The Prophecy

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  My lower lip trembled. Colin’s family was killed in the war with Ares, and now he was gone, killed not in a war but by a furie who had been unleashed because of hatred and bigotry.

  “He was someone who had an extraordinarily bright future ahead of him.” Marcus’s voice thickened, and I had to think he’d seen too much of this already. How many students during the war with Ares had ended up the same way? Too many, I was sure. “He will be rewarded greatly. I know death is different in the mortal world, but I assure you that he will be reunited with his family and he will be given—”

  A sudden, sharp pain lanced across my lower stomach, startling me. Gasping, I doubled over, clutching my belly. What in the world? I waited, eyes peeled wide as I thought someone called out my name. The pain was gone as quickly as—I cried out as another burning stab traveled along my pelvis.

  “Josie!” Marcus was suddenly right by my side, touching my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

  I forced a breath out as fear pinged around inside me. That pain—oh, gods—that pain was not normal. “I don’t know. I think…I think it’s the baby.”

  Chapter 18

  Seth

  Alex stared at Erik, her expression one of reluctant curiosity, and she looked more than just a little disturbed.

  Erik had taken us back to the flat he rented in one of the stone homes a few blocks from the pub. Alex lingered in the back of the room, near a blown-up black and white poster of David Bowie, while Aiden and the guys sat down with Erik.

  “He looks like him,” Alex whispered. “It’s crazy, but he looks like Ares.”

  Folding my arms, I leaned against the wall. “I know, and I have more crazy for you.” I looked over at her, keeping my voice low. “He says his presence started affecting people around the same time Josie’s abilities were unlocked. Doubt that was a coincidence.”

  Her gaze met mine. “Doubtful.”

  “And more crazy?” I looked over to where Erik sat, his eyes as dark as the damn sky outside. “Erik, tell them about Ares.”

  Aiden twisted at the waist, his brows raised as he looked over in my direction. I nodded.

  “I knew my father.” Erik leaned back, resting an ankle on his knee. “Met him more times than I could count. He told me what I am and who he was. My father was a god.”

  Tension rolled off Alex as she stepped away from the wall. “Your father was a psychotic mass murderer who was hell-bent on committing genocide.”

  Erik glanced over Aiden’s shoulder, at Alex. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  Deacon raised his brows from where he sat. “You have to take more than her word for it. He was everything Alex said.”

  A muscle flickered along Erik’s jaw. “He told me about some of you.” He looked over to where Alex and I stood. “He told me about you two. Apollyon?”

  “Apollyon.” I chuckled, and then I blinked out of existence, reappearing directly in front of Erik.

  “Bloody fuck.” Erik jerked back.

  “I’m not the Apollyon anymore.” Reaching down, I picked up his foot and dropped it on the floor. “I’m a god. Just like your father. Except he’s dead, and that girl back there, who is now a demigod, killed him. So, you’re going to do more than take our word for it.”

  “Seth,” Aiden warned, and Luke cursed under his breath.

  “Do you understand me, mate?” I asked again, letting just a little bit of my godhood slip in. I knew what Eric saw. Eyes that were now all white.

  Eric inhaled sharply, but he didn’t look away as he looked up at me. “I understand.”

  “Good.” I smiled then, and by the time I turned around, my eyes had returned to normal. “There’s a lot we need to discuss, but that’s not going to happen here.”

  Erik looked around the room as a little bit of unease seeped into his features. “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe we should hold off on that,” Aiden suggested, slapping his hands on his knees.

  “You want to hold off? Fine,” I replied. “But I’ve already been gone too long, and I need to get back. You want to stay? Up to you.”

  Alex came forward. “We can’t stay here too long. Not all of us. It’s too much of a risk.”

  “Why? Why is it a risk? You said my father is dead—”

  “It has nothing to do with your father.” Luke rested his hands on the back of Deacon’s chair. “It has to do with the Titans. Did your father tell you about them?”

  “Yeah. He told me who they were.” Erik frowned as he rubbed a hand over his chest.

