Apollyon c-4

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  But Aiden so wouldn’t approve.

  Tugging off the cloak, I kicked off my boots, eyeing the water like it was a slab of filet. If the water was dangerous, it surely would’ve peeled the skin off my finger by now or have me running around, squawking like a chicken. Mind made up, I quickly stripped down and slipped my toes into the water. I sighed as the pool frothed and bubbled, and carefully made my way down the natural steps. Water lapped and fizzled at my hips as I moved further out. Warmth, heady and pleasant, seeped through my skin, into my muscles. It didn’t sting the numerous bruises or cuts—if anything, the water seemed to soothe them. The soft, seductive scent appeared to soothe the dull ache in my temples, too.

  In the middle of the spring, the water reached just below my chest, but my presence stirred the water and the white-tipped foam reached my collarbone, bubbling around the talisman.

  Closing my eyes, I let out a low breath. The water felt too good. I could stay in here all night, feeling the little bubbles teasing my toes, sliding up my legs.

  It was heaven in the Underworld.

  I smiled, thinking Hades had the good stuff when it came to spas and relaxation.

  “Alex…”

  Aiden’s voice pulled me out of my musings. I glanced over my shoulder, smiling sheepishly. “I couldn’t resist. Sorry.”

  He didn’t look angry. Surprisingly, he didn’t look exasperated either. I couldn’t say he looked thrilled either, but…

  Oh…

  Aiden looked hungry.

  My breath hitched in my throat, and it took me a few tries to find my voice. “Is everything clear outside the cave?”

  Eyes hooded, he nodded.

  I bit my lip. Of course it was fine. We were safe for the night, but resting wasn’t on my mind. What was was wholly inappropriate and I seriously had my priorities mixed up, but we were facing the unknown. This trip was dangerous and both of us could be hurt. Worse yet, Aiden could die.

  Raw panic punched through my chest at the thought of losing him. I simply could not bear his loss. And because of that, I wanted to press pause. I wanted to live, to really live in the moment, and with Aiden, that was always possible. It was magical, actually.

  I took a deep, long breath. “You… you should join me.”

  Part of me expected that I would have to do a decent amount of begging. Aiden was “on the job,” and I was prepared to deploy every technique I knew, including whining.

  So when he stepped back and slid off his boots, I was pretty damn surprised. Shock splashed over me as he quietly tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his tactical pants and pulled the wet cloth over his head.

  I bit back a gasp.

  His stomach was some serious perfection, a product of years of rigorous training. It looked like someone had placed paint rollers under his taut skin. And his chest…

  Yeah, I couldn’t stop staring.

  And the whole time he watched me with an intense gaze like heated silver. I felt the flush return to my cheeks as my breath quickened.

  When his hands moved to the top of his pants, I did turn away. Only because I was sure I’d pass out and drown if I kept staring, and well, that would so kill the moment.

  Clothing hit the rock bed and there was a second, too long, of silence, and then the water stirred in the pool, bubbling even more. Pulse pounding everywhere, I twisted toward him and lost my breath and my heart all over again.

  Aiden stood there like a god.

  So much taller than me, water grazed his navel. White foam lapped at the ribbed planes of his stomach, and I was struck by the image of Poseidon rising from the ocean.

  Poseidon had nothing on him.

  He glided through the fizzing water, hands out to his sides. I had to tip my head back to meet his gaze. “Hey,” I said.

  One side of his lips curved up. “This probably isn’t a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  “I have a feeling I’m going to be very distracted here in a few seconds.” He reached out though, finding the band that kept most of my hair up. “Actually, I’m already distracted.”

  My heart was trying to come out of my chest. “But we’re safe here. Apollo said so.”

  “We are, but…” He gently pulled the band out and then set about rearranging the thick strands around my shoulders. A great deal of it sank below the surface. “But we should be careful. I should be paying attention.”

  I stepped into the loose circle his arms created as he played with my hair. Placing my hand on his chest, I was thrilled by the way he jerked and sucked in a breath. “Can’t you multitask? I can.”

