The Power
Page 94
I dug my feet in.
“I know it’s hard.” His voice was low. “But we’ve got to leave him here, at least for right now.”
“It doesn’t feel right,” I told him. “I should be here when he wakes up.”
“And if he wakes up not in the right mind, and he does something to accidentally hurt you, what do you think that’ll do to him?” Luke reasoned. “It’ll make everything worse.”
I wasn’t sure how anything could get worse at this point, but Luke was right. I let him lead me out of the panic room and up the stairs. I tried not to hear the door shutting behind them.
And then we all went outside, this time with Aiden and Hercules carrying Solos’s body to a patch of land south of the landscaped pool. The shovels weren’t used. They weren’t even necessary, because Alex tapped into the earth element and a deep . . . a deep grave was formed. I realized that Aiden had sent Gable out of the room on purpose. Probably to clear his head, make him feel useful. Smart move.
Solos was placed in the grave and two coins were placed over his eyes. I’d never seen anything like it.
And I didn’t cry.
Even though I really wanted to.
The messy ball of emotion pinging around my chest might have been relieved that way, but all I could do was stand there as they moved the dirt back onto the grave.
“He will be awarded a warrior’s welcome in Tartarus,” Aiden said solemnly, his silver eyes oddly bright. “He will want for nothing.”
Staying outside wasn’t wise. Neither was going inside, but what other options did we have at this point? Once inside the kitchen, Gable turned off the oven, but there would be no getting rid of that burnt smell. Everyone split before I even realized what was happening, and I was the last to drag myself upstairs. Halfway down the hall, I heard voices—Alex and Aiden.
I should’ve kept going, but that’s not what I did. Creeping to the door, I stopped when I heard them talking in hushed voices.
“I’m going to call Marcus,” I heard Alex say.
“And I can summon Apollo and see if we can get Hephaestus to finish a cage,” Herc said, sounding surprisingly level-headed. He’d been all business since the Titan had showed up. “That will hold him.”
“It held me for a while,” Alex spoke. “But I wasn’t the God Killer at the time. And I think we all need to accept the fact that Seth has somehow become just that.”
I was hung up on the fact they were talking about putting Seth in a cage. An actual legit cage?
“The problem is, will Apollo answer your summons in a timely manner?” Aiden asked. “He pretty much answers when he feels like it, even when it’s majorly urgent.”
“That is a problem.” Herc paused. “I can go back to Olympus and retrieve Apollo. Or even Hephaestus.”
“What?” Alex demanded, and I wondered if Herc would even return. Didn’t sound like he wanted to be anywhere near Seth. “How?”
“I’m not of this realm, and I am able to reenter Olympus . . . under the right circumstances.”
“Of course,” muttered Alex, and I could almost picture her rolling her eyes. “What are the right circumstances?”
“I need to spill a little of my blood at the highest point of wherever I am, which is convenient since we’re on cliffs,” he explained.
There was a pause and then Aiden said, “That doesn’t sound complicated. You can do it now, before Seth even has a chance to wake up.”
My heart dropped.
“Well, I can only do it at the exact moment the sun rises,” Hercules added. “Not sure why, but I don’t make the rules.”
“That’s . . .” Alex sighed. “That’s at least six hours from now. We have no idea how long the Pegasus blood will work on Seth. Even if it does keep him under long enough to get Hephaestus here, we can’t stay here for long. Atlas might be gone, but the other Titans have probably sensed his death. They will be gunning for us.”
“Just keep the room guarded and hopefully Hephaestus can fashion us a kennel or something,” Hercules advised, and my eyes widened. A kennel? “But to be fair, you don’t know what he will be like when he awakes. He may not even try to escape. He may be the friendly neighborhood God Killer.”
Shocked that Hercules was actually sort of defending Seth, I almost fell over. Those two had not hit it off on the right foot.
“Let’s hope that’s the case.” Weariness clung to Aiden’s tone. “But based on previous experience with him, when he goes ape-shit, he goes full-on ape-shit, and it’s not a brief thing.”
They weren’t even going to give Seth a chance. He hadn’t gone “ape-shit” for fun. He’d lost it after Solos had died. Anger blasted through me. I pushed away from the wall, about to make my presence known.
“What about Josie?” That was Alex, and I stopped myself, holding my breath. “You really think she’s going to leave him in the panic room? Nothing against her, but she . . . she didn’t know the Seth we did.”
“I don’t think she’ll do that. She saw how violent he was. She wouldn’t put everyone here at risk,” Aiden replied. “Besides, we’ve got Luke watching his room now. She wouldn’t hurt Luke, not even to free Seth.”
Okay. That was sort of true. I didn’t want to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, but I would hurt someone to protect another. However, I didn’t plan on releasing Seth until I knew where he was mentally and emotionally. Things were messy between us right now, but that didn’t mean I’d given up on him. Right?