  “Well, they’re free and they’re hunting down demigods like you to use as portable battery packs,” I explained, grinning while Deacon grimaced. “We have no idea if they’ve figured out where you are, but they have this nifty ability to track demigods, and besides you? They are two more. They’re going to find you, and since I’m not allowed to kill any more of them, they’re probably going to take you. So, you’re either coming with us or not. Either way, I’m leaving, with or without you.”

  “What Seth is trying to say,” Aiden began, “is that—”

  Without warning, a fissure of energy flowed through the room. Glyphs erupted all over my skin, spinning and gliding in a dizzying rush. A god was coming.

  No more than a second later, a column of shimmery light appeared in front of the closed, curtained doors, and then it faded to reveal Apollo in his full god glory—a massively tall man with hair the color of the sun and white eyes spitting static into the air.

  Poor Erik about came out of his skin, lurching to his feet, face pale and obsidian-colored eyes wide. He may have seen his father several times throughout his life, but he wasn’t used to gods randomly appearing in front of him.

  I didn’t get a chance to say a word to Apollo.

  He turned to where I stood and said, “Josie needs you now. Go.”

  At those words, my fucking heart stopped in my chest. I didn’t question his command. Didn’t take a moment to even respond. I focused on Josie, and let myself slip into the void.

  The immediate startled gasp I heard didn’t belong to Josie.

  Opening my eyes, I saw an unknown male first, He was a pure dressed in pale blue scrubs—nursing scrubs. The rest of the room came into view. It was small and white, with only a cabinet and a sink along one wall.

  “Gods.” The pure-blood stumbled back, crumpling what appeared to be a plastic cup.

  The room suddenly made sense. It was the infirmary.

  “Josie!” I shot around the pure and saw her. My stomach dropped in one of the worse ways I’d ever experienced in my entire life. “What happened?”

  She was propped halfway up on the narrow bed, a thin blanket tucked in around her waist. I scanned her. Cheeks were flushed with color. No visible signs of trauma. I didn’t know if that was good or bad news.

  I picked up her hand. “What’s wrong, Josie? Why are you at the infirmary?”

  She glanced at the pure before drawing in a deep breath. The entire damn world stopped at that moment, because the question formed even though I couldn’t speak it out loud.

  Did something happen to the baby?

  The pure cleared his throat. “I’ll give you two some time. Dr. Morales will be back as soon as she can.”

  “Thank you,” Josie replied.

  The pure nodded in my direction as he slipped past the bed and out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

  “Babe.” My damn hand trembled as it coasted over her cheek, my heart pounding in my chest. “Tell me what’s going on, because my head is going in so many directions right now, and none of them are good.”

  “Seth.” She curled her hand around my forearm, her fingers cool. Her shoulders tensed. “Did you guys get back from finding the demigod? Bring him back?”

  “We found him. He’s not here yet. We’ll talk about that later, but that’s not what I care about right now.”

  Josie’s brows knitted. “If you weren’t done, why are you here?”

  “Your fat
her told me to come here.”

  Her eyes grew wide with surprise as her hand slipped off my forearm.

  I dragged my thumb along her jaw as my heart still raced in my chest. “Tell me what happened.”

  Those bright blue eyes met mine. “You don’t know what happened here while you were gone?”

  I coughed out a short laugh. “I don’t know anything.”

  She looked away then. “There was an attack—the pure-bloods. They apparently caught a bunch of half-bloods off guard in the cafeteria. They killed…they killed nine half-bloods and two pure Guards, Seth. They stabbed them to death or used the elements. I managed to stop some of them.”

  “You were fighting?” I felt sick. Was she hurt? Was our child hurt? “Psychi mou…”

  “I had to do something, Seth. I walked right into the middle of it. I wasn’t going to run away and hide.”

  Of course she wasn’t.

  Josie was brave, and that was dangerous, because she didn’t even realize it.

  She swallowed as she pressed her lips together, and my feeling of unease tripled, burning through my veins like acid. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, by her hip, I picked up her hand again. “There’s more?” I asked, sensing that there was.