  Aiden lazily tossed a damp strand over my shoulder and moved to another. “You’re such a liar. Your multitasking skills suck.”

  “Do not. And we’re not talking about my multitasking skills.” My hand slid down, having a mind of its own. “I think you can handle doing two things at once.”

  He’d gathered all my hair now, twisting it around his fist. “You do?” He placed a finger on my bottom lip, slowly tracing the curve. His lashes lowered even more, and only the thinnest sliver of silvery eyes shone. “You should be resting.”

  “I will.” I took the last step forward. The bubbles fizzled and gave way. Stretching up, I looped an arm around his neck. “But you should rest, too.”

  Aiden’s free hand drifted down my neck, over my shoulder, and then his arm was around my waist, holding me tight against him, our bodies touching length to length. It was maddening, and when his lips brushed over the curve of my jaw, my eyes fluttered shut. Every muscle in my body tensed, and then I felt the marks gliding over my skin.

  “We can take shifts,” Aiden said against my chin, and then on the other jaw. “You sleep first. Get a couple of hours in and I’ll wake you up.” He paused, pressing a kiss to the sensitive spot below my ear. I shivered. “Okay?”

  I’d have agreed to anything at that point, so I did.

  “Then we head out first thing.” Aiden lowered the hand wrapped tightly in my hair, arching my back. The chilled air of the cavern spread goosebumps over my exposed skin. I sucked in a breath when I felt his lips return to where my pulse pounded and then lower, over the rise of my collarbone, and still lower.

  Then he pulled back, letting go, his chest rising and falling unsteadily as he moved toward the edge of the pool. “And you should be resting right now. This—”

  “Stop talking.” I pushed through the water, well aware that as I moved closer to him, the cloak of water slowly receded.

  Aiden was well aware too. A muscle flexed in his jaw as his gaze dropped. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”

  “No.” I followed him as he kept backing up, until he had no other place to run to, until his back was against the edge of the rock pool and he was trapped. Placing my hands on either side of him, I looked up. “Okay. I did tell you to shut up, but I did so nicely.”

  He took a deep, long breath. “I may be able to overlook it.”

  I floated in, letting my legs tangle with his. “For someone who doesn’t talk a lot, you sure do talk a lot when I’d rather you not be talking.”

  Aiden’s laugh sounded choked. “That makes very little sense, Alex.”

  Grinning, I leaned in and pressed my lips to the strong curve of his jaw, repeating what he had done until my pulse thundered in every part of me. “Making sense is overrated.”

  “I think you believe a lot of things are overrated.” Aiden’s head fell back, the thick cords of his muscles in his neck and shoulders tensing as his hands dug into the edge of the pool.

  For a moment, I froze in awe of him. It wasn’t often that anyone got to see Aiden like this, completely vulnerable to someone else. I touched his cheek, wanting to remember this moment. The enormity of what lay ahead was a cold draft on my skin and deeper, on my soul. There was no telling what my future held—what Aiden’s would end up being. So many things were still so uncertain.

  Apollo’s words intruded. There can only be one.

  I shuddered
, understanding what that meant more than I wanted to. Even Seth had understood it. I thought about the damn dream I’d had on the way here.

  There might not be years for Aiden and me—maybe not even months or weeks. There might not even be days. And what time we had left, we’d be spending in constant danger. The next hour wasn’t even guaranteed, and I didn’t want to spend every moment racing toward the end time.

  Aiden’s eyes opened. “Alex?”

  I blinked back the sudden tears. “I love you.” It was all I could say.

  His head lifted, eyes searching mine, and maybe he saw what I was thinking. Maybe he too knew that, in the end, there would be more lives lost—ones that would be nearly impossible to overcome and move on from, losses that would steal a part of us. That this moment together, we might never have again.

  He was done talking.

