Аполлион

She came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, her tight curls pulled back from her face. Olivia’s caramel-colored complexion was beautiful, even when it was pale. She looked like she was staring down a horde of daimons right now.

“Alex,” she whispered, swallowing.

Slowly, so I wouldn’t send her scurrying back up the steps, I approached the bars. I knew the moment she got a good look at my eyes, because she backed up, hitting the bottom step.

“Don’t go,” I said, gripping the bars. Pale blue light flickered. “Please don’t go.”

Her throat worked again and she glanced behind her quickly before her gaze swung back to me. “Dear gods, it’s true. Your eyes…”

I smiled wryly. “They take a little getting used to.”

“No doubt.” She took a deep breath and stepped closer. “Aiden… he’s going to kill me if he finds out I’m down here, but I just had to see you for myself. He… they’re saying you have to stay down here—that you’re dangerous.”

For once, someone else’s impulsivity was a benefit to me. “I’m not dangerous.”

“They’ve said you’ve threatened to make a crown out of Deacon’s ribcage.”

Aw, hell… “I haven’t done anything.”

She looked doubtful.

“Okay. You know me. I say mean things when I’m mad.”

Her lips twitched. “Yeah, you do. Alex…” Her gaze flickered over the bars. “Damn…”

I had to proceed with caution, but I had to do it quickly. Who knew how much time we had before Aiden realized Olivia was down here and ruined all my fun? Using a compulsion would be easy and the quickest way to deal with this, but… but a part of me, that stupid, stupidpart of me, wanted to talk to her… my friend.

And there was something I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her, something important.

Olivia inched closer to the cell. “You look… you look terrible.”

I frowned. “I do?”

“Have you been sleeping?” Her gaze drifted over me. “You’ve lost weight.”

Sort of relieved to hear I hadn’t packed on the pounds, I shrugged. “You look great.”

She touched her cheek. “I don’t feel great. You have no idea what’s going on out there. Everyone is freaked out, because of…”

“Because of us.”

“Us?”

“Seth and me.” I leaned my head against the bars. “You went to New York, right?”

Olivia shook her head. “We started to, but it’s real bad there. They’re not letting anyone in. The place is on lockdown, but there’s a lot of fighting inside, I hear.”

The Elixir had stopped working there, courtesy of Lucian, and my father… my father was there.

“The gods, they have these thingssurrounding the Covenants.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her slender waist.

My interested piqued. “What things?”

“I don’t know. They’re like half-bull, half-man—but machines. We ran into them when we were heading to New York. My mother continued on, but she didn’t want me there. She sent me here with Laadan.”

A foggy memory resurfaced, one of Apollo and Aiden talking about those creatures. I wondered if my Seth knew about them. Probably. I let go of the bars and tucked my tangled hair back. The ends curled halfway down my chest and probably were in need of a cut. Around Olivia, I couldn’t help but compare myself.

“Alex, things are going to get worse. You—”

“I saw Caleb.”

Her mouth dropped open, and whatever sales pitch she had was forgotten. “What?”

“I’ve seen Caleb twice since he… passed.” I needed to get this out, and then I’d do what I had to. My Seth would call this need a weakness and it was, because I was wasting precious time, but Olivia needed to know. I’d promised Caleb I’d tell her, and after I escaped I had no idea if I would see her again. “The Order attacked me while I was still at the Covenant. One of their members killed me. I went to the Underworld—”

“You died?”

I winced at the shrill pitch. “Yeah, I was dead, and then I wasn’t. Long story. But I saw Caleb.”

A hand fluttered to her chest. “Are you messing with me, because I swear to the gods, Alex, I willhurt you.”

Cute, considering she couldn’t touch me, but I grinned. “Caleb’s okay. He’s really okay. He spends most of his time playing Wii, and he looked great. Nothing like…” The back of my throat burned. “He’s really good.”

Her eyes glistened in the dim light. “You really saw him?”

I nodded. “He wanted me to tell you something. I didn’t get a chance, with everything that’s going on.”

“Understandable.” She choked out a laugh. “What… what did he tell you?”

Olivia had always had manicured hands, but the nail polish was chipped and old. I kept my eyes on them. “I don’t know what this means, but he said to tell you that he would’ve picked Los Angeles.”

There was a sharp inhale, and the silence stretched out so long I eventually had to look, and when I did, I almost wished I hadn’t.