“I know it’s hard.” His voice was low. “But we’ve got to leave him here, at least for right now.”
“It doesn’t feel right,” I told him. “I should be here when he wakes up.”
“And if he wakes up not in the right mind, and he does something to accidentally hurt you, what do you think that’ll do to him?” Luke reasoned. “It’ll make everything worse.”
I wasn’t sure how anything could get worse at this point, but Luke was right. I let him lead me out of the panic room and up the stairs. I tried not to hear the door shutting behind them.
And then we all went outside, this time with Aiden and Hercules carrying Solos’s body to a patch of land south of the landscaped pool. The shovels weren’t used. They weren’t even necessary, because Alex tapped into the earth element and a deep . . . a deep grave was formed. I realized that Aiden had sent Gable out of the room on purpose. Probably to clear his head, make him feel useful. Smart move.
Solos was placed in the grave and two coins were placed over his eyes. I’d never seen anything like it.
And I didn’t cry.
Even though I really wanted to.
The messy ball of emotion pinging around my chest might have been relieved that way, but all I could do was stand there as they moved the dirt back onto the grave.
“He will be awarded a warrior’s welcome in Tartarus,” Aiden said solemnly, his silver eyes oddly bright. “He will want for nothing.”
Staying outside wasn’t wise. Neither was going inside, but what other options did we have at this point? Once inside the kitchen, Gable turned off the oven, but there would be no getting rid of that burnt smell. Everyone split before I even realized what was happening, and I was the last to drag myself upstairs. Halfway down the hall, I heard voices—Alex and Aiden.
I should’ve kept going, but that’s not what I did. Creeping to the door, I stopped when I heard them talking in hushed voices.
“I’m going to call Marcus,” I heard Alex say.
“And I can summon Apollo and see if we can get Hephaestus to finish a cage,” Herc said, sounding surprisingly level-headed. He’d been all business since the Titan had showed up. “That will hold him.”
“It held me for a while,” Alex spoke. “But I wasn’t the God Killer at the time. And I think we all need to accept the fact that Seth has somehow become just that.”
I was hung up on the fact they were talking about putting Seth in a cage. An actual legit cage?
“The problem is, will Apollo answer your summons in a timely manner?” Aiden asked. “He pretty much answers when he feels like it, even when it’s majorly urgent.”
“That is a problem.” Herc paused. “I can go back to Olympus and retrieve Apollo. Or even Hephaestus.”
“What?” Alex demanded, and I wondered if Herc would even return. Didn’t sound like he wanted to be anywhere near Seth. “How?”
“I’m not of this realm, and I am able to reenter Olympus . . . under the right circumstances.”
“Of course,” muttered Alex, and I could almost picture her rolling her eyes. “What are the right circumstances?”
“I need to spill a little of my blood at the highest point of wherever I am, which is convenient since we’re on cliffs,” he explained.
There was a pause and then Aiden said, “That doesn’t sound complicated. You can do it now, before Seth even has a chance to wake up.”
My heart dropped.
“Well, I can only do it at the exact moment the sun rises,” Hercules added. “Not sure why, but I don’t make the rules.”
“That’s . . .” Alex sighed. “That’s at least six hours from now. We have no idea how long the Pegasus blood will work on Seth. Even if it does keep him under long enough to get Hephaestus here, we can’t stay here for long. Atlas might be gone, but the other Titans have probably sensed his death. They will be gunning for us.”
“Just keep the room guarded and hopefully Hephaestus can fashion us a kennel or something,” Hercules advised, and my eyes widened. A kennel? “But to be fair, you don’t know what he will be like when he awakes. He may not even try to escape. He may be the friendly neighborhood God Killer.”
Shocked that Hercules was actually sort of defending Seth, I almost fell over. Those two had not hit it off on the right foot.
“Let’s hope that’s the case.” Weariness clung to Aiden’s tone. “But based on previous experience with him, when he goes ape-shit, he goes full-on ape-shit, and it’s not a brief thing.”
They weren’t even going to give Seth a chance. He hadn’t gone “ape-shit” for fun. He’d lost it after Solos had died. Anger blasted through me. I pushed away from the wall, about to make my presence known.
“What about Josie?” That was Alex, and I stopped myself, holding my breath. “You really think she’s going to leave him in the panic room? Nothing against her, but she . . . she didn’t know the Seth we did.”
“I don’t think she’ll do that. She saw how violent he was. She wouldn’t put everyone here at risk,” Aiden replied. “Besides, we’ve got Luke watching his room now. She wouldn’t hurt Luke, not even to free Seth.”
Okay. That was sort of true. I didn’t want to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, but I would hurt someone to protect another. However, I didn’t plan on releasing Seth until I knew where he was mentally and emotionally. Things were messy between us right now, but that didn’t mean I’d given up on him. Right?
