table, and the feedback in my left ear intensified.

Drex’s dark eyes darted around nervously.

He dragged a trembling hand through his short dark hair and leaned closer. “I’ve only studied up through Calculus III. That was the highest math course my school offered. I need help with Thagorean—please tutor me.”

He hasn’t taken linear algebra, differential equations, or algebraic structures? Thagorean used all those basic principles.

I shuddered in horror.

How can you get through a day without knowing linear algebra? How do you live?

“I can’t,” I said, barely remembering how to speak.

Drex shook his head with desperation. “Please,” he begged. “I’ll help you during the circuit and will help you deal with Titus and his cronies—please—I’m a quick learner, and I just need the basics. Otherwise, I’ll be last and . . . ” he trailed off.

You’ll be dead.

“I’m so sorry.” I shook my head and looked down at the textbook, the weight of his desperate gaze burning through me.

Memories played of his eyes glowing red, hand outstretched while boys screamed. I shivered and swallowed thickly. He’s evil.

“Please,” he said louder.

I didn’t look up.

“Why are you talking to the bitch, Drex?” Titus’s obnoxious voice carried loudly through the library. “Do you two abandoned mutts recognize the bitch in each other?”

That doesn’t even make sense?

“See, I’ll help you with him,” Drex said. “Please. I can protect you.”

I shook my head and didn’t look up.

No one protects me but me.

Drex made a pitiful noise.

Nyx said soothingly, “You don’t owe anyone anything. You’re allowed to prioritize yourself.”

I grimaced.

“However—” Nyx hissed. “I will bite the Titus kid for you . . . right now. You won’t need to worry about him ever again.”

“No,” I whispered and grabbed at her invisible body.

Nyx made a dramatic noise but didn’t struggle. “You stifle my creativity,” she said as she nuzzled her face against my palm.

I breathed out as softly as possible, “Killing people is not creative.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it, kid.” Nyx slithered around my neck, her tongue brushing against my cheek. “I’m an artist. The ways I can make a person scream with violent terror.”

Unfortunately, that was the last time someone spoke to me for hours. Everyone settled into studies, and no one spoke.

Time moved at a strange pace.

Poignant music drifted through the stacks, candlelight flickered, fire crackled, and wax dripped. Everything was drenched in warm shades of red.

“TIME’S UP!” General Cleandro’s voice cut through the peace.

I jolted awake—I’d been dreaming that I was sitting at the desk studying, but I hadn’t been. He ordered everyone back into the classroom, and we hobbled obediently.

Professor Pine greeted us with a big, toothy smile.

What is wrong with him?

The marathon of lectures continued.

I wished Charlie was with me.

It was only after our second meditation session for Discipline and Power that I realized Maximum was the only person sitting in the front row of the class. Dimitrios had never returned.

We were down to seven.

“You’re the next one to die, bitch,” Titus whispered in my ear and yanked on one of my curls when Pine turned his back to solve the equation written on the chalkboard.

Hopefully.

Time became even more peculiar.

Nyx whispered a steady stream of encouragements and nudged my face every time I started to fall asleep.

Titus’s taunts also got bolder and more frequent.

The ringing in my left ear intensified into a high-pitched whine.

A lifetime of partial deafness meant I could read the professor’s lips when they were facing forward, but when they turned away, I was lost.

Professor Augustus overenunciated his words, even though they were in Latin, so he was easy to follow.

Professor Pine mumbled.

Time stretched as seconds bled into hours that melted into days.

“Leo, what is the function?” Pine asked so loudly that the sound traveled over the noise in my ears.

The class turned around to look back at Leo (one person turned, two others fell over, and someone hit their head into the wall).

I rubbed the new bruise on my forehead.

Leo was asleep on the ground, arm draped over his eyes with drool running down the sides of his face. There was nothing discreet about his position. From the way his leg twitched, he was in a deep REM cycle.

That or he was convulsing and needed immediate medical attention.

Titus and Alessander shook Leo’s shoulder, but he didn’t wake up.

SNAP. General Cleandro slammed his yellow book shut—I was 110 percent certain he was just pretending to read it—and he picked up the pager.

No.

Please God, no.

Just make him run it by himself. It’s his own fault he has a sleeping problem. Everyone else stayed awake. Please don’t make us all suffer, it’s not fair⁠—

General Cleandro smiled as he pressed the button.

I shriveled into dust.

