Jennifer Armentrout - Apollyon

I jumped. “Holy…”

Everything happened so fast. Balls of fire seemed to come from the heavens, raining down on us. Everyone scattered, splitting into smaller groups as we moved off the road and into the uneven terrain. A hand found mine— Aiden —and I was running with him and his brother. Luke was behind us. In seconds, I lost sight of everyone else.

We were running, running away.

Fire still fell, splattering off the earth, shaking the ground. It was chaos as we scrambled over the small hills, hitting the ground each time the sky lit up and another volley of fire filled the air.

And where in the hell was popping-in-when-you-least-expect-it-Apollo when we needed him? Sure, he could poof in when I was about to get some kissy-face time with Aiden, but oh no, when we actually needed him, he was nowhere to be found.

I started to push up, but Aiden held on. “I have to find Marcus! And Olivia! Laadan—”

“No.” His grip tightened. “You’re not running out in the middle of this!”

On the ground beside me, Luke moaned. “I think… my arm is on fire.”

“ What ?” I rolled toward him, grabbing at the back of his shirt, aware of Deacon trying to scramble past his brother. Flipping him onto his back, I winced as another blast hit far too close. “Gods…”

His right arm was an unnatural, bright shade of red from the elbow to the wrist. Patches had already begun to bubble. He offered a wobbly smile. “Well, I’ve been wanting a tan.”

I stared at him, and then Deacon shot around us, grasping the front of Luke’s shirt. Before the bronze-haired half could utter a word, Deacon planted one on him. I fell back on my side, breathing heavily.

Then Deacon lifted his head, eyes wide. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. Okay?”

Luke nodded slowly.

“What is it with the St. Delphi brothers and their attraction to halfs?” Solos grunted, hitting the hill near us. Laadan was with him, her hair falling loose from her neat chignon, pants dirtied and singed. “Don’t get me wrong,” he went on. “Being a half and all, I totally support equal love, equal rights, down with the Breed Order and blah, blah, blah.”

“We just have good taste,” Aiden replied, as he glanced over his shoulder at the half-blood Sentinel. “Unlike some…”

Solos snorted.

“Do you know where Marcus and the girls are?” I asked, eyeing the calm-for-now sky. “Did you see them?”

He nodded. “They’re on the other side of the road, down in a ditch. They’re okay.” Solos glanced over at Laadan. “She saved my rosy red butt, you know? A ball of fire was heading straight for my head, and she just lobbed it away with air.”

Laadan shook her head. “It was nothing.”

“It was something—”

A deep shout shattered the air, like a chorus of battle cries. A sound I’d never heard before. It wasn’t human; it wasn’t animal, but a twisted and revolting mixture of both. Suddenly it became all too obvious what was coming.

Hephaestus’ automatons.

It didn’t make sense. They were supposed to be protecting the Covenants. Had they deemed us a threat? Well, obviously, since they were trying to turn us into crispy critters. But those people in the cars… No way would they attack first and ask questions later. It defeated the whole purpose of having them here and moving Council members to the University unless…

I looked at Aiden. “The god… is it Hephaestus?”

Aiden opened his mouth, but the ground trembled under the weight of the approaching storm. Over the rise of the hill, no more than a few yards away, tall and imposing shadows marched out from behind the stand of trees. When they stepped under the slice of moonlight, I sucked in a shrill breath.

Holy daimon butt…

Their thick-as-tree-trunk thighs and large hoofs were made of titanium. Dark, matted hair covered their broad chests and muscular arms. Each head was that of a bull—two horns and a long flat snout that sloped into a mouth full of strong teeth and jaws.

“Dear gods,” I heard Laadan whisper.

There were over a dozen of them forming an unbreakable line between us and the University, and I doubted they were acting as sentries like they were supposed to be.

One of the larger automatons opened its mouth and snorted loudly.

“I bet his breath stinks,” I muttered.

Deacon nodded. “No doubt.”

Then it opened its mouth once more and a stream of fire shot forth. A ball formed, heading straight for the ditch on the other side of the road. The girls scattered over the hill.

The first gunshot came from Solos, directed at the monstrosities. Then Marcus was on his feet and so was Aiden, their guns blazing. Titanium bullets ripped through the air, smacking into the automatons but doing little to stop them.

Fire streamed toward our group and we broke apart. My hand was on the trigger, systemically squeezing at anything that looked like a whacked-out version of a minotaur. And they returned fire with… uh, fire.

Flames spread across the ground and I darted around the blaze. The automatons raced toward us, spitting fire, then fighting.

The first one reached Marcus, hitting him with the broadside of its beefy arm. Marcus flew back several feet, landing in a groaning heap. Another was before me and I dipped under its flying arm. Springing up, I leveled the gun at the back of the automaton’s head and let loose. Silvery-colored blood and gore splattered the low bushes as the automaton dropped and then turned to dust.

Well, that was one way to kill them. Sort of like zombies…

I swung around, realizing the daggers were absolutely useless and the Glocks were only helpful if we were able to sneak up behind one. Heart pounding, I hit the ground as another fireball shot straight at me. Crap. This was bad—beyond bad. This was a nightmare come to life. Horrified to the core, I froze for an instant on the dry, burnt ground. Tiny stones prodded my stomach and thighs. Oddly, I felt every one as if it were the prick of a hot knife.

Everything slowed down and the air halted in my lungs.

Marcus was back on his feet and he fought back-to-back with Lea, darting forward with their sickles blades, lobbing off an automaton’s arms. But the thing kept coming at them. Solos was trying to keep Laadan out of the line of fire. Soot covered Aiden’s flushed cheeks as he delivered a blast of fire at the creatures. Deacon actually had a gun in his hand as he stayed near Luke. Olivia was cornered in some trees.

In a rush, I recalled the premonition I’d had earlier. They were going to die, all of them. Like those well-done bodies in the cars, they would be char-broiled and that would be the end of them.

Something snapped inside me—something primitive and absolute. Power rushed through me and my skin tingled with the appearance of the marks. The shadowy battlefield was suddenly tinted with shades of amber. I welcomed the almost-foreign surge of energy, even though it was like poison in my veins. My brain clicked off and I was no longer Alex.

I was the Apollyon. I was the beginning and the end.

Loose strands of hair began to rise above my head, and I’d swear that for a moment time really did stop as I rose to my feet. The sickle blade and dagger fell from my fingers, and then I curled my hands into fists.

Oh, it was on like Donkey Kong.

I flew over the barren land toward Olivia as she tried to fend the thing off. I dipped under the automaton, springing up between it and Olivia, slamming my foot into its hairy stomach. He went down on one knee, rattling the nearby trees.

Absolute power—unforgiving and hard, pure as it was deadly—coursed over my skin. I reared back, summoning the fifth and final element. Intense blue light erupted from my palm.