Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore Book 1)

Kharon: A few hours earlier, at the symposium

I leaned forward at the piano and watched my prey.

Alexis was sitting at a table, surrounded by sirens. She smiled and laughed freely as she talked with the naked creatures. What other secrets do you have, carissima?

The male siren sitting next to her shifted closer, staring at her with pure lust.

I ground my teeth together.

Missed a note.

My thighs bunching, it took every ounce of control I possessed not to stand up and throw my dagger into his throat.

Play the long game, Kharon.

Don’t ruin all your carefully laid plans.

I slammed my fingers down across the ivory keys, pressing the pedal with so much force the piano creaked.

Another Olympian Spartan crawled toward the piano bench, and I kicked him away with disgust. I wasn’t interested in playing with weak bitches; I had singular tastes.

Once I made up my mind, nothing could change it.

I was looking at what I wanted.

Hell and Hound lay at my feet, hackles rising with annoyance, as a constant stream of sirens and Spartans crawled forward, trying to seduce me.

I regretted ever wasting my powers on them.

None of them deserved it.

Breathing deeply, I focused on the music and nothing else.

Fingers moving quickly across the keys, I lost myself in the flow of a faster melody. Plans and moves played out before me, and I studied each one carefully.

There was no room for error.

Not with what was on the line.

There was an explosion of laughter across the room, and I leaned forward to look around the colonnade. Unable to avoid the magnetic pull Alexis had on a room.

My fingers stilled.

She was standing up at the booth, skin gleaming like polished gold, her mismatched eyes crinkled with laughter.

Dried blood was crusted across her perfectly curved lips, her arms were streaked with dirt, and curls were wild around her face—she looked like a disheveled angel.

I’d never met anyone who was such an intoxicating combination of shy and bloodthirsty.

I loosened my diamond-encrusted belt to release the pressure in my pants.

Alexis smiled seductively, slowly tugging down one of her toga sleeves.

I palmed myself through my pants.

I stared, entranced.

Hell growled, deep in his throat, and startled me out of my trance. What the fuck is she doing?

I stood up and threw the piano bench back. People grunted in pain, and I ignored them.

I need to stop her. If the sirens see her naked flesh, so help me Kronos, I’ll kill them all.

Stalking across the room, I shoved a Spartan out of the way.

Halfway toward my prey, I stopped.

Augustus grabbed her neck and stopped her.

He was choking her.

Gently.

His dark eyes were wide with rage. He leaned close and whispered something into her ear, his long black-and-white hair hanging between them like a silk curtain. The scar across his cheekbone and nose was an angry slash.

The lust intensified tenfold.

They were devastatingly handsome together.

Both were vicious.

Both uniquely attractive.

Augustus and I had shared hundreds of people over the years. We preferred fucking together. It kept people from getting too attached, and it was fun to make people sob with unimaginable ecstasy.

But I’d never felt like this before.

Pride filled me as I watched Alexis melt beneath his touch.

Heat flashed in both their gazes.

I smiled.

Things were progressing faster than I expected; the timeline would need to be accelerated.

Slowly, I grabbed my throbbing shaft and stroked.

The pleasure was otherworldly.

I squeezed.

A male siren whimpered as he pressed himself flush against me.

Growling, I pulled my hand away and shoved the man off me. He fell to the ground, and I kicked him, then grabbed a drink off a tray and threw it back. The ambrosia burned deliciously.

It was time to get to work.

I had prey to ensnare.