BOOM. A tall, handsome man with long dark hair and a laurel-wreath crown stalked into the classroom with a scowl. He had a colorful phoenix on his shoulder.

“Fox, heir to the House of Athena,” General Cleandro said as he greeted the newcomer.

“General, like always, it’s an honor.” Fox bowed his handsome head, then his eyes roamed over the classroom. His upper lip pulled back with disgust.

General Cleandro pointed at Leo. “Your mentee seems to have a sleeping problem.”

Fox’s scowl was downright vicious. He stomped over to Leo and wrenched him up by his toga. He screamed something, and the feedback was excruciating, then he slapped Leo across the face. Hard.

I rubbed at my wrists.

“ENOUGH LOLLYGAGGING! GET UP AND GO . . . GO . . . GO!” General Cleandro’s voice exploded through the room as his hawk flapped its wings.

Stumbling—drowning in nausea from the excruciating ringing in my left ear—I followed the rest of the class out of the room.

Fox led, dragging Leo roughly behind him by his ear. His phoenix let out a shrill noise, which almost sounded like a cat’s meow.

We ran out of the chilly mountain—straight into hell.

Sunlight blinded, muggy air suffocated, heat punished, and grass squished warm beneath my bare feet.

The sun was bright and high in the sky, and there were barely any clouds.

I’d forgotten what warmth felt like.

Fox led us down the grass path, which transformed into pebbles and slanted up a mountain. His phoenix flew high above, its tail a rainbow of colors.

On wobbly legs, I willed my mind to wander.

I prayed time would warp.

Every second was an infinity—every step was agony.

There was nothing to distract me from the burning in my legs and the heaving agony in my struggling lungs.

Sweat poured off my face.

Every step of the ascent worsened.

Wobbling, eyes blinded by exhaustion, I teetered near the mountain’s edge.

Far away, on the other side of a mountain, a maniacal, bloodthirsty scream echoed. A Titan.

Shocked, I tripped over a rock and plummeted toward the⁠—

“Stay next to me, be careful. The Titan is far enough away it can’t get to us.” Drex pulled me away from the cliff’s edge, then dragged me forward.

I tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

I shook my head desperately because I didn’t have the energy to tutor him. I couldn’t.

“Calm down,” Drex said. “I don’t expect anything in return. Fucking relax.”

I tripped over another rock, but his hold on my toga kept me upright.

I was incoherent and unwell, spit dribbling out of my lips as I huffed and heaved. Gagged and cried.

Eons later, we finally made it to the stopping point at the top. I keeled over. Every breath hurt; every heartbeat sent anguish throbbing through my limbs. I couldn’t see anything.

“You’re the most pathetic Spartan bitch to ever exist. You don’t deserve this. Just kill yourself now and put us all out of our misery,” Titus whispered in my ear.

I gritted my teeth.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to bite him?” Nyx asked. “I can make it hurt.”

I tried to form my lips into words, but no sound came out. Weakly, I reached up and smacked at my neck.

“Ow, ow, stop it, woman,” Nyx said. “Fine—fine, I won’t bite him—just stop hitting me.”

Titus scoffed, “You’re disgusting and weak. Bitches like you are the reason men suffer. You’ve stolen a man’s spot in the crucible. You’re a thief and a fraud.” He tugged on one of the curls that had escaped my hair tie.

Jessica would have told him that she didn’t listen to men who smelled like sewer rats.

I missed my high school bully.

Things were truly tragic.

“Let’s go, break’s over!” Fox yelled, and there were grunting noises as people stood up. I floundered to find my bearings.

Someone yanked me up, and I fought against their⁠—

“Calm down.” Drex grunted as I kicked out.

I stopped struggling. “Sorr—” I rasped, unable to finish the apology.

“It’s fine, let’s go,” Drex said as his hand once again tangled in the excess fabric at the front of my toga, and he dragged me down the mountain.

Each step was pure pain.

When we finally made it to the bottom, I collapsed.

“I’ll give you longer to recover before the swim,” Fox said, and there was a chorus of relieved noises.

I made a shaky thumbs-up.

“Thank you,” Leo said. “We appreciate it.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Fox snapped. “Stop falling the fuck asleep and making me do this bullshit. I thought I made it clear last time what would happen if you did. So shut up, sit down, and think about how you’re never going to fall asleep in class again.”

Preach, sister.

Leo muttered an apology.

