Jaw working, I turned back to the spot where Hyperion had stood. A weight lifted from my shoulders. Wasn’t like we didn’t have the other Titans to worry about, but this one . . . yeah, this one had needed to go.
The charred floor had changed. Tiny specks of glowing red embers flickered. Closing my hands into fists, I walked over to the spot and stared down, brows knitting together. The flecks looked like—
“What have you done?”
My back stiffened. There was no denying who stood behind me. “Awful brave of you to show up after the Titan who captured your daughter is no longer in the picture.”
“I warned you once about questioning my loyalty to my daughter,” Apollo shot back. “I will not warn you again.”
I faced Apollo, ignoring his threat. “I think it’s pretty obvious what I did.”
“Do you have any idea what this could cause?” Apollo stepped toward me. “He needed to be entombed.”
“He needed to die!” Power crackled in the air around me. “Do you know what he did to Josie? There was going to be no entombing for that bastard. I will not have her living in fear. I will not have our—” I cut myself off.
“You will not have your what?” he demanded, and then he sucked in a sharp breath. I had no idea if he’d guessed the truth. I sure as hell wasn’t going to confirm it, because I didn’t trust the bastard. The god’s all-white eyes snapped electricity. “You may be a god now, but you need to understand that your emotions cannot rule you.”
“Oh, that’s really funny coming from you.”
His chest rose. “With godhood comes great responsibility—”
“Did you rip that off from Spider-Man?”
Anger tightened his features. “Is everything a joke to you?”
“Yeah.” I looked around the room. “Mainly you?”
He exhaled roughly. “If my daughter didn’t love you . . .”
“What?” I threw up my arms. “What would you do, Apollo? Turn me into a bush that smells like cat piss? Really? Don’t you think that’s a little played out? I’m not—”
Apollo moved faster than I could track.
One moment he was standing in front of me, and the next he had a hand around my throat and my back into a wall. Dirt filled the air as he leaned in, getting all up in my face. “You test every strain of my patience,” he growled as his fingers dug into my windpipe.
“This is my I-don’t-give-a-fuck face, in case you’re wondering.”
“You best learn quick who you’re speaking to, Seth.”
Wrapping a hand around his wrist, I bared my teeth. “And you best learn real quick who you’re messing with.” Slamming my free hand down on his, I broke his hold and threw him back.
Apollo caught himself as shock splashed across his face. His wide-eyed gaze met mine as I came off the wall.
“There’s only one reason why I won’t kill you,” I warned, stalking toward him. “But that does not mean I will not bring you to an inch of your death.”
A muscle thrummed in his jaw as several moments passed. “Do you have any idea of what you have begun? The chain of events you have started?”
I opened my mouth, but I really didn’t have an answer.
“Do you not remember what Ewan had said to you?” He straightened as he referenced the nymph. Apollo shook his head. “You better be ready.”
A cold shiver curled done my spine. “Ready for what?”
“There will be consequences,” Apollo said. “There will be consequences for what you have done tonight.”
“Aren’t there always?”
He lifted his chin as he stepped back. “Not like this, Seth. Not like this.”
~
Josie
I knew what’d happened the exact moment I woke. I realized my bed was empty and the world was shaking. It was like some kind of instinctual knowledge told me what happened.
I was going to kill Seth.
Okay. I wasn’t going to kill him, but I was most definitely going to hit him.
Throwing the covers off, I shot to my feet and grabbed my clothes off the floor, hastily pulling them on in case the entire Covenant came down on my head. I rushed from the bedroom and through the sitting room. Throwing open the door, I drew up short, coming face to face with a silver-eyed demigod.
“Where is he?” I demanded. My heart pounded painfully in my chest.
Aiden glanced up at the flickering overhead light. “You know where he went.”
I cursed under my breath as a doorway down the hall opened and Alex stumbled out, blinking rapidly. She threw her arms out as a tremor rocked the hallway. “Oh gods, this is not a normal earthquake, is it?”