“Where else can we look, Aiden?” Apollo faced me, eyes wide. “I have turned Olympus inside out looking for a way to break their bond. The only thing is the Elixir and—”
“No.” I held my ground.
Apollo looked around the room for help. Solos stepped back, raising his hands. “Don’t look at me—I’d like to keep my face in one piece, thank you.”
I smirked.
Clearly struggling for patience, Apollo paced the den. “This is only a temporary solution, Aiden.”
“That solution is unacceptable!” I yelled so loudly that Deacon jumped. He’d been on the receiving end of my anger time and time again, but the surprise flickering across his face told me he’d never quite seen me like this before. How I felt for Alex, if there was any doubt held by those in the room, was now painfully visible. “You’re asking us to agree to strip away everything that she is! To turn her into a mindless zombie who has no control—” I broke off, sucking in a shallow breath. It was Alex’s greatest fear. The thing that had kept her up at night, that had haunted her steps like a vengeful ghost. “She would have no control.”
“She has no control now,” insisted a soft feminine voice.
I spun around. Lea stood in the doorway, as tall and thin as her older half-sister had been. Her cinnamon-colored hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. Dark shadows spread under her eyes and her cheeks were gaunt.
“You don’t understand,” I said.
She inched into the room, glancing at Apollo and then the rest of us. “I haven’t seen her, but I’ve heard her. We’ve all heard her. And the gods know that she and I have never been friends, but Alex—she never would’ve said the things I’ve heard her yelling. That isn’t her.”
Pressing my lips together, I turned away, shaking my head. Lea had a point. What was down in the basement wasn’t really Alex—not the girl I loved with every breath I took. And she wasn’t in control of herself.
But the Elixir—that was different.
Lea sat beside Deacon, folding her small hands in her lap. “The idea of using the Elixir screams wrong on every level, but what choice do we have? We can’t keep her down there.”
“She’s not eating,” murmured Marcus. He rubbed his brow, face strained. “I’m not sure she’s even really sleeping or if… if she’s communicating with Seth, and that’s what’s keeping her up.”
I stared at him. “Marcus, you know how terrified she was of being put on the Elixir.”
Unable to hold my stare, he looked away. “I know, Aiden. Dammit, I know, but something’s got to give. As much as I hate the idea of doing this to her, it will give us more time.”
Refusing to believe that this was our last option, I searched frantically for another way and grasped at brittle, painful straws. “What about the Fates? Can you go to them and see what the outcome is? If she will break the connection herself? Or if there is some way for us to do so?”
Apollo shook his head. “The Fates are no fans of mine, and even if they were and if they knew, they wouldn’t tell me or you. You know how they work, Aiden. You—”
“You know what this will do to her!” I roared, flushing hot with fury.
“I know what this will do to you,” he said quietly. “And I know the idea of doing this is killing you—”
“Stop—just stop,” I seethed, backing up. “I will not let any of you do this to her. So help me…”
The threat hung in the air like thick smoke that choked the occupants of the room. Marcus just looked sad, almost beaten down by it all. Solos was pale, probably because he thought Apollo was seconds away from knocking me through the wall. Lea and Luke stared at the floor, faces drawn. Did the two younger halfs feel the sharp bite of guilt for agreeing that Alex needed the Elixir, knowing what it would do, what it would mean?
They were too young for this—for this shit.
So was Alex.
So was I.
Hell.
The only person in the room who now watched me was my brother. A faint, sad smile appeared on his face. “Alex would kick our asses for considering something like this, but. I think she would understand, Aiden. I think she would understand why.”
Then Marcus stepped forward, placing his hand on my shoulder. I fought the urge to shake it off. And to hit him—to hit something. But he was suffering, too. “There was another thing that Alex feared.” His voice was so low I doubted anyone besides Apollo could hear him. “And you know what that was.”
I did. Gods, did I ever know.
Alex feared losing herself to the First—to Seth. And I’d promised her, sworn that it would never happen. And it had. I’d failed her. The sting of that festered and rotted inside me, but agreeing to the Elixir was no better. It would be just another way I’d failed her.
Stepping away from Marcus, I dragged my fingers through my hair. No one really talked for a few moments. The silence was as bad as my threat. Finally, everyone started talking, tossing around more ideas. “Take out Seth” topped their list, but it wasn’t possible. “Move Alex further away”—maybe that would lessen the connection, give her breathing room, give us time to search for more runes and spells and prayers.
The best efforts just added to the hopelessness of the situation.
Apollo finally approached me. “We need to talk in private.”
I wanted him to just leave, but I nodded, and we slipped out and headed toward the empty kitchen. My steps were quick and harsh. “There is no way you’ll be able to convince me that putting Alex on a souped-up version of the Elixir is the right thing to do.”
He closed the door with the wave of his hand before speaking. “I know you feel strongly for her.”
I met his stare. “I love her. You don’t get that.”
“No. I do. You forget that I was with you when you hunted down Eric. I saw what no one else did—how affected you were by what had happened to Alex. And I know what you did to that daimon.”
My jaw clenched and I looked away. “He deserved it.”
“I’m not contesting that.”
What I had done to Eric wasn’t something I was particularly proud of. “Torture” seemed too light of a word for what I’d done. I swallowed hard. “What are you getting at, Apollo?”
He tilted his head to the side. “The kind of love you hold for Alex is admirable, but I’ve seen this love before. It has brought down entire civilizations. Need I remind you of Troy?”
“Is this a history lesson?”
His eyes flashed. “Okay. We won’t talk about the glaring elephant in the room, Aiden.”
“Good.”
“I haven’t been entirely forthcoming with information,” he said after a few moments.
I laughed darkly. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? You’ve been a fountain of honesty.”
Apollo ignored that. “Since Zeus created the Apollyon thousands of years ago, the First has always been of my lineage.”
“What?” I wasn’t following him. “Artemis said that Alex was of your lineage.”
“She is.” He moved to the rack of wine and popped a cork. “But throughout history, the Apollyon always has been an offspring of mine. To this day, I have no knowledge of who Solaris was descended from and I don’t know who Seth hails from. This time—only this time—has been different.” Pausing, he poured himself a glass. “Seth is the First, but he is not one of mine. Somehow, another god is responsible for him. And I’d bet my laurel crown that this same god was responsible for Solaris.”
He offered me a drink and I waved him off. “Are you saying Alex was meant to be the First and Seth was the fluke?”