Blood of Hercules (Villains of Lore Book 1)

Alexis

Everything was dark as I leaped.

“Are you there?” I shouted, my breath a frosty puff as I staggered to my feet and narrowly avoided slamming into a tree trunk.

The Montana forest was dark.

It was the middle of the night, and thick snowflakes fell.

Turning in circles, vision blurring, I desperately tried to orient myself among the frost-covered tree branches.

Half-unconscious, delirious with pain, I stumbled forward with snow crunching beneath my ruined flats.

“Charlie?” I shouted as I ripped through the forest.

Twigs cracked loudly, but I didn’t care that I was waking the nightlife. For the first time in my life, Titans didn’t feel like an overwhelming threat.

There were bigger monsters in the world.

I was one of them.

Nyx mumbled in her sleep as she shifted on my throat, and my heart pounded erratically inside my chest, pumping poisonous blood through my veins.

You murdered them all.

“Charlie!” I screamed, desperation making me sick.

He was there when you killed your first victim. He was crying in the corner as you tore your mother to shreds. How dare you soil him with your corrupt presence?

Tears froze as they streaked across my face.

Everything ached.

My black soul was on fire.

I pushed through icy branches, uncaring as they scratched against my skin and opened new wounds.

“Charlie,” I whispered dejectedly, giving up hope. He doesn’t want to see you. You abandoned him. He hates you now.

Sobbing, I bounced against a tree and fell to the forest floor.

You’re actually evil. God can’t save you now. Carl and Emmy would be disappointed.

On my hands and knees in the shallow snow, I opened my mouth to cry, and a scream came out.

“Alexis?” an unfamiliar male voice called, and heavy footsteps crunched.

I cried harder because Charlie didn’t speak. The Spartans found me before I could ever get to him.

The Spartan approached quickly, as he ran deftly through the forest—nothing but a shadow.

“Alexis!” the strange man cried out as he fell to his knees next to me.

Moonlight kissed pale skin, high-arched features, messy blond hair, and piercing yellow eyes.

“Charlie,” I whispered hoarsely.

Long fingers moved rapidly. “Sister,” Charlie signed. Then he gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me tight.

Nyx hissed as he bumped her, but Charlie didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy holding me like he was afraid I’d disappear.

Surrounded by ice and snow, warmth exploded in my sternum—I was finally home.

We trembled as we held each other.

Ignoring my protests that I could walk, Charlie picked me up into his arms and carried me through the trees.

Time passed in a blur.

The world warped.

I was sitting on layers of old rugs. A patched blanket was wrapped around my shoulders and Charlie’s. He’d grown taller and wider since I’d seen him, and we barely fit within the dilapidated box.

Cardboard and tarp were draped over our heads. Icy branches clattered against the sides of the structure as the wind howled.

The flickering green light of the broken lantern illuminated the harsh planes of Charlie’s face.

His bone structure had grown, but he didn’t have muscle and fat to go with it.

His features were hollowed and emaciated.

Despair burned in my sternum.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “For leaving you. I took the test, and it all happened so fast. They took me—it was a massacre—then the crucible—then I found out . . . my blood—they used me.” I gasped for air, unable to get my thoughts in order.

Charlie shifted closer so we were leaning fully against each other.

His body was trembling.

“I was so scared,” he signed. “Everyone at school was talking about how you were a lost female Spartan, and that they’d taken you to Italy. I tried to find a way to get to you—but there’s no human travel across the Atlantic. There was no way to reach out. I’ve been sick with worry every day—I should have been there to protect you. You were never the fighter. It shouldn’t have had to be you . . . I’m so sorry.”

Tears streamed down his face.

I threw myself forward and wrapped my arms around him.

His skin was ice cold, like he hadn’t been warm in weeks, and I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.

We held each other with desperation.

“If there was a choice between me and you having to do the crucible,” I whispered shakily, “I’d do it every time—you’re not a fighter either. Not really. Neither of us should have to live this way. We both deserve better.”

Long moments passed as we embraced.

I pulled back slightly.

“Where’s Fluffy?” I whispered in confusion, looking around the small empty structure.

Charlie bowed his head low.

“I tried,” he signed slowly. “I gave her all the jerky—but it wasn’t enough.”

My vision blurred over.

Nyx wasn’t here, so there was no one to feed her.

“She didn’t survive the early winter.” He buried his head in his hands and cried out, a heart-wrenching wail.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I gasped on a watery sob. “Please, it wasn’t your fault. Please. Please listen to me. Please.” Once again, I wrapped my arms around my younger brother and held him tight.

The wind howled sharply.

Branches clattered.

We were nothing but two broken souls trying our best to survive in a cruel, unforgiving world.

In that dark of night, we mourned together.

For Fluffy, who’d been nothing but a bright shining light of love in a heartless place.

For each other.

For the horrible days we’d spent apart.

