Jennifer Armentrout: Apollyon

After lunch was served the following day, I roamed my cell alone. Something was going on upstairs—doors opening and slamming shut, pounding feet, and happy shouts.

Curious, I went to the bars and strained to hear more. The conversation was too muffled to make heads or tails of who it was, but someone had arrived. And it wasn’t a god. I would know it if it were. Their essence was strong, something I could feel inside me.

Touching the bars, I measured the response. The blue shimmer was fading. Take that, Seth. Did that mean the mark above would also fade without a booster? Good gods, I hoped so. I searched for the cord, wanting to tell him about the new development. Seth was there but not talkative. He was with Lucian, at least that much I got. Whatever was being discussed was muted to me.

Immediate dislike rose in response to Lucian’s presence. I’d obviously have to get over it, but it was going to be difficult. I would never be a fan of my stepfather.

Unhooking from the connection, I wondered what Aiden was doing. He usually spent a great part of his day sitting in that folding chair, brooding at me.

You’ve given me the hope I need .

Hope for what? A “happily ever after” for us?

I found myself in the tiny white bathroom, staring into the sucky plastic mirror above the sink. The thing was practically cemented into the wall, lightweight plastic so I couldn’t fashion it into some kind of weapon.

Leaning against the sink, I all but plastered my face against the mirror. My reflection was wavy, distorted by the cheap quality, but it was my eyes I was staring at.

They were amber, just like all the other Apollyons after they’d Awakened. It was kind of strange seeing my eyes like that, but it also felt right. Like I’d come into something I was destined to become. Which, duh, I had.

I cocked my head to the side. What would my Seth think when he finally saw me—really saw me—all Apollyoned-out? He would be pleased, so unlike Aiden, who hated my eyes…

A sudden sharp feeling speared my chest. Holy crap… I was lightheaded as I gripped the sink. This wasn’t a physical pain, more like the kind when the world drops out from underneath my feet. Or when there’s really, sucktastic bad news.

It was the sensation of a heart being annihilated with no possibility of repair.

The breath I sucked in was shrill. The feeling didn’t make sense. My heart wasn’t broken. It was whole and it belonged to my Seth. And he loved me in return. He’d never told me that he did, but he had to. We were destined for each other, and once together, we would be perfect. We would rule over both Olympus and the mortal world.

“We will be gods,” I whispered.

“Oh, Alex, even I’m amazed by how inflated your ego has become. Gods, if I was fully corporeal, I’d so kick your ass right now.”

I whirled around, fully expecting to find Caleb standing in the bathroom, because that was his voice. But no one was there. Heart racing, I peeked into the cell. Empty.

“Caleb?”

No response.

I inched into the cell, willing Caleb to appear if he was really here. Silence stretched out, and just when I was about to admit that I might’ve lost my damn mind, warmth passed through me.

Did Caleb just… walk through me?

“Uh…”

There was a light chuckle from behind me. Whipping around, I just… I could only stare.

Caleb stood there, dark blond brows arched in such a painfully familiar way. He was wearing a tunic-style shirt and white, linen pants. It was Caleb, but… not.

I could totally see the bars through him. Freaky. “Caleb?”

He glanced down at himself. “Yeah, it’s me, in shade form for your viewing pleasure.”

“Are you really here, or have I lost my mind?”

A slow, easy grin pulled at pale lips. “I’m here. Well, as here as I can be.”

I drew in a breath, but it got stuck. “Can I touch you?” My legs were moving me forward in jerky motions. No graceful Apollyon here. “Can I hug you?”

His brows lowered. “No, Alex, you can’t. You’d go right through me.” He grinned. “Though you seemed to enjoy it the first time around.”

I laughed, stopping short of touching. “Gods, I want to hug you so badly.”

“I know.” His grin faded. “But we don’t have a lot of time.”

We never did. I rocked back on my heels, smiling. “You’re here to break me out, aren’t you?”

“Ah, no, I’m not here to break you out.”

My smile slipped off my face. “Why? I don’t understand. I need to get out of here. My Seth needs—”

“I’m here as a last-ditch effort, Alex.” He reached out as if to touch me, but stopped. “Apollo sent me.”

I folded my arms and scowled. “What does he have to do with this?”

“He hopes that I can reach you, Alex.”

“Do you know he hit me with a god bolt?”

Caleb winced. “Yeah, I heard. Everyone in the Underworld sort of heard, but Alex, you kind of had it coming.” When I opened my mouth, he silenced me. “Apollo would be here if he could.”

“And why can’t he?” I turned away, trying to push down my anger, which was like screwing a lid on a box—it wasn’t working. “He’s afraid of me, isn’t he? He should be. Apollo is totally on my shit list.”

“Do you hear yourself? A god afraid of you ?” He sounded dumbfounded. “Apollo’s not here because Aiden, the love of your life, banned him from here.”

I spun around, eyes narrowing. “He’s not the love of my life.”

Caleb shook his head. “He has always been yours, Alex. And you’ve always been his.”

My mouth puckered as if I had tasted something sour. “Is this why you came from the great beyond? To talk about my love life?”

“Well, the love of your life banned Apollo from entering this house because Aiden’s afraid Apollo will harm you.” Oh, yeah, Caleb got an eyeful of my shock. “And Apollo had one of his nymphs come down to the Underworld, pulled me right out from underneath Hades’ nose to help you. Both of them—Aiden and Apollo—are doing crazy things to save you.”

“But… I don’t need anyone to save me.”

“Exactly!” Caleb threw his arms up in the air. “That’s what I said!”

Okay, I wasn’t following this conversation. “Then why aren’t you helping me escape? You could go shade yourself right up to wherever the keys are. I’m sure Aiden has them.”

He rolled his eyes and they disappeared for an instant. Yikes. “You can save yourself. Only you, and you need to get a-crackin’ on it.”

My lips pressed together. Here Caleb was, my best friend—my dead best friend, but whatever—I hadn’t seen in what felt like forever, and we were arguing. I didn’t want to argue with him.

“What are you doing, Alex? This isn’t you. None of this is what you ever wanted.”

I took a deep breath. “It’s what I want now.”

Caleb growled low in his throat. He looked like he wanted to strangle me. “What you’re doing is going to get you and Seth killed. Yeah, that’s right—you aren’t invincible. Neither of you are! And there’s a war brewing in Olympus and it’s going to rain all kinds of holy hell down on Earth. Do you want to be responsible for that?”

Squeezing my hands into fists, I glared up at him. “We want to change things, Caleb! You of all people have to understand that! Together, Seth and I can free the servants—my father! We can overthrow the Council. We can—”

He barked a mad sort of laugh. One that usually meant he was close to pushing me into a corner. “Do you really think that’s what’s going to happen once you succeed in wiping out all the Councils? That Lucian is going to free the halfs and everyone is going to love one another?”