“I just told you to shut the fuck up—so why are you speaking?” Fox asked.

There was something attractive about a man who spoke his truth with such charisma. Fox had my vote.

After long minutes of gasping (an hour), my heart rate slowed and my vision unblurred.

Orange and pink streaked across the sky as the sun set behind the peaks.

It’s beautiful.

Tears filled my eyes.

“Oh my Kronos—are you crying?” Titus asked, and his cronies chuckled like he was hilarious.

Yeah, cause you’re so ugly.

I instantly regretted not speaking the insult aloud.

Once again, Drex sat in front of me. This time, he was cross-legged in the grass on the edge of the river. He was drenched in sweat and nodded at me tiredly.

Without him, I’d have careened off the side of the mountain into the ravine.

You’re going to have to tutor him.

“Do you really think you’re going to survive this?” Titus asked as he walked over and leered above me. Leo and Alessander stood beside him.

“What’s that white shit on your lips?” Titus asked, and I wiped shakily at my dried spit and sweat.

Titus laughed exaggeratedly. “Is it cum?” His cronies chortled.

Drex rolled his eyes.

Bending my knees, I leaned forward and put my head between my legs. Tell him no one will ever love him.

Titus laughed louder.

Nyx hissed in my ear, “Are you sure I can’t bite hi⁠—”

I poked her.

The moment passed, and once again I regretted not insulting Titus. For some reason, Patro was the only person I could insult.

“Rude,” she groaned, but her tongue flickered across my cheek. “You’re worth so much more than them,” she hissed. “Ignore them—a Nemean lion doesn’t listen to the ramblings of sheep.”

Her words were inspiring.

Too bad Charlie had once said I had the countenance of a platypus and the energy of a deranged squirrel. It was early on in our sign language studies, though, so I wasn’t sure he’d meant it. I’d been too scared to ask for clarification.

“Holy fuck. Guys, look.” Alessander’s voice quivered with fear, and all three of my abusers finally went silent.

Thank God for small mercies.

I looked up.

My heart stopped.

Kharon stood a few feet away, his long boat floating along the edge of the riverbank. Ice-blue eyes glared at me.

Never mind.

Close enough to reach out and touch, his black tattered cloak rippled around him like a shadow.

My vision distorted. His pole resembled a scythe.

Titus, Leo, and Alessander backed slowly away from the river’s edge.

I was too tired to move.

The breeze blew Kharon’s hood to the side, revealing razor-sharp cheekbones and an even sharper scowl.

Long seconds passed as he glared at me.

“What is he doing?” Leo whispered.

He’s reminding me of his threat.

I looked away first.

In my peripheral vision, Kharon pushed away from the river’s edge with an evil smirk.

Satan: 1.

Alexis: 0.

The rest of the break passed in a tense silence, and even Fox looked unsettled.

But like all good things in life, it came to an abrupt end, and we swam the River Styx (drowned in a forward moving direction). The water was warmer than last time, but it was still a shock to the system.

Each stroke was desperate and filled with terror. Each ripple was the ferryman hunting. I didn’t think he’d kill me—not yet—but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t torment me with a little light drowning.

Kharon seemed like the type who played with his food.

When all seven of us crawled onto the shore as a group, the moon shone brightly above, and there were no foil blankets.

General Cleandro stood on the bank and looked unimpressed as he announced we had another five-hour break to study.

I didn’t remember making it inside.

Just had a faint memory of crawling on my hands and knees.

One second I was under the stars, and the next, I was sitting at a table, struggling to read a textbook while tears streamed down my face. Nyx’s cold scales were wrapped up in a ball between my feet.

Drex sat across from me, brow furrowed as he took notes.

He was also crying.

“You just got lucky. Your days are numbered, bitch,” Titus whispered directly into my right ear.

He stood behind me, and his breath was hot on my neck.

I focused on the text in front of me. Tell him he’s going to die alone. Just say it quick.

I flipped the page, unable to find the courage to speak.

“I said—your days are numbered, slut.”

Quickly, call his mom a bad name.

I reached up with shaking fingers to turn the page.

Titus grabbed my arm and stopped me. “You’re going to wish you⁠—”

I stared down at where his fingers were wrapped tightly around my forearm.

“Release me,” I rasped.

He squeezed tighter. His vile fingers pressed into my skin, nails cutting.

I was back in a trailer.

Titus laughed. “Make me.”

