The Struggle

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  goldish bands circling bony wrists. The skin was patchy in spots, and I realized he was lying half on his back, half on his side. His eyes were eyes, wide and glazed over. Mitchell was dead.

  And he’d been dead a while.

  This was going to hurt Josie, and I hated that. She would blame herself, thinking that if she’d remembered the name on the box truck sooner, she would’ve been able to save him. But from the looks of it, this guy’d never had a chance.

  Sighing, I leaned back. Scanning the dank room, I shook my head. Josie had been right. No one deserved to die in a place like that.

  Well, I did know of one person.

  A trickle of awareness skated over the back of my neck and a slow smile inched across my face.

  Laughter broke the silence, and then Hyperion said, “I knew you would come.”

  I lifted my gaze up the damp wall and slowly rose.

  “I waited. Took you long enough,” Hyperion taunted. “Did you have to work up the nerve?”

  With my back to him, I tilted my head. “Oh, yeah. I was so scared.”

  “You should’ve been, you little bitch.”

  I laughed as I felt the deadliest element known to man and god stir deep inside me.

  “You can’t even look at me, can you?” Hyperion laughed. “You may have the other Titans scared, especially since you took out Atlas and then Perses, but I know what you are.”

  Fury hummed over my skin. “And what is that?”

  “You’re just a supped-up God Killer and that means I can kill you,” he said, chuckling. “But I’m not going to kill you fast. I’m going to keep you down here just like I did with your pretty girlfriend.”

  Akasha snapped alive, wrapping itself around the volcanic anger swirling inside me.

  “I’m going to feed off you,” Hyperion continued. “And I’m going to go find that blonde bitch again and then I’ll gut her right in front of you.”

  Power crackled along my knuckles. “Is that a promise?”

  “Oh, yeah it is. But not before I have a little fun with her,” he said, chuckling. “Then when you’re begging for death, I’ll hand you over to Cronus and he’ll reward me by giving me Apollo.”

  “Well then.” I said, turning around. Hyperion stood near the doorway. “I was planning to kill you slowly.”

  Hyperion grinned. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I said, nodding. “I was going to drag it out, cut little slices into your skin, turn you into a living fucking coloring book. You know they’re all the rage now. Then slowly burn you from the inside out, but not before I cut your dick off and shoved it down your throat and hang your balls around your neck like a noose.”

  “Sounds like a fun evening.”

  “It would’ve been, but, you see, I’ve matured,” I said, smirking as I took a step toward him. Hyperion tensed, and my smirk grew. “I’m not going to drag this out. I’m not going to take pleasure in turning you into a weeping mass of flesh and broken bone.” I paused, dipping my chin as I felt pure power rippling up my spine. “But I am going to take great pleasure in killing you.”

  Hyperion’s lip curled. “You aren’t going to do anything. You’re not absolute.”

  “Then give me your best shot.” I lifted my arms.

  He didn’t have to be asked twice. Shooting across the room, he cocked an arm back. A second later, his fist slammed into my jaw, knocking me back several inches. I didn’t raise my hands or even try to stop him.

  The pain actually felt good.

  Like I needed to feel, because there was a part of me that deserved the first punch and then the second. I welcomed the fiery bite, a retribution for the pain I’d caused Josie. And when I hit the ground with the third punch, the air rushing for my lungs was a pittance for the pain I was most likely going to cause a whole lot of innocent people by the end of the night.

  The kick in the stomach was enough.

  Hyperion loomed over me, bloody fists at his sides. “You’re not going to fight back?”

  Spitting out a mouthful of blood, I laughed coldly. “You’re a dumbass.”

  He blinked.

  I tipped my head back, smiling up at him. “I’m just playing with you.” Popping to my feet, I slammed my hands into his shoulders, knocking the Titan across the room and onto his ass. “Now you’re going to die.”

  Chapter 35

  Letting the purest, strongest power take over, I lifted my arm. Amber light lit up the room as a bolt of godly akasha whirled down my bicep. The world tinted white as I let the bolt of absolute power go.

  It shot across the small room, smacking into Hyperion’s chest. He’d tried to move. He tried to dart to the side, but he wasn’t fast enough. I was done playing with him. That was it. It was over.

  The fucker was going to die.

  And it was like Atlas all over again.

  A look of pure astonishment washed over Hyperion’s face as the whitish-amber light pulsed. The same dumb motherfucking look that said he couldn’t believe I just punched out his immortality card as he stared down at the gaping, glowing hole in the center of his chest.

  Outside, lightning slammed into the ground and thunder cracked the sky wide open. The smell of burnt ozone filled the tiny room. Hyperion went down on one knee, the impact splitting the floor. I kept up, pulling every ounce of deadly power from within as he fought back, throwing out an arm as if to stop the stream of akasha. Air crackled and popped as the very fine network of veins lit up under Hyperion’s skin.

  I lowered my arm. “I am absolute.”

  He opened his mouth, but there was no sound as the light in his veins expanded, bled through the vessels and washed over his body. The light pulsed once more and then it was an explosion of fireworks that shook the ceiling and the floor—the entire building.

  And then there was nothing but scorched earth remaining.

  “No!” a female voice shouted.

  I spun around. It was her—the female Titan. Power rippled over my skin. My chin dipped down as I stalked toward her. “Too late.”

  She screeched as she drew back. Her screams ripped through the air as she spun in a dizzying circle. Black smoke surrounded her body as I summoned the absolute power once more.

  She flew to the side, a mini funnel of rage crashing through a wall. Plaster exploded, pluming into the air. The female Titan was gone, most likely to alert the rest of the crew that their days were numbered.

  Jaw working, I turned back to the spot where Hyperion had stood. A weight lifted from my shoulders. Wasn’t like we didn’t have the other Titans to worry about, but this one . . . yeah, this one had needed to go.

  The charred floor had changed. Tiny specks of glowing red embers flickered. Closing my hands into fists, I walked over to the spot and stared down, brows knitting together. The flecks looked like—

  “What have you done?”

  My back stiffened. There was no denying who stood behind me. “Awful brave of you to show up after the Titan who captured your daughter is no longer in the picture.”

  “I warned you once about questioning my loyalty to my daughter,” Apollo shot back. “I will not warn you again.”

  I faced Apollo, ignoring his threat. “I think it’s pretty obvious what I did.”

  “Do you have any idea what this could cause?” Apollo stepped toward me. “He needed to be entombed.”

  “He needed to die!” Power crackled in the air around me. “Do you know what he did to Josie? There was going to be no entombing for that bastard. I will not have her living in fear. I will not have our—” I cut myself off.

  “You will not have your what?” he demanded, and then he sucked in a sharp breath. I had no idea if he’d guessed the truth. I sure as hell wasn’t going to confirm it, because I didn’t trust the bastard. The god’s all-white eyes snapped electricity. “You may be a god now, but you need to understand that your emotions cannot rule you.”

  “Oh, that’s really funny coming from you.”

  His chest rose.
“With godhood comes great responsibility—”

  “Did you rip that off from Spider-Man?”

  Anger tightened his features. “Is everything a joke to you?”

  “Yeah.” I looked around the room. “Mainly you?”

  He exhaled roughly. “If my daughter didn’t love you . . .”

  “What?” I threw up my arms. “What would you do, Apollo? Turn me into a bush that smells like cat piss? Really? Don’t you think that’s a little played out? I’m not—”

  Apollo moved faster than I could track.

  One moment he was standing in front of me, and the next he had a