Chapter 20
Josie
It was unbelievable how in one day I could go from experiencing fear and hatred and heartbreaking loss, to witnessing something so breathtakingly beautiful as my baby’s heartbeat, I almost couldn’t believe it.
Seeing my baby’s heartbeat didn’t take away the hurting Colin’s death had left behind, but it was a much needed reminder that there were still miracles out there.
There was still life in all of this.
And sitting on my bed, freshly showered and wrapped in a fluffy soft robe while Seth checked on Cora and Gable, I clung to that piece of knowledge. There was still the beauty of life.
My child was still okay. More than okay, according to Dr. Morales. His or her little heart was beating strong.
Pushing my wet hair back from my face, I lifted my gaze to the ceiling. I didn’t want to close my eyes for any real amount of time, because even though I was clutching at that good feeling, the image of that furie sinking its claws deep into Colin’s chest waited for me. I knew if I let my thoughts wander I would hear the sound of the half-blood’s bones shattering as she slammed into the wall.
And I knew if I wasn’t careful, I would think of my father.
Of how I’d called out to him this afternoon and he hadn’t responded. Of how he didn’t come to my aid when the furies were unleashed. I would think of how he had to have been watching, because he’d gotten Seth.
But he hadn’t appeared to me.
The door opened before I allowed that train wreck of a thought process to take hold, and within a heartbeat Seth was strolling into the bedroom. His gaze immediately found me in the softly lit room.
“How are they?” I asked.
“Good.” Walking around to where I sat, he bent down and kissed me on the temple. He straightened. “They know to stay in their rooms for the rest of the evening.”
That was good to hear. “Do they have food, though? Should we—”
“They have food, babe.” Turning, he began to unhook the daggers around his waist, the ones hidden under his shirt. “They have everything they could need right now.”
Except for Colin. He’d been so good with them.
I fiddled with the sash on the robe. “I think I need to be there with them.” I started to scoot off the bed, but Seth turned and the look in his eyes stopped me.
“You need to be right where you are.”
“I’m fine, Seth. There’s nothing wrong with me except for a sore muscle.”
“I know you’re okay, but today has been shit for you.” Seth twisted, placing the two titanium daggers on the dresser. He reached around to his back. “There’s no harm in taking it easy for a few minutes.”
I guessed he was right, but I felt like I’d been taking it easy half the time already. Shoulders slumping, I sighed. “Tell me about this other demigod.”
Seth placed a gun on the dresser, next to the daggers. “It was who we expected. Ares’s son.”
“I expected as much, but I was really hoping that wasn’t the case.” I watched Seth lean against the dresser as he toed off his boots. “How was he?”
“Other than causing an entire bar full of old men to throw down like they were in a wrestling match, and then being a smartass?” Bending down, he tugged off his socks. “He’s seems all right.”
“I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”
One side of his lips kicked up. “He knows who his father was. Actually met Ares a few times.”
“Whoa.” My eyes widened as I pulled my legs up onto the bed. I tugged the edges of the robe over my knees. “That’s probably bad, isn’t it?”
“I really don’t know.” He pulled the leather band from his hair. Gold strands glided forward, resting against his cheeks as he dipped his chin. “He knew of me—of who Alex and I used to be. The amount of stuff Ares could’ve told him is insane. At the end of the day, he’s going to be a wild card. Either way? We can’t let the Titans get their hands on him. Not with his abilities.”
Biting down on my lip, I nodded. “You said…you said Apollo showed up?”
Seth looked up as he tugged off his belt. “Yeah. Came out of nowhere. Told me to get to you and I did.”
I opened my mouth, closed it, and then tried again. “Do you think he’s still with them?”
“I damn sure hope so, because I’m not going back there anytime soon to get their asses.” He dropped the belt on the dresser. “I figure Apollo can bring them back.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“That’s their problem.”
“Seth.”
