The Power

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  I was hung up on the fact they were talking about putting Seth in a cage. An actual legit cage?

  “The problem is, will Apollo answer your summons in a timely manner?” Aiden asked. “He pretty much answers when he feels like it, even when it’s majorly urgent.”

  “That is a problem.” Herc paused. “I can go back to Olympus and retrieve Apollo. Or even Hephaestus.”

  “What?” Alex demanded, and I wondered if Herc would even return. Didn’t sound like he wanted to be anywhere near Seth. “How?”

  “I’m not of this realm, and I am able to reenter Olympus . . . under the right circumstances.”

  “Of course,” muttered Alex, and I could almost picture her rolling her eyes. “What are the right circumstances?”

  “I need to spill a little of my blood at the highest point of wherever I am, which is convenient since we’re on cliffs,” he explained.

  There was a pause and then Aiden said, “That doesn’t sound complicated. You can do it now, before Seth even has a chance to wake up.”

  My heart dropped.

  “Well, I can only do it at the exact moment the sun rises,” Hercules added. “Not sure why, but I don’t make the rules.”

  “That’s . . .” Alex sighed. “That’s at least six hours from now. We have no idea how long the Pegasus blood will work on Seth. Even if it does keep him under long enough to get Hephaestus here, we can’t stay here for long. Atlas might be gone, but the other Titans have probably sensed his death. They will be gunning for us.”

  “Just keep the room guarded and hopefully Hephaestus can fashion us a kennel or something,” Hercules advised, and my eyes widened. A kennel? “But to be fair, you don’t know what he will be like when he awakes. He may not even try to escape. He may be the friendly neighborhood God Killer.”

  Shocked that Hercules was actually sort of defending Seth, I almost fell over. Those two had not hit it off on the right foot.

  “Let’s hope that’s the case.” Weariness clung to Aiden’s tone. “But based on previous experience with him, when he goes ape-shit, he goes full-on ape-shit, and it’s not a brief thing.”

  They weren’t even going to give Seth a chance. He hadn’t gone “ape-shit” for fun. He’d lost it after Solos had died. Anger blasted through me. I pushed away from the wall, about to make my presence known.

  “What about Josie?” That was Alex, and I stopped myself, holding my breath. “You really think she’s going to leave him in the panic room? Nothing against her, but she . . . she didn’t know the Seth we did.”

  “I don’t think she’ll do that. She saw how violent he was. She wouldn’t put everyone here at risk,” Aiden replied. “Besides, we’ve got Luke watching his room now. She wouldn’t hurt Luke, not even to free Seth.”

  Okay. That was sort of true. I didn’t want to hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, but I would hurt someone to protect another. However, I didn’t plan on releasing Seth until I knew where he was mentally and emotionally. Things were messy between us right now, but that didn’t mean I’d given up on him. Right?

  I wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

  Suddenly exhausted, I crept away from the door and made my way back downstairs before I was discovered. It was strange. The atrium was virtually unblemished, as if nothing had happened there.

  As if Solos hadn’t lost his life in there.

  Drawing in a shallow breath, I forced each step forward. I don’t know why I walked into the library. Maybe there was something soothing about being surrounded by books. The familiar scent eased my nerves.

  I walked to the couch positioned across from the window and sat down, curling up against the arm. Smoothing my hand over my face, I pushed the hair back from where it had fallen over my eyes.

  What had happened?

  Gods, I couldn’t really process it all.

  Everything had changed. Somehow I’d seen this happen. Had Atlas been invading my dreams or . . . or was it something else? Right now, that didn’t matter. Solos was gone, here one second and then just gone. A tear snuck free, trailing down my cheek. I tried to comfort myself with the knowledge that there was an afterlife. That Solos was ultimately okay. As Aiden had said, Solos would be awarded a warrior’s welcome in Tartarus. That didn’t make it easier, though. Not really, because death was death, and to me, it was still final.

  It was the end.

  Sorrow dug deep, hooking itself in with tiny claws that hit bone and muscle. You couldn’t cut it out. Grief was there to stay.

  And Seth . . . I didn’t even know what was up with Seth, who he was going to be when he woke up. The Seth who made horrible mistakes but wanted to do better? The Seth who’d stood in the bedroom, vulnerable and nearly broken as he apologized?

  Or the Seth who had leveled all of us, including Atlas? He hadn’t just tapped into my aether. He’d gotten all of us, something none of us had known he could do, and deep down, I honestly didn’t believe Seth had even realized he could do that until he’d done it.

  I dropped my hand, curled it against my chest as I drew in a long breath that didn’t seem to ease the tightening there.

  I’d done the right thing by stopping Seth. I knew that, but was sitting by and keeping him locked up in a room okay? Herc would leave soon, and he would bring back a god who could trap him. Was I wrong for thinking that wasn’t the right thing to do? I didn’t know.