  Aiden came off the wall so fast the water reacted in a frenzy of bubbling. He—we—were in a frenzy. His arms crushed me to him, his mouth demanding, saying those three little words over and over again without speaking them. Aiden lifted me up, one hand burying deep in my hair, the other pressing into my lower back, fitting us together. He turned and my back was against the edge and he was everywhere all at once, stealing my breath, my heart, my soul. There was no coming up for air, no control or limits. There was no tottering on the edge. We both fell headfirst. In his arms, in the way the water bubbled and moved with our bodies, I may’ve lost track of time, but I gained a little part of me. I gained a part of him that I would hold close for the rest of my days, no matter how long or short that turned out to be.

  CHAPTER 23

  While I’d slept, Aiden had managed to dry our clothes without turning them crispy. If it’d been left to me, I probably would’ve turned them into torches. I slept for a little over four hours, waking before he told me to. I changed, and then settled back down beside him on one of the two thin blankets. Both of us smelled of jasmine, which was better than the dank smell of the Underworld.

  Aiden lay on his side, one heavy arm over my waist. “You could’ve slept longer.”

  I idly played with the hand that rested on my stomach. “I’m fine. It’s your turn. I’ll keep an eye on things, make sure no spiders run off with you.”

  He pressed his lips to my cheek and let out a little chuckle. “I’m worried if it comes down between me and a spider, I might be screwed.”

  “I’d face down a horde of spiders for you, baby.” I grinned at the sound of his laugh again. “For real.”

  “That’s true love there. Some serious stuff,” he teased.

  “It is.”

  There was a pause and then he said, “While you were sleeping, I was thinking about what Apollo said about there being another god involved.”

  Curiosity piqued, I tipped my head back so I could see his face. “Yeah?”

  “I know Seth hasn’t let on to who it could be, but Marcus has his bets on Hermes, and since he did help Seth…”

  “It’s always Hermes. He’s like the gods’ punching bag. The big joke.”

  “Exactly.” Aiden brushed a damp strand of hair off my forehead. “It seems too obvious that it would be him. And even though Hermes has been known to pull some stunts, his actions are usually relatively harmless. This—what has been done to the whole world, Olympus included—is bigger than him, almost like it’s personal.”

  He had a point. “I bet being the butt of Olympus’ jokes could make things personal after a few thousand years.”

  “True, but I don’t know…” He yawned. “I keep thinking about Seth—about his personality.”

  “Oh dear…”

  A tired smile appeared. “Whether you want to admit it or not, you carry some of Apollo’s traits. So logically, Seth would carry some from his own lineage.”

  There were worse things that being compared to Apollo. “Seth is arrogant and smug. That really doesn’t narrow down the list.” At Aiden’s tired nod of agreement, I squeezed his hands. “Go to sleep. We’ll figure this out in the morning.”

  Aiden insisted he wasn’t that tired, but it didn’t take more than a few moments before his breathing became deep and steady. I stayed in his arms, eyes glued to the entrance. I was still tired, and the headache had kicked back up the moment I’d awakened, spreading from my temples, but it was manageable.

  Mulling over what Aiden had said, I had to give the idea there was something personal behind this some cred. But the only problem with that was the fact that all the gods probably had a damn good reason to cause discord. Apollo even had said once before that, after thousands of years of being together, they had nothing better to do than tick each other off.

  We needed to figure out who it was behind this, but what could we do? Taking out a god was unheard of. Even the Titans had been entombed, not killed. The loss of any god carried cosmic consequences. The world wouldn’t stop spinning, but all the gods would be weakened if one fell. It was probably the only thing that kept them from outright killing one another, but…

  One massive problem at a time…

  Seth and Lucian were our biggest problem. Hopefully, we’d find Solaris and she held the answer to stopping him. Part of me hadn’t given up on the tiniest sliver of hope that somehow Seth could be saved—that he could be fixed. I sincerely believed that, without Lucian’s and the aether’s influence, he wouldn’t have done the things he had.