He flashed me a quick grin that I lost sight of as he reached behind his head, gripping the collar of his shirt. He pulled it off over his head. “If I don’t hear from them in a couple of hours, I’ll go back and check on them, but I seriously doubt Apollo is just going to leave them there.”
My gaze flickered over all the glorious bare skin on display as Seth tossed his shirt aside. It landed somewhere on the floor, in front of the bed. Dragging my gaze away from Seth, I stared at the space the shirt had disappeared to. “I went to the library this morning, after you guys left. Not only did I not find Medusa, the doors she’d taken me through were gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yep. Completely gone. Like they’d never been there, and when I asked the librarian about Medusa, there was no one who works there that looks anything like her.” I wrapped my arms around my knees. “And when I got back here, I…man, I feel so stupid, but I called out to Apollo. You know? Like, I asked for his help. I mean, how can we entomb the Titans when there aren’t even six demigods left to naturally unlock their abilities? What are we supposed to do? So, I called out to him, and he…he didn’t answer.”
I didn’t hear Seth move, but he was suddenly there, sitting on the bed beside me. His fingers curled around my chin, guiding my gaze to his. “Babe…”
“I didn’t really expect him to. I figured he doesn’t even pay attention.” I lifted a shoulder. “But he is paying attention. He knew something had happened to me. Instead of coming to me, he went to you. Why?”
Pain flickered across Seth’s face. “I don’t know why. I wish I did. Damn, do I ever.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned forward, all but face-planting his shoulder. Harsh words festered in my chest, and I didn’t want to give a voice to them, but they slithered up my throat. “I hate him.”
“Psychi mou.”
“I know I shouldn’t. I know that makes me a bad person, but I hate him.”
“It doesn’t make you a bad person.” He folded his arms around me, pulled me to him and lifted me up at the same time. I ended up in his lap, my face still fused to his shoulder and my robe slipping down one arm. “It just makes you mortal.”
“But I’m not mortal.”
His lips coasted over the inch of bare skin at my shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.” I turned my head so my cheek rested on his shoulder. “He didn’t save my grandparents. They died. He lied to me about my mother. She died. I really don’t even know if Erin is okay or not. He could be lying about that too.” I drew in a shaky breath. “And you said Zeus knew I was pregnant. That means Apollo has to know. Does he not even care?”
Seth’s hand tangled in my wet hair. “He cares. I’m not saying that because I’m trying to make you feel better, babe. But I think he cares. He just has a shit way of showing it.”
Tears burned the back of my eyes as more words bubbled up. I whispered, “I don’t hate him.”
His arm tightened around my waist. “I know.”
I swallowed hard.
“Hug me back,” Seth said, voice soft in my ear.
I gave a half-hearted attempt at pressing against him.
Seth chuckled. “Hug me back, Josie.”
Letting out an absurdly loud sigh, I let go of my robe and wiggled my arms free. I threw them around Seth.
“That’s my girl.”
I hugged him tight as I shifted around so my knees slid along either side of his hips. “What are we going to do, Seth?”
“That’s a loaded question,” he said as he scooped the strands of hair out from under the robe.
It really was, but I figured I’d start with the obvious. “What are we going to do with the Titans? Great. We have Ares’s son. Awesome. But we don’t have enough to unlock their abilities. The whole plan is bad.”
Seth slightly pulled back so he could kiss my cheek. “The plan has been shit from the beginning, really.”
I couldn’t help it. That made me laugh. “It has.”
“We’ll figure something out.”
Leaning back, I slid my hands off his shoulders, to his chest. His skin was warm under my palms. “We keep saying that, but we aren’t figuring anything out.”
“Kind of hard to argue with that statement.”
I smirked, but it quickly faded. Lifting my hand, I traced the line of his jaw with my finger. His eyes drifted shut and thick lashes fanned the smooth skin under his eyes.
“I keep saying it, because we have to,” he said, “We don’t have a choice.”
Seth was right.