  Right now, more than anything, I needed my . . . my father.

  I needed him to do what fathers did. Give me advice. Help me. Get on my side. Support me.

  Closing my eyes, I pressed the tips of my fingers under my chin. “Apollo?” I said into the quiet room. Maybe he wouldn’t respond to Hercules, but when I’d called his name the night Hyperion had me, he’d come.

  Nothing but a soft tick of a nearby clock sounded. I tried again. “Dad?”

  And still nothing.

  No matter how many times I called his name, Apollo didn’t answer. Pressure increased in my chest and more tears snuck free. They kept falling silently, and I squeezed my eyes shut. By the time exhaustion dragged me under, I wasn’t sure who I was crying for the most.

  Chapter 31

  Seth

  Josie’s horrified face was the last thing I saw and the first thing I recalled the moment my eyes peeled wide open and my chest rose sharply.

  Holy shit.

  I dragged in mouthfuls of air.

  What had I done?

  The buzz of pure aether still sang in my veins, lighting up every nerve ending and filling every cell with light and power. My skin buzzed and my senses were hyper aware.

  What in the fuck had I done?

  Something had happened to me.

  It wasn’t just the stolen aether charging me up. Every single cell in my body had been reshaped. Raw energy zinged through my veins. A slow smile pulled at my lips as I stretched my neck from left to right. I knew what I was feeling.

  I was the beginning and the end.

  The God Killer.

  My smile spread, but it froze as that knowledge sunk in. How? How was this possible? Immediately, I reached out to see if the bond between Alex and me was strong again, but it was still the same, there, but muted, in the background. That couldn’t bode well.

  The bright haze of power threatened to drag me in, but the high was tainted—oh gods, it was a bitter joy coursing through my veins. The events before Josie had used that damn poison and knocked me into next week replayed over and over in my head. I didn’t need to close my eyes to see Josie’s back bow the very second I connected with her and fed. I didn’t need to use my fucking imagination to recall how her legs crumpled under her. Or how everyone else’s legs gave way as well.

  There was no debating this anymore. No pretending that I could stay with Josie and not be with her, because fuck, that obviously hadn’t lasted longer than a hot second.

  I was not safe.

  I was never going to be safe.

  Especially when it came to Josie.

&nbs
p; Worse yet—gods—the worst thing was the look on Josie’s face. She was horrified, but she hadn’t been scared. She hadn’t looked betrayed, not even when I’d fed on her, not even when I had hurt her.

  Frankly, I didn’t give a shit about the rest of them, but her?

  I sat up, barely aware of the thin mattress that was under me, and swung my legs over the side. Standing, my heart pounded in my chest as I took a step forward. Lifting my gaze, I found a steel-reinforced door. Where in the hell was I? Didn’t matter. That door wasn’t going to hold me. They had to know that, so either they were incredibly stupid or they had summoned Heph to fashion the same kind of cage that had kept Alex in one place.

  But a cage wasn’t going to keep me. Not now.

  Even if it could, I couldn’t let that happen. Because even if I was locked up with no immediate way out, Josie was here.

  She would free me.

  I knew she would.

  And I would destroy her.

  Gutted, I knew what I had to do. There was no more fucking around, no more bullshitting myself or Josie, especially not her. I should’ve done this the day I’d fed off her.

  I knew I was on the wrong path, had been on the wrong path since the moment I saw Josie in the stairwell at Radford, but I hadn’t done anything about it. Now I would. I would do something about it, even if it pissed off Apollo and the other gods. I’d do it to keep her safe.

  Safe from me.

  I walked to the door and grasped the knob. Summoning the element of fire, I melted the internal gears. Metal gave way, rendered useless. The steel would’ve been good if someone was trying to knock the door in, say a mortal, but it didn’t stop me. They would’ve known that, so I knew on the other side there’d have to be a guard.

  A distant part of me hoped it was Aiden standing guard, because I would have loved to knock his ass out for shits and giggles, but as I threw the door open, it wasn’t him.

  Across from the room, Luke pushed off the wall, reaching for the thin icicle-shaped blade. “Shit.”

  I sprang forward, faster than even he, an extremely well-trained Sentinel, could move. The power coursing through me had me feeling off the hook. Spinning, I swiped his legs out from under him. Luke stumbled, letting out another curse as I shot behind him. Whipping around, I folded my arm around his neck from behind. I put pressure, the right amount, on his throat. His hands flew up, fingers digging into my bicep.

  “I’m sorry, man.” My voice was low, rough. “This isn’t personal.”

  Luke slammed his fist into my arm, but I reached down with my free hand and grabbed the thin blade I knew was dipped in the blood of a Pegasus. Moving lightning quick, I dragged the sharp edge across his forearm.