  But who was I to say that absolved him of his sins? If a drug addict killed someone while under the influence, he was still guilty. Seth had done what he had done and it felt like there was no going back from that.

  Sorrow was like slush in my blood, dirty and messy, because it felt misplaced. As if I felt bad for a killer…

  Pushing thoughts of Seth aside, I stroked the length of Aiden’s fingers and wondered if I’d ever hear Aiden play the guitar again. I hoped so. Maybe even get him to sing, because he had a nice voice.

  I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour. The sky peeking through the holes in the roof of the cavern was still a deep blue and my headache… had steadily increased. Now it throbbed behind my eyes.

  There was no fooling myself. I knew what it meant. Seth was on the other end of the bond and he was trying to reach me. The venom of panic gave me a sharp bite. Now was so not the time for him to pull this kind of crap. A freaking army of spiders could descend on us while I was with him. Worse yet, we could be discovered by Hades.

  Carefully wiggling free of Aiden’s embrace, I pushed to my feet and went to the pool, scooping the jasmine-scented water up and splashing it over my face. It had seemed to help before, but I had a feeling I was beyond help.

  I sat down, concentrating on my breathing. I could feel the cord now. It still slumbered, but the hum was louder, more powerful. Placing my head in my hands, I squeezed my eyes shut and waited. Part of me already knew there was no stopping this.

  Seth was incredibly strong and hellishly determined when he wanted to be.

  So I waited for pain to come, but it never did. Instead, the hum of the cord became louder and stronger, until it felt like my entire body vibrated. Then out of the white noise filling my head, a whisper grew until I could make out the words and recognize the voice.

  Nice to see… or hear you again, Alex.

  Seth.

  My eyes snapped open and, unlike last time, I wasn’t mentally transported somewhere by Hermes. The spring was still in front of me. I could hear Aiden’s deep breaths and feel the slight chill in the air of the cavern.

  I know you can hear me, Alex. I can feel it.

  I groaned. I’m really starting to get annoyed with this.

  Through the bond, I could feel his smugness. It was like before, when we’d been connected. His emotions flowed through to me and vice versa. I bet, if I closed my eyes, I could see him as clearly as he stood in front of me, but we weren’t connected.

  Deep down you love it, he said.

  Uh, no. Tucking my damp hair back, I let
out a low breath. I don’t understand how you’re able to do this. We’re not connected.

  After our last little social call, it’s easier to tap into the connection. Whenever you’re feeling really worn down or emotional, I can reach you. I guess it would be the same if you were in pain. There was a pause, and I swore I felt a flicker of concern. Are you in pain?

  I rolled my eyes. Good news was that Apollo must’ve had a little talk with Hermes. No, but you’re a pain in my ass. Does that count?

  Seth’s laugh still had that weird, warm feeling. At least this way you can’t hit me.

  Hitting Seth still felt like a viable option. I don’t have time for this right now.

  Curiosity filtered through the connection. What is it that you’re doing right now, Alex?

  What are YOU doing right now, Seth?

  There was that laugh again. It was a nice laugh. It didn’t have the same effect as Aiden’s, but it was rich and deep and it reminded me of Seth.

  Pre-killing-rampage Seth, that is.

  You tell first.

  Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Aiden stir a little. Then I closed my eyes and focused on the connection. I figured I might as well glean some information from this.

  A split second later, Seth took form in my thoughts. For some reason, he only had half his clothes on. I wasn’t sure if that was me doing that or if he really was shirtless. Either way, it was way too much golden skin exposed. Treading lightly, I tested out the connection and the emotions it fed to me. I didn’t know if I could somehow get sucked into him this way, so I proceeded with a great deal of caution.

  The only thing I felt was… calmness, which was really—

  A sudden cold chill snaked down my spine, and then Seth said, Whatever you’re looking for, you’re not going to find it.

  What do you think I’m looking for?

  With you, one can never be too sure.

  Oh, that’s the pot calling the kettle black.

  Amusement flowed through the connection as Seth said, Or it’s the pot calling the pot a pot.