The Power
Page 89

Something stirred outside. My eyes narrowed as the wind continued to pick up in one area, near one of the SUVs. It spun and spun in a small area, like a mini-tornado.
“What . . . what is that?” Josie asked.
“Gable,” Aiden said, his voice level. “You need to hide right now. No matter what, you do not come out unless it’s—”
The cyclone shot forward, aiming straight for the doors. I prepared for it to come right through the glass, but it stopped before it connected, spinning in one spot. The cyclone was over seven feet tall and as wide as a person. I had a really bad feeling about what was inside that air mass.
“Um,” Deacon murmured.
A heartbeat of silence passed and then, clearly, the sound of the front door unlocking could be heard.
“What the . . . ?” Alex trailed off as the series of clicks stopped.
“Security systems fail,” I muttered.
The glass doors swung open and the cyclone shot inside. Wind whipped out as the cyclone slowed, unfolding until a figure became visible inside.
“This isn’t a friendly,” Solos said, stepping forward on his right leg as his arm cocked back. “No need to wait.” He let go of a dagger.
It flew through the air, hilt over blade, and went through the mini-tornado, embedding deep in the center. The moment it made contact, a rush of air burst out. A sonic boom knocked all of us back, like we were nothing but bowling pins.
I landed on my ass next to Josie. The Covenant dagger fell from her hand, skidding across the floor. She cursed, rolling onto her side as she scrambled toward it on her hands and knees.
“Really?” A deep voice boomed through the house, and I turned sharply. The tornado of doom was gone and in its place was a man. A very tall man with a head full of brown hair and shoulders bigger than Hercules’s. “You threw a dagger at me?” He tipped his head back and laughed as he reached down, grabbed the hilt, and then yanked the dagger out. He dropped it on the stone floor of the foyer. “This is going to be easier than I imagined.” Then he opened his eyes. They were all black.
The man before us was a Titan.
“Oh my gods,” Josie whispered as what appeared to be recognition flickered across her face as she sat up.
“It was mostly for fun,” Solos said, his hand tightening around the slender dagger. “Just wanted to see what it would do.”
The Titan tilted its head, expression perplexed. His skin, a mixture of many different pink shades, seemed to lighten and deepen in hue every couple of seconds.
“Which one are you?” I asked, rising to my feet. I slipped in front of Josie, who was now on her feet with her blade in hand. “Mo? Curly? Definitely not Larry, because he’d be pissing himself if he was in front of us right now.”
The Titan’s lip curled. “I am Atlas, Apollyon. I do not know these deities you speak of.”
“Atlas?” murmured Deacon. “Oh boy . . .”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke take the same protective stance in front of Deacon, and for once the pure-blood didn’t fight it.
Atlas’s sneer turned into a mocking grin. “You know who I am. All of you know who I am. And you know how this will end. Give me what I’ve come for and I will allow each of you to live. Deny me, and each of you will die.”
I sighed. “That’s so cliché.”
The Titan’s all-black gaze slid to me. “You may be the Apollyon and you may be surrounded by demigods, but you cannot defeat me. I am not Hyperion and—”
“I’m not just any demigod. I am the Hercules and you are—”
Atlas lifted his hand, and a second later Hercules was flying backward through the air. He slammed into the wall near the staircase, cracking the plaster. “You are nothing to me,” Atlas finished as Hercules hit the floor face-first.
“I’m kind of glad you shut him up,” Alex said, her body tensing. “But we kind of need him alive.”
“Why?” Atlas queried. “So he can continuously lead us to where the remaining demigods are? We knew you would leave. We can wait.”
Not surprising. They probably had shades near the University, waiting for us to come out. That was a risk we’d had to take and now we were paying the consequences.
Atlas sniffed the air as he stared at Alex. “You are a demigod, but your aether is not as pure. Not like the one cowering behind the staircase.” He paused, looking at Josie. “Or this one.”
“I’m not a snack,” Josie stated, and I smirked. “So stop looking at me like I’m dinner.”
“Oh, but dear, that’s exactly what you are.” Atlas smiled, and it was full-on creepy. “And the rest are completely expendable.”
Several things happened at once.
Atlas lifted his arm, fingers widespread. A rush of energy came across the room, aiming straight for Alex and Aiden. Both moved out of the way, spinning out to the sides before it connected. The Titan immediately shifted. The blast of energy cut over to Luke, tossing him up and back into Deacon.
Luke squeezed off several rounds from his Glock, but Atlas twisted and turned wicked fast, dodging each of the bullets. They smacked into the wall harmlessly, and then Atlas was in front of Aiden.
Dipping under Atlas’s arm, Aiden sprang up behind him and spun, kicking out, but the Titan was unbelievably fast, more so than Hyperion. He swung back with his arm, catching Aiden across the chest, and up he went, ass over teacup.
And that pissed off Alex.