The Struggle
Page 7
“Just like with Ares’s death, there was a weakening in all of us, allowing the Titans to make their escape.” Hades’s boots clicked off the crushed tile as he walked to his horse. “With Atlas, the ripple effect was much more severe.” His large hand moved along the side of the beast. “It punched a hole straight through the earth, through Olympus and my realm. Unfortunately it damaged the fire caverns, allowing for openings here and several other places.”
My knees felt weak. “Punched a hole . . . a hole straight through Earth?”
Hades nodded. “He was Atlas, after all.”
The kitchen door opened once more and Deacon drew up short. His gray eyes widened as he spotted Apollo.
Gable bumped into him from behind. “Who’s that?”
“Nope,” Deacon said, turning right back around. “That is all kinds of nope right there.”
And Deacon pushed Gable back into the kitchen.
“Gods,” Luke muttered under his breath as he scratched his fingers through his hair.
Anger tightened Aiden’s jaw. “Okay. Did it ever occur to any of you that if you just told us that there was a possibility that Seth could become the God Killer and that he could kill a Titan, we might’ve been able to prevent him from killing a Titan?”
“And exactly how do you think you would’ve stopped the God Killer?” Herc spoke, shrugging out massive, muscular shoulders. “Even I, the Hercules, would’ve been unable to stop him. He could kill me.”
“Oh, the tragedy,” murmured Hades.
“I will probably never say this again, but Hercules is right,” Apollo admitted. “Your knowledge would’ve changed nothing.”
“That is . . .” I shook my head in wonder. “That is the absolutely stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Knowledge is everything. Knowing what he could possibly be capable of ahead of time could’ve given us a chance to stop him—could’ve given him the chance.”
Apollo said nothing, because how could he deny that? To do so would be foolish.
“This is not our fault,” Aiden said. “Like always, you all deem it necessary not to tell us everything and like always, everything goes sideways fast.”
“We tell you what you need to know when you need to know it,” Apollo snapped back.
Herc rolled his eyes. “Trust me, you’ve only had what? A few years of dealing with a need-to-know basis. I, the Hercules, have lived—”
“I am done with you.” Apollo waved his hand, and Herc just disappeared. There one second, gone the next.
My mouth dropped open as I stepped over the dais. “Did you kill him?”
Hades laughed.
“I wish,” muttered my father. “I sent him back to Olympus. I have no need of him now. We have no need of him.”
I shook my head. “We still have to find the other demigods.”
“You already know where they are, and we have bigger problems.” Apollo turned to Alex and Aiden. “We have a God Killer who is obviously AWOL—a God Killer who is a threat to all of us.”
“He’s not a threat to you.” I walked toward the crevice, steering clear of Hades, his men, and his horses. “If he was, he wouldn’t have done what he’s done.”
Alex glanced at me and then agreed. “He left here without harming anyone.”
“He did hit me,” Luke added dryly. “But he didn’t kill me and he could’ve easily done so.”
“I know what he did,” Apollo growled, and I felt heat creep into my face. Did he really know what Seth had done before he’d left? Because, ew. “Seth cannot be trusted. Not now.”
Closing my eyes, I tried counting to ten. I only made it to three. “He has given you no reason not to trust him. He has done—”
“You do not know him as well as you think you do,” Apollo responded, his back to me. “You do not know him at all.”
Tears of anger and frustration filled my eyes. “I know him better than any of you.”
Apollo’s back stiffened. “You need to find the other demigods now. The Titans need to be entombed—” He held up a hand. “—and not killed. We will deal with the God Killer.”
Aiden and Alex exchanged looks.
Ice drenched my veins. “What do you mean, deal with him?”
“Once you locate the other demigods, bring them to the Covenant,” Apollo ordered.
I stepped forward. Pieces of tile fell into the gaping crevice.
“Careful,” Luke murmured as he stopped a few feet behind me. “I so don’t want to go down there after you.”
Neither did I. “What do you mean by ‘deal with him’?”
“What do you think, luv?” Hades asked as he mounted his horse with the kind of fluid grace I imagined only gods had. “We may not be able to kill him. Yet. But we can neutralize him.”
The iciness spread, seizing my stomach. “How?”
Hades didn’t answer, but he gave me a faint, mysterious smile, one that caused my stomach to dip unpleasantly. Guiding his horse around, he nodded toward Alex and Aiden. “I’ll be seeing you two soon.”
