"I did. No better way to drive out a herd of deer than to take their home away."

"I saw you at the lake. I gave away the location, didn't I?"

He nodded. "I can sense more than how you feel. I can sense where you are, when the red cord is off."

"That's creepy." Adonis wasn't the kind of man to offer condolences or sympathy, but at least he wasn't messing with me. In fact, he'd been brutally honest when we spoke last night.

I didn't know what to think about the people around me or what I was supposed to be doing. I wasn't about to trust him. If my own guardian, who I spent twelve years treating as a father, had a past that horrified me, what had this ... creature done?

"I will protect you," he said quietly. "I make few promises in life, but this is one."

I'm not sure I believe him. I sensed he felt my turmoil. My body probably gave me away, and I rolled my shoulders to loosen the tension between them.

"I'm ready." I stood and stretched back. "You think the monster will be bigger today?"

"Much. And we'll know how mad the Supreme Priest still is."

Fifteen minutes later, we found out.

"What in Hades is that?" I whispered, staring through the gate into the arena at the monster facing off with no less than eight men armed with lances, swords, knives and axes.

"A sign the Supreme Priest isn't going to forgive me this time."

I searched his face. He was tense, but this was different than the man ready for battle. This was the tension of a man who was worried.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"For what?" He appeared genuinely curious.

"For you being punished because of me."

"Why would you apologize for someone else making a decision about his life?"

"Because I'm a nice person, you a.s.shole!" I sighed. "Why are you so difficult?"

He studied me, the half-smile back. It never quite reached his beautiful eyes. "Obviously I enjoy baiting you."

I hadn't really found the side of him capable of being truly human yet. I rolled my eyes and tested the swords. My back was quaking, my strength half what it was yesterday. I went through several slow exercises.

"Thank you," he said softly.

"For what?" I grumbled.

"For caring about my fate. No one I can remember ever has."

My anger crumbled. Then he said something like this. Or rescued me. Or defied his boss, a member of the Triumvirate, and ended up in a death match with a monster. I began to suspect he simply didn't know how to be human, because he was good at it when he tried.

"That was a very good, human response," I told him. "People are supposed to care for one another. They aren't supposed to send their friends to face monsters."

"This is foreign to me."

I glanced at him to ensure he wasn't baiting me again. To my surprise, the self-admitted butcher of who knew how many people was serious. "You've never loved anyone? Been loved?"

"Only you."

I flushed.

"As a child, when you loved Mismatch," he added with a glimmer of amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes. "That is all I know of love. Friends."

How did he do this? How could I want as far away from him as possible one moment and to hug him the next and a.s.sure a ma.s.s murderer that he, too, deserved to be loved?

"You never had a chance to be a real human, did you?" I managed.

"Why does that make you want to cry?"

"Stop with the body reading!" I sighed and swallowed the tightness in my throat. "Because ... you might make a good human if you were given the chance to learn. You can be very kind, very thoughtful."

"And yet my kindness makes you tense."

"Yeah. Your bluntness, too."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said. "Now we just need to teach you some eating manners, and you'll be set."

"And get you laid so you stop tensing up whenever I touch you."

I pushed him.

This time, his smile was real. It was dazzling, more beautiful than his eyes, and revealed dimples in his cheeks.

"Can you manipulate its ribbons?" he asked.

I blinked out of my surprise, grateful to focus on something outside of the two of us, even if it was the largest monster I'd ever seen.

The crowd was already twice as loud as yesterday when we'd won. People were on their feet, cheering on the creature shredding men two at a time in the arena before us.

The Typhon possessed four ribbons. I stepped forward and lifted a hand. Where I was able to grip the ribbons of anyone or anything, I couldn't quite grasp these. Whenever I tried, they shifted just out of reach. "This is weird. It's got some sort of defense mechanism."

"It's a Typhon. It's supposed to be buried beneath a mountain. It wouldn't surprise me to discover he's under the protection of some G.o.d or other."

"Looks like he got out," I said, distracted.

"Zeus alone was able to subdue him."

My hand dropped, and I faced him. "You can't be serious."

Adonis said nothing, and my eyes returned to the arena. I believed him. The ma.s.sive monster had the upper body of a man and the lower body of an octopus, except each tentacle was a snake with fangs that exceeded the size of my hand.

The crowd burst into a frenzy.

The beast was tearing through the men as if they were standing still and not hacking at the snakeheads darting towards them. What the snakes didn't sever in two, the creature's double-headed axe did.

I had never seen men die. In my dream or memory was one thing, but here, watching their blood spray into the air and coat the ground, hearing the crowd roar louder the more blood was shed ...

I felt a little ill. It had never occurred to me to imagine what the inside of a human body looked like, and I was disgusted to see it didn't look much different than beef.

"I think I want to be a vegetarian," I whispered, not entirely certain how to handle the sight.

"You've never seen a man die?"

