The Power

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “I’m pretty sure Martin Luther King Jr. said that.”

  “Wise words from a wise man,” he replied, facing me. “Violence festers and turns to a bitter, infectious kind of hate, Apollyon. It spreads like a cancer, one that can only be cut out. Many here and in the world are affected by it, and these pure-bloods responsible . . . well, some may be a lost cause.”

  No surprise there.

  “You already have that disease.”

  I blinked.

  “It’s eating away, getting closer and closer to your soul. You’re walking a fine line, where you will topple into areas that are not shaded in gray. We are watching you.” He lifted his chin. “They are watching you.”

  Also no big surprise there.

  The nymph looked up to the onyx sky blanketed with stars. “The Titans are not the only beings they are concerned with. What’s inside of you must be cut out, God Killer.”

  God Killer? What the hell?

  I was not the God Killer. Alex had become that, or maybe still was that. I had no idea if she was still an Apollyon or a God Killer now that she had died a mortal death and become a demigod. Wasn’t like email or cell phones existed in Tartarus, so I couldn’t call her and ask. Then again, I couldn’t imagine myself checking in with her if I could.

  I stared at the nymph. “What does that—?”

  Poof. That was it. The nymph was gone, and well, that was weird as shit. Obviously a warning, a really weird warning.

  The roses were a nice touch, though.

  I shook my head as I pivoted around and started walking, trying to shake off the nymph’s random words and appearance, but that was real hard. Damn near impossible.

  Stopping outside Josie’s door, I glanced down at my right hand. There wasn’t a blemish on my knuckles. Nothing. I was about 99% sure I’d broken that pure’s jaw, and my hand wasn’t even swollen.

  And I was also 99% sure I would’ve killed him if Josie hadn’t stopped me.

  My gaze centered on her closed door. I knew she was in there, but I stepped back from the door.

  I can tell you really don’t care.

  Marcus’s words replayed in my head. I didn’t know if he was right or not. If I would’ve cared if I killed that pure or not.

  And I knew what that said about me.

  Chapter 5

  Josie

  “You know, I’ve done a lot of weird things—things you probably don’t want to hear about,” Deacon stated, squinting up at the entrance to the library. “But stalking a librarian is pretty weird.”

  I looked over at him. “As weird as doing my father?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Okay. That’s one of those weird things you probably don’t want to know about.”

  I snorted like a little piglet. That was so very true. “Apollo said I should talk to the librarian here, and I’m guessing he meant that really strange woman I ran into that one day. I haven’t seen her since, and none of the other staff know who I’m talking about.”

  Deacon brushed a curl off his forehead as he started up the wide, steep steps. “What does she look like again?”

  “She was really tall—tall as Seth—and slender. She had really curly blonde hair pulled back.” I paused, short of breath as I climbed the steps. Jesus. All the training, and these steps were still killer. “She was wearing these huge sunglasses, which I kind of thought was super odd, you know, being inside. Anyway, I couldn’t see most of her face.”

  “Huh. That doesn’t sound like a normal librarian. Then again, I don’t really know what a normal librarian looks like.” Deacon reached the top and waited for me. “You know, halfs always get freaked out around the Covenant libraries.”

  “Seth said something like that.”

  Seth.

  Ugh.

  He didn’t show up in my room last night, which wasn’t that big of a deal, but after what happened yesterday with the half-blood and then the pure-blood, I was . . . I was worried about Seth. About the way he’d looked at me like he hadn’t even seen me standing there. There’d been a coldness in his eyes, not necessarily directed at me, but still unnerving. That hadn’t been Seth.

  Deacon stepped in front of me and opened up the heavy, titanium-plated door. The amount of money they had spent to build this place had to be astronomical.

  “Luke hates this place. It’s so weird that he gets wigged out in these buildings. It was the same way back on Deity Island,” he explained as we stepped into the library. “Whatever it is, halfs sense something . . . off about these places.”

  I inhaled deeply, loving the musty smell of books. As far as my eyes could see, there were massive, crammed full floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Between them were chandeliers that probably cost more than a four-year degree would.

  “I wonder why they do, but you guys don’t.” We headed through the first row. All we’d be doing was roaming aimlessly until dinner, hoping we came across the mysterious librarian. “You all have more aether in you.”

  Deacon shrugged as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s the same thing with them being able to see through a daimon’s glamour. To us, the pure-bloods, they look normal. But to halfs? Daimons look like they really do, which is something straight out of a damn horror movie.” He paused. “Now that you are all full demigod, I wonder if you can see through a daimon’s glamour.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Is it weak of me to hope I never find out?”

