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Finding safe ground, I nodded "Telly had this symbol tattooed on his arm" I pointed at the torch, careful not to touch hiuts, in case you’re wondering And I remembered in the section that talked about the Apollyon, it mentioned that Thanatos killed Solaris and the First Maybe this Order business is still going on and they have so to do hat… what happened in the Catskills"

The hand beside the book curled into a fist, but Aiden didn’t look up "As far as I know the Order doesn’t exist anymore, but you never know"

"Maybe this can tell us so? But I can’t read it"

He s this isn’t exactly easy"

"Okay" Beyond the crack in the door, the library was dark and silent There was no way I was going out there I pulled out a notebook and pen "I’ll… pretend to study or so"

Aiden chuckled "You do that"

I se of notebook paper It was hard, because his knee was still touching ination, but we seeainst mine

While Aiden read, I sketched a really bad version of the Apollo and Daphne statue outside Several ti He offered to pay for art classes at one point I punched hi up on e he was on As I stared at the sy in ht of the pure I’d killed in the Catskills Leaning back in the chair, I rubbeda blade into a pure wasone into a daimon, even a half daiain, I’dof bad decisions over a short period of time, but that one kind of took the cake I could’ve disar other than what I had done I’d killed him and still didn’t even know his name

"Hey," Aiden said softly "Are you okay?"

"Yep" I liftedout yet?"

He atchingat my hands "Just why the Order was established," he said "It appears that they were created by us--the pure-bloods--as an organization to keep the old ways alive and to protect the gods And it looks like even a few chosen half-bloods were initiated into the Order"

"Great" I sods need protection?"

"It doesn’t see their existence froods" Aiden turned back to the book, flipping several chapters ahead "It does say the members areto the Order But there is solanced at him "What is it?"

He took a deep breath and slid the book toward me "We’ve all misread it Understandable since it’s how it’s phrased Look at this"

Aiden was pointing at the section on the Apollyon "‘The reaction froods, particularly the Order of Thanatos, ift and righteous Both Apollyons were executed without trial‘"

I sat back, understanding sinking in "It wasn’t Thanatos who killed them, but the Order of Thanatos"

Aiden nodded as he turned back to the section on the Order "That’s what it looks like"

"But how? Both Solaris and the First would had been fully Awakened The way Seth talks, once that happens we become indestructible"

He shook his head "The Order is very mystical, or at least, that’s how it reads in this section" He tapped his finger on so that looked like chicken scratch to me "The Order is said to be ‘the eyes and the hand of Thanatos‘ There’s soers dipped in the blood of the Titans’"

"Daggers dipped in the blood of the Titans? Like, literally? Is the Apollyon soic to Titan blood?" I shook ods and the Apollyon can both use akasha, then ould the gods--Thanatos--need anyone else to kill the Apollyon? They could just use akasha"

"I don’t know," he said, looking at ray "And I have a hard ti that Seth wouldn’t know, either Didn’t he tell you that, once you Awaken, the knowledge of the previous Apollyons will pass on to you?"

"Yeah, he did Seth would have to know" An unco clawed for my attention as I restedthat the previous Apollyons knew, then wouldn’t one of theured out that they were a product of a union between a pure and a half? And wouldn’t one of the Apollyons have to know about the Order, especially if the lives of Solaris and the First had passed to Seth during his Awakening?

"What is it?" Aiden asked quietly

Anger stirred, poking at the cord "I don’t think Seth is being completely honest with me"

Aiden didn’t respond