Dionysus (Hades Series #1.5)

Chapter Twenty - Kenzie

Chapter Twenty

"Kenzie?"

"Where the hell did she go?"

Spencer's voice rises in desperation. "Kenzie!"

I squeak, struggling hysterically against the strong grip dragging me backwards. "Spencer!"

"Quiet bitch, or this knife might just slip." The person dragging me hisses. Their grip on my hair tightens so much that I gasp out aloud from the blinding pain.

I hear the loud pounding of steps, and seconds later Evie and Spencer burst round the corner. Spencer's face breaks into relief when he sees me. "You alright dollface?"

"Uh." I stammer, highly aware of the cool edge of the knife biting into my throat. "I'd probably be doing better if there wasn't currently a knife against my throat."

"What did I say about talking, bitch?" I cry out inadvertently when my head is yanked down again. The person finally stops walking, holding me upright with the knife cutting into the skin of my throat.

Spencer's expression darkens. "What exactly are you hoping to achieve?"

The person holding me laughs, and when I peek out of the corner of my eye I see a young brunette man sneering at Spencer with a deadly expression on his face. "What does it look like Dionysus? I'm blackmailing you."

"What for?" Spencer asks calmly, folding his arms over his chest.

I feel the man shrug. "Well, I don't know, anything I want? See, word on the street is, you're soft on this little bitch here, and anyone who wants a little favor from our favorite residential god is just chomping at the bit to use her as leverage." He laughs. "Looks like I got here first."

Kenzie. Evie's voice suddenly bursts through my thoughts, and I stare at her wide-eyed. She subtly holds her index finger up to her lips. Get ready to elbow him as hard as you can.

My gaze flickers down to the knife at my throat, and I glance back at her in terror. She shakes her head minutely. You'll be fine Kenzie. Be brave.

HA. Be brave. Let's see if you'll be brave when you have a knife cutting into your throat Evie.

All this time, Spencer's been staring at the man with a murderous expression on his face. "What makes the street think that they can all of a sudden challenge me?"

"We know someone's stolen your thrysus." The man taunts. "No thrysus, no powers."

"See, that's where you're wrong. Little memo for you; a god's token isn't his only source of power." Spencer smiles darkly, clicking his fingers. A vine slithers up from the ground like a snake and wraps around the man's wrist, pulling it down with a sharp snap. The man yells loudly, the knife dropping from his hand like a rock. "And messing with a god is a really bad decision to make without adult supervision."

"Now Kenzie!" Evie yells, and swallowing back my fear, I bring my elbow down into the man's stomach as hard as I can. Almost like it's straight out of a cartoon the man collapses in half, moaning loudly, and he shoves me hard to the ground. Another vine wraps around the man's ankle and whips him back, throwing him with a loud crack against the back of a building. He slumps to the ground with a low grunt, not moving.

Spencer sprints forward and slides to the ground next to me. "You alright Kenzie?"

I moan and push myself up to a sitting position, wincing when I notice the raw scrapes on my palms. "What's your definition of 'alright'?"