Аполлион

“Oh, you know, I’ve been doing nothing.” Apollo glared at us. “I’ve managed to convince my brothers and sisters to stop their destruction long enough to give us a chance to make this right, but they will not be held back for long. With every moment, Lucian and the First draw closer to overthrowing the Council. And with daimons attacking humans in droves, they will risk millions of innocent lives to put a stop to it.”

“Not because they’re actually concerned about the mortals.” I tucked the necklace under my shirt, ignoring how oddly warm the metal was. It hung about an inch below the crystal rose. “But because if Lucian and Seth overthrow the Council in the Catskills, then they’ll be one step away from overthrowing the gods, right? Because whoever controls those seats are the rulers.”

Apollo said nothing.

“You know, that’s what I don’t get.” Deacon stretched out his long legs from the chair, wiggling his toes. “I know that, if Seth and Lucian overthrow the Council, it’s a big deal for the Hematoi, but the gods can’t be that frightened.”

Without saying a word, Apollo faced Aiden’s brother. I knew that he was probably giving the boy one of his Leon/Apollo looks that said do I really need to explain this?

Deacon fidgeted. “I mean, you guys can just hide in Olympus and call it a day.”

“He has a point,” Luke said carefully. “Not like Seth can storm Olympus—not really.”

I rifled through the memories of the other Apollyons, and nervousness moved through me, quick and slithery like a snake.

“Well…” Apollo sighed. “There isa way to get to Olympus.”

My jaw smacked off my knee. “Portals?”

He nodded. “They are headed there. It’s how we move between Olympus and the mortal world.”

“You know,” Aiden said. “This kind of information would’ve been helpful weeks ago. We could have had Sentinels we trust guarding these portals.”

“And what Sentinels can you truly trust?” Apollo asked evenly. “Lucian’s offer is enticing enough to sway them to his side. Most of the Sentinels have turned on the Council, turned on the gods. Besides, it wasn’t necessary for any of you to know that.”

Aiden looked like he wanted to say more, but wisely remained quiet.

“And luckily we’ve kept their locations secret, even from the previous Apollyons.” Apollo’s gaze flickered to me. “What have you learned from the Awakening?”

I was sort of surprised by Apollo’s faith in my ability to block Seth. I doubted that faith would remain if I told him about Seth and Hermes.

Still kicking my legs, I shrugged. “A lot of it is about their lives, and there are so many. It’s like watching every episode of a TV series that has been on for a millennium. It’s hard to sort through all of it. Sometimes something is said and it wiggles a memory free.”

An unsympathetic look crossed Apollo’s features.

Well, wasn’t like I was expecting a hug from him. “Most of it is how to use the elements and akasha. And Greek—I can read Greek now.”

Most of the room looked unimpressed by that, but Aiden caught my eye and smiled reassuringly. I grinned back. Reading Greek was a pretty big damn deal to me.

“Well, that’s all fine and dandy,” Apollo said, letting out an exaggerated sigh.

I kicked off the desk extra hard, my leg bouncing.

Aiden slid me a look. “What do we do from here? Obviously the gods expect us to do something.”

“The gods expect herto do something.” Apollo jerked his chin at me.

“But how can she fight him without touching him?” Aiden pushed off the wall and strode to the middle of the room. “The gods have to understand that.”

“They do.” Apollo’s eyes narrowed on me. “But I was hoping there was something knocking around in her brain that held the answer to that little problem. But—”

Apollo smacked a hand down on my leg. “Must you always be moving some part of your body?”

I glared at him as I not-so-gently removed his hand. The contact of his flesh on mine brought the marks of Apollyon out like nothing else. And I knew he saw them by the way his eyes darted over my face. “It’s not hurting you,” I said.

“It’s annoying.”

“ You’reannoying,” I shot back.

To our left, Aiden rolled his eyes. “All right, children, back to the important stuff.”

“Think, Alex, there has to be something that can help us—possibly with Solaris.” Apollo leaned in, planting his hands on either side of my now-still legs. Over his shoulder, I saw Aiden move toward us, but then Apollo moved his head so that he blocked him. “Alex.”

“What?” I gripped the edge of the table. “Look, it’s not like I’m being stubborn or stupid. If I could remember something useful, I would. It’s not like I’m stopping myself—” Stopping myself from seeing or remembering something very important—that was what I was going to say, but like it was with other things, that wave of familiarity washed over me again, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.