Forever.
The elderly woman huffed as she peered at my missing ear suspiciously.
I glared back.
She frowned. “She’s better than the rest of your Spartan lot—you never care about us. Not like she did … She’s different.”
She made the sign of the cross with her gnarled finger.
“Angelus Romae,” a man called out from the crowd, his voice shaking like he was addressing someone of greatest esteem.
The Angel of Rome.
Augustus bowed his head respectfully.
The crowd parted for him, and as we walked forward, humans of all ages reached out and lightly touched Alexis.
They spit on the bound Titans, and a few even kicked them.
Cameras flashed.
“Angelus Romae!” Humans chanted with hero worship as we moved forward. Instead of dispersing, people flooded out of crumbling buildings, lining the rainy streets.
Skin prickling as I limped forward, I studied Alexis’s features.
The humans weren’t wrong.
Even in the rain, her golden hair curled around her head like a halo. She looked like the paintings of their divine creatures.
The problem was the humans were calling hertheirangel, and I’d claimed her first; the only person I’d share with was Augustus.
Everyone else could go choke.
I bared my teeth to the crowd, growling with my hellhounds at anyone who touched her.
The chant grew louder, and the urge to scream at them to shut the fuck up increased.
For now, the humans could pretend she was their hero.
They would learn.
At the end of the cobbled street, a loud crack echoed. Smoke billowed.
A figure stood in the ruins of a townhome. Fresh blood wassmeared across the brick wall, sheltered from the rain by a broken slab of concrete.
We halted.
Augustus clutched Alexis tighter against his chest and she grumbled incoherently.
The figure walked forward out of the shadows.
“Howdareyou show your face here!” Augustus shouted, his face twisting with fury.
Achilles took a step toward us, eyes wide as he stared at Alexis. Rain dripped off his muzzle.
“You abandoned her.” Blood streaked down Augustus’s face, washing away in the rain. “You left her TO DIE!”
Achilles took a guilty step back, shoulders rounding.
