Apollyon

He hadn’t heard what Solaris had said, and I didn’t want to burden him with this on top of everything else. If my suspicions were correct, if everything was leading to one thing…

Taking a deep breath, I focused on the white lines parting the darkness. “I was just thinking about how I’m supposed to get close enough to Seth to transfer his power to me. Seems impossible, right?”

“I don’t like it, Alex. I’m going to be honest; I think it’s insane. To me, it’s like sneaking up on a cobra. It’s not going to work.”

“I know, but what choice do we have? Besides, we don’t just have to figure out how to get close enough to him. There’re all the Sentinels and Guards who are backing him.”

Aiden squeezed my hand. “We’re going to need an army.”

Slowly, I looked at him. “And where are we going to dig up one of them?”

“Good question.” He barked out a short laugh. “What we need to find out is exactly how many Lucian has backing him—”

“I can always ask Dionysus to do some scouting,” Apollo’s voice boomed from the backseat.

Shrieking, I sprang forward, knocking my knees off the dashboard. Aiden’s hand jerked on the steering wheel, swerving the Hummer into the left lane, which was thankfully empty.

Aiden cursed under his breath. “You need a freaking bell.”

I twisted around in the seat, ready to knock the grin off the god’s face. I was already pretty pissed off at him without him giving us a heart attack. “You could’ve caused an accident!”

Apollo leaned forward, resting his arms on the back of our seats. “But you didn’t. Aiden has the reflexes of a hellhound.”

Making a face, I shook my head. “How did you just… pop in here?”

He gave me a very un-god-like duhlook. “These wards make your power invisible to the gods; they don’t keep us out. You carry my bloodline. I can find you when I want.”

“Well, that’s not creepy.”

Aiden glanced in the rearview mirror. “You want to know what we found out?” When Apollo nodded, a scowl appeared on Aiden’s face. “And you couldn’t have waited until we got back to Apple River?”

“Let’s see…” Apollo tapped a finger off his chin. “The whole world is on the verge of a god apocalypse. Should I wait another six hours?”

“Six hours isn’t going to change anything,” Aiden replied, eyes turning a steely gray.

“I hope not.” Apollo turned his gaze to me. “What did you learn?”

I debated telling him that I hadn’t learned a damn thing, but that was pointless. “I learned how to transfer the power to me.”

Apollo showed no reaction, and I really think I hated him right then. “And do you think you can do it?”

I glanced at Aiden. “There’s the tiny problem of getting to Seth.”

“Like I said, I can have Dionysus do some scouting. See what they have going for them,” he replied.

“We still don’t have an army.” I flipped in my seat, facing the front and feeling all kinds ofbitchtastic.

“Actually…”

I refused to turn around and take the bait. “What?”

When he didn’t answer, Aiden growled deep in his throat. “What, Apollo?”

“About an hour after you guys left, one of the Sentinels who had been using Solos’ cabin before you not-so-nicely kicked them out showed up. He brought news.”

Aiden had gone completely motionless, and I wondered how he could still manage to drive like that. “And you trust this Sentinel?”

The god laughed darkly. “Let’s just say I made sure he was playing on our team.”

Curious, I started to ask how, but Apollo gri

“Anyway,” he continued. “Most of the pures are fleeing the Covenants and their communities, heading to the University in South Dakota. So are their Guards. Makes sense—the location of the University is pretty remote and almost certainly ca

“What about the daimons?” I asked.

“What about them? They will go where the pures are, and the pures will be well-protected. Then there are the daimons that Lucian is feeding the pures to. Nothing we can do about that.” Apollo sat back, eyeing the roof of the Hummer like he’d never seen one before. He tapped the internal light once and it flicked on, then he turned it off. Shiny things must be distracting for gods, too. He did it again, brows furrowed.

“Apollo,” I snapped.

His gaze settled on me. “There is a good chance that Lucian and the First will overtake the New York Council, so Council members and Sentinels are being secreted out of the Covenant.”

My heart tipped over. “My—”

“I don’t know if your father is among the ones who have already arrived at the University or is en route or alive. I’m sorry.”

My shoulders slumped. “So what are they doing? Moving the base of operation to there?”

“Yes. So there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of Sentinels and Guards there. Those who have seen their friends and other Sentinels killed by those who have sided with Lucian. Those who want nothing more than to get a piece of him.”

Aiden nodded slowly. “An army—our army.”

“Marcus and Solos are already making plans to travel to the University. The sooner you all get there, the better.”

I could get behind this plan. And yeah, there was a bit of a selfish reason behind it. Any chance that my father might be there was enough for me.

“It would be safer there for Deacon and the others,” Aiden said. “It would be best.”

Now I felt like a douche for only thinking of what I could gain. “How early can we leave?”

“As soon as possible,” Apollo responded. “Once at the University, we can appeal to those who wish to put an end to this. Then we could move against Lucian—”

“And the god who’s pulling the strings?” I threw in, unable to help myself. “We’ll want to move against him or her, right?”

Apollo’s vibrant blue eyes met mine and he held my gaze. “Yes. We will.”

Right then I wanted to call him out, but the only thing stopping me was Aiden… and that part of me, the tiny part that Laadan had claimed was growing, becoming more mature. Shesort of understood.

“But I need to check in with Dionysus.” Apollo was still looking at me, and I knew I’d be seeing him real soon. “Check you guys later.”

And then he was gone.

Aiden slid me a sidelong glance. “Sometimes I really hate him.”

“You and me both,” I muttered.

We arrived back at Apple River just as the sky overhead was turning from black to a dark blue. The cabin was dark as we climbed out of the Hummer and the distant call of birds was the only sound.

Aiden stretched, bowing his back as he worked out the kinks. He stopped, catching me watching him from the other side of the vehicle. “Come here.”

He was probably the only person in the world who could demand that of me and I’d listen. All too obediently, I headed around the front of the Hummer and stopped in front of him. “What?” I asked, stifling a yawn.

Aiden cupped my cheeks and tilted my head back. “You didn’t sleep at all.”

“Neither did you.”

A tired grin appeared. “I was driving.”

I placed my hands on his wrists. Our eyes locked. “I can’t believe we went to the Underworld and came back out.”

“Me, neither.” His thumbs traced along the curve of my cheekbones. “You were perfect.”

“Except for the spiders…”

His head dipped and his nose brushed mine. “I wasn’t talking about the spiders.”

“You weren’t?”

Aiden laughed and his breath was warm and tantalizing. “No. I was thinking about what came after the spiders.”

“Oh… oh!” I sucked in a sharp breath and my legs suddenly felt weak. “ That”

“Yes.” His lips brushed mine. “That.”

I started to smile, because that really had been perfect, but then Aiden kissed me and I melted into him. There was strength in that kiss, along with love and a taste of what a future would be like with him. I loved— loved—that in the midst of everything, we could still have moments like this. Where it was just us and there weren’t any walls between us. The kiss deepened, his tongue slipping past my lips, and my fingers dug into his wrists. A low, sultry growl came from Aiden, and I wanted—