The Return
Page 17
Damn.
By the time I stepped into the elevator, I felt sort of molested. A grin tugged at my lips as I turned, facing the closing door. The girl was still staring. I wiggled my fingers at her, and then I got down to focusing on less interesting—but sadly, more important— topics. Like how to convince Josie this was real and neither of us was clinically insane before another shade—or something worse— popped up.
From what I knew about shades, they could possess mortal bodies and will them to do just about anything. And they were dangerous in their shadowy, spirit form, too. They could kill mortals easily, so that begged the question—why was Josie still up and walking around if shades were already here? Why hadn’t they taken her out? Unless that meant their orders weren’t to kill the demigods.
Or, unless the shade’s taunt that I was already too late meant Josie was lying somewhere in a bloody heap.
“Shit,” I hissed, tempted to wing the bag through the elevator walls. I doubted Apollo would be thrilled if I were already too late. Unease stirred in the pit of my stomach, and admittedly, I’d be less than thrilled myself. Hysterics and calling me Pollyanna aside, she seemed like she could be a cool girl.
But she was a pretty, cool girl with a short life expectancy, since she had Titans after her.
When the doors opened, I moved into the hall, heading for her room at the end. I might’ve been a handful of steps away when I felt the coiled awareness of something packing a whole bunch of aether—more than a pure would carry in their blood, even more than what I had.
That meant somewhere on this floor there was something very godlike. Not a pure or a half, and definitely not another Apollyon, since I was the only one currently topside. And it wasn’t the same feeling I got when I’d sensed the shade. The sensation increased as I reached Josie’s door, and as I gripped the handle, I swore under my breath. Yep, something packing a whole lot of aether was in her room. And dammit if I didn’t feel that hollowing in my stomach, that emptiness that begged to be filled with the power only draining aether could fill. I usually could ignore the urge whenever Apollo was around, because his general dickheadedness overshadowed everything else.
But fuck. I was like a damn daimon jonesing for a fix.
And that pissed me off.
Twisting the doorknob, I tapped into the element of fire and melted the internal gears. Open Sesame. There was a shriek from inside the room as I stepped in, kicking the door shut behind me. Took no time to find Josie, since the room was the size of a shoebox. She was sitting on a bed to my right, her back pressed against the wall, eyes wide and the odd, multicolored hair hanging down over her shoulders, past her breasts. Her face was as pale as a daimon’s.
“I brought you your bag,” I announced, tossing it to land on a skewed blue mat on the floor.
“Holy crap,” she whispered, blinking several times. “You’re not real. You’re not real.”
I sighed, widening my stance. “Not this again.”
She opened her mouth, but then the narrow door near the foot of her bed opened. I would’ve thought it was a closet door, but it couldn’t have been, unless a half-naked chick had been hiding in there.
If so, this was my kind of dorm.
But the moment I got a really good look at the tall girl wearing shorts that barely covered what she had going on and a sports bra, I knew I’d found the source of all that aether goodness.
The girl looked to be Josie’s age, which based on what Apollo had said had to be around twenty. Her head whipped toward me, the movement very snakelike.
My muscles tightened. Our eyes locked like two bulls ready to knock horns.
“Do you see him?” Josie asked, clutching fists full of the blanket. “Do you see him, Erin?”
“Yeah, I see him.” Squaring off with me, a wall of red-hot fury radiated from her, practically coating the room.
“Do I know you?” I asked.
Her features sharpened as she pulled back her lips, baring shark-like teeth. “You killed one of my sisters.”
“What?” squeaked Josie.
I squinted at the girl. During the time I was with Ares, I…I’d killed a lot of people. Some were pures. Some were halfs. Some were even mortals. Basically, anyone who’d gotten in his way. Not too different from what I did now for the remaining gods. “You’re going to have to narrow that down for me.”
She drew back as if she’d been slapped, and yeah, maybe I could’ve been a little more sensitive about my request for additional info, but I was a jackass—and apparently everyone else knew it too.
The smile that appeared on her face was almost nice, except for the jagged teeth and barbed-edged quality to it. Then the girl who called herself Erin stepped forward, shedding her mortal façade.
Her flesh turned a murky gray, washing away the deep hue of her skin. Gray wings sprouted out of her back, reaching at least six feet—a huge-ass wingspan that was sort of impressive. Her fingers elongated, forming claws that could disembowel someone with a flick of the wrist. Her black hair thinned all around her head, forming a thousand tiny black snakes that snapped at the air around her. The dark eyes disappeared, and all-white ones appeared.
“Oh my God,” Josie whispered, looking like she was trying to become one with the wall behind her. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”
“Furie,” I groaned. “Seriously?”
Erin—the name was so funny now, considering the actual Greek word for furie was Erinyes—rose up off the ground. “Yeah,” she spat. “Seriously.”