  Josie nodded as she squeezed her eyes shut. “The furies were unleashed.”

  Every part of me froze.

  That was the last thing I’d suspected her to say. I’d seen firsthand what the furies were capable of when they were unleashed from their tombs.

  Devastation.

  “They came out of nowhere, and they were brutal.” She tipped her head back against the extremely flat pillow. “It didn’t matter. They were just ripping through people. We got caught outside with them.”

  I brought her hand to my chest. “Who were you with?”

  Those beautiful eyes opened and slid to meet mine. “There was a Sentinel.” She frowned. “I don’t even know his name. He knew me, but I…” Josie sighed. “There was him, Alexander, and—” Her voice cracked. “And Colin.”

  Immediately I knew.

  I knew without her having to explain anything that something really bad had happened. I closed my eyes as I brought her hand to my mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

  “The furie went right at Colin, and I tried to stop it,” she whispered, voice thick. “I killed it, Seth. I killed it. I killed a furie.”

  My eyes opened. “Oh, Josie, babe, you did what you had to do.”

  “I know.” Tears filled her eyes, thickened her voice. “But I was too late. The furie had a hold on Colin, and it killed him.”

  Heart sinking, I leaned over as I let go of her hand. Cupping her cheek, I pressed my forehead to hers. I’d never liked the guy. Wasn’t exactly based on something he’d ever done. My dislike was on my end, but he’d been a good friend to Josie, and I didn’t want her to lose anyone else, because she’d already lost so much.

  “I’m so sorry.” Tilting my head, I kissed away the tear that tracked down her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

  “He didn’t deserve that, Seth. The pain he must’ve felt—the fear? He didn’t deserve that.” Her breath caught as she gripped the front of my shirt. “None of them deserved that.”

  “I know.” I smoothed my hand along her jaw as I kissed her other cheek. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

  And I couldn’t help but feel like I should’ve been here. I didn’t say it, because she didn’t need to hear that right now, but damn it, whenever Josie needed me the most, I was gone. She didn’t need me to always be there to protect her, but I wanted to be. I wanted to be there to protect her from seeing this harshness, from being in danger.

  Worse yet, none of this explained why she was lying in this bed.

  Part of me didn’t even want to ask, because I wasn’t sure what I’d do. Yeah, after seeing what I had seen in Long Beach, I knew to control my temper, to not just react out of emotion.

  But if something happened to our child, I couldn’t say what I would do. Every action had a reaction, and I knew my reaction would rock the whole damn world. The fear that was building inside me was something I’d never experienced before. It was raw and consuming as I drew back just enough that I could see her face. I tried to prepare myself for what I was terrified to hear. I took a shallow breath as more tears formed on her thick lashes.

  No matter what, I would hold it together. I would be here for her if the news was bad. I wasn’t going to fly off the handle and abandon her. I wasn’t that person anymore.

  “Talk to me.” I guided her gaze to mine. “Are you okay? Is our child okay?”

  Chapter 19

  Seth

  Josie’s hand spasmed around my shirt. “I’m okay,” she whispered, tugging at me. “The baby is okay.”

  I didn’t hear her right.

  There was no way I did.

  A shudder rocked me. “Josie…”

  “I got knocked down by a pure-blood,” Josie continued, watching me. “I wasn’t hurt, but I felt weird. There wasn’t time to really think about what happened, because then the furies came.”

  I tensed all over again. “Is that pure still alive?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I would find out. “And what happened?”

  “Everything with the furies happened, and then I was with Marcus. He’d rounded up all the pure-bloods who were a part of the attack and they were being led off to be questioned when I felt this sharp pain in my stomach.”

  Holding onto her hand, I breathed in the minty scent of the infirmary. Shit.

  “At first, it went away, and then I felt it again,” she explained. “Along with this weird pulling sensation. It scared me, and Marcus—he was really good. He got me right here and had the doctor see me even though they are crazy busy with all the injuries.”