"No. Definitely never seen one torn in two."

"It's a quick death. There are many worse ways to die."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" I meant the words to be said too quiet for him to hear, but they came out normal. "And it's my fault you do know."

"Your fault?" I felt his eyes on me.

"I brought you to life. I unleashed whatever you did. Whatever you are."

"You make it sound as if I'm like this thing." He lifted his chin towards the arena.

"I don't know what you are. I've heard a few things about what SISA does to people," I replied. "Everyone is terrified of you in particular. Niko "

"Niko can't be trusted with his d.i.c.k."

I laughed, startled by the warm anger. "You guys don't get along. But even Dosy said you were dangerous."

"Dangerous, yes. A monster, no."

"You said you were as bad as everyone says, and I'm not about to trust you of all people after Herakles."

"Ah. There is something."

I didn't mean to say it aloud. He was far too curious about the relationship between Herakles and me. I didn't understand exactly why and prayed it wasn't because he knew something else about Herakles that would hurt me worse.

"What is it?" Adonis asked, nudging me in the side with his elbow.

"So you can't read minds. Thank the G.o.ds!"

"Is there more you don't want to share?"

"There's a s.h.i.t ton that's not your business!" I snapped, glaring at him. "Why do you think anything about me is?" I was almost relieved that the gate chose that moment to open.

Amus.e.m.e.nt at my outburst glowed deep in his eyes. "You've been needling me since we met. I'm returning the favor."

"I haven't needled you," I retorted. "And I know that's not true. You may be able to feel what I do, but some of that carries over to me. I knew you were lying when you said this wasn't personal, and I know you're lying now. You want something from me, Adonis."

"Maybe." He drew both swords. "Or maybe there aren't many people I'm interested in, Alessandra. You're strong, beautiful and unique. You're destined for things you can't begin to imagine. You intrigue me."

"No more honesty! I preferred it when you barely said two words to me!"

"The Typhon awaits." He started into the arena. I was about to demand to know his plan when it hit me what he'd said.

Beautiful. The most incredible yet freaky man I'd ever met thought I was pretty. The knowledge made my insides warm and fluttery, and more adrenaline fed into my bloodstream. Adonis was definitely on a different scale than the silly boys I used to lure from the campground into the forest. The two were on opposite ends of the man spectrum. If we weren't about to die horribly at the hands of a monster ...

Focus, Alessandra. It didn't feel like a lie from him, but I sensed he wasn't telling me the full truth either. I followed into the arena.

Adonis waited for me to near before speaking again. "He's vulnerable from the waist up like any human. We're going to try to behead the snakes one by one. And ... if we're lucky, you'll figure out how to crush him with magic before he pulverizes us."

"This is a terrible plan," I muttered and joined him. My eyes went to an arm and head that had landed on this side of the ring before finding the pyramid of bloodied heads on one side.

The creature had killed dozens here today. For a long moment, I couldn't look away, and my stomach churned.

"Hey."

I blinked at Adonis' quiet voice and looked up at him.

"Herakles trained you well. You need some polishing, and it starts with focus. Eyes there." He pointed his sword at the creature headed towards us. "Never take them off your opponent."

"Okay." Not that staring down the monster was better than seeing the pile of heads. I stretched out a hand and tried again to grasp his ribbons. They remained evasive.

"He's going to swing the axe. We'll duck. And strike at the same time at the head closest to us. Then bolt. Use that speed of yours to get clear of the head beside it."

"How do you know he's going to swing?" I studied the monster. It was almost upon us, and I was fighting the urge to run.

"Instinct." Adonis stepped a meter away, eyes trained on the target. "Wait until I say to move."

I trust you. For now. It wasn't possible to fight for our survival at his side and not trust him, even if my faith in him didn't extend outside the arena.

"Ready to duck on three ..."

The hissing snakeheads were my size with long tongues and fangs that were far too close for my comfort. But I didn't move. If I knew one thing about Adonis, it was that he had a sixth sense when it came to predicting his opponent.

"Two."

A tongue nearly reached me. The giant swung his axe back.

"One."

The ma.s.sive axe swung over our heads. At the same time, the snake nearest us darted forward. I stumbled to the side, not expecting its speed. It shrieked suddenly, and I saw Adonis raising his swords for a second strike. I hurried forward and joined him. The writhing snake body knocked me off my feet, and I vaulted back up, all too aware of the neighboring snakehead that was now trained on me.

"Drop and roll!" Adonis shouted.

I obeyed. I wasn't about to doubt him when my life was in his hands. The neighboring snake snapped into the air above my head then followed me, digging its fangs into the ground by my thigh as I rolled.

The monster bellowed in pain and anger, and I saw the axe start to drop again. With no more momentum to roll, I launched to my feet and ducked a swinging snakehead before diving out of the range of the axe. Back on my feet, I saw Adonis had been driven off as well, one of his swords still stuck in the half-severed head of a snake.