26. Gifts

Shaken after Augustus’s mental pressure, Alexis rejoins her peers with Fluffy Jr., noticing others report a head-centered bond while she feels a throbbing cord in her chest. Training shifts to a blizzard run when Augustus accuses her protector of disrupting class and forces only Fluffy Jr. to run with her, revealing targeted hostility.

During the grueling ascent, Patro probes changes in Augustus. Alexis admits her Olympian power—communicating with sentient creatures—earning Patro’s praise. Patro then discloses his own power: he can detect lies by touch, and confirms he and Achilles are a couple often disrespected by others. He also explains Hades’ fog torments victims with the worst thing they’ve done, contradicting Alexis’s own confused experience.

After a second punishing pass ordered because the river is frozen, the exhausted initiates recover in the library. Maximum privately confesses he likes Alexis and kisses her; she feels little, numb from cold and shock. Days blur; Alexis again ranks first, further aggravating Augustus’s simmering malice.

On Corfu, Alexis briefly thaws, receives small gifts from Helen, and learns Nyx retreats back into brumation to avoid killing Fluffy Jr. Returning to the academy, Augustus appears sleepless and strained. Ryax reports Maximum “defected,” an improbable claim so near the end, worrying Alexis and Drex.

Later in the library, Alexis accidentally discovers a velvet-wrapped box under her chair. Inside are severed parts unmistakably belonging to Maximum, along with something glinting beneath. She hides the box without alerting others, suppressing panic as the implication lands: Maximum is dead, and the grotesque “gift” targets her.