Sentinel

looked like he was going to hurl up everything he’d drunk the night before. That explained the way my stomach was churning. Bastard.

Which was confirmed a second later when Seth said, “I think I’m going to vomit.”

Aiden cast him an amused look. “Lightweight.”

“Shut up,” Seth moaned, clutching his stomach.

The air in front of us shimmered, and then Apollo appeared in front of us, startling me enough that I took a step back. My eyes narrowed on him. Couldn’t any of the gods just walk somewhere?

Okay. If I could pop in and out and avoid stairs, I’d do it, too.

And I’d probably get the same amount of sick pleasure Apollo got out of doing it.

Hades stepped forward, eyeing Perses before he turned to Apollo. “I hope you’re right and this idea works.” He tossed a sneer at the Titan, who scoffed loudly. “The son of a bitch doesn’t deserve a chance, and you know it.”

The sun seemed to soak through Apollo’s skin as he leveled a stare on the other god. “As I recall, you had no other suggestions.”

Hades smirked. “I did. Shut down the Underworld and let you guys battle it out.” He shrugged. “You didn’t like that idea.” With that, the god disappeared.

“I have never been a fan of Hades. Over-pompous asshole,” Apollo muttered.

I arched a brow. That was something coming from him.

The Titan’s lips curled up. “You’re still a glowing bundle of fun, Apollo.”

Apollo narrowed a gaze on Perses. “Do not start with me. You know what has to be done. And I promise you, if you cause us any problems, you’ll end up on Prometheus’ rock, except it won’t be an eagle pecking away at you.”

“What would it be, then?” Curiosity marked Seth’s tone.

Apollo’s smile was chilling. “I’ll do it. Personally. Strip by strip with a dull blade dipped in cobra venom. And then, when I’m done at the end of the day, I will sew you back together to just start all over the following day.”

“Wow,” I murmured. “Inventive.”

Perses didn’t look impressed. “I’ve heard worse threats.”

My eyes widened. Beside me, Aiden hid his smile while scrubbing at his chin with his palm. Seth had a far- off look on his face, as if picturing what Apollo had said. Didn’t think it was possible, but he turned even more pasty.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Seth waved one hand. “Yeah, perfect.”

“So where is the army I’m to train?” Impatience filled Perses’ tone. “All I see are buildings and a few children of demigods peeking around corners. I hope they aren’t your warriors.”

I snorted. “No, they’re not. They’re students. Our army is trained. They’re—”

“Trained as Guards and hunters, right?” Perses chuckled mockingly, and I sort of wanted to see Apollo break out the dull blade. “They may be skilled when comes to hunting daimons, but are they skilled enough to fight?”

“They won’t be fighting Ares,” Aiden explained, earning an interested look from the Titan. “Ares is heavily guarded by mortal soldiers, daimons, and automatons.”

Perses’ brows knitted. “Your army should be able to defend themselves against two of them. The automatons would be a problem, but they’ll just have to be quicker. I do not see what you need me for.”

“As Sentinel and Guards, we’ve never tried to work together in groups larger than three or four. We were never trained on war tactics. And I need you,” I said, hating myself for having to say that. “I need you to prepare me for facing Ares. You have already seen how that went the first time.”

Seth’s eyes tightened. “You also have to prepare me to fight Ares.”

The likelihood of me letting Seth near Ares was right up there with me actually cooking myself a dinner that was edible. I opened my mouth, but Aiden jumped in.

“And I need to be trained on how to fight him as well.”

“Guys, the last time I checked, I was becoming the God Killer, which would make me pretty badass as it is. And with Perses’ training, I’m going to also be kickass.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t need back-up,” Seth retorted.

I wished he’d just go puke somewhere. I swallowed hard against the sick feeling leaking through the bond.

“And you’re not facing Ares alone,” Aiden added.

And I wished Aiden would go hold his hair for him.

Apollo rolled his eyes. “Children, really, Alexandria is a big girl and doesn’t need two boys rushing to defend her.”

I smiled broadly. “Exactly.”

Neither Aiden or Seth looked like they agreed, and the look Aiden sent me promised that we’d talk about this later. Oh, we would. He wouldn’t like the outcome. There was no way in holy Hades Aiden was getting within a city block of Ares.

Perses exhaled roughly. “I can spend the mornings training your army and the afternoons working with one or three of you. I really don’t care how many, but I can tell you this. Ares would’ve sensed my presence the moment I stepped into the mortal realm. He knows I’m here. He will be unnerved by it, but the longer we take, the more time he will have to rebuild his confidence or bring in more reinforcements. We attack immediately, within the week, or we lose our advantage. Because if you have spies, so does he.”

I glanced at Apollo. Perses had a point. We couldn’t string this out. We would need to move fast, but would we be ready? Would I be ready?

Apollo’s jaw tensed, and then he nodded curtly. “A week from now, on Monday, we move on the Catskills. We take on Ares.”

* * *

Training with Perses was like running into a brick wall, getting back up, and face-planting into it again just for the fun of it.

We’d started immediately with our training. Of course, Aiden and Seth took part. It was a waste of breath to try to convince them otherwise.

Just like when Seth and I used to train, we drew an audience of Sentinels, students, and staff. Word got out quickly that there was a Titan on campus, something that most people never thought they’d see. I couldn’t blame them for gawking. Among those crowded around the largest training room in the athletics building were my friends.

Which was great, because there was nothing like having friends and strangers around to watch you get your ass kicked.

And we were getting our asses kicked.

I’d hit the padded floor more times than I could count, taking turns with Seth and Aiden, who were doing no better than me.

It was Seth’s turn, and I eased myself down, biting my lip when my tailbone hit the mat. “I think I broke my butt,” I moaned.

Sitting beside me, Aiden reached over, rubbing his hand along my lower back. The touch ached at first, but the steady burn started to ease my muscles. “Yeah, that was a pretty nasty landing you took.”

It had started out so perfect. I’d gotten behind Perses, who, by the way, was weaponless, and had sprung up and spun out, about to land a beauteous spin kick when he whipped around and caught my leg, throwing me down like a rag doll.

My butt had broken my fall.

Seth was currently backed into a corner by Perses, dodging the Titan’s vicious strikes. In theory, we had a week to train before leaving for the Catskills. It was a twenty-three hour drive, and Marcus was currently rounding up a billion vehicles for the trip.

The army mostly needed standard tactical training, but us? We had to actually knock Perses down and gain the upper hand before our training would be complete. Sounded easy until I realized that Perses was like Ares on