Sentinel

“Crap,” I muttered. “He bounced.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that now.” Seth pressed a hand against his ribs. A grimace shot across his face. “He’s their problem.”

Not true. “He’s our—”

The air thickened around us, filling with static.

“It’s not going to be their first problem,” I said, letting out a ragged breath as my heart jumped in my chest.

In front of the massive hole in the wall, shimmery forms appeared like rays of sunshine, one after another after another. I counted the glowing figures once, then twice. “Oh, crap.”

Seth wrapped an arm around my waist. “I’m going to admit this. My eyes are kind of blurry, but there are eleven shiny things surrounding us, right?”

I practically plastered myself to him, nodding. There were eleven shiny things forming a wide circle around us. The Olympian Twelve—er, Eleven. Would’ve been twelve if Ares hadn’t been obliterated. My breath caught.

Two floated forward, becoming more solid. Lifting my arm, I shielded my eyes. Their light was so bright, so beautiful. For a moment, all I could do was be awe-struck by what I was seeing.

“You should have waited before you hit me. I think you broke me,” whispered Seth.

“Uh, you’ll be okay,” I said, and Seth’s muscles tensed around me.

“So, you think they’re here to congratulate us?”

I lowered my arm, watching as the lights took on human forms. A male and female stood before us, their features not so distinguishable yet, but I knew they weren’t Apollo or Artemis.

“I don’t think so,” I whispered.

“Maybe they’re mad because you’ve been sleeping with a pure,” Seth joked, but his voice was laced with unease.

I looked over my shoulder at him. “Really? That’s the reason? It couldn’t be that you took out an entire Council of pures?”

A wry smile formed on Seth’s lips. “You’re splitting hairs, Alex.”

“Gods, you’re so annoying.”

He stepped forward, blocking me from the two closest gods. Rolling my eyes, I moved so that we were shoulder to shoulder.

Seth looked down at me. “If I tell you to run, you run.”

“No.” I grabbed his hand and held on. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that they weren’t here for him. “We face this together.”

The shimmery light faded, revealing the gods around us, but I didn’t see past the one in front of us. A million years could’ve gone by and I never, ever thought I would lay eyes upon him.

Zeus was not as I imagined.

I’d always pictured this older guy with a potbelly and bushy, gray beard, but that was not what Zeus looked like. Not in the slightest.

Dressed in some kind of white, linen pants, his chest and stomach were bare. And ripped—ripped like you could cut your fingers on those abs. The curve of his strong jaw was also bare of hair. He was sublimely handsome, his lips wide and eyes tilted exotically. His features were sharp, breathtakingly angular.

I could see a bit of a Titan in him.

The only thing my imagination had gotten right was his hair. It was shockingly white.

“You did well,” he spoke, his voice as deep and commanding as Perses’. There was no anger in his tone. I knew in that moment, before Zeus even spoke again, that Apollo hadn’t come through. My knees suddenly felt weak, and if I hadn’t been holding Seth’s hand, I would’ve sunk to the floor. “You will be rewarded greatly.”

A shudder rocked through me, but Seth…he didn’t understand—he didn’t get what Zeus hadn’t tacked on at the end. “Well, that’s surprising,” he murmured.

My gaze darted to the gods, finding Apollo standing next to a somber Artemis. Apollo shook his head no, and my heart sank all the way. I took a jerky step back, my skin turning icy.

“Don’t,” Zeus said, his voice level and calm. “This is the only way.”

Seth’s grip on my hand tightened. “What’s the only way?”

Zeus ignored him. “You know this must be done. We cannot allow a God Killer to exist. The threat is too great, even greater than what Ares posed.”

In that moment, I briefly considered trying to take out Zeus, but it had drained everything in me and Seth to kill Ares. It wouldn’t work. Maybe I would lay some bruises on Zeus, but in the end, I couldn’t defeat another Olympian. All I had was Apollo in my corner. He could walk away from this, refuse Zeus’ bidding, because he was the only one who could kill me—besides a Titan, and our Titan had vanished.

But Apollo didn’t look like he was going to disobey his father.

Oh, my gods…

Another shiver rocked my body as it really seeped in. This was it. I wanted to run. I wanted to fight, but as I stared back at the gods, I saw that it would all be so very pointless. If I fought, Seth would get hurt in the process. Badly. And who’s to say that Zeus wouldn’t turn to finding Aiden and my father to make this easier? I couldn’t risk them. I couldn’t risk anyone else like I’d done with Caleb, Lea, Olivia, and so many more.

It…it was now my turn.

Seth’s head snapped back as if he’d been slapped. “No. You can’t do this. We helped you! She did everything you wanted her to do!” He dropped my hand, forming his into fists. “You can’t do this to her!”

Having not seen Seth this upset in a long time, I sucked in a sharp breath. My heart was trying to come out of my chest again. “Seth…”

“No!” He took a step toward Zeus, but I shot forward, grabbing his arm. His wide eyes met mine. “Alex, you can’t—”

“There’s nothing either of you can do,” Zeus said, taking a step back to stand next to Hera.

She inclined her head to the side, and several strands of russet-colored hair slipped from her elegant coif. “It is for the best of everyone.”

An angry flush flooded Seth’s cheeks. “Are you serious?”

“Seth!” I tugged on his arm.

“What?” he snapped, turning on me. He gripped my shoulders. “You can’t be okay with this. And you’re not giving up!”

Was I giving up? I glanced back at Apollo and read the sadness in his expression. “I’m not giving up, Seth, but they won’t allow the God Killer to live.”

Seth didn’t respond immediately, but when he did, he cursed harshly and blanched. “You knew! You knew that this would happen.”

I shook my head and whispered, “Could happen. I knew this could happen.”

“Could versus would? Are you shitting me? You knew this could happen, and you let me allow you to put yourself in this situation?” He shook me as more blood drained from his face. “How could you, Alex?”

Blinking back tears, I shook my head again. How could I say that he couldn’t have handled the power of the God Killer and not make him feel worse?

“This is sweet,” Hera said, stepping back so she joined the other Olympians. “He cares for her so deeply, and yet she loves another. Tragic.”

Really? My gaze slid to her, but then Apollo stepped forward, breaking ranks. Each step was slow, purposeful. A lump formed in my throat. There wasn’t enough time. I realized that then. The same crack I’d thrown in Ares’ face had now turned back on me.

Karma was a bitch and a half.

And so was Fate, because this was Fate, wasn’t it? Either way, I wanted to see Marcus one more time and share an awkward hug with him. I wanted to see my father once more, maybe have dinner with him. I wanted to watch Deacon and Luke laugh, and see Solos’ smile.

And, oh gods, I wanted to kiss Aiden, just once more.

But there was no time. This was happening. All those moments, from the second my mother had taken me