Then with a flick of his wrist, his horse turned again, toward the tear in the floor. His men followed, and all three disappeared into the smoke whirling from the floor.
Any other time I would’ve been shocked and awed by all of that, but not today.
“How?” I demanded once more.
“It doesn’t matter,” Apollo responded. “What you need to be focusing on is locating the other demigods—”
“I know what I need to be doing,” I cut in.
“And what is that? Running off after him?” Anger filled every word Apollo spoke. “As if what I’ve ordered you to do is not more important?”
I took a deep, even breath. “Alex and Aiden have agreed to—”
“I know what they’ve agreed to do. It does not matter.” Apollo turned his head to the side, but didn’t look in my direction. “You will locate the other two demigods and then wait for me at the Covenant in South Dakota.”
I almost laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so.”
“You’d disobey me?” Apollo queried in a voice too soft for comfort.
Across from me, Alex and Aiden looked like they wanted a bucket of popcorn, but both remained quiet as I stared at my father’s back. “I will do what I feel is right, and finding Seth is what I need to do. I love Seth. I love him when no one else believes in him and I will still love him when everyone realizes who and what he truly is. That will never change. And there is nothing you can say that will change my mind, so you might as well not even attempt it and just tell me how you plan to neutralize Seth.”
“You won’t love him when he drains you dry.”
I sucked in an unsteady breath. “He would never do that.”
“He wouldn’t? Because I’m pretty sure he has already fed from you.”
My gaze shot to Alex and Aiden. Had they told him? No. They hadn’t seen Apollo since I had. Or at least I didn’t think so.
“You don’t understand, Josie. You approach everything with Seth as if it is a black or white issue, as if there is not gray. You don’t know him like I do—like all of us do. Whether you want to admit it or not, we do not know what Seth is capable of. We never have and you did not know him when he worked alongside Ares.”
While a part of me recognized that Apollo had a point, he was still wrong. I didn’t know Seth then, but I knew that was a different Seth. People could and did change. “Since you seem to be watching from afar like a total stalker, then you know he stopped and he told me what happened.”
Apollo tipped his head back. A moment passed and then he said, “You sound like a foolish child in the middle of a tantrum.”
“Oh geez,” Luke murmured from behind me, and Alex’s eyes widened.
For a moment I was consumed with the skid mark his words had left behind. Just for a few seconds, and then I shed that hurt like I’d done so many times in the past whenever I thought about my father, where he was and why he hadn’t been a part of my life.
My knees felt weak. “Punched a hole . . . a hole straight through Earth?”
Hades nodded. “He was Atlas, after all.”
The kitchen door opened once more and Deacon drew up short. His gray eyes widened as he spotted Apollo.
Gable bumped into him from behind. “Who’s that?”
“Nope,” Deacon said, turning right back around. “That is all kinds of nope right there.”
And Deacon pushed Gable back into the kitchen.
“Gods,” Luke muttered under his breath as he scratched his fingers through his hair.
Anger tightened Aiden’s jaw. “Okay. Did it ever occur to any of you that if you just told us that there was a possibility that Seth could become the God Killer and that he could kill a Titan, we might’ve been able to prevent him from killing a Titan?”
“And exactly how do you think you would’ve stopped the God Killer?” Herc spoke, shrugging out massive, muscular shoulders. “Even I, the Hercules, would’ve been unable to stop him. He could kill me.”
“Oh, the tragedy,” murmured Hades.
“I will probably never say this again, but Hercules is right,” Apollo admitted. “Your knowledge would’ve changed nothing.”
“That is . . .” I shook my head in wonder. “That is the absolutely stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Knowledge is everything. Knowing what he could possibly be capable of ahead of time could’ve given us a chance to stop him—could’ve given him the chance.”
Apollo said nothing, because how could he deny that? To do so would be foolish.
“This is not our fault,” Aiden said. “Like always, you all deem it necessary not to tell us everything and like always, everything goes sideways fast.”
“We tell you what you need to know when you need to know it,” Apollo snapped back.
Herc rolled his eyes. “Trust me, you’ve only had what? A few years of dealing with a need-to-know basis. I, the Hercules, have lived—”
“I am done with you.” Apollo waved his hand, and Herc just disappeared. There one second, gone the next.
My mouth dropped open as I stepped over the dais. “Did you kill him?”
Hades laughed.
“I wish,” muttered my father. “I sent him back to Olympus. I have no need of him now. We have no need of him.”
I shook my head. “We still have to find the other demigods.”
