Chapter 6
Seth
Even if I hadn’t seen him once before, I would’ve immediately recognized the god standing before us. He wasn’t just a god.
He was the god of gods.
I was not expecting to see Zeus today.
The last time I’d seen him, he wore only white linen pants and appeared to be in his mid to late forties. The only thing different about him now was that his shockingly white hair was a little longer, brushing his shoulders.
The glyphs on my skin were going crazy in response, and instinct locked up every muscle in my body. There could only be one reason why Zeus was here.
He wanted to throw down.
The moment Aiden realized who was standing before him, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
I, however, did not move, because fuck that shit.
Zeus stared at me, waiting for the same treatment. I smirked. His all-white eyes snapped electricity as his nostrils flared. “Your ego will be your downfall.”
“That’s quite ironic coming from you,” I retorted, folding my arms across my chest. “Then again, I guess it takes one to know one.”
Aiden’s audible inhale brought a smile to my lips.
The god’s lip curled and then he looked at Aiden. His expression actually softened. “Rise, my child.”
Rising to his full height, it didn’t look like Aiden took a single breath as he stared at Zeus. He was awestruck, staring upon a being only a very few people ever would. Because of that, I didn’t hold his reaction against him. As utterly useless as I thought Zeus was, he was an impressive sight to behold.
“You have done well today,” Zeus spoke, his voice deep and commanding, as if he was the very thunder in the sky during a storm. “It’s time for you to go home.”
Zeus snapped his fingers, and Aiden was simply gone.
Poof.
There no more.
“I really hope you sent him back to the University,” I drawled, not taking my eyes off the god. “Because if not, there’s going to be a certain young lady you ordered killed that’s going to be really pissed.”
His lips thinned. “You speak of Alexandria, the true Apollyon? You think I enjoyed ending her mortal life? You would be wrong.”
“I don’t care if you liked it or not. You did it when you didn’t have to do it. Not like that. Not after what she sacrificed—”
“You speak to me of sacrifice? What do you know of sacrifice? She did. She understood what sacrifice meant and what had to be done. So far, all you know is to run when you cannot control yourself.”
Shit.
That little personal remark struck home. The truth in his words stung like a damn road rash.
“Have you had to kill someone you love for the better of the world? Have you had to answer for any of your mistakes? Truly answer for them? What have you given up, Seth, to lead? You know nothing of sacrifice.”
Anger flowed through every pore, blanketing my skin, but I managed to keep my mouth shut. Because what could I say in response? Paying for my past sins had been temporary. In a way, it was almost like I’d been rewarded with my godhood. It was something that had worn on me every day since I became…this. Something I wasn’t sure how to process myself.
Zeus’s smile was faint, as if he knew the reason why I stayed quiet. And maybe he did. “We could not allow a God Killer to exist, but obviously, at the end of the day, her mortal death didn’t stop anything.” He stepped forward, and I unfolded my arms, tensing. “You still became the God Killer.”
“That I did.”
“Are you not afraid of me?” he asked after a moment. “You do know that I can kill you.”
I held his gaze. Only absolute power could destroy absolute power. In the whole world, there were only three of us. Zeus. Cronus. Me. “And you know that I can kill you, so there has to be a damn good reason why you’ve decided to make an appearance after all this time.”
Zeus sneered as lightning struck, heating the sky. “You would not win a fight against me, boy.”
“Are you here to test that theory?”
For a moment, I thought Zeus just might do that. Fury poured into every line of his face. The air crackled with power and the threat of violence became a tangible being, but he seemed to suck it all back in.
A tense moment passed. “You only stand before me because we need you to entomb the remaining Titans. That is why I allow you to live.”
“Allow me to live? That’s cute. You know what I don’t understand? Why you don’t entomb them yourselves—you and the remaining Olympians. You’ve done it once before.”
“It took everything we had to entomb them, and that was with Ares’s help,” he answered. “It is too much of a risk now. If one of us were to fall, all would be lost.”
“So, I guess the demigods are just disposable then?” My hands curled into fists as I thought of Josie. “They’re cannon fodder. Who cares about them, right? As long as they get the job done. After all, that was what they were created for.”
“They must do what is necessary as we must to ensure they do not fail.”
I had no idea what that meant, and I had no clue where this damn conversation was going. “Why are you here? Is it because we just killed a hydra? That really wasn’t our fault. Can’t have that running around the mortal realm. If that’s not why you’re here, can you get to the point?” I smirked. “Because I am seriously trying to keep cool right now, but you’re really pushing every one of my piss-me-off buttons.”
“Of course I am,” he retorted. “It would not be hard. You allow your emotions to rule every action. You always have, but that must be stopped.”