By the time I stepped into the elevator, I felt sort of molested. A grin tugged at my lips as I turned, facing the closing door. The girl was still staring. I wiggled my fingers at her, and then I got down to focusing on less interesting—but sadly, more important— topics. Like how to convince Josie this was real and neither of us was clinically insane before another shade—or something worse— popped up.
From what I knew about shades, they could possess mortal bodies and will them to do just about anything. And they were dangerous in their shadowy, spirit form, too. They could kill mortals easily, so that begged the question—why was Josie still up and walking around if shades were already here? Why hadn’t they taken her out? Unless that meant their orders weren’t to kill the demigods.
Or, unless the shade’s taunt that I was already too late meant Josie was lying somewhere in a bloody heap.
“Shit,” I hissed, tempted to wing the bag through the elevator walls. I doubted Apollo would be thrilled if I were already too late. Unease stirred in the pit of my stomach, and admittedly, I’d be less than thrilled myself. Hysterics and calling me Pollyanna aside, she seemed like she could be a cool girl.
But she was a pretty, cool girl with a short life expectancy, since she had Titans after her.
When the doors opened, I moved into the hall, heading for her room at the end. I might’ve been a handful of steps away when I felt the coiled awareness of something packing a whole bunch of aether—more than a pure would carry in their blood, even more than what I had.
That meant somewhere on this floor there was something very godlike. Not a pure or a half, and definitely not another Apollyon, since I was the only one currently topside. And it wasn’t the same feeling I got when I’d sensed the shade. The sensation increased as I reached Josie’s door, and as I gripped the handle, I swore under my breath. Yep, something packing a whole lot of aether was in her room. And dammit if I didn’t feel that hollowing in my stomach, that emptiness that begged to be filled with the power only draining aether could fill. I usually could ignore the urge whenever Apollo was around, because his general dickheadedness overshadowed everything else.
But fuck. I was like a damn daimon jonesing for a fix.
And that pissed me off.
Twisting the doorknob, I tapped into the element of fire and melted the internal gears. Open Sesame. There was a shriek from inside the room as I stepped in, kicking the door shut behind me. Took no time to find Josie, since the room was the size of a shoebox. She was sitting on a bed to my right, her back pressed against the wall, eyes wide and the odd, multicolored hair hanging down over her shoulders, past her breasts. Her face was as pale as a daimon’s.
“I brought you your bag,” I announced, tossing it to land on a skewed blue mat on the floor.
“Holy crap,” she whispered, blinking several times. “You’re not real. You’re not real.”
I sighed, widening my stance. “Not this again.”
She opened her mouth, but then the narrow door near the foot of her bed opened. I would’ve thought it was a closet door, but it couldn’t have been, unless a half-naked chick had been hiding in there.
If so, this was my kind of dorm.
But the moment I got a really good look at the tall girl wearing shorts that barely covered what she had going on and a sports bra, I knew I’d found the source of all that aether goodness.
The girl looked to be Josie’s age, which based on what Apollo had said had to be around twenty. Her head whipped toward me, the movement very snakelike.
My muscles tightened. Our eyes locked like two bulls ready to knock horns.
“Do you see him?” Josie asked, clutching fists full of the blanket. “Do you see him, Erin?”
“Yeah, I see him.” Squaring off with me, a wall of red-hot fury radiated from her, practically coating the room.
“Do I know you?” I asked.
Her features sharpened as she pulled back her lips, baring shark-like teeth. “You killed one of my sisters.”
“What?” squeaked Josie.
I squinted at the girl. During the time I was with Ares, I…I’d killed a lot of people. Some were pures. Some were halfs. Some were even mortals. Basically, anyone who’d gotten in his way. Not too different from what I did now for the remaining gods. “You’re going to have to narrow that down for me.”
She drew back as if she’d been slapped, and yeah, maybe I could’ve been a little more sensitive about my request for additional info, but I was a jackass—and apparently everyone else knew it too.
The smile that appeared on her face was almost nice, except for the jagged teeth and barbed-edged quality to it. Then the girl who called herself Erin stepped forward, shedding her mortal façade.
Her flesh turned a murky gray, washing away the deep hue of her skin. Gray wings sprouted out of her back, reaching at least six feet—a huge-ass wingspan that was sort of impressive. Her fingers elongated, forming claws that could disembowel someone with a flick of the wrist. Her black hair thinned all around her head, forming a thousand tiny black snakes that snapped at the air around her. The dark eyes disappeared, and all-white ones appeared.
“Oh my God,” Josie whispered, looking like she was trying to become one with the wall behind her. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”
“Furie,” I groaned. “Seriously?”
Erin—the name was so funny now, considering the actual Greek word for furie was Erinyes—rose up off the ground. “Yeah,” she spat. “Seriously.”