  It might make me an ass, but I really didn’t care about any of the other injuries right now. My stomach pitched once more. “And it’s not the baby?”

  A tentative smile pulled at her lips. “The doctor doesn’t think so. She thinks I actually pulled a muscle.” Her laugh was hoarse. “Didn’t know a demigod could pull a muscle, but apparently we can. I guess I overreacted.”

  “You didn’t overreact.” I squeezed her hand as cautious relief seeped into me. “You feel like something’s wrong, you get to the doctor. I’m thinking you did the right thing.” Wishing the doctor was in here, I smoothed my thumb along her palm. “Are you sure everything is fine with the baby?”

  “She and the nurse did an exam, a blood test, and gave me another pregnancy test. There was nothing in the exam that she found concerning and both the blood and pregnancy showed positive.” She shifted on the bed, still holding onto my shirt. “You can’t see the baby’s aether any longer, can you?”

  “I only saw it when your powers were unlocked. Both your aether and the baby’s faded after a few moments.” I drew in a shallow breath. “What about that scan thing they do for women when they’re pregnant? I think it’s called an ultrasound?”

  “Actually, the doctor is coming back with that, I think a pelvic one, just to confirm that there’s…a heartbeat.” She bit down on her lower lip. “You know she’s not an OBGYN, so she only can do the basics, but she’s been really busy with everything.”

  Wait. What did she say?

  “A heartbeat?” When she nodded, I was glad I was sitting, because my damn knees were feeling weird again. I brought her hand to my mouth again and kissed each of her knuckles. “Okay.”

  She was watching me closely. “But it may be too soon, she told me, to see the heartbeat. I’m barely at six weeks. From what she was telling me, the ultrasound can sometimes detect a heartbeat at six to seven weeks.”

  I nodded.

  There was a knock on the door, and a moment later it opened to reveal the middle-aged pure-blood rolling in a cart. Dr. Morales drew up short when she spotted me sitting on the bed, her eyes widening. She stopped, her hands tightening on the sides of the cart, and she didn’t l
ook like she was moving any farther into the room.

  “Hi.” Josie let go of my shirt and sat up, leaning around me. “Seth just got here.”

  “I see that.” The doctor let go of the cart. “I’m sorry. When I see you, I don’t know if I should shake your hand or bow.”

  My grin spread. “I do like when people bow—”

  Josie smacked my back, and I thought for a moment Dr. Morales would pass out. “You don’t need to do any of those things.”

  “Well, that’s no fun.” I grinned at Josie, extending my hand. “Anyway, you’re here to tell me that my child is okay, aren’t you? And if we’re lucky, we’ll hear its heartbeat today?”

  Taking my hand, Dr. Morales cleared her throat and then got down to business. “Yes. Like I told Josie, everything about the pregnancy seems fine, but we’re going to see if we can hear a heartbeat today.”

  “Good,” I murmured. “That’s real good.”

  “Seth,” Josie sighed. “Let go of her hand so she can do her job.”

  “Sure thing.” I let go with a wink.

  The doctor looked like she might faint.

  Josie elbowed me in the side and whispered, “Behave.” Then she said, louder, “How is everyone else doing?”

  “We haven’t lost anyone who has been brought in, so that’s good news.”

  “Yeah, it is.” Some of the tension seeped out of Josie, but I saw the sadness lingering in her, a sadness I would do anything to take away.

  Dr. Morales wheeled the cart to the other side of the bed. “You still feeling better?” she asked as she began to fiddle with the machine on top.

  “Yes. I feel completely fine.”

  “That’s good.” She clicked a couple of buttons and then turned, looking at the stool waiting in the corner. I rolled it over and her wide gaze shot to me. “Um, thank you.”

  “No problem.” I stood, figuring the doctor needed the space, but I didn’t go far. I moved to the head of the bed. “So, what will this entail?”

  “It’s completely noninvasive. I use this wand here,” she explained, gesturing at the piece of equipment. “And roll it over Josie’s stomach. It will transmit the image to this screen here.”