  “No.” He laughed as he knocked me with his shoulder. “It makes you sane.”

  Relieved he didn’t think I was a giant wuss, we roamed the stacks, passing several students clustered at the large tables, their heads bent over their textbooks.

  Sigh.

  I kind of missed school.

  And I really missed my old roommate, who’d turned out to be a furie. Erin had suffered a horrible injury by Hyperion, and Apollo—my father—said she was healing in Olympus. He’d told me she was okay, but I needed to see that for myself.

  We neared the back of the library, and somewhere in a section full of books I was pretty sure were all written in Greek, the temps dropped significantly. Even in my sweater, goosebumps spread across my arms. “Did you guys know the . . . the half-blood who was killed yesterday?”

  He shook his head as we hung a left, passing a series of closed doors. “No. I’ve heard he was a Sentinel. Was supposed to graduate this semester. Luke knows one of his friends. Said he was transferring to Vegas after this, to work near a pure community.”

  “That’s so sad.” I folded my arms across my chest. “And so damn wrong. I can’t even imagine.”

  “Yeah,” he breathed. “It had to be a compulsion. There’s no other way a pure would’ve gotten the upper hand on someone who was practically a fully trained Sentinel. Not even a pure who really knows how to handle an element.”

  “I just don’t understand, and it’s not even because I don’t get the politics around here,” I explained, glancing up at the wrought-iron spiral staircase that led to the second level. “We’ve had the same problems in the, um, mortal world. We still do, and I didn’t even understand it then. How people can hate someone else for really superficial differences so deeply that they hurt and kill them.”

  Deacon was quiet as we climbed the stairs. When we reached the top, his lips were curled. “It’s always been like this for our kind. For probably freaking eons, the pures have treated the halfs like shit.”

  A librarian hurried past us, shooting Deacon a nasty look.

  He smiled as he waved his middle finger, causing me to grin. “I’m kind of surprised that the halfs aren’t rebelling.”

  “Yet,” I whispered, scanning the stacks up here. “Couldn’t blame them if they did.”

  “Nope.” His hands went back into his pockets. “Two years ago, Luke would’ve been put on the Elixir or killed if it got out that he was in a relationship with a pure. And you know what would’ve happened to me?”

  I shook my head.

  “I would’ve g
otten a wink, wink and maybe a smack on a hand.” His lips pursed. “That’s it. They would’ve most likely killed Luke and secretly applauded me for getting it on with the help.”

  My stomach churned. “That’s messed up.”

  Deacon nodded slowly. “You know what’s even more messed up? That mindset hasn’t changed, Josie. Not after what happened with Ares or what’s happening now with the Titans. Bigotry is literally the Twinkie of human emotions. Shit will survive the apocalypse.”

  I shuddered, because the terrifying thing about what he said was, he was probably correct.

  I was starving.

  Night had fallen and Seth was currently MIA. Okay, he wasn’t exactly missing in action. During training, he’d said that he’d probably be late since he was going to do some outside patrols with Solos. I had no idea what he was patrolling since there really wasn’t anything out there except trees.

  And more trees.

  I figured he just wanted to get outside these walls, and I couldn’t exactly blame him for that. While the University campus was beautiful and so much of it was still fresh and oh-so-new to me, I got restless. A lot. And I was sure it was the same for Seth, especially since he wasn’t used to being confined in one spot.

  But I was legit starving. My hips were about to start eating each other.

  Roaming the campus by myself wasn’t necessarily something Seth had warned me against, and I didn’t feel unsafe doing so. The students and most of the staff thought I was some pet mortal, but I wasn’t and I knew I could defend myself if necessary.

  I pushed myself off the small sofa and grabbed my hoodie. Pulling it on over my head, I tugged my damp hair out from underneath, letting it fall down my back. I snatched my keys off the coffee table and then I was off.

  Students lounged in the spacious, really cool lobby of the dorm, surrounding a TV that was about the size of a Hummer. We didn’t have anything like that in my own dorm back at Radford. Neither did we have such great, comfy couches. I’d sat in the red one. Once. I wanted to marry it.

  Of course, no one really paid attention to me as I walked out the doors that had been fixed from when the shades had gotten inside. No one really ever paid attention to me unless Seth was with me, and honestly, they were just staring at him. I was kind of like a side item, the French fries to the Big Mac.

  Mmm. French fries.

  I knew what I was getting from the cafeteria.

