Contents
12. Mentor Days
Overview
Alexis wakes at her mentors’ Corfu home, physically wrecked from two academy weeks. Patro presses ruthless tactics; Alexis refuses and hints at quitting, provoking fury.
Kharon arrives, discusses marriage-law pressures, and privately threatens Alexis to live and ensure Patro and Achilles become generals, deepening her dread before returning to the academy.
Summary
Alexis is jolted awake in Corfu when Patro dumps her into the sea to rouse her after two harrowing academy weeks. Exhausted, bleeding, and disoriented, she recoils from his touch, retreats to the deck, and warily faces Patro and Achilles at their seaside home.
Inside, Alexis binge-eats, then purges and slowly refuels. Patro belittles her stamina and prospects, demanding a strategy. When he proposes she seduce, kill, or beat rivals—and insists killing is her only option—Alexis refuses. Pushed to despair, she hints at sabotaging herself rather than enabling their rise, daring their anger.
Kharon arrives unannounced, immense and menacing, joking with Patro about the new marriage law while hinting he has a loophole and an obsession. After banter about society pressures, Kharon states he’ll coordinate Titan intel with the mentors, then departs.
Kharon returns privately to Alexis and delivers a stark ultimatum: survive the crucible so Patro and Achilles can become generals, or he will resurrect and torture her eternally. He accuses her of killing Christos and warns he will corner her if she lies. Alexis, terrified, retreats to scalding showers and sleep.
Over two days, Alexis cycles between eating in small portions, floating in the sea, talking with Nyx, and breaking down in showers, haunted by nightmares of crimson eyes and obsessive, predatory attention. On the last day, dread hardens: she remains the prey, bracing to return to the academy.
Who Appears
- AlexisExhausted initiate recovering in Corfu; rejects ruthless strategies; contemplates self-sabotage; endures Kharon’s personal threat and spirals through fear and despair.
- PatroMentor pushing brutal tactics; taunts Alexis; demands she seduce, kill, or beat rivals; defers to Kharon on intel.
- AchillesMuzzled mentor; supports Patro; trades dark banter; present for strategy talk and hosting Kharon.
- KharonChthonic heir and Hunter; arrives with marriage-law concerns; privately threatens Alexis to survive or face eternal torture; fixates on her.
- NyxAlexis’s snake companion; offers odd comfort and hunting talk during Alexis’s recovery.
- NeroDog at the mentors’ home; wary of Alexis, adding to her tension.
- PoppaeDog at the mentors’ home; glowers at Alexis on arrival.