I whispered into the flickering green light, “I promise—I’ll never leave you again. You’ll always be by my side.”

“Always,” he signed.

Curled up under a stolen blanket, we fell asleep shivering in each other’s arms. Pain throbbed through my limbs, but I easily ignored it.

There was nowhere else I’d rather be.

I woke to the angry sound of dogs barking off in the distance.

Charlie moaned in his sleep and twitched.

“Wake up,” I whispered as I elbowed his shoulder.

He sat up with a gasp. “What is it?” he signed, blond hair disheveled, yellow eyes sleepy.

“Listen.” I pointed outside the box.

The barks increased.

“Who are they?” he signed. “What do they⁠—”

Our structure was ripped away.

Bright morning rays reflected off the snow with blinding intensity.

Four towering men stood in the forest. They wore togas and long furs.

A gun was drawn.

Patro knelt at their feet, and Nero was standing still, sniffing the air like something was there.

Before I could react, Charlie threw himself in front of me, shielding me with his much larger form.

“Why the fuck are you in a cardboard box—and who the fuck is this?” Kharon rasped. “Actually, don’t tell me. I’d rather shoot first and then find out.”

A safety was clicked off.

“Don’t you d-dare,” I shouted and tried to push Charlie away from me, but he flexed and didn’t budge. “It’s my little brother—Charlie!”

There was a long moment of silence.

“That is your little brother?” Patro asked, voice full of disbelief. “Is this where you live?”

Someone swore violently.

“Charlie, get off me,” I said as I pushed at his back. “I need to talk to them.”

He shook his head and didn’t budge.

I stretched up and peeked over his shoulder—Kharon had a gun extended, inches away from Charlie’s forehead.

Glacial eyes burned with fury.

Beside him, Augustus wore a similar expression of rage. His long two-toned hair was messy, like he’d been continually running his fingers through it. Poco sat on his shoulder, pointy teeth bared with aggression.

A few feet away, a smoking cigarette hung between the grates of Achilles’s muzzle, and his red eyes were molten. His fists were clenched tightly, chest heaving.

Patro stood next to him glaring. Any trace of the congenial man I’d gotten to know over the last few weeks was gone.

He was furious.

“Move aside,” Augustus said with deceptive softness. It was the tone he always used before he absolutely lost it. “We need to get Alexis medical help—she spent the night bleeding in this absolute disgrace of a fucking shelter.”

He pointed down at the red-stained blanket.

Charlie blanched.

Oh my god, I could have hurt him. I’d been so upset, so concerned with getting back to him, that I’d forgotten I was putting him at risk. Thank God he’s okay. Thank God I didn’t accidentally use my powers.

Charlie turned to me with concern and shuffled back.

Augustus seized the opening. He moved with impossible swiftness and threw me over his shoulder. Nyx moaned in her sleep as I was flung through the air.

Charlie lunged for me, but Patro and Achilles stopped him.

For a second, I was stunned.

I exploded into action.

“NO!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs, fighting with everything I had. “CHARLIE HAS TO COME WITH ME. IF YOU LEAVE HIM HERE, I’LL KILL US ALL!”

Augustus wrapped his arm around the back of my legs in a steel vise. His hand gripped my thigh through the thin material of my dress.

He squeezed, hard enough to bruise.

“I promise,” I gasped for air as I struggled. “I promise, if you leave him right now—I’ll never forgive any of you. I’ll chop myself into little pieces. I’ll poison your food with my blood. I’ll bring us all d-down and then⁠—”

“For Kronos’s sake,” Patro shouted, interrupting my tirade. “While Kharon was tracking you here, Augustus told us you had a brother. We were always planning on bringing him back—we’re not monsters.”

I stopped struggling.

Tilted my head to look at Kharon’s face. “You promise,” I said, needing to know it wasn’t a sick joke and that they’d separate us. “Please.”

I didn’t trust any of them, especially not him.

Glacial eyes narrowed. “So you’re not blood related?” Kharon asked skeptically.

I snarled, “He’s my fucking brother. How dare you?”

Kharon clicked on the safety of his gun and put it in his thigh holster. “Calm down—carissima. We’ll bring him with us.”

“No,” I spat. “I don’t think I will calm down. Why are you even here?”

Augustus’s fingernails dug into my thigh.

Kharon’s smile was all teeth. “The real question is, why is our betrothed living in a fucking box? But we’ll get to that later. For now—run away from us again, and we’ll chain you to our bed. Forever.”

I held up two broken fingers and flipped him off.

“We’ll get to that part later,” Kharon said with a depraved smirk.

I scoffed at his hubris.

Patro’s lips thinned, and Achilles’s eyes flashed with vitriol. My mentors were suddenly glaring at Kharon like they wanted to murder him.

Why are they so angry?

“Domus,” Augustus whispered, nails stabbing deeper like he was trying to burrow himself under my skin.

The world twisted with darkness.

All six of us leaped away.