Impatience sprung to life. What I wanted to do was get back to Josie. We had plans for today. Pretty fucking important plans. So, I didn’t want to stand here and be lectured by a god who for the last how many thousand years stood on the sidelines and watched the world burn. “I feel like I’ve had this conversation before and—”
“This is your I-don’t-give-a fuck face? Yes, you’ve had this conversation before, but it has not sunk through that thick skull of yours.”
“Well, now that was just rude.”
“You are a god now. You are capable of changing the course of this world and every life that exists with one simple act—an act you may not even think twice of. That kind of power comes with—”
“Great responsibility. Yeah, I know. I saw Spiderman.”
His jaw throbbed with irritation. “That kind of power comes with great consequence. Something you need to see for yourself.”
Zeus blinked out of existence and reappeared directly in front of me, clamping a hand on my shoulder. In a heartbeat, we were no longer standing in the alley near the Hotel Cecil.
The world came into focus as I shrugged off Zeus’s grasp. I opened my mouth, about to demand to know where in the hell he’d taken me, but anything I was about to say died on the tip of my tongue as I looked around and saw…
Destruction.
All I saw was absolute, utter destruction.
Buildings crumbling and burning, sunken into the scorched ground. What must’ve been a beach at one time, and all the structures near it, had been razed, leaving nothing but splintered debris. The air smelled of burnt wire and sewage, and the echo of screams clawed their way into my brain, digging in deep.
Scattered among the rubble and burning piles were broken…bodies. Dozens of them. Maybe even hundreds. They were strewn across the ground, as if they’d been picked up and thrown. Arms and legs poked out from the ruins of houses and businesses. Bodies stuck in bent palm trees. Others floated in water that was in places it shouldn’t be.
I stumbled back a step. “Gods.”
Zeus said nothing as he stared out over the destruction.
Horror robbed the air from my lungs as I turned, seeing a city behind me. It was a fiery hellscape. “What is this?”
“This used to be Long Beach. It is no more.”
I stepped forward, but found I couldn’t move any further. I couldn’t make sense of it, all the death and destruction. The air reeked with it. And I had seen some shit. I’d been responsible for some shit, but this…this was absolute, unbridled devastation.
I didn’t want to ask the question crawling up my throat, but I had to. “Did I…did I do this? By killing Hyperion?”
Zeus was quiet for a moment and then he looked at me. “Would knowing that his death would trigger this change the course of your actions?”
Gods, I wanted to say yes—that if I’d known this would happen, I would’ve done something different, but I couldn’t say that. Not honestly, because I didn’t know. Because how could I regret killing the creature who’d tortured Josie, nearly killing her? How could I live with myself allowing him to breathe?
How could I live with myself after this?
“The ramifications of Hyperion’s death are vast, and the mortal realm has yet to see all of them, but his death did not cause this. Not directly.” A tinge of sorrow filled his tone, and I looked at him sharply. “This was Tethys. Her response to the death of her lover. Well, one of her lovers. I do believe she is still technically married to Oceanus.”
My brows lifted.
“In a fit of anger, she caused a massive tsunami. The loss of life is…substantial.” Zeus shuddered. “She would not have retaliated in such a manner if Hyperion had not been killed.”
My throat thickened. “You really think she wouldn’t have done this if he’d been entombed?”
“That I cannot answer. Perhaps she would’ve, but does the what-if matter in the end? You killed Hyperion, causing other damage and death, and she responded as such, destroying entire cities all up and down the coast.”
Pressure clamped down on my chest. I didn’t want to see this. I wanted to say something smartass. I wanted to show Zeus that I wasn’t affected, but that would be a lie.
My insides were torn up, in shreds.
Because even if my actions hadn’t directly led to this, they had indirectly caused this.
“We’ve all made mistakes—mistakes that have laid waste to entire civilizations. Mistakes that have destroyed countless lives. You are a new god, the start of a new era,” he said, and I turned to him, almost against my will. “And you’re already beginning to learn the hard way. You do not need to follow in our footsteps. I would think you of all people would want to avoid that.” Zeus’s voice was quiet. “You have a lot of reasons to be angry. I get it. Your mother was a cold, heartless woman. Your father a man you never got the chance to know. You were used as a tool in a war you did not know was brewing, and you struggle with countless decisions, but you cannot let your emotions rule you. Not anymore.”
I was…I was utterly dumbfounded.
I knew that one day I would come face to face with Zeus again. Probably after we defeated the Titans. I’d figured he’d try to take me out because I was a threat to him and the rest of the Olympians, just like the Titans were.
I didn’t ever expect him to be standing here, giving me…advice. This was perhaps stranger than seeing a hydra.
“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Why are we having this conversation?”
“Instead of trying to fight you?” He finished my unspoken thought. “Because we need to work together. Neither of us needs to be looking over our shoulders when we should be focusing on the Titans. We cannot have anything like this happen again. But there should be a more personal reason for you to want to be better than me and my offspring.”
