Apollyon

“It’s not too late. The gods are showing us what they want.” Lea sounded entirely too mature to be the girl I’d thrown an apple at a couple of months ago. “They want Seth dead.”

I knew that wasn’t so much the case. They wanted one of us dead, preferably before we came within hugging distance. I racked my brain for something useful. After I’d Awakened, I’d learned the history of all the Apollyons, but none of that was useful. None of it except something with Solaris…

“It’s just not as simple as killing Seth.” Solos scratched at the stubble on his chin. “There is the problem of getting close. Dionysus said that Lucian had many Sentinels and Guards, mostly halfs.”

Dionysus? How in the world had he come into the picture? Wasn’t he the god of drunks or something?

“And if we get too close—if Alex gets too close, then…” Marcus trailed off.

Then he would take my power, possibly even drain me, because I now wasn’t sure Seth could stop if he wanted to. No matter what he’d said to me while we were co

I stood then, because I couldn’t sit anymore. Walking to the window, I stared at the shadowy landscape as I twisted the necklace between my fingers. Night had fallen and, even with my suped-up eyesight, the trees were dark and ominous. My reflection stared back at me, pale and unfamiliar. It was me—Alex, slightly rounded cheeks and wide lips. With the exception of the freaky amber eyes, I looked the same.

But I felt different.

There was a stillness inme that had never been there before. I didn’t really know what it meant yet.

“Then what do we do?” Luke asked. “Hide Alex forever?”

My lips twisted into a grim smile. That wasn’t going to work.

“I could get behind that as long as someone brings in a DS or a Wii,” Deacon joked, but it fell flat. “Or not…”

There was a pause and then Lea said, “Please gods, tell me you’re not still against killing Seth.”

“Now is probably not the best time to go there,” Marcus said.

“What?” I heard her come to her feet, and her anger blasted the room. “Alex, you have to understand, especially after everything he’s done to you.”

“Lea,” Aiden snapped, finally getting involved in the conversation.

“Don’t ‘Lea’ me. Seth has to die, and Alex is the only person who can do it!”

Dropping the necklace, I faced them. “I know… he needs to be dealt with. I understand that.”

Everyone, including Aiden, stared at me. He started to speak, but closed his mouth. Truth be told, I loathed the idea of killing anything at this point. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it when I faced a daimon again, and even though Seth had been a real bastard about things, I knew that deep down he was nothing more than an unloved little boy who wanted acceptance. And yeah, he had a major akasha addiction, but he was a victim in all of this, too. The only person I’d probably enjoy taking out, just a little bit, was Lucian. Yeah, I could get behind that.

But getting to Lucian wasn’t going to happen.

“Alex,” Marcus said softly.

I took a breath, unable to put forth the words necessary for what needed to be said. “What do we do?” I glanced at Aiden and then Solos. They were the skilled Sentinels here. Time for some battle strategy, which wasn’t my strong suit, because I was more of a “run into things head-first and face-plant a wall” type of fighter. “We have to stop Seth and Lucian, but we can’t just walk up to them. We need to be able to get close without them knowing, and we— Ineed to know how to fight Seth without transferring my power to him.”

Aiden looked like he didn’t like the sound of that, but he turned to Solos and nodded. “Apollo said that it may take a few days for him to come back, but he asked that we don’t lift the wards until he can come to us. Those wards prevent them from finding us, and right now they are the onlything stopping the gods from finding us.”

“How did Thanatos find me?” I asked, curious.

“You went outside, beyond the wards,” Aiden said. “Hopefully Apollo can tell us more when he returns.”

“So we wait in here until then and do nothing?” Lea slumped against the cushion, crossing her arms. A petulant look crossed her face.

“We don’t sit and do nothing,” Solos said, eyeing the girl. “What we need to do is train and prepare for what… for what’s coming. That’s what Apollo wanted.”

Because something wascoming, and it was a war.

“Hopefully Apollo can convince the gods to lay off,” Aiden said, jaw working. “Right now, we need the gods on our side.”

“Agreed,” half the room said.

Hope flickered in my chest. “Do you think they’ll stop this… zombie-apocalypse-in-the-making if they realize I’m back on Team Not-Insane?”

No one really looked hopeful, but Aiden smiled at me, and I knew he did it to make me feel better, because it was what I wanted to hear. It took everything in me not to cross the room and jump him.

Priorities, Alex, priorities…

Everyone agreed on starting training as soon as possible. And it made sense. Fighting was not like riding a bicycle. Muscles weakened, reflexes slowed. Honestly, we had no other choice. Hopefully no other gods showed up, dishing out some good old god wrath.

I sat on the edge of the couch and started fiddling with the rose again. I knew everyone was waiting to hear any plans Seth had shared with me. They were going to be disappointed. “The only thing Seth told me about was the daimons, and he knew I’d told Aiden afterward. I don’t think he was too concerned. He really didn’t tell me anything else. The plans he… the plans we made were about freeing my father.”

Laadan’s eyes dampened, and I hoped we could talk soon. There was so much I had to ask her.

Solos didn’t even try to hide his displeasure. “Well, that’s not really helpful.”

“It’s not her fault,” Aiden shot back.

The Sentinel cracked a distorted smile. “Simmer down, Loverboy.”

My mouth opened to deny that Aiden was my loverboy. The response was immediate, inherent in nature. I forced my mouth closed before I could say anything. Everyone in this room already knew that Aiden and I were togethertogether. Hell, everyone in the world probably guessed, courtesy to Lucian’s a

It was odd being so open about it, though—not odd in a bad way, but something that would take me a little to get used to. I wasn’t Aiden’s dirty little secret.

I’d never been his dirty little secret.

Deacon laughed. “Oh, you’re sogoing to be the next person who gets hit. I’m putting money on that.”

“You need to add yourself to that list.” Aiden looked about seventy-percent serious.

“And I’m putting money on that,” Luke threw in.

I shot forward, gripping my knees. “I do remember something! It’s not major, but Seth was heading north. He’s probably heading to the Catskills.”

“That’s something to go on.” Marcus glanced at his glass, as if he couldn’t fathom how it was empty. “He won’t reach it. Not with the Khalkotauroi surrounding the place.”

Olivia shuddered. “You think they can actually stop him?”

“They’ll slow him down.” Marcus pushed off the desk, heading for the door. “Anyone else in need of refreshments?”

“You sharing?” Deacon perked up.

Surprisingly, Aiden didn’t caution him. Perhaps a little underage wine drinking wasn’t our biggest concern at the moment. Our group scattered, some following Marcus on the wine run. Only after they left did I realize that the Dean of the Covenant was supplying alcohol to minors.

This really was an alternate universe.

After a few minutes, it was just Aiden and me. He sat beside me, exhaling a long breath. “You doing okay?”