Apollyon

I waited for him to elaborate and when he didn’t, I exchanged a look with Aiden.

“You do not want to be roaming anypart of the Underworld at night.” Apollo’s pen swept over the paper. “From there, you will cross into the Vale of Mourning.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” I said.

Apollo smirked. “You will eventually come to a crossroads. One way will lead you to Tartarus, and the other will lead you to the Elysian Fields—this will be the Plain of Judgment. You’ll want to make yourself as invisible as possible. And I don’t mean necklace-invisible.”

He set the pen down and handed the map over to Aiden. “I can call in a favor and get word to Caleb, have him meet you there. But from that point…”

“We’re on our own.” When Apollo nodded, I bit on my lip. “Okay.”

“Wait,” Aiden said, eyes narrowing on the map. “Isn’t the Plain of Judgment near Hades’ Palace?”

“As I said, you two will want to make yourself as invisible as possible. I have it on good faith that Hades will be at Olympus, but he has many eyes guarding the palace.” Apollo’s folded arms were the size of tree trunks. “I need you both to understand that the Underworld will be dangerous. Caleb could be anywhere, and it won’t be like the last time, when your arrival was noted. You will see things you ca

I swallowed at the seriousness in his tone. “I understand.”

“Do you? You have shown very little impulse control in the past, Alex. You will be unwelcome there. And it’s just not the Underworld.” His cold, steely gaze moved to Aiden. “The gates are well-protected.”

“We understand,” Aiden responded calmly.

Keen knowledge flared in the god’s eyes. “Be careful. Most who enter the Underworld do not leave, and those who do are irrevocably changed by what they experience.”

Apollo started to fade out as we stared at him, no doubt our expressions mirroring the seriousness of what he’d said. Just before his body was enveloped in shimmery blue dust, he said, “I’ll owe you two for this, and everything else.”

It was way too early to be up moving around, but here I was, standing beside one of the Hummers, glaring up at the morning sun.

Aiden was saying goodbye to his brother, and I was trying to give them some space while maintaining my balance on one foot. It was the only thing from keeping me falling over on my face. Last night, Aiden had called an “early night” and literally forced me to bed like he was my babysitter.

“You need to be well-rested,” he had argued, and then sat watch until I went to sleep. And even after about eight hours of shut-eye, I still didn’t want to get up at the crack of dawn. We had a long drive ahead of us—about nine hours and nearly five hundred miles. A plane would’ve been quicker, but there was no way we were getting the weapon stash past mortal security without using compulsion on half the TSA. And it would’ve been harder to explain why Aiden was painting runes in Titan blood inside a 747. With that and the talisman Apollo had given me, at least it should be a relatively uneventful road trip.

“Alexandria?”

I turned at the sound of my uncle’s voice and headed toward where he stood just off the porch. “Hey.”

He tried to smile, but it was forced. “I know you’ll be careful, but really—be careful. Okay?”

“I’m always careful.”

Marcus’ expression turned bland.

Unable to help myself, I gri

At the sound of Aiden’s approaching footsteps, he stepped back and pi

My mouth dropped. “Did you just cuss? I’ve never heard you cuss before. Wow.”

Instead of responding, Marcus hugged me. He let go quickly and looked away, swallowing hard. Within seconds, we’d said our goodbyes to the rest of the group.

“Try not to let any souls free,” Luke said, gri

“Unless it’s Sam or Dean’s souls, right?” When they laughed, I gave them each a quick hug and then trotted over to where Aiden was packing the Hummer.

Once I got a load of the heavy sack of weapons and provisions, I said, “Not it.”

Aiden chuckled. “I got it.” He lifted it with one arm—impressive—and tossed it in the back. “I’ve already stashed a few daggers in front. You ready?”

“Yeah.” I glanced over my shoulder, taking in those waiting on the porch. An odd ache filled my chest. For a moment, everything was peaceful, though. Birds called. Rays of bright light sliced through the thick trees. It was almost like Aiden and I were going on a vacation or something.

Not going to the Underworld.

Aiden placed a hand on my arm. “We’ll see them again.”

“I know.” I smiled, but it felt all kinds of wrong. “It’s just…”

“What?” He closed the trunk.

Shaking my head, I tore my gaze from my friends—my family. As I turned to Aiden, a flash of movement caught my attention. Near the edge of the oak trees stood a doe on thin, elegant legs, and I’d swear our eyes met. There was something intelligent in the gaze—something foreign. Then it shot off, disappearing into the abundant foliage.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” I asked, meeting Aiden’s eyes.

“I wouldn’t leave my brother behind if I didn’t think so.”

There was truth in those words. Nodding, I headed to the passenger side, my gaze drifting to where the doe had stood. I thought of Artemis. The gods shouldn’t be able to find us, but it took no stretch of the imagination to assume that Apollo would’ve told his twin where we were.

A small smile played at my lips as I climbed in. They would be okay. Over half of them were trained and damn good with a dagger. Not to mention that all of Deacon’s playing around with fire was paying off. With Laadan and Marcus capable of controlling air, they could protect themselves. And if Artemis was really hanging around, they had one badass goddess on their side.

Belting myself in, I then placed my hands in my lap. They balled into fists. I glanced over at Aiden as he started the engine. The Hummer rumbled to life. “You know I suck at long car rides, right?”

A half-grin appeared. “I remember.”

“You’ll need to entertain me. A lot.”

He laughed as he coaxed the massive vehicle down the narrow, one-lane dirt road that was all new to me. “By the way,” Aiden said, casting me a long look that had me totally forgetting about the seriousness of our mission. “You look damn good in a Sentinel uniform.”

A hot flush that had nothing to do with embarrassment spread over me. “So do you.”

“I know.”

I laughed outright. “Wow. Healthy ego there.”

Aiden’s eyes were light, a heather gray, as they focused on the rural road. “Check out the glove box.”

Curious, I leaned forward and threw the latch. Inside were two black, shiny objects. I pulled one out carefully, turning the heavy thing over. It was a specially designed Glock. Feeling like a badass, I checked the clip—titanium bullets.

The gun felt weird in my hands, though. “I’ve only held one of these once outside the Covenant.”

Aiden was quiet as he waited for me to continue. Of course, he knew when. “I didn’t use it. I hesitated.”

“You were facing down your own mother, Alex. It’s understandable.”

I nodded, ignoring the lump in my throat as I placed the gun back in the glove box. “What else is stashed away?”

“Look under the seats,” he murmured as the Hummer’s tires evened out on pavement.

Under the seat were two daggers and a sickle blade. “The same under yours?”

He nodded.

“What are you expecting? A daimon siege?”

“Safe than sorry, Alex. We have no idea what or who we’re going to run into out here.”

I straightened. “Seth’s nowhere near here and we’re protected.” I tapped a finger off the talisman I wore, and then gestured at the mark above our heads.