---
The blood blade cut across Alex's forearm. It did not slice deep, because half-god bodies were reinforced. But it drew blood.
And that was the real goal.
Alex's eyes flashed, amused and irritated at the same time. "You cut me," he said.
Sekhmet did not answer. He pulled the blood he had cut free into thin threads, trying to bind Alex's wrist.
Alex laughed and surged his aura. The threads snapped like wet string.
"You are young," Alex murmured. "Your blood is loud, but not yet, not deep enough."
Sekhmet felt his own hunger answer that insult. The blood god Will be pressed harder against the system's restraint.
Ninety five percent. It did not feel like before. It felt like a predator licking the inside of his skull.
Across the hall, Sofia and Natasha split cleanly.
They did not angle toward Sekhmet anymore. They went where instinct told them to go.