Tension crept into my shoulders.
Zeus looked away, onto the devastation. “Is this the kind of world you want your child to be brought into?”
~
Josie
Cora and Gable had disappeared with Deacon after he dropped the whole “the last demigod may be Ares’s son” bomb. He’d left only after I promised to meet up with him later to discuss all baby-shower-related issues. I hadn’t the heart to tell him it was way too soon to be discussing any of that. I guessed they were doing the tour of the campus.
Shortly after they left, Colin showed up, and he eventually perched himself on the arm of the chair across from the couch. The first time I met Colin, I hadn’t actually spoken to him. He’d been there when that poor half-blood had been killed by a pure. Later, Colin had sought to protect me, before he knew I was a demigod, and he’d been there as a really good friend when Seth had broken things off with me. And he was still here even though he knew that Seth was not a fan of his.
Probably didn’t help that Colin was nice to look at. His blue eyes were a striking contrast to his dark hair, and he had classic good looks. “So, you guys really think that demigod is Ares’s son?” Colin asked as he slowly shook his head. He’d been filled in on everything. “Man, that’s going to be rough.”
As terrible as it sounded, I was glad that we all had something to talk about and focus on instead of my pregnancy. I just wished it wasn’t something as messed up as this.
“Rough?” Alex laughed softly. Back to sitting on the couch, she rubbed the nape of her neck. “I know it shouldn’t matter. This guy’s not responsible for anything his father did. Hell, he doesn’t even know he’s a demigod or who his dad was, but…”
“I get it.” I glanced over at Luke as he handed me a bottle of water. “It’s not like you’d blame him for what Ares did, but it’s still going to be hard. I mean, I think anyone can understand that.”
Colin nodded in agreement.
“Yeah.” Dropping her hands, she lifted her head. “I just wasn’t expecting that. I don’t know why. I just wasn’t, because gods, that is messed up.” She exhaled heavily. “I mean, really? Can we not catch a break here?”
“But you need to deal and I know you can,” Luke said as I took a drink of my water. “You’ve dealt with crazier stuff, and if this guy is going to be anything like Cora, we don’t need to freak him out.”
“You mean, freak him out any more than you’re going to by showing up and explaining that he’s the demigod son of the worst god ever?” Colin asked.
I smiled at that. “Probably be best to leave out the whole ‘your father was a psychotic god who nearly ended the whole world’ part. Not sure if it’s worth telling him what his father did, at least right off the bat.”
“Agreed.” Alex smacked her hands down on her knees. “Then again, maybe we’ll get lucky and he’s not Ares’s son. The fighting could be co—”
The door to the room swung open, and a very tall pure-blood strolled in. Aiden. I shifted on the couch, expecting to see Seth behind him, but the door swung shut behind Aiden.
That was…weird.
No Seth.
Before I had a chance to question where Seth was, Alex shot to her feet. “You! Oh, you have a lot of explaining to do.”
Aiden stood in the center of the room. “I just saw Zeus.”
Boy, did that stop Alex right in her tracks, stopped all of us.
“What?” she asked.
Colin’s brows knitted as he looked over at me. “Did he just say Zeus?”
“I did.” Aiden blinked slowly, like he was coming out of a daze. “I saw Zeus, and I saw a hydra.”
Now I was questioning my hearing. I had to have heard him wrong. Zeus? Like the Zeus? And a hydra? The several-headed snake thing?
Colin’s mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything.
“What?” Alex shrieked, snapping forward. She smacked Aiden’s arm. Hard, too. The sound reverberated through the room, causing my eyes to widen. “You saw a hydra, and you left me here? I am so mad at you. So mad.”
“Sorry,” Aiden chuckled, catching Alex’s hand and holding it to his chest. “Heading out to deal with the daimons in L.A. was a spur of the moment thing.”
Alex tugged her hand, but Aiden didn’t let go. “You had time to get me. So much time. I’ve never seen a hydra!”
“A hydra?” Luke was frozen on the edge of the couch, his eyes wide. “How in the world did you see a hydra?”
“It crawled right out of the ground, just like the daimons had, but it wasn’t burnt up or anything like that, and it was definitely not a friendly hydra.” Pulling Alex to his chest, he wrapped his arms around her. Probably to stop her from hitting him again. “We learned pretty quickly that not even Seth could kill it with a god bolt. We had to chop that sucker up.”
My stomach dipped. What couldn’t be killed with a god bolt? I guess a hydra couldn’t.
“Well, that’s kind of sad,” Alex muttered, her arms still pinned to her sides.
“It was trying to eat us for dinner.” Aiden grinned down at the top of her head. “So, don’t be too sad.”
“Hold on a second,” I interrupted. “You said you saw Zeus?”
Aiden looked over Alex’s head at me. “Yeah. He showed up afterwards. Was not expecting that. He…he looked younger than I thought he would.”
