Page 59 of Becoming Monsterous

The other, Cornelia, wings around his throat and presses against his windpipe.

His eyes widen, and he raises his hand, some kind of bright white light flowing into his fingertips.

I snarl, and slash my dagger across his throat before he can use it.

That's it, little warrior!Medusa is triumphant inside me.Take charge.

Blood sprays across my face and chest. It splatters on the floor and the room behind me.

Dorian's eyes widen with shock.

But only for a moment. That's all it takes for his body, weakened and bleeding, to succumb to the venom.

He slumps over, dead or at least paralyzed, still bleeding from his neck.

Aleron whistles, long and low. "That's my girl."

Wiping the blood from my face with the back of my hand, I stare Percy down.

"His offer is no longer on the table, at least for now. You're going to have to negotiate directly with me." Stepping towards him, I look into his eyes. "What'll it be?"

"You don't represent all the houses," he points out, "so I'm not sure you're in a position to be negotiating."

Percy is calm and collected despite the ally bleeding to death at his feet. His fellow summoners follow his lead, remaining calm and still, though more than one of them is preparing their powers.

Behind me, the summoners who are on our side, as well as the monsters, are doing the same. But they're half leashed, stunted and incapable of doing much to protect themselves.

In order to really fight, they need to be freed.

I have to delay. For a moment or two, if not more, I need to think. My powers are so new to me—I'm not really sure that I'll be able to use them on instinct alone. It's worked so far, at least on the little things, but my next move has to be big enough to avert a war.

So I decide to get Percy talking. "I may not represent our side just yet, but I'm sure that I will once I go to the houses and tell them how much things have changed. What terms are you willing to offer?"

He chuckles. "Before... freedom, at least with supervision. An in-between realm forallsix houses. But now thatthishas happened?"

Percy nudged Dorian's body with his foot, making it clear whatthisis. The strange undying man twitches, so I guess at least I didn't kill him yet.

"I'm willing to offer peace, in the very least. Compulsory lifetime contracts forallmonsters. With a penalty of death if they're broken, instead of just Shadow World exile."

A murmur goes up behind me. Madame Renoire hisses in disdain. Shadows stretch on the floor in front of me, and I gather that Aleron has unfurled his wings, blocking out the light.

It doesn't matter what terms are on the table. Percy doesn'twantto enslave all the monsters with contracts. He wants Aphrodite's powers—my powers, now. And he'll do anything to get them. Even start a war by offering terms that he knows will never be accepted.

Avoiding all-out war is all that I want. It's the only way to prevent the slaughter I've seen, and lived out, in Medusa's memories. Just the thought of watching Angus fall to a sword blow, or Aleron be dragged away in chains, makes me want to murder the whole world.

So be it. I know how I feel, I know the promises I've made, and as I stand here staring into Percy's eyes, I know what to do next.

I've found the place in Aphrodite's memories where she did it once, just for fun, when she was young and carefree. The other gods slapped her on the hand for it, scolded her and made her close the gates again. But for the brief moment she opened them, chaos reigned on Earth, and she laughed at its destruction.

Time to do it again.

I'll figure out how to rein in the terrorafterI've let it destroy Percy and his goons.

Who knows. Maybe Icanrule over them all. The rotflayers may be heartless, but others were alive once. There has to be love inside them.

If there isn't, maybe at least they and the summoners will wind up in a war of mutual destruction.

Taking a short breath, I face off against Percy, wanting him to believe that I'm about to attack him physically.

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