Apollyon

“They’re not going to talk,” Marcus said, hands clenched at their sides. “Either it’s a stronger compulsion than a pure can do, or it’s blind loyalty. Either way, we are wasting precious time and risking too much.”

“We can’t let them go,” Aiden said quietly.

My heart sank a little in spite of the fact that, if given the chance, these two men would slit the throats of those standing next to me. They were young, maybe a few years older than me—too young to be out here, about to die. But Aiden was right; we couldn’t let them go.

Marcus quickly rounded up Deacon and the others, taking them back behind the damaged Hummer Solos had been driving. It was still drivable, but would draw attention if we had the thing out during the day.

Placing my hand on Aiden’s arm, I twisted toward him. “I can—”

“No.” He used that voice that I’d come to loathe and respect—the no argumenttone. “You will not do this.”

Laadan, who’d stayed out of the fight with Deacon, turned away.

I wanted to, because an execution was the last thing I wanted to see, but as Aiden broke free of my side and headed toward them, I forced myself to stand still. If he had to do this, then I had to witness it. It was the most I could do, and the least.

Aiden moved lightning fast. The kills were clean and quick. They hadn’t felt it. Their bodies slumped forward, separated from their heads.

No matter how quick and painless Aiden had made it, I knew that he would feel this in the dark corners of his soul for a long time to come.

CHAPTER 31

Back on the highway, I tried not to let the chilly wind blowing in my face get on my nerves. Things could be worse. People I care about could have ended up dead. They could’ve been like those unfortunate souls we’d put down like rabid dogs.

Right now, we all had it pretty good, with the exception of that creeptastic warning the Sentinel had given us—or me.

Glancing at Aiden for like the hundredth time since we’d gotten back into the car, I chewed on my lower lip.

“Pe

I took a deep breath. “So, we know that the god is a ‘he’, and apparently I don’t know what I’m stepping in.”

“Do any of us know what we’re stepping in?” Luke commented dryly.

“I don’t think we do,” I said, staring at the dark stretch of highway. “Was it just me, or did it sound like they were loyal to the god, and not Lucian or Seth?”

“That’s the way it sounded to me,” Aiden said.

“Unless even their loyalty came from a compulsion.” Marcus sounded bone-weary. “But it doesn’t matter. Loyalty is just as bad as a compulsion. The end result is the same.”

I nodded. “I wonder if Lucian or Seth know. I mean, I know it doesn’t matter, but Seth and Lucian both have egos the size of a god’s. If they think they have complete control over their army or whatever, but they really don’t? That isn’t going to be pretty.”

“Who knows how much they really know?” Aiden gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles bleached. “This god could be promising Lucian the head of the Council or gods know what else. And Seth, well he… he will have everything he wants.”

Hot and uncomfortable knots twisted my insides. Seth had said the same thing, but what he wanted—love and acceptance—he’d never get this way. It would be a caricature of the real thing. One day he might realize that, and it would be too late… for all of us.

And gods, he did deserve better than this. I knew I shouldn’t think that, but I did.

Letting out a low breath, I tipped my head toward the passenger window and watched the blur of dark trees. Most of South Dakota was prairie land, but the Black Hills were something else entirely. Trees clustered together, so thick that no one could see what rested beyond. Somewhere up ahead, the University was spread across one of the largest mountain meadows.

“Do you think Apollo is telling you guys everything that he and the other gods know?” Deacon’s voice broke the silence.

I snorted. “I think Apollo tells us what he thinks we need to know when he wants to.”

“Gods are such douche bags,” Deacon muttered, sitting back.

Marcus actually laughed, and I thought the world was coming to an end. “They are arrogant,” he said. “That’s the problem. With arrogance comes great blindness.”

It was kind of fu

“None of them think anyone will truly step up against them, not even one of their own.” Marcus sighed. “Their arrogance led to this.”

Everyone fell quiet after that, lost in their own thoughts. I was doing a mental rundown of all the gods, trying to figure out who won for Most Arrogant. Seriously, it could be any of the male gods: Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Ares, and even Apollo. It might not even be one of the core, but a lesser deity tired of being pushed around. It was like looking for an especially drunk guy at a party full of drunk guys—impossible. Good news was that we at least knew it was a “he,” unless the Sentinel was messing with us.

Closing my eyes, I breathed out slowly and winced. My temples throbbed something fierce. It was like having a toothache in my entire face and I had no idea how long I’d last before it was time to have another chat with Seth.

I stared. “Holy…”

“Crap,” Deacon whispered over my shoulder.

Silence fell, thick and heavy as we all sat in the car and stared. I knew the same thing was happening behind us in the other Hummer. None of us knew what to say.

Horror engulfed me. This… none of this had been expected.

About an hour earlier, Aiden had found the narrow lane that looked like a fire access road, but was really the five-mile long entrance to the University. We’d made it up the rocky road about a half a mile when the scenery had changed from clusters of juniper trees to… a scene straight out of Red Dawn.

The headlights from our cars cast light on a gruesome scene. Burnt-out Hummers crowded the sides of the road, resting against equally-charred trees and scorched ground. There were so many—half a dozen crispy car skeletons. I couldn’t tell if there were bodies in them, not from this distance.

I swallowed. “Aiden…”

He placed a hand on my arm. “It could’ve been Sentinels trying to infiltrate the University.”

Blinking rapidly, I shook my head. I had a bad, bad feeling about this. Call it a spidey-sense or whatever, but this wasn’t good.

“Can we, like, call ahead?” Deacon said in a hushed voice. “I mean, they’re expecting us, right?”

“They are.” Aiden glanced back at his younger brother. “It’s okay. I promise. Nothing is going to happen.”

“I can’t get a damn signal at all.” Marcus glared at his cell phone like he could wish it into Tartarus. “Nothing at all.” He glanced up, eyes hard as gems. “Any of you?”

Aiden checked his phone. “Nope.”

I wet my lips as my gaze fell back to the scorched vehicles. My heart pounded and my head ached. “There must be a lot of firebug pures in there…”

“No doubt,” Aiden muttered, both brows rising.

Solos appeared on Aiden’s side of the car, ru

“It’s possible,” Aiden replied, but I wasn’t sure he believed it.

“I can’t get hold of them, so I’m assuming you can’t, either, right?” When Aiden nodded, Solos folded his hands behind his head and stretched so that his back bowed. “I guess we can make it through.”