The hero pulled a shining silver blade from his side and drove it into Remo’s neck. Remo slumped, his body limp as one hand rose to the blade in his neck.

“No!” I screamed the word, and Achilles grinned at me.

There was a gasp from the crowd and one woman cried out. They didn’t want to see Remo go down any more than I did.

“Turn for me, monster.” He grinned at me, and I clutched the tiny arrow in my hand.

There was nothing I could do for Remo if I was dead. “You want to fight me, then fight me. Leave the others out of it. Unless you’re afraid?”

He circled around me, his sword flicking back and forth like a metronome. “Are you not enraged by the death of your brother?”

His words sparked the anger and I fought to breathe through it, the snake in me lashing with her tail and snapping her deadly fangs as she hissed. The sound rumbled out past my clenched lips, which only exaggerated it.

Achilles waved his sword at me. “Come then, let us see your snake again. Let this be a true battle between hero”—he gave me a mocking bow—“and monster.”

The crowd in the stadium gave a low oohing gasp. I wiped the mud from my face, flicking it off my fingers. The arrow I clutched with my bad hand was tucked carefully against my side so it wouldn’t prick me.

Without warning, he lunged, slamming his shield into my chest and throwing me across the platform. I slid on the wood, caught my hip, and tumbled off the edge. I caught the lip of the platform with my good hand, barely stopping my free fall.

“Just give up, Drakaina. I’ll make it quick. Easy. Relatively pain-free. I have to make a bit of a show of it, otherwise the good people here”—Achilles stood over me. He lifted a foot and brought it down on my fingers. It didn’t hurt, but he ground his heel, forcing my fingers to slowly release, one by one—“might be upset that they didn’t get what they wanted.”

The arrow began to slip.

I stared up into his dark eyes. “You’re more of a monster than me, Achilles.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, I don’t think the people would agree. Would they?”

The crowd was silent as I hung there, fighting for everything I had. He’d wanted an audience, and he’d gotten it. Except the people here had no reason to be afraid of me. Not really. I’d not killed anyone. Achilles had killed Tad without provocation, and now Remo too.

He was the killer in their eyes, and I think we both knew it.

Achilles stepped away from me and lifted his hands to the crowd. “Does a monster not deserve to die? Would you rather I let her go? You saw what she can do, how big she is. How dangerous. There is no way to contain that. I will save you, because Hera wishes it. And you will worship her for the goddess she is.”

The arrow slipped from my fingers, and with it my hope of resolving the situation peacefully fled. How was I going to end this now? How was I going to make him go away without killing him, or him killing me? I could see no way out.

A murmur began to build in the crowd; fear spilled from the humans and into the arena. I pulled myself back up onto the platform and crawled to where Remo lay. I touched his head, turning him so I could see his face. He gave me a wink, the wound in his neck gone already.

“I like the dirty look,” the vamp said.

A hand clamped onto my shoulder and spun me around. I went with it, driving my good hand in a hard fist up into Achilles’s family jewels. He gasped and his face went white, yellow, then green as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Remo sat up. “Tell me you held back.”

“Not for a second.” I wobbled to my feet. Achilles writhed on his back, tears streaming from his eyes. I bent and scooped up his fallen sword. “Remo, roll him to his belly.”

“Whatever you say, boss.” He smiled at me, slapped my ass as he walked by, then grabbed Achilles’s feet. With a quick flip he had him on his belly. “Now what?”

“I’m just guessing here.” I laid the sword across the back of Achilles’s legs, right above the ankle. I took a deep breath. “Achilles, I don’t want to kill you. But I think if you can’t walk, you might be less of a problem.” I pushed hard enough to cut through the tendons, but stopped at the bone. He screamed as the blood pumped out.

Remo’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s cold.”

It took everything I had not to cringe from the criticism. “He had it coming. Besides, it’s his myth, not mine. And I am not the monster he thinks I am.”

I held the sword out to Remo. “Thanks. You didn’t have to stay.”

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. “I’m one of the monsters too, Alena. Do you think he would have stopped with you?”

“So this was self-preservation?” I couldn’t help but be a little hurt. After all, it was the first time any man had stood up for me. Don’t blame me for wanting the white knight to at least try to save me.

I suddenly remembered I was naked, save for the mud, and my upbringing reminded me I was supposed to not show my bits to anyone but my husband. I clung to Remo. “Give me your shirt.”

A slow chuckle rolled out of him. “Already trying to get me out of my clothes?”

The crowd laughed, and I closed my eyes. “Please don’t make this day harder than it already is. Is it not bad enough that they killed Tad?”

Remo shook his head. “We don’t know he’s dead.”