“Were you expecting to see a hydra today?” Alex asked.
I rose. “Where is Seth?”
Aiden shook his head. “I’m guessing he’s still with Zeus.”
Unease exploded like buckshot in my gut, causing my breath to catch. “What do you mean?”
“Zeus showed up and pretty much sent me back here. I have no idea what he was doing there or what he wanted. Surprised the hell out of me.”
My heart turned over heavily as the unease turned into full-fledged dread. Zeus and Seth? Alone? “That can’t be good.”
Wiggling free from Aiden, Alex turned to me. “I’m sure Seth is okay.”
“Zeus can kill Seth.” Setting the water aside, I started for the door, but stopped, realizing there was nowhere for me to go. I wasn’t like Seth; I couldn’t just pop myself to wherever I wanted to go. I stopped and turned back to them. “How long ago was this?”
“Five minutes? Maybe ten? When Zeus sent me back here, I ended up at the wall, just outside the Covenant.”
A lot of things could happen in ten minutes. Like them having a major fight and destroying an entire city. Antsy energy buzzed through my veins. I had the sudden urge to turn on the TV to see if there were any more earthquakes or erupting volcanos.
Alex started toward me. “I’m sure Seth is fine. It would be so stupid of Zeus to try to kill him. The Olympians know they need the demigods, namely you, to entomb the Titans. Trying to kill your boyfriend would jeopardize that.”
That made sense, but based on everything that I knew about Olympians, they didn’t always make decisions that made sense. Like, they usually did the exact opposite. My heart sped up.
“Alex is most likely right,” Luke said, and Colin nodded from where he sat. “It would be incredibly stupid for them to go after Seth.”
Starting to pace just as Alex had been doing hours before, I nodded absently. “Why else would Zeus seek out Seth, though?”
Alex and Aiden exchanged looks. There was no missing that. I stopped in front of them. “What?”
“If I had to wager a guess to why Zeus would want to talk to Seth, it would have to do with the Titans,” Aiden explained, folding his arms. “Namely what happened with Hyperion.”
My spine stiffened. I knew that Seth shouldn’t have killed Hyperion, and I knew that a part of him realized that too, but if Zeus showed up to lecture him, it would probably end badly for everyone involved.
Because while I knew that Hyperion had needed to be entombed, not for one second did I blame Seth for killing him.
In fact, I was glad.
Hyperion could’ve killed our child. He got what he deserved.
“Seth did what he had to do,” I said, knocking my ponytail over my shoulder. “End of discussion.”
Surprise widened Aiden’s eyes, and he looked like he wanted to say something, but he wisely changed his mind.
Turning from him, I blew out an exaggerated breath as I started pacing once more. Frustration pulled at me. There was nothing I could do but sit around and wait while hoping something horrible hadn’t happened to Seth.
Or hoping he hadn’t started an all-out war with the Olympians.
“We-ell,” Aiden drawled the word out. “Did I miss anything?”
“Kind of,” Alex answered as I turned to them.
Luke sat on the edge of the couch. “We think we may know who the final demigod is. Or who his—”
A sudden scream from outside the room cut Luke off. My heart launched into my throat as I turned, because that wasn’t a playful scream. That was one of horror.
Aiden reached the door first and Alex was quickly behind him. Exchanging a look with Colin, we followed them out into the hall with Luke trailing behind us.
Since it was summer break, there were not a lot of students in the dorm. Probably half the normal amount. Only a few doors were open, with students sticking their heads out.
“What’s going on?” Aiden demanded, slipping into the role of Sentinel like it was a second skin.
“I don’t know.” The girl clutched the door, eyeing us with wide eyes. Most of the students were getting used to having demigods and a god on campus, but you could still see their awed shock. “I think it came from the lobby.”
We picked up our pace, and I was grateful that no one suggested I should stay back due to my situation. The lobby came into view and there was a small crowd. A guy was standing back, his arms folded and his jaw hard, next to a blonde with her hand over her mouth. My heart jumped when I realized they were standing in front of the entombed furies. The crowd parted as Aiden and Alex neared, stepping aside.
“No,” whispered Alex, her hands balling into fists at her sides.
Colin stopped directly in front of me, his back stiffening. The lobby doors opened, and Guards came in as I stepped around Colin.
“Gods,” I whispered.
Lying on the floor at the feet of the entombed furies was a girl. One who couldn’t have been older than eighteen. Her reddish-brown hair was spread out across the white floor. Her skin was a ghastly shade of gray and it was clear that she was…she was dead.
And resting beside her was some kind of bronze mask. The cheeks overly round, eyes just thin slits, and a closed, wide smile. There was a symbol in the middle of the mask’s forehead, a circle with an off-center arrow striking through it.
Alex gasped, taking a step back.
“Ares,” growled Aiden.