With someone else, I would have tried to talk her down. But she’d killed my mom. With glee. On purpose. She had killed her own family and gotten away with it.

Anger snapped up through me as hot and sweet as melting chocolate and much more deadly.

I struck hard, as fast as any lightning bolt from Zeus. I dug my fangs deep into one of her necks and pumped my venom into her body. She jerked and tried to claw at me, but I had her wrapped up good, pinning her entire body down. She writhed and snarled, her jaws clamping open and closed repeatedly as she bit at the open air. Over and over, there was nothing she could do. I held on for all I was worth, knowing it was just a matter of time.

I listened for her heartbeat as I kept my mouth tight on her. Which is why I didn’t see the blow coming. I was hit hard on the back of the head, hard enough to knock me away from the Hydra and loosen my coils on her. My vision spun, and I struggled to get my bearings.

Angel took advantage of my momentary distraction, and all nine of her heads clamped down on me at once, teeth digging through the flesh and bone, and I reared my head back in pain, unable to stop her. She had me stretched out like a piece of pasta being rolled in a long line. I blinked several times, fighting to see who had hit me. Hercules had come back, that had to be it. Damn him for not seeing the truth.

A soft, feminine laugh rolled through the air. “Oh, you think Hercules got you? You think that because I am the goddess of love, I can’t fight? Stupid snake.” Aphrodite strolled into view, her face sharp with hatred. How I had ever thought her beautiful I had no idea. The reality was she was as hideous as any of the monsters I’d met in the underworld. I hissed at her, which flicked some of the venom off my fangs, and managed to splatter it on her. She screamed and clutched at her face as she spun away.

The Hydra turned her heads as Aphrodite burned under my venom. She dropped me to laugh, and I hit the ground hard with a thump that resonated through my entire body. Pain ripped through me, but I pushed through it and made myself put some distance between us.

It was only then that I saw the parking lot set out in front of me. On one side stood Smithy, Panacea, Artemis, and the other members of the pantheon who were with Zeus. On the far side was Hera, her hair and skirts flowing around her as beautiful as ever, and her crew, which included Hermes. And Hades, of course, but it was Hermes that hurt me. He saw me looking at him and shrugged. “Sorry, got to go with the winning team, Drakaina. And we can all see it isn’t going to be you.” Well, that at least explained why I could never get ahead of Hera, why she always seemed to be that one step in front. Hermes had been playing both sides . . . I should have at least suspected.

I turned away from him and flicked my tail forward, catching the screaming Aphrodite with the broken tip despite the hurt of it, and sent her toward our side and right into her husband’s arms. I didn’t care what happened to her; I had bigger problems. Angel circled around me, her heads weaving back and forth, forward and back. I struggled to keep my eyes on all of her heads.

Ernie dove in beside me and whispered in my ear. “Time, you just need time. The venom is working. She’s slowing down.”

All well and good. I twitched my head to send him away. Time wasn’t on my side, that was the problem. If it were just a matter of time, I could survive anything. But the reality was that the toxins from her fangs were working in me too. I could feel them making me want to lie down and close my eyes. Angel shot forward, and I didn’t duck or dive. I opened my mouth and took one of her heads completely inside of it. My body coiled, convulsing around her as I pulled her closer. The eyes on the other heads widened in tandem as she realized what I could do at the same time I did.

I was going to swallow her whole.

While a part of me recoiled at the thought, the Drakaina in me approved.

She can’t hurt you inside of you. Your stomach acid will break her down in seconds. Already the head in you is dissolving.

I knew I had only one shot at this. I whipped my body around, twisting and writhing as I fought to get a hold on the big monster. No longer was she on the offensive as she scrambled to get away from me, fighting to put distance between us. I opened my mouth, and the stump of a neck slid out, limp, hanging down, dripping green blood.

I shot forward, grabbing another head and yanking it toward me, my jaw unhinging as I worked it around her and partially swallowed it. Just far enough to let my stomach acids burn . . . The remaining seven heads came at me, driving teeth into my head, ripping chunks of flesh off. The pain was intense and shattered my confidence that I would make it out alive. But I didn’t stop what I was doing.

I let go of the now-headless second stump and grabbed a third, and then a fourth, and a fifth. I was winning, but it was at a cost that I wasn’t sure I would survive. Her claws dug into me, holding me as much as I held her. We were tangled around one another in a death match that was going to end only when one of us stopped breathing.

Blood flowed around us in a river of color and pain that swept through the parking lot.

“You’ve almost got her, Alena. Then we win!” Ernie yelled from what felt like a very long way away. I swayed where I was, staring down the last head of the Hydra. Her body and face sagged with pain, yet as we locked eyes there was nothing but hatred in hers. Hatred and my death. I grabbed her around the neck, got my mouth over her final head, and dragged her into my throat. I tightened my hold on her body as it jerked, her claws raking my sides with one final protest of her death. Slowly, her final heartbeat gave a thump, and then there was nothing but silence.