Jennifer Armentrout - Apollyon

Marcus glanced down at me, a single brow arched. “It really could be.”

I pulled my hands out of my pockets. “Why didn’t Diana come?”

My uncle shot me a look and I grinned.

“Anyway, I hope it’s someone I know.” I started to shove my hands back into my pockets, but Aiden grabbed my wrist.

He frowned. “What is your deal?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re acting like a little spaz right now.”

I pulled my hand free. “I don’t know. I’m just hyper.”

“Oh, great,” Marcus muttered.

Shooting him a look, I tried to keep my jittery movements to a minimum. It wasn’t hyperactivity. More like nervousness, but I didn’t have any reason to be nervous. Well, besides the obvious, but this was different. The marks of the Apollyon were bleeding though my skin, moving sluggishly into glyphs.

The stairs weren’t as killer this time around. As always, two Guards were posted at the end of the hall, outside the Dean’s doors. They stepped aside as they opened the door and in we went. Curiosity had begun to outweigh the edginess somewhere on the stairs.

My gaze drifted over the room, finding Dean Elders first, and then to the far side of the room, to the oval-shaped window and the figure who stood in the light, his back to us.

Aiden and I hung back as Marcus strode to the desk. I wasn’t sure if Dean Elders really wanted us here.

“Dean Andros,” Dean Elders said, bowing slightly. “Thank you for joining us. Our newest arrival was most pleased to hear that some of his colleagues from the Deity Island Covenant had reached our campus.”

The man by the window turned slowly, and I recognized the thinning dark hair, olive skin tone, and near obsidian-colored eyes. My mouth dropped all the way to the floor.

“You have got to be freaking kidding me,” I said.

Instructor Romvi smiled tightly. “I am happy to see you too, Miss Andros.”

Well, I guess I knew my suspicious about some Order members escaping Seth and the Sentinels. One of them was now standing in front of me.

Aiden and Marcus both moved toward me, withdrawing daggers. The poor Dean of the University looked like he was about to have a coronary.

“Guards!” he yelled, moving behind his desk as if that could somehow protect him in case the poo was about to hit the fan.

The doors behind us flew open and the two stepped in, eyes darting around the room. Dominic held his dagger out too. “What the hell is going on?”

All of this wasn’t necessary. I was no longer the student in class. I was the Apollyon and fully charged. Let Romvi try something. I’d seriously look forward to throwing his monkey ass out the window.

“He is a member of the Order of Thanatos, which tried to kill Alex.” Fury rolled off Aiden, and I expected something to catch fire. “He is not what we’d consider a friendly acquaintance.”

Instructor Romvi clasped his hands in front of him. “As I remember, I was not the one who carried out the deed, which was successful, might I add.”

Oh, that was the wrong thing to say.

Aiden’s stance said he was about to break all kinds of bad. “That is correct, but you are a member of the Order and you—”

“Have the ability to kill the Apollyon?” interrupted Romvi. “Yes. I do. But I am many things. Stupid is not one of them. It appears Miss Andros has many gods on her side, and the Order’s only real mission is to serve the gods.”

“And that meant killing me?” I said, folding my arms.

His eyes met mine. “It did at the time.”

“And not anymore? We’re supposed to believe that?”

Romvi cocked his head to the side. “We are on the same side, Miss Andros.”

That nervous, too-much-caffeine feeling was back, tying my stomach up in knots. The runes were really going crazy now. “And what side is that, Romvi?”

“The only side there is to stand on,” he replied. “In war, there is only one side to truly stand on, and that is on the side that wins. And make no mistake, Miss Andros, we are at war.”

“You never seemed like the philosophical type,” Aiden said.

Romvi’s smile didn’t slip. “I’m sure I didn’t seem like much to you, St. Delphi.”

Aiden replied, but I wasn’t listening. I was getting a weird feeling again, the one I had had while standing in the War Room in Hade’s palace. That odd, nagging feeling, like there was something I should remember, that I should see. It was much stronger now.

“In times like these, we must let go of mutual dislike.” Romvi still hadn’t moved closer, but I felt… choked by his presence. “We must work together.”

“We are always at war,” I murmured, feeling very, very odd.

Romvi arched a cool brow. “You remember my teachings. That pleases me.”

I thought of the strangest thing then. When Romvi and I had sparred once, what had he told me? I should cut my hair. Something to do with vanity, but I recalled that War Room all too easily and what Persephone had said.

He likes to cut the hair of those he’s conquered and then strings them up for all to see .

I slowly unfolded my arms. My heart sped up. Romvi was watching me curiously, as if he was waiting for something. Memories of what Persephone had said pieced themselves together rapidly. To him, everything is about war and its spoils… What had she said about him? Without war, there was nothing.

“One should never turn their back on war,” I said, moving my hand behind me. “I also remember you saying that.”

And I also remember Persephone saying that about…

Romvi’s gaze dropped. “No. One should never turn his back on war. I believe that is why we are where we are today. The fools have turned their back on it, even though war always exists.”

Suddenly, the weird, edgy feeling and the marks made sense. It wasn’t nervousness or hyperactivity. No, not at all. And the automatons. There was one other god who could wield control over them—they were creatures created tofight . There were the mortal armies that were backing Lucian. That made sense now.

Son of a daimon donkey.

Moving lightning quick, I pulled the Covenant dagger from my back pocket. With speed and perfect precision, I threw the blade across the room.

The pointy end embedded deep into Romvi’s chest before he could take his next breath.

“What the hell?” Marcus exploded, whirling on me. “What is wrong—?”

Aiden turned wide eyes on me. “Alex…? Holy crap…”

The Dean of the University started toward Romvi, but drew up short. And Marcus and Aiden quieted down, because Romvi was still standing.

And he was laughing.

Marcus took a step back. “What the…?”

The Guards and Dominic exchanged looks, and then moved toward the Dean, surrounding him and edging him toward the door.

Romvi’s laughter faded. “I was beginning to think you weren’t that clever, Miss Andros.”

Then a blue shimmery cast surrounded Romvi’s body, swirling around him until we couldn’t see the man behind the eerie, god-like glow. Then it receded, revealing what stood behind it.

Ares was impressive.

Well over seven feet tall, he neared Godzilla-size with his height and bulk. He had more muscles than a pro wrestler, like Apollo on steroids.

He wore leather pants and a tunic that was punctured by the Covenant dagger still in his chest. Snakelike bands covered his biceps, but as he lifted an arm, I realized they weren’t bands at all.

They were bronze snakes, pulsing and slithering around his arms.

“Holy crap,” I whispered.

Reaching up, Ares wrapped a meaty hand around the handle of the hilt and pulled the dagger free. It turned to dust in his hands. “That wasn’t very nice, Miss Andros. The gods and the Council fear the First, but who’s the one lobbing daggers at a god?”