Deity (Covenant #3)(66)

“It’s Seth,” I whispered.

Aiden stiffened. His eyes turned a thundercloud gray. “It’s always about Seth.”

“But he hasn’t done anything,” I protested.

“Yet,” Apollo replied.

“Have you, I don’t know, foreseen him doing something?”

“No.”

“Then this is all based on crazy Grandma Piperi?” I tucked my hair back. “And that’s all?”

Marcus’ eyes narrowed. “It does sound extreme.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. “You cannot tell me that Seth is not primed for disaster. He already has an ego of a god, and trust me, I would know. The kind of power that a God Killer can harness is astronomical and unstable. He is already feeling the effects of it.”

“What do you mean?” Aiden asked.

“Alex?” Apollo said softly.

I shook my head. There were moments when I questioned Seth’s sanity and even his intentions. Then there was Jackson. I couldn’t prove that it had been him, but… I shook my head. “No. He would never do something so stupid.”

“It is sweet.” In a second, Apollo was in front of me and at eye level. “That you would defend him even though I know you do not trust him entirely. Maybe at one point you did, but not anymore.”

I opened my mouth, but closed it. Lowering my gaze to my palms, I bit my lip. Once again, something poked at my memory. I swallowed.

“I must leave now,” Apollo said quietly.

I looked up, meeting his gaze. Apollo creeped me out and made me really question just how cool I was, but I sort of liked him. “Will you be back?”

“Yes, but I cannot be Leon anymore. My cover is… blown, and I must answer for not informing Zeus of what I have been doing.”

“I will probably be grounded.” He laughed at his own joke. I just stared at him. “I am Apollo, Alexandria. Zeus can kiss it.”

Marcus once again looked like he wanted to crawl under the bed.

“I will check in when I can.” He turned to Marcus. “I will also see if I can track Telly down. Oh, and see if you can have Solos Manolis transfer up here from Nashville. He is a half-blood you can trust.”

“I’ve heard of him,” Aiden spoke up. “He’s quite… outspoken.”

Apollo smiled and then, without so much as another word, disappeared from the room.

“Well, he sure knows how to make an exit.” Aiden stood, shaking his head.

Marcus and Aiden made plans to contact this Solos, but I was only half-listening. Curling on my side, I thought about what Apollo had said about Seth. Part of me flat-out refused to believe that Seth could be dangerous, but when I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t so sure about that. There were moments he’d proven that I really didn’t know what was going on in his head or what to expect from him. I couldn’t even figure out why he was so trusting of Lucian—a man who was as plastic as they came.

I hadn’t even realized Marcus had left until Aiden sat and placed his hand on my cheek. I wondered if he realized how much he’d been touching me lately. It was almost like an unconscious move on his part. Maybe he did it to remind himself that I was alive…

Suddenly, the fog cleared around my memories. I sat up so quickly that I gasped.

“Alex? Are you okay?” Aiden’s eyes were wide. “Alex?”

It took me several seconds to say it. “I remember… I remember what happened when I died.”

The look on his face said he hadn’t expected me to say that. His hand slid around the nape of my neck. “What do you mean?”

Tears clogged my throat. “I was in the Underworld, Aiden. There were all these people there, waiting to pass over and guards on horses. I even saw Charon and his boat—and his boat is much, much bigger and nicer. There was this girl named Kari who’d been killed by daimons while shopping for shoes and…”

“And what?” he asked, gently wiping away a tear.

“She said she was an oracle. That she knew we’d meet but not like this. And I saw Caleb. I got to talk to him, Aiden. Gods, he looked so… so happy. And he plays Wii with Persephone.” I laughed and wiped at my face. “I know it sounds crazy, but I saw him. And he said my mom was there and that she was happy. He told me that a big blond god was arguing with Hades over my soul. He must’ve meant Apollo. It was real, Aiden. I swear.”

“I believe you, Alex.” He cradled me against his chest. “Tell me what happened. Everything.”

I pressed my cheek against his shoulder, squeezing my eyes shut. I told him everything that Caleb had told me, including what he’d said about Seth. When I asked Aiden to get Olivia’s number so I could pass on his message, he shook his head, expression pained.

“I know you want to tell her,” he said, “and you will, but right now, we don’t want a lot of people knowing what happened. We don’t know who we can trust.”

In other words, it wasn’t Olivia we needed to be worried about, but we couldn’t run the risk of things being repeated. I hated the idea of not telling her right now, because it was important, but how could I tell her without giving away what happened? I couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, Alex.” His hand smoothed along my back. “But it has to wait.”