  I’d probably lose weight if, for once, I ate something leafy and green or grilled, but their bacon was like an orgasm of the mouth and their fries were the really awesome shoestring kind that were so hard to find. Honestly, I think the food here was made with some kind of magic, because everything tasted better.

  The night air was chilly, as usual, as I cut across the lawn and hit the pathway. The cafeteria wasn’t far from the dorm, and since they’d be serving food until midnight, I was pretty confident I could get myself a plate of fries.

  And maybe even a thick, juicy—

  “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

  My breath caught in response to the unexpected voice and I spun around, immediately finding the source of the voice. Even startled, I recognized that six months ago I would’ve fallen over if I’d turned around that fast back then.

  Ninja status halfway there.

  The guy stepped out of the shadows of an olive tree—a tree that I had no idea how it was still alive in these conditions. I immediately recognized him from yesterday.

  Colin.

  My heart slowed down. All right, he wasn’t going to be a problem. At least, I didn’t think so. “I’m okay. Just heading to the cafeteria.”

  He slowly approached me, as if he was worried he was going to send me running in the opposite direction. “Where is the Apollyon?”

  Yep. I was the fries to the Big Mac. “He’s out patrolling, so I’m going to get something to eat.”

  “I’ll go with you then.”

  I raised a brow. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary.”

  “Look, I’m not trying to be domineering, but it really isn’t safe for you to be out here by yourself.” Closer, he passed under one of the lampposts. His black hair was shiny, an odd and, of course, majorly attractive contrast to his sapphire-blue eyes. “You saw what happened yesterday. A lot of the pures around here don’t view mortals as any better than they view halfs.”

  See, the thing was, I wasn’t a mortal. But since we were keeping that on the down low and no one seemed to sense my demigod goodness, it was my ace up the sleeve.

  “If the Apollyon isn’t around, then maybe you should get Deacon or Luke,” he offered. “You’ve been hanging around them a lot.”

  Okay. This dude was kind of observant. Then again, everyone did think I was a mortal, so they were probably aware of who I hung out with. “His name is Seth, and like I said, I’m okay.”

  “All right,” he said after a moment. “Can’t say I didn’t try.”

  I smiled tightly. “Good night.” Pivoting around, I walked a couple of feet and realized he was right behind me. I looked over my shoulder. “You’re seriously going to follow me, aren’t you?”

  His grin was sheepish. “I was just heading to the cafeteria myself when I saw you.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “So, I figured we could walk together.” When I didn’t respond and started walking again, he easily caught up to me, keeping an arm’s length distance between us. “By the way, my name is—”

  “Colin,” I answered, grinning when surprise flickered across his face. “I heard Solos call you that yesterday.”

  “Cool.” There was a beat of silence. “I’m training to be a—”

  “Sentinel?” This time I laughed when he frowned at me. “I just figured that was what you’re doing.”

  He glanced at me. “The Apolly—I mean, Seth has been training you?”

  I nodded.

  Colin didn’t respond immediately. “It’s kind of odd that anyone, especially the—um, Seth would be training a mortal or that a mortal would even know about us.”

  A fine shiver of unease danced across my skin. “I’m sure I’m not the only mortal who knows about you all.”

  “True, but . . .”

  “It’s a long story,” I said after a moment, and then I hoped he’d drop it.

  Colin sort of did. “Since you’re being trained is probably why you’re not worried about being out here, but you’ve got to know that, no matter how well he trains you, you’re no match for a pure or a half when it comes down to it.”

  Another laugh escaped me. “Is that so?”

  His frown deepened and he didn’t say anything as we started around the corner of a building. “And I know none of this is my business.”

  “But making sure I get some French fries safely is?”

  He chuckled. “Well—”

  A flash of reddish light lit up the quad, shooting out from the shadows. With incredible speed, Colin jumped back as the ball of light—no, fire—smacked into the building, extinguishing on contact. The smell of burnt ozone filled the air.

  What the what?

  “Oh, you missed.” A tall guy stepped forward. “You need to work on your aim.”

  “Shit,” muttered Colin, moving so that he was halfway in front of me.

  “I didn’t miss.” Another voice floated out of the darkness. A spark of red light formed, casting the holder in an eerie red glow. “That was just a warning.”

  Then I saw the second guy, and my stomach dropped all the way to my toes. It was him—the guy Seth had knocked the hell out. Even in the poor light, I could see that his jaw was a brutal shade of purple and swollen. And there was no mistaking the fury and promise of retribution in his expression.

  I could only think of two words.