She grunted in agony. “Love you … too.”
Nails digging into stone, I reached for her face.
I couldn’t stop, I needed to fix this, I needed to help her.
Alexis was counting on me.
I would save my wife, or I would die trying.
Kronos save us both.
42
THE HUNTER
KHARON: SGC DAY11
Every inch forward was a million miles.
Sizzle.
Flesh boiled and bubbled, melting away as sand and stone blurred around me.
Bright sunlight made the anguish grotesque.
There was nowhere to hide.
Heaving through my nose, each step jostled my deteriorating flesh—I bit down on my tongue, tasting copper—Typhon spit was dripping down my chest, dissolving my muscles, eating away at my bones.
“Hunter … Hunter … Hunter!” Sparta chanted for me, the sound warping in my missing ear.
Years ago, I would have killed to be where I was, but now the victory was hollow.
I screamed into my closed mouth, a serene expression still plastered across my face, as I walked unhurriedly toward the open gate—three dead Typhons lay mangled in the arena behind me.
Knees wobbling, pieces of me popped as they boiled and emulsified, dripping.
I smirked up in the direction of the Chthonic section; Artemis and Erebus were watching.
They’d never catch me on my knees again.
Ten feet.
Breathing roughly, I concentrated with everything I had.
Five.
Two.
One.
I lunged out of the arena, up the step into the coliseum, and collapsed.
Crack.
Hades caught me.
Screaming and twitching in pain, I writhed in his arms.
