Sentinel

I wanted to believe him, but I wanted Aiden and I wanted life, and paradise simply could not provide those two things.

CHAPTER 27

I wasn’t big on the Covenant garden when I was alive, but I kept finding myself in this one now. There was something calming and peaceful among the roses and peonies. I kept coming back to the old stone bench, especially in the mornings. Maybe I thought Grandma Piperi would magically appear and give me another messed-up prophecy for old time’s sake. That would be fun.

Or not.

Making my way down the marble pathway, my gaze skipped over the intricate designs in the sidewalk. Somehow I hadn’t noticed this before, but the carvings were the marks of the Apollyon. Interesting.

I rounded the thick nightshade bush and lifted my gaze. I drew up short, my eyes widening.

The bench wasn’t empty today.

Apollo sat there, hands clasped between his knees. “It’s about time,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for about an hour.”

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. “I…I slept in.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I hear you’ve been sleeping a lot.”

I snapped out of it. “Where have you been?”

“I’ve been busy.” He stood, towering over me. “I came as soon as I could.”

“As soon as you could?” I repeated dumbly. “It’s been more than a week!”

Apollo folded his massive arms. “Time moves differently here, Alexandria. An hour or two here is a second in the mortal realm. It hasn’t been that long.”

“Since I died?” I crossed my arms, mimicking his stance. “I thought you were supposed to take care of me.”

“I did.”

My eyes narrowed. “I’m dead. I’m not quite sure how that’s taking care of me.”

Apollo unfolded his arms and strolled up to me. “You need to get over that tiny fact.” Then he patted me on the head. Actually patted me on the freaking head. “Come on. We have something we need to do.”

I turned, half-tempted to spin-kick him in the head, and while I was sure I could break out some of the moves, I didn’t have any leftover, supercool Apollyon powers. Spin-kicking him probably wouldn’t end well.

Apollo glanced over his shoulder, exasperated. “Are you coming? Time is ticking.”

“Oh, I think I have, like, an eternity worth of time.” I wanted to stay where I was, because I was feeling pretty damn childish, but I groaned and then followed him. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

I made a face at him as I struggled to keep up with his long-legged gait. Pissed as I was at him, I remained sullenly quiet as we walked. We made it to the edge of the garden before I couldn’t hold back my questions.

“How is everyone?”

He looked at me sideways. “How do you think?”

My palms tingled, and anger heated my cheeks. “A part of me knew that this would be the outcome, but I hoped it would be different. I hoped because of what you said and what I was being asked to do. You let me down, Apollo. So the least you could do is give me a straight answer.”

His blue eyes deepened, turning the color of the sky before a storm. I knew I’d struck a chord, but I didn’t care. What could he do? Kill me? A quiet voice whispered in the back of my head that he could drop my unhappy ass in Tartarus, but I doubted he’d ever do that, no matter how much I ticked him off.

Apollo sighed. “They’re not happy. Your uncle holed himself up in a room and drank himself into a stupor. Your friends? Inconsolable. I think you know how Seth feels. Maybe you don’t—not to the full extent, anyway. And Aiden?” He paused, and the back of my eyes burned. “I have never seen a man break the way he did. And he broke. Set half the damn Covenant on fire. If his brother hadn’t showed up when he had, I’m positive that he would’ve stayed in the burning building. Is that what you wanted to know? Did it make you feel better, Alexandria?”

“No,” I whispered, my chest aching as if someone had split me wide open. Tears welled up and spilled down my cheeks. I wiped at them hastily. “That didn’t make me feel better at all.”

“I didn’t think it would, but you insisted.” He headed around the front of the cottage—the cottage I wasn’t sure I could even look at now. “People loved you—still love you. Mourning is never easy. But they will heal, and they will continue to live.”

And I wanted that—I wanted them to move on. Even as badly as I wanted to see them again, I didn’t want them here. They deserved to live.

“The Elixir is no more,” Apollo said. “I thought you’d like to know that.”

I looked up at Apollo as we crossed the beach, the sand warm under my bare feet. Since I’d died, I’d boycotted shoes. “Thank you.”

“Some of the servants will have lasting effects from being on the Elixir for so long, but many are functioning well. Many are presented with options they’ve never had before.” He stopped, several feet from the edge of the lapping waves. “After Ares’ defeat, an emergency Council meeting was called. Solos was given a spot on the Council.”

My mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? A half-blood on the Council? Oh my gods, that’s…wow, that’s awesome. How did it happen?”

A small grin appeared on his lips. “Only a few days have passed, but a lot has happened. Aiden took his spot on the Council as well.”

I sucked in a shallow breath as pride swelled through me. “He did? His parents…”

“He did. With his vote, among others, they officially revoked the Breed Order and gave those rights I promised you back to the halfs.”

Oh, my gods galore, I felt like I needed to sit down. This was major.

“He also gave up his seat afterward. He gave his seat to Solos.”

My eyes widened. “He did what? I mean, that’s great about Solos, but why would he do that?” Then fear poured into my chest like ice. “Oh gods, he’s going to be okay, right? He’s not going to do anything stupid—”

“He’s not going to do anything stupid. He will be okay,” Apollo responded. “Change is coming for our society, Alexandria. It will take some time, but it will happen. Just like you will come to accept your new path.”

Thrown off by that last statement, I took a step back, away from Apollo. “My new path?”

“Yes, it’s time that you start to move on.”

I gaped at him. “I just died!”

“And apparently enough time has passed for you to get ticked off about me not coming to visit you immediately.” Apollo smiled widely at my death glare. “Remember what you did with Caleb to honor your mother and those who died last summer?”

“What?” The change of subject left me spinning.

“You used spirit boats as a way of moving on, didn’t you?”

I frowned. “Were you peeping on me then, Apollo?”

He ignored that. “I think you need to do the same thing for yourself.”

“What the what?” I stared at him, stunned into stupidity. “You want me to set a spirit boat into the ocean that’s meant for me?”

Apollo nodded once more. “I think it’s the perfect idea. It will be symbolic and hopefully a new start for yourself.”

Several seconds passed while I waited for him to yell “just kidding” and slap me on the shoulder, but he didn’t. “You’re serious.”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Actually, he looked like he wanted to hit me. “But that is so…weird.”

“It is not weird.” His gaze dropped over me. “But you should be dressed nicer than this, like you were when