Cautiously, I slipped inside with the animals in tow.
“Uh, I was s-summoned … Is anyone in here?”
Lightning flashed.
The door shut behind me with a bang.
“Welcome …wife,” Kharon said quietly.
He stood at the middle of the long table, twirling a dangerous hunting knife between his fingers. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
I blinked.
Not dramatic at all.
Augustus was next to Kharon, leaning his hip against the table, like he was blocking something, arms crossed over his chest, expression stony.
“Uh,” I said eloquently, not sure what the best practices were when it came to dealing with deranged men.
Something clattered loudly.
Kharon and Augustus stepped away from the table.
Lightning flashed—Patro was bound and gagged; Achilles was tied to a chair next to him.
My mentors turned their heads toward me.
Patro shouted, the sound muffled behind a gag, as he kicked and struggled.
Achilles sat perfectly still beside him, eyes narrowed with rage, trussed up in silver restraints. They were the same kind of chains they used to secure Titans.
Kharon pointed his knife at a single seat on the other side of the table. The rest of the chairs had been removed from the room.
“Please sit,wife,” Kharon said calmly. “Join us.”
Nyx hissed as she slithered from my waist and coiled tightly around my arm, ready to strike. Fluffy Jr. crouched low, and the hellhounds and Poco silently stared at the men.
I straightened my shoulders and held Kharon’s fierce gaze.
“Or … what?” There was no way he’d hurt me.
I knew better.
Do I?
Kharon pointed the knife at Achilles’s face, then he hovered the blade over his left ear. “If you don’t, I willavengethe wrong perpetrated against you.”
I inhaled sharply. “You wouldn’t.”
Kharon’s smile was pure sin. “Want to test me?” He pressedthe knife into the skin above Achilles’s ear, features twisting with mania.
Patro screamed and kicked his bound feet at the table leg next to him.
Achilles stayed perfectly still.
Shock morphed inside my chest into something dangerous and seething.
Kharon’s face sharpened. “Please—sit. We have … important matters to discuss.”