I shoved my chair back, whirled, body careening jerkily as I flung myself forward and slammed my fist into the side of his stupid face.

He staggered back from the force.

“Did you just . . . punch me?” He clutched his jaw, eyes wide and crazed.

I swayed back and forth unsteadily, head spinning from the sudden movement, stomach rolling.

His fist flew.

Crack. Sensations exploded across my nose, and blood gushed across my lips. I stood frozen, blinking in shock, stunned by the liquid pouring down my face.

Titus snarled in my face, “Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought. You’re a weak bitch and don’t stand a chance against a real man like⁠—”

I lunged forward and slammed my knee into his crotch as hard as I could. He grabbed himself and fell to his knees. I kicked him in the face as he went down.

Crack. Blood exploded as his nose splintered.

He moaned in a fetal position on the floor.

Now—who’s the real man?

As I swayed drunkenly, my vision doubled.

There was a muffled noise, and I turned to my left. Leo and Alessander were charging in my blind spot, and I squinted my eyes and braced myself for⁠—

Drex flew out of nowhere and threw his fist into Leo’s face.

Drex and Leo slammed into the table.

Alessander stopped in surprise.

With trembling arms, I picked up my chair, groaning as I raised it high. Alessander turned back to me. I rammed it down over his head, and he went down like a rock.

Broken chair pieces splintered everywhere.

Leo and Drex pulled away from each other and stared at me. Maximum and Cassius gaped in their seats with open mouths. Muses peeked out from behind the stacks.

Shadows moved strangely in my peripheral vision.

Neck prickling, I squinted into the darkness outside the open library door. Is someone watching me?

No one was there.

Titus groaned, and I dropped the broken piece of wood in my hand.

“Wahoooooo.” Nyx slithered up my leg. “That’s my girl.” She made a sniffling noise. “I’m so proud right now . . . this is the best day of my life. I knew you had it in you, bestie. Pussy power, crush the patriarchy! Don’t stop now—murder them all. KILL EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM!”

Grimacing, I keeled over and threw up all over Alessander.

Oops.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, then barely stopped myself from face-planting.

“What the fuck is all the noise?” General Cleandro stomped in, and Professor Augustus followed him with a worried expression. When he saw me, his face transformed into a hateful scowl.

They both stopped.

Blinked as they took in the scene.

Slowly, the two men (towering behemoths who looked like they belonged on a battlefield) walked over to where Alessander was passed out cold, covered in a broken chair and stuff, aka, my regurgitated bile. Next to his fallen friend, Titus staggered to his feet, clutching his crotch like a pervert.

“What—happened here?” General Cleandro asked slowly. Augustus glared at me accusingly with soulless dark eyes, rubies gleaming on his head in the library’s firelight.

Out of respect for his authority (pure fear), I stared at the floor.

Titus sputtered.

General Cleandro held his hand up. “I just want to remind you,” he said softly. “That if anyone has been fighting—for any reason—you will all run the circuit until your feet are bloody stumps . . . then you’ll run it some more.”

Titus’s teeth clicked as he snapped his mouth shut.

“So I’ll ask again,” General Cleandro said. “What the fuck happened here?”

Cassius spoke quickly, “It was just⁠—”

“Titus,” the general cut him off and pointed at the blood-covered boy. “Titus, will tell me what happened.”

The silence was so charged that if a match was lit, the air would explode.

After an excruciating long pause, Titus whispered, “Alessander fell out of his chair. When he fell, the chair also hit me . . . and . . . uh . . . that’s why we were both on the ground.”

I glanced up.

General Cleandro stared at Titus with an unreadable expression, and Augustus was still glaring at me.

“Be more careful with how you act in the future,” the general said. “The furniture can be—dangerous.”

It didn’t feel like he was talking about a chair.

“What are you all waiting for?” He whirled around and glared. “STUDY AND STOP STANDING AROUND.”

As General Cleandro stalked out of the library, we scrambled into our seats.

Titus’s excuse hadn’t explained my broken nose, Leo’s black eye, the bruise on Drex’s cheek, or how the chair had broken on top of Alessander, then covered him in vomit.

But he hadn’t punished us.

Augustus lingered in the library with his eyes narrowed.

Help, why is he still looking over here?

Why is he walking toward me?

He stalked over to where I sat and loomed behind me like a dark cloud.

I prayed for spontaneous combustion.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Augustus asked silkily, low enough that only I could hear.

