I tried to nod to show him that I heard, but my neck wouldn’t move.
Our time had run out.
26
CHANGING BEASTS
ALEXIS
Adozen Olympian guards with sparking riot sticks led our section—minus the Chthonic leaders—down winding stairs. Gold laurel wreaths decorated a few of their heads, designating them as heirs, and different Olympian House insignias were engraved into their chest plates.
I needed to talk to Hades, but he’d disappeared with the other rulers. They’d all stalked off as soon as the announcement was made, and last I’d seen, Hades was arguing with Zeus.
Deep down under the coliseum we descended.
To another layer of Hell.
We headed through dark tunnels filled with stringy cobwebs and layers of dust, our protectors prowling beside us.
I shivered as the air chilled considerably, my boots scuffing the dirt floor.
It was a labyrinth of chambers.
Skeletons of all sizes—creatures, beasts, and Spartans—were piled inside rooms blocked with iron bars. As we walked deeper into the maze, the low-ceilinged tunnels were lit with a reddishhue from the rows of copper torches mounted on the stone walls, and we had to duck under the arches that separated the tunnels to avoid hitting our heads.
“Stop!” an Olympian guard barked.
We came to a halt in front of a row of iron doors covered in patina. Thick silver chains hung to the floor on one side of the door frames. Hooks lined the other.
“Because Medusa is still at large, this is where all ten of you will stay during the SGC,” a guard said. “As Zeus explained—any efforts to escape will be viewed as an act of defiance against Sparta … Treason.”
Dirt sifted from the ceiling, motes clouding the air.
“You two first.” The guard gestured at Charlie and Helen.
Charlie released my arm, his yellow eyes illuminated strangely in the torchlight. He shifted in front of Helen protectively as the two of them were herded inside a room by an Olympian guard.
“They shouldn’t be held d-down here. They’re not competing,” I said as the door slammed shut behind them.
“We have our orders.” The guard glanced at me nervously as he inserted a large iron key into their lock, then he pulled chains across the outside of their door and threaded them through the hooks.
Wait, are we prisoners?
“How dare you,” Augustus said. “You’re dead for doing this to them.”
“Treason,” the guard repeated, but he paled as Augustus stepped forward, and held up his hands in a surrender gesture. “Just following orders.”
Augustus’s eyes filled with blood.
“Are Charlie and Helen going to be okay?” I asked, trying to distract him.
Augustus took a deep breath and nodded, blood receding from his eyes. “It’s just fucking politics. The Olympians aretrying to make a statement and are using Medusa and the federation to do it—but they wouldn’t dare to actually hurt us … It would mean war.”
Around us, chaos unfolded.
To our left, Agatha and Hermos sauntered into a room, the former blowing a kiss to three of the guards while the latter rolled his eyes like he was used to her antics.
Drex shot me a worried glance as he was pushed into his own room, with Toucey squawking on his shoulder.Even a government drone doesn’t deserve this.