“You already know where they are, and we have bigger problems.” Apollo turned to Alex and Aiden. “We have a God Killer who is obviously AWOL—a God Killer who is a threat to all of us.”
“He’s not a threat to you.” I walked toward the crevice, steering clear of Hades, his men, and his horses. “If he was, he wouldn’t have done what he’s done.”
Alex glanced at me and then agreed. “He left here without harming anyone.”
“He did hit me,” Luke added dryly. “But he didn’t kill me and he could’ve easily done so.”
“I know what he did,” Apollo growled, and I felt heat creep into my face. Did he really know what Seth had done before he’d left? Because, ew. “Seth cannot be trusted. Not now.”
Closing my eyes, I tried counting to ten. I only made it to three. “He has given you no reason not to trust him. He has done—”
“You do not know him as well as you think you do,” Apollo responded, his back to me. “You do not know him at all.”
Tears of anger and frustration filled my eyes. “I know him better than any of you.”
Apollo’s back stiffened. “You need to find the other demigods now. The Titans need to be entombed—” He held up a hand. “—and not killed. We will deal with the God Killer.”
Aiden and Alex exchanged looks.
Ice drenched my veins. “What do you mean, deal with him?”
“Once you locate the other demigods, bring them to the Covenant,” Apollo ordered.
I stepped forward. Pieces of tile fell into the gaping crevice.
“Careful,” Luke murmured as he stopped a few feet behind me. “I so don’t want to go down there after you.”
Neither did I. “What do you mean by ‘deal with him’?”
“What do you think, luv?” Hades asked as he mounted his horse with the kind of fluid grace I imagined only gods had. “We may not be able to kill him. Yet. But we can neutralize him.”
The iciness spread, seizing my stomach. “How?”
Hades didn’t answer, but he gave me a faint, mysterious smile, one that caused my stomach to dip unpleasantly. Guiding his horse around, he nodded toward Alex and Aiden. “I’ll be seeing you two soon.”
Then with a flick of his wrist, his horse turned again, toward the tear in the floor. His men followed, and all three disappeared into the smoke whirling from the floor.
Any other time I would’ve been shocked and awed by all of that, but not today.
“How?” I demanded once more.
“It doesn’t matter,” Apollo responded. “What you need to be focusing on is locating the other demigods—”
“I know what I need to be doing,” I cut in.
“And what is that? Running off after him?” Anger filled every word Apollo spoke. “As if what I’ve ordered you to do is not more important?”
I took a deep, even breath. “Alex and Aiden have agreed to—”
“I know what they’ve agreed to do. It does not matter.” Apollo turned his head to the side, but didn’t look in my direction. “You will locate the other two demigods and then wait for me at the Covenant in South Dakota.”
I almost laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so.”
“You’d disobey me?” Apollo queried in a voice too soft for comfort.
Across from me, Alex and Aiden looked like they wanted a bucket of popcorn, but both remained quiet as I stared at my father’s back. “I will do what I feel is right, and finding Seth is what I need to do. I love Seth. I love him when no one else believes in him and I will still love him when everyone realizes who and what he truly is. That will never change. And there is nothing you can say that will change my mind, so you might as well not even attempt it and just tell me how you plan to neutralize Seth.”
“You won’t love him when he drains you dry.”
I sucked in an unsteady breath. “He would never do that.”
“He wouldn’t? Because I’m pretty sure he has already fed from you.”
My gaze shot to Alex and Aiden. Had they told him? No. They hadn’t seen Apollo since I had. Or at least I didn’t think so.
“You don’t understand, Josie. You approach everything with Seth as if it is a black or white issue, as if there is not gray. You don’t know him like I do—like all of us do. Whether you want to admit it or not, we do not know what Seth is capable of. We never have and you did not know him when he worked alongside Ares.”
While a part of me recognized that Apollo had a point, he was still wrong. I didn’t know Seth then, but I knew that was a different Seth. People could and did change. “Since you seem to be watching from afar like a total stalker, then you know he stopped and he told me what happened.”
Apollo tipped his head back. A moment passed and then he said, “You sound like a foolish child in the middle of a tantrum.”
“Oh geez,” Luke murmured from behind me, and Alex’s eyes widened.
For a moment I was consumed with the skid mark his words had left behind. Just for a few seconds, and then I shed that hurt like I’d done so many times in the past whenever I thought about my father, where he was and why he hadn’t been a part of my life.