We had to figure out so much that it left little room to focus on the pain and fear or anything else, but what had Seth said when he walked in?
I had time to take it easy?
In all honesty, we really didn’t have the time. Every waking second needed to be focused on finding a way to entomb the Titans and stop the pure-bloods who were attacking the half-bloods.
A sharp pain pierced my chest, and it felt so real that I sucked in air. The image of Colin started to form, his face waxy and eyes unfocused—
I cut off that train of thought, refocusing on Seth. He was staring at me in that intense way of his, the way that made me feel like he could see inside my very head.
I didn’t want to think or feel any of the heartache waiting for me or the fear of the vast unknown waiting for both of us.
Not right now.
My gaze traveled across his face, committing the angles and planes to memory with more than just my eyes. I traced the curve of his cheek with the tips of my fingers and then mapped the bridge of his brow with my thumbs. From there, I trailed my finger along his upper lip and the fuller bottom one.
“I like that,” he said, his voice rough as he tilted his head back, eyes closed as he exposed his throat to me. “It feels good.”
I could tell that he did thoroughly enjoy this, because he was hard against the curve of my ass.
Then again, I had a feeling that if I looked at him a certain way, he enjoyed it, and I loved that. I may have been an awkward, uncomfortable mess ninety percent of the time, but Seth always, always made me feel beautiful and wanted, desired and cherished.
Dragging my fingers down the center of his throat, I lowered my mouth to his, kissing him softly. Seth made this pleasant little humming sound against my mouth. I kept lowering my fingers, marveling at the way his stomach muscles clenched in response. My palms pressed back against the loose sash on my robe. Seth’s lips parted on a soft inhale, and I took advantage of it, dipping my tongue in as I wrapped my fingers around the sash, pulling it free. The robe parted and, with a wiggle of my shoulders, it slipped down my arms, stopping at my elbows. I reached between us, my fingers going for the button on his pants.
Seth groaned into the kiss as he gripped my arms, pulling my hands away and holding me back. Breaking the kiss, he opened his eyes. They were pools of liquid amber.
“Babe,” he murmured, his gaze dropped and drifting over my bare chest. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?”
His chest rose sharply. “I think I have a good idea, but we really shouldn’t be doing that right now.”
“Why not?” I pressed my mouth to his, and Seth’s opened, welcoming the kiss.
He was breathing heavier. “Do I need to remind you that you were just hurt? And Dr. Morales said—”
“I have a pulled muscle, Seth.” Smiling, I rocked against him, rewarded by another deep rumble coming from within him. “And we can take this easy.”
“Josie,” he all but groaned. “You know I want you. Always. But when Apollo came for me tonight, I thought…I feared the worst.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Those seconds that it took for me to get back here, I feared the worst. That there’d be no more moments like this,” he continued, stopping to groan as I moved. “They were only seconds, Josie, but they felt like an eternity.”
“Seth,” I whispered against the knot in my throat. “Then let’s take back those seconds and make them ours.”
He started to respond, but I brought our mouths together, silencing his fears, and we kissed…we kissed like we’d never have the luxury of doing so again.
“I don’t want to think about anything right now,” I told him, moving away from his mouth to nip at the delicate skin of his throat. “I just want to feel the good that we have. I just want you, Seth. I just want these moments.”
Seth shuddered as he let go of my arms. “How can I say no to you?”
“You can’t.” I reached for the button on his pants again. “Because you love me.”
“I do.” One hand curled around the back of my head as the other slipped inside the robe, settling on my waist. “I love you so fucking much I think it’s killing me sometimes.”
I shuddered and almost lost sight of what I was doing, but I got his pants unbuttoned and the zipper tugged down. Seth’s arm tightened around me as he lifted up just enough for me to get his pants down to his thighs. His entire body jerked when I reached between us, wrapping my hand around him.
“Josie,” he growled my name.
