“Don’t,” Theron hissed. “He’s not slighting her. The high priestess is part of the interdominion program. She leaves Olympia at the end of training. She didn’t leave her home to fight our war.”
“Interdominion program?” I had questions—lots of them. So much for not showing my ignorance. The first chance I got, I had to speak to her.
She got to leave this place without a death sentence for the trouble. How did she get into Olympia? More importantly, how would she get out?
“Alexander Damien.”
“He must have a lot of trouble with that,” I murmured. “People getting his name wrong.”
Theron’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? That is his name.”
“No. It’s Alexander Jackass.”
Theron laughed so sharp and sudden, it echoed through the arena. He clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. Dozens of eyes fell on him, including Alexander’s.
The son of Zeus slid off my new friend and fell on me, his green pools sending out tendrils that stripped me bare, leaving me more exposed than Sirena and Daciana ever could be. He didn’t let me go as he moved to the middle of the platform. Those secret over-ear curls and that little wheezy sound he made when he laughed too hard to stop. Alexander was going to share something else—just for me.
I wasn’t allowed to look away.
“Son of Zeus,” he said, the truth dripping from his lips in that deep, rolling way he spoke. “All living beings have electricity in their bodies. In his wisdom, Zeus granted me the power to tap into that electricity and increase it tenfold.” Alexander said it to Vasili but spoke to me. “I’d be happy to demonstrate, but as I said, it only works on living beings.”
I knew it was coming before he finished. “I’ll need help from you.” His finger leveled between my eyes.
I burned, and not with the heat of his power. Obscenities rose to the tip of my tongue.
“Theron.” His finger moved off me. “Old friend, step up here. Give me a hand.”
“I—I— No,” he cried.
Alexander cocked his head. “No? Why not? You know I can control it. Surely you’re not worried I’ll kill you.”
“No, but—”
“Then what’s the problem?” he sliced in, tone hard. “Stand up.”
“Go on, boy,” ordered the commander. “We don’t have all day.”
I gasped at Vasili in disbelief. Or I would’ve if my eyes could leave Alexander. I’d felt those cursed powers in action. Heard the most feared monster in our dominion scream all the way to its death. He wanted to do that to anold friendof his... just because he laughed?
“No!” Theron burst out. “No, I’m not doing it. Get someone else. Or better yet, just put him in the fucking Titan class already. All of Olympia already knows what he can do.”
“And now we know what you do, Theron Zervas, son of the Dionysus councilwoman. You back down at the slightest chance of pain. You going to back down from a battle next? Throw down your shield and run away crying ’cause the mean echidna scratched you?”
“Boo!”
“Coward!”
“Weakling!”
Theron flushed as the entire stadium turned on him. Boos and insults pelted him—a few of them included traitor.
This is ridiculous! They call him a traitor for refusing to play Alexander’s sick games? What is wrong with these people?
“Stop it,” I shrieked. “If you all are so happy to be burned alive from the inside, one of you volunteer!”
“Oh ho.” Alexander laughed. “He needs a woman to defend him too.”
“Shut up, you—!”