  The result was immediate.

  Luke collapsed against me, bones and muscles struck useless by the poison. He would recover. In a few hours.

  I pulled him into the cell and gently laid him on the cot, stretching him out. His eyes, full of fury, met mine. His silent, paralyzed glare promised retribution before his eyes drifted shut, giving way to the toxin. I had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting the chance.

  Still holding the blade, I closed the door behind me and realized that I was in another room, one that was hidden. Hell, they’d dropped me in a panic room in the basement. I almost laughed as I climbed the steps. The house was quiet. I imagined everyone thought I’d be out longer than I was. Not smart. It would be so easy to sneak up on them, especially Deacon. He wouldn’t know what had hit him. Alex and Aiden, being demigods, would be harder, but no match now. I could easily—

  I shut my eyes, jaw working. My head was a mess, as if there were a hundred voices speaking at once. I needed to get out of there. I headed for the front of the house, but stopped in the middle of the hall. Inhaling deeply, I lifted my gaze to the ceiling. I could sense restlessness in one of the bedrooms upstairs, but my attention was drawn to the room in the front—the library. She was in there, and the sick thing was, I only knew her exact location because of her aether.

  It fucking called to me.

  It reached inside, wrapped its thready fingers around every muscle fiber and taunted me, lured me. My mouth watered.

  Footsteps approached from the kitchen and my head swung sharply in the direction of the opening. Gable stepped out, blond hair disheveled and pants wrinkled.

  Bad time for a midnight snack.

  Sleep clung to his eyes. “Hey, aren’t you—?”

  I shot forward, clamped my hand over his mouth. I started to swipe him with the blade, but I didn’t know if it would kill him. So I shifted my hand until his nose and mouth were covered, and I held on until his legs gave out. I caught him and then tossed him over my shoulder. I figured Poseidon wouldn’t be happy with how I dumped his kid on the couch, but oh well. Could’ve been worse.

  I could’ve done a lot worse.

  Back out in the hall, I forced myself to keep going toward the front door, but before I even knew what I was doing, I was in front of the library and was opening the door, stepping into the dark room, closing the door behind me.

  My heart rate picked up, responding to her proximity, and as I stepped forward, I had no idea if it was because of what coursed through her veins or just because it was her.

  It was both.

  But it was her.

  Josie was curled up on the couch, and even in the pale moonlight streaming in from the window above the couch, I could see that she still wore the shorts I’d seen her in last. Her hair was free, falling over the side of her face and over her shoulder, tangling with her curved arm.

  So freaking beautiful.

  I need to leave.

  I walked toward her.

  I need to get the hell out of here.

  I knelt by her side.

  I need to leave her.

  I reached out, brushing the tips of my fingers over her lips. They parted on a soft inhale, and a second later she stirred awake. Those thick lashes fluttered, sweeping up and revealing deep blue eyes.

  Our gazes collided and locked, and in her eyes, I saw surprise and then—then I saw relief, and holy shit, that broke me.

  Broke me right apart.

  “I’m sorry,” I told her, repeating the last thing I’d said to her before the Titans attacked.

  “Seth,” she whispered, reaching for me.

  I don’t know if it was the relief I saw in her eyes, even after what I’d done, or the way she reached for me and said my name, as if it was a benediction, but all restraint within me broke.

  Common sense dived face-first out the window, and in under a second I was on her.

  Rising fast, I clasped the sides of her cheeks and tilted her head back. I kissed her, and there was nothing soft or smooth about it. She jolted in surprise and then grabbed my shoulders, her little nails digging through my shirt and into my skin. I nipped at her bottom lip, and with a soft moan, her mouth opened. I tasted her, drew her in as I dragged my hands down her throat over her arms. I wasn’t thinking. There wasn’t a part of my damn brain that was catching up to what was happening. Everything was focused on the way she felt, the look in her eyes, and the way she said my name.

  I was lost in her.

  My fingers brushed the edge of her shirt and I tugged the material, lifting it up. We broke apart long enough to get the damn thing over her head, and then everything else came off in a rush. My shirt. Her shorts. Mine. Then everything else. Nothing was between our hands or our bodies.

  Pressing her into the couch, I moved over her and against her. There was no hesitation in Josie. No questions. No putting on the brakes. One of her legs wrapped around mine. Her hands slid down my back, to my ass. She grabbed me, pulling me closer. Our chests crushed together. Her small, hard nipples pressed into me, driving me freaking insane. The room was filled with the breathy sounds of her moans and the rougher ones of mine.

  I shouldn’t be doing this. It was too risky. My emotions were all over the damn place. No restraint. All it would take is a second to tap into h
er, to pull from her, to do exactly what the Titans planned to do to her.