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And where the hell was Apollo?
The Sentinels who’d been inside the Covenant had given us the way in that we needed The back eastern as exposed, a way in and out There’d be guards, but nothing like ould be seen at the front I knew in my heart of hearts that Aiden and Luke and Solos wouldof fear was in the back of my mouth
Alex?
Seth’s voice inside my head al a lot of feelings right now
My gaze narrowed on his back as he moved ahead of Aiden and me And you’re not?
You’re afraid, was his si hiured I didn’t need hi afraid isn’t the problenoredover his shoulder at me, he winked Aiden cursed under his breath, and Seth ser Don’t let either of them consume you
Yes, sensei
Seth snorted
"I hate when you two do that," Aidenlook, but there was no anger in his steely gray eyes Both of us hadn’t been sotten a few hours of sleep, spending those precious hours before and after coht a blush tothem
Neither of us wanted to adht would be the final tiether I couldn’t let nored
We passed the nondescript outer fence and then quickly reached the last hill at dusk I glanced overAll of the came down to this battle, and not just for us, but for the unknowing mortals, too If we failed, the mortal realm would fall to Ares, and then Olympus would be next on his to-conquer list The Sentinels and Guards behind us knew this, too This whole situation was bigger than each and every one of us
"It is time," Perses said Excitement practically rolled off the Titan
Seth nodded and turned to me Part of me wanted to delay this moment, but this was one of those tiirl pants What I wanted to do and what I needed to do were two very different things
I swore in that moment this would be the last time I’d ever have to ed Luke and then Solos "Be safe," I told them both "Promise me If not, I’ll find you two in the Underworld and kick your asses I swear"
Luke chuckled "You’d actually do that, too I pro his head and pressing his lips to my cheek "And you do the saot all choked up, co Aiden by the shirt with one hand, I pulled his head down to mine and kissed hiether, our bodiesinto the touch I drank him up in that kiss, as he did htback on the heels of my boots, but he still held on Aiden’s eyes were liquid silver
"I love you," I said "I love you so apislowly, I let out a long breath and slipped fro to walk to where Seth and Perses waited, I couldn’t look back Not even when the three of us started our hike to the east because if I did, I would run back to Aiden, and we couldn’t delay this any longer
We’d traveled about half aus to stop He tilted his chin up, expression sharp Then he smiled wolfishly A second later, a powerful roar whirled through the tall el frantically into the air It was the sound of rage and determination--a sound of war I twisted toward the west The dusky sky brightened in hues of orange and red, intensifying every couple of seconds
"It has begun" Perses smile spread as if he’d been presented with a feast of his favorite foods "Weon to the sense of duty and holding onto it with dear life Along with Perses and Seth, I ran down the hill even though ates with s of large boulders and kicking up loose rocks and dirt, we stormed down the rocky slope The twenty-foot white marble wall carew
Perses darted further to the east, cutting across the sloping hill and heading for the east side of the protective wall Several fireballs shot into the air, slaate, and I winced with the i that, when those flames had landed, lives had been lost
We reached the bottom of the hill and the corner of the east wall just as that wicked sense all half-bloods had kicked in Tiny hairs rose on my body, and shivers shot across the back ofto the halt as I pulled out ers and hit the button in the middle On each side, blades shot out
Seth did the saet bloody andsmack dab into a cluster of dai out eerie, aether-starved howls Their eyes, black and bottoainst their pale skin A them were daimon halfs, the most deadly of their kind
It sickenedthat Lucian, Ares, and even Seth at one point had controlled the daier rose like a violent storm inside me, and I tapped into it
I threwout the first dai its head clear off its body Seth sla it to the ground before he brought the pointed end of his weapon down into its chest As I’d suspected, Perses was hands-on, snapping necks and ripping out important body parts
A fe in the stomach with my kick She round Dipping down, I sprang back up, whipping the sickle around in a clean sweep Another ca in a crouch, I flipped the sickle blade over and punched up, catching the dai the blood and gore off my blade as I twisted Bodies of half-blood dairound, but there were stillaround theer end ofSeth Unlike the halfs, it exploded into a burst of shiht in my face