A Game of Retribution (Hades Saga #2)(59)
Hades launched himself into the air, landing atop one of the hydra’s heads. As he did, a sharp feather cut through the air, impaling the head.
Several followed after that, piercing the deceased monster, making it vibrate with the impact. His anger began to build, his exhaustion a weight, and while magic was forbidden in this duel, he felt himself calling to it, gripping the teeth within the mouths of the hydra. Ripping those sharp, poisonous teeth from their gums, he catapulted them through the air and pelted the birds, filling the air with a cacophony of horrible cries followed by a metallic crash as they fell from the sky, landing haphazardly in the stadium —some in the arena, others in the stands.
In the aftermath, Hades turned, facing the box.
“Hera!” he yelled, infusing it with a hatred beyond anything he’d ever felt before. “End this madness!”
The goddess rose languidly to her feet and stepped to the very edge of her box.
“Do you not wish to wed the young Persephone?”
Hades gritted his teeth, staring at her, so consumed by his rage that he did not even notice how badly the ground beneath his feet, soaked in blood, burned. If it had been anyone else, he would have snapped, demanded that they leave her out of this, but he knew, perhaps better than anyone, that Hera would never cease her pursuit if he did not do as she asked.
She knew where her power lay, and it was in Hades’s heart.
“Am I wrong?” the goddess asked.
Hades knew she sought more than an answer. She sought his vulnerability.
“No,” Hades gritted out. “You are not wrong.”
“And yet you cheat by using your magic,” Hera said, her head tilting to the side.
Hades had no words for the goddess, only feelings, and they were building just as quickly as they had toward the Stymphalian birds. He was
angry, and he was tired.
“How do you intend to atone for your error in judgment?” she asked, nonplussed.
Hades would have liked to offer her a final, vulgar gesture before returning to his realm for the night, but there was a future on the line that was not completely his own, and he was not about to let it slip through his fingers. So he answered, slow and deliberate, “However you see fit.”
“I thought so,” she said, smiling, and returned to her iron throne. As she sat, another door opened, revealing a large, muscled man dressed similarly to Hades. He had a head full of golden curls, and while handsome and young, there was something wrong. Hades noted how the veins in his arms and neck bulged, how the whites of his eyes were stained red, how his breathing seemed both labored and angry.
This man was stricken with madness.
Hades was familiar with this magic, a particular favorite of Hera’s. She had used it throughout her existence to make men and women alike murderous, including the one before him.
Heracles, a son of Zeus.
It had been years since Hades had looked on his demigod nephew, and it was clear that whatever Hera had done left him drained of humanity.
There was no difference between him and any other monster.
Heracles left the shelter of the gate, dragging a massive club behind him.
Hades shifted out of the hydra’s blood and reached for his sole weapon, the shield. Still, the warrior advanced on him. Seeming to need no time to consider his opponent, he attacked, lifting the club over his head with both hands. Hades dodged the first blow, which rocked the earth as it hit. The second whipped toward his middle, missing only by an inch as Hades jumped back. The third blow was caught by his shield, and as it hit, Hades pushed against it, sending the club flying.
With the man weaponless, Hades reared back and shoved his shield toward Heracles’s neck. He’d hoped to end this fight as quickly as it had begun, but the man was fast and just as strong as Hades. He caught the adamantine shield just before it could reach him, and suddenly they were locked in a battle of push and pull until the shield itself began to bend.
With a growl, Hades shoved against Heracles and lunged to the side. The demigod stumbled forward, shield in hand, while Hades made a mad dash for the club he had flung across the stadium. A roar left Heracles, who tossed the shield. Hades ducked as it flew overhead, lodging in what remained of the concrete arena wall. Before Hades could reach the club, Heracles dove for him, locking onto his ankle with strong hands. Hades stumbled and rolled just as Heracles jerked him toward his body, rearing back to punch his face, but the god caught his fist, hands shaking as he took on the might of the man’s godlike power.
Hades lifted his knee, catching the demigod in the side. It did little to deter him, however, as he continued to raise his fist. This time, Hades could not stop the blow. A burst of pain seemed to explode from behind his eyes.
A second blow brought tears. A third and his nose crunched. Finally, Hades recovered and dodged the fourth attempt, managing to land a harder blow to Heracles’s side, sending him to the ground and giving Hades the upper hand. With their roles reversed, it was Hades’s turn to pummel Heracles.
He got in two blows to the face—one to the eye and one to the mouth that cut the skin on his knuckles to pieces—before he attempted to reach the club again. He barely rose to his feet before he was down once more, his knee hitting the arena floor with a loud quake. He twisted and kicked Heracles in the face, sending him to his back. Hades scrambled once more to reach the club. Gripping it with his bloodied hands, he twisted just in time to be hit with the full force of Heracles’s weight.
Scarlett St. Clair's Books
- A Touch of Darkness (Hades x Persephone #1)
- A Touch of Malice (Hades x Persephone #3)
- A Touch of Ruin (Hades x Persephone #2)
- Scarlett St. Clair
- A Game of Retribution (Hades Saga #2)
- A Touch of Darkness (Hades x Persephone #1)
- A Touch of Malice (Hades x Persephone #3)
- A Touch of Ruin (Hades x Persephone #2)
- A Game of Fate (Hades Saga #1)
- King of Battle and Blood (Adrian X Isolde #1)