The Power
Page 95

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.
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.