The Blood of the Hydra Read Online Free

holding the hound off, but barely. Blake was shooting fireballs at it whenever he had a chance, and the stump where the one head had been was charred to a crisp. Chris was attempting to get close with his knife, but the hound was quick with its tail to fend him off. It knocked one of the knives out of the air, but Chris called it back using his power.
    Kate stood back, staring intently at a marble column. She held her hands out to it and it tipped over, heading straight toward the hound, although the hound jumped out the way, skirting the column by inches. The column boomed when it crashed to the ground, pieces of the floor tile breaking off and flying up into the air. The hound used this distraction to run up the stairs, where it stared down at us from the balcony with its one remaining head, snarling and pawing at the floor.
    I steadied my weapon, ready to shoot.
    “Hey, Nicole,” Blake said, and I glanced at him to see what he wanted. “Catch.”
    He threw a fireball at my arrow, setting it ablaze. The hound jumped over the railing, and with no time to waste, I released the flaming arrow, sending it straight into the hound’s heart.
    It howled and crashed to the ground, its head bent at an unnatural angle, the light in its eyes gone. Blood pooled on the tile around it. Then, just like the first time we’d killed it—when it had been just Blake and me with a monkey bar in the playground—it flickered a few times and disappeared completely.
    All that remained was the scorched arrow, alone in the middle of the floor. I walked to it, retrieved it, and placed it back in my quiver.
    Danielle joined me and kicked around the air, as if she still expected the hound to be there. “It’s gone,” she confirmed, sheathing her sword. “That means we killed it, right?”
    “We did more than kill it.” Chris laughed and gave Kate a high five. “We vanquished it.”
    My eyes met Blake’s, my heart leaping into my throat when I saw that he was already looking at me, his expression grim. Because the flickering and disappearing was the same thing that had happened the first time we’d killed this monster. We’d agreed not to say anything about that night, but after what had just happened, the others needed to know the truth.
    He nodded, which I took as a sign that he agreed.
    “I don’t think we killed it,” I said, still staring at the spot where the hound had disappeared. “Because I’ve fought this monster before. We thought we’d killed it then. But somehow… it came back.”

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    “What do you mean that you’ve fought it before?” Kate asked. “That’s impossible. The only monster we’ve ever seen was the harpy. And we killed it together.”
    “It’s a long story…” I said, not knowing where to begin. Because the story started with Blake asking me to sneak out with him late at night, on the week I’d first moved here. And during that week, he and Danielle had still been together. How could I tell them about what had happened without hurting Danielle?
    Luckily, I didn’t have to, because Blake jumped in first. “Do you all remember the first night we met at my house, read the prophecy, and realized that the five of us had elemental powers?” he asked. “The night we went to Sophie’s diner, and she helped us decipher the prophecy?”
    “Of course,” Chris said. “How could we forget?”
    “That night, Nicole and I couldn’t sleep,” he continued. “We were texting, and we both wanted to practice using our powers. Instead of practicing alone in our houses, I suggested that we practice together. Since we didn’t have a training center back then, we went to the playground here.”
    “Hold up.” Danielle held up her hand, her eyes narrowed. Another draft of wind blew in from the broken window, and her hair swirled around her face, making her look even witchier than usual. “The two of you snuck out to practice in the middle of the night without inviting the rest of