Sadly, I did not explode.

I swallowed thickly. “What are you t-talking about?” I whispered.

He leaned closer, breath tickling the side of my ear, and strange sensations fluttered in my lower stomach.

“Why—the fuck—are you putting yourself in danger?” he asked slowly, his voice vibrating with vehemence. Quietly, in a deathly whisper, he said, “Chthonics are extremely rare and important. Act like it.”

Oh, it’s because my mentors are Chthonic and he’s worried about them becoming generals.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, I’m just defending myself, and I had it all under control. It’s fine.” My tone was confident, but the blood that gushed from my broken nose onto the table ruined the effect.

Augustus made a rough noise in the back of his throat, and he flexed his hands like either he had rheumatoid arthritis or he was trying not to strangle me (both options were extremely concerning).

“Take better care of yourself,” he snarled. “Or—I’ll have to take action. This can’t continue.”

Since it was completely unclear what “this” he was referring to, I gave him a hesitant smile.

He growled and stomped away, then slammed the library door shut behind him.

Well, that went well.

I slumped over, groaning as my face throbbed.

With the two Spartan generals (power-hungry fascist dictators who were definitely suffering from undiagnosed mental disorders) gone, there was a collective sigh of relief in the library.

We rejoiced over our avoidance of certain doom.

Yay, not being murdered in a fit of rage. Wahoo. God is good.

“Wow, kid,” Nyx hissed as she slithered up my body. “That was hot. Did you feel that tension? I can’t breathe.”

“First—you’re delusional,” I whispered. “Second, you’re a snake. Do you even have lungs?”

Nyx hissed, “First, I do—rude. Second, please, I’m a woman, and it’s obvious that man wants to do depraved things to you. Thank Kronos, finally a worthy suitor. I was getting worried you were going to die a virgin. It would have been so embarrassing for our family’s honor.”

I choked.

What family honor?

“Hey, what’s wrong with celibacy?” I asked under my breath. “I told you, Carl Gauss is the only man for me. You know this. Also, you’ve officially lost it—Augustus hates me.”

“I never said he didn’t hate you.” Nyx tightened around my throat. “That’s obvious, that man LOATHES you, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to murder you—in bed. If you know what I mean.”

Unfortunately, I did. Kinda. But in a very real sense, I had no clue what she was talking about.

I cleared my throat in disbelief and dribbled saliva attractively onto the table.

“You’re crazy,” I said to Nyx as I tried to wipe the bloody spit away with my arm, and just spread it around, making a bigger mess.

“You’re an idiot,” Nyx scoffed, and I took the high road (pinched her until she shut up).

Sometimes violence was the answer.

Drex made a noise as he sat down across from me.

“What just happened with Augustus?” His eyes were wide, expression confused. “Why was he whispering to you like that? Do you—interact with him outside the crucible?”

I scoffed. “No, that would be horrible.”

He kept looking at me weirdly. “He seems very—proprietorial over you.”

Not him too.

Shaking my head, I waved my hand dismissively. “It’s just because my mentors are Chthonics. All of them are s-super worried about them becoming generals. They’ve created a very stifling, unhealthy environment. The old boys club. Ya know.”

What am I even saying?

Drex did not look like he knew at all, but he shrugged and opened his textbook.

“Here.” I coughed. “Let me explain,” I whispered roughly, air whistling through my crushed nose, as I pushed my textbook toward him.

Drex’s head snapped up. He looked up at me like I was his savior.

“Alliance?” I croaked out, then clarified, “But not the cult kind. No human sacrifices, flower crowns, or weird circles with sticks.”

At this time in my life, I could not handle cult life.

Maybe later, when I had more free time.

“Of course.” Drex flashed bloody teeth from his fight with Leo and said, “Us abandoned mutts have to stick together.”

Nodding (then regretting it because it jostled my aching nose), I began to slowly explain linear algebra to him. Luckily, he was a quick learner and caught onto concepts easily.

As the next hours passed, a strange warmth unfurled in my chest. The sensation was so foreign that it took me a second to place it.

It was hope.

The two weeks were almost over, and soon we’d get to rest. It was already the end of August, and somehow I was still alive. Professor Augustus had said the fall was much easier. You’ve already made it through the hardest part.

Everything wouldn’t be so bad, and it would all work out in the end.

Delusion was one hell of a drug.

Spoiler, it would not all just “work out.”