I rose up. His breath fanned my throat as I positioned him where I wanted him. Seth’s other hand found its way between the halves of the robe and tightened on my hip as I slowly worked my way down his length, inch by inch. I got halfway down and started over. I had to.
Seth groaned. “Gods, you really are killing me.”
My gaze flew to his. “Am I…am I doing this right?”
“There is literally nothing about this you could do wrong.”
I stopped moving. “Really?”
His head tilted and his lips brushed across mine. “Well, if you bit me, and not in the fun way—”
“Seth,” I laughed.
“No, babe. There is nothing you could do wrong.”
I grinned then, but the grin slipped from my face as I gasped at the pressure, the fullness, and I let go, sinking down the rest of the way.
Seth shuddered all around me as his hands opened and closed on my hips. For a moment, I couldn’t move as liquid heat poured through my veins.
Then I had to move.
I wasn’t exactly all that skilled and I really wasn’t the one to take charge like this, but I pushed past the uncertainty and just relied on instinct and what my body wanted to do.
And it knew exactly what it wanted.
Him.
Always him.
Shifting forward, I lifted up and then pushed back down, gasping at the delicious tug and pull as my chest flattened against his. My fingers sifted through his hair as our foreheads pressed together.
“You feel so damn good,” he whispered in the space between our mouths. “Every single time, Josie.”
We took our time.
We did take it easy.
And Seth…gods, Seth just held me as I moved on top of him, lifting and rolling my hips, taking it slow and taking him deep. Somehow it made everything all the more intense, more consuming, and the sweetest fire burned its way through me. When I finally broke apart, I shattered into a million little pieces. It was like every part of my body experienced release. Maybe even a part of my soul found some semblance of peace.
Sometime later, Seth was on his back and I don’t remember exactly how he got his pants off, but they were balled up at the foot of the bed. My robe was still caught around my elbows, but I was too lazy to shrug it off.
As I lay there, still sprawled on top of Seth, tracing tiny circles on his upper arm, my thoughts began to wander. I didn’t even try to stop them, not even when I started thinking about the Titans.
The only good thing we had going was that not all the Titans had been unleashed. We had Tethys and Oceanus and Cronus left to deal with. Three. We also had a buttload of shades, but when the Olympians fought the Titans before, the Olympians went up against all of them.
How did the Olympians defeat the Titans?
I knew what I had read in the Myths and Legends book and what I’d been told. That it took all of them to take them down, but…
I tried to remember the legends I’d read ages ago, before I realized that gods were real. I couldn’t remember the details, but something wasn’t adding up. It was like a word lingering on the tip of my tongue. “Seth?”
“Hmm?”
“How did the Olympians defeat the Titans?”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “That’s a random question.”
“It is.”
“All of them fought the Titans and were able to entomb them,” Seth said, his fingers flexing along my thigh.
I considered that. “I feel like I heard or read something else. Like, something way before…all of this began.”
“You probably did. A lot of the legends mortals know are based in some truth, but got exaggerated over the years.” He let out a yawn. A moment passed. “I forgot to tell you this, but Ares’s son? Erik? He started experiencing his abilities around the time yours were unlocked.”
“Really? That’s strange.” It really was since that’s not something Apollo had ever mentioned. He’d said it would take six demigods and they’d all have to be together, so how did my abilities affect the other demigods?
But Erik was really just getting the shitty end of the deal. His presence caused violence, but—
Something occurred to me.
“I just thought of something.”
Seth’s hand stilled on my thigh. “Does it involve doing what you just did? Because I’m going to need a few more moments to recover.”
“No.” Pushing against his chest, I ignored his groan as I sat up. Excitement thrummed through me as the idea took hold and spread. “It has nothing to do with the demigod. Not really, but more of what is happening here.”
He gave me a lazy look from under his lashes. “Okay.”
I took a deep breath. “If Ares’s son affects people and makes them violent, what if that’s what is happening here? At the Covenant? What if something like that is influencing the pures here and making them act this way?”