Seth fell in step beside me, folding his arms. “I’m sure he does, but this kind of warfare reminds him of his glory days.”
“He’s right.” Aiden hefted the bag of weapons onto his shoulder. “There’s no way two enemies would be stationed this close together in modern warfare, but this…” He waved his arm in the direction of the waiting Sentinels and Guards. “This is like trench warfare.”
In high school, before I’d returned to the Deity Island Covenant, I had read All Quiet on the Western Front. That was about all I knew about trench warfare, and that was enough for me to want to sneak into the Covenant and act like a nuclear missile.
I couldn’t bear to lose anyone else.
Perses strode ahead of us, tall and silent, and I watched him for a moment. He’d relished the skirmish that had cost Olivia her life. The Titan thrived on the bloodshed and death. I didn’t want to hate him, because it was what he was, but there was still no trace of remorse or sorrow for the lives lost.
Deacon stumbled past us, rubbing his red-rimmed eyes wearily. “I don’t want to see the inside of a car again for as long as I live.”
“I’ll remind you of that the next time you have to walk any real distance and start whining,” Luke replied, the words light but the look on his face grave.
He had been so close to Olivia, closer than me. An ache pierced my chest as I stepped through the narrow opening in the stone wall. The only thing I could console myself with was that I knew—I knew—she was with Caleb. She was with the boy she had loved so fiercely, had never stopped loving.
I was still holding onto that thought like it was a life jacket.
Solos jogged across the clearing, slowing down as he passed Perses. He cast the Titan a look before continuing toward us. He stopped in front of Luke, placing his hand on the half-blood’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and those two words carried so much weight.
Luke nodded and said something in a low voice before he walked past. Deacon’s hand went to his lower back, and a small smile tugged at my lips when Luke moved closer to him as they followed Perses.
Aiden clasped Solos’ hand as we met him. “How are things here?”
“Better than what you had to face,” Solos replied. “I should’ve—”
“There’s nothing you could’ve done,” I interrupted, shifting my weight. I wanted a pillow—STAT. “It seems like there are more Sentinels here than there were with us.”
“There are.” His eyes gleamed with excitement. “Come on. I’m sure you guys could use something to eat. I’ll explain on the way.”
My stomach rumbled in response, and Aiden sent me a quick grin. I was too tired to be embarrassed. “So what’s going on?”
“Our advance scouts met up with a group of about fifty Sentinels outside of the city. They’re from the New York Covenant and were out scouting beyond the line of the automatons. They showed us a way around. We had a minor run-in with a few automatons, but we didn’t lose any numbers.”
They were lives, not numbers.
He knows that. Seth’s voice startled me. I hadn’t realized I’d projected those thoughts anywhere. But looking at them that way helps keep the mind clear.
I guess, I responded without much conviction.
“They brought us back here. There’s at least a hundred more. They’ve been here since Ares took over. They made it out after he did.” Purpose filled his voice. “They know the set-up inside, where Ares has been holing up, how many he has beyond the walls, and so on.”
All of that was valuable knowledge, necessary knowledge, and that was what Aiden was telling Solos, and then they were talking about more important stuff. But all I could think was that, if there were Sentinels here that had gotten out after Ares took over, was my father among them? Solos wouldn’t know if he was, but Seth and Laadan had said that that my father had stayed behind with the servants.
“Are there servants here?” I asked, interrupting them.
Solos glanced back at me. “Yes. There are quite a few. Most of them aren’t under the effects of the Elixir anymore.”
My heart tripped up in my chest, and my wide eyes met Aiden’s. There was a reluctant hope in his gaze. I knew he wanted my father to be somewhere among those up ahead or in the house, but he was wary of that fragile dream and the crushing disappointment that was sure to come if he wasn’t.
He was behind the walls when I was last here. Seth’s words were as heavy as Solos’ apology. He could’ve made it out since then, but…
But Ares knew that my father was there. I sighed. It was stupid to hope, wasn’t it?
“Never,” Seth said out loud.
Aiden glanced back, brows furrowed, but then he turned back to Solos.
Stones sat in my stomach. Man, that disappointment wasn’t far behind. I tried to shake it off, because we had such huge things to accomplish. We would have to move on Ares quickly, probably by the following nightfall, but I wanted to see my dad. I needed him to know that I knew who he was.
If things went south fast, I wanted to see him before I…
I didn’t allow myself to finish that thought. I had to trust that Apollo would find a way to stop the Olympians from snuffing me out once I became the God Killer. He’d said he would take care of me. He’d sworn, and supposedly gods kept their promises.
Except in Solos’ case, and just about every other story I could think of.
Sigh.
As we crossed the lawn, the Sentinels that had been gawking at Perses did the same as Seth and I neared. Several muttered curses when they laid eyes on the First, their gazes cold and unfriendly.
“Friends of yours?” I asked, watching one of them rest his hand on his gun.
Seth gave a lopsided shrug. “I’m sure we may have exchanged a few words before…”
“Before you pulled your head out of your ass?”
A laugh burst from him. “Exactly.”
“You should sleep well tonight.”
He stepped around a bag full of what looked like rifles. “I doubt any of us will really be sleeping.”
I recognized some of the faces from the University, but there were a lot of strangers in the crowd, and many of them were my age. Young. I didn’t feel young, not anymore, but I guessed technically I still was, and so were they.
Solos introduced us to the Sentinels who were in charge of the group from inside the Covenant. They looked battered but hopeful as they saw with their own eyes what Solos must’ve been telling them.
The Apollyons were unified, and we’d brought a Titan with us.
It sounded kind of badass, but then again, we were going up against Ares.
We headed into the house, which was really a mansion. Someone said it’d once belonged to a mortal in the government, but they had abandoned it when Ares brought in the mortal troops. Food was given to us, and I tried to eat quietly while Aiden conversed with the different Sentinels. I didn’t see where Luke and Deacon had roamed off to, but I hoped, wherever they were, Luke was doing okay.
I picked at my sandwich, my stomach too full of knots to be hungry. Part of me worried that I was throwing way too many vibes at Seth, but I suspected he was blocking me. After all, he was a hell of a lot better at it than me.
Giving up on the food, I set the plate aside, left the large sitting room, and investigated the house. I lost count of how many rooms were downstairs after I walked through what looked like the third sitting room. Who needed this many rooms? And why were there so many short halls? It was like a maze.
Sighing, I pushed the shorter strands of hair that had escaped my ponytail out of my face. I knew I should be back in that room with Aiden and Solos. They had been talking about plans for tomorrow. I should’ve been leading those conversations—or at least paying attention. Or pretending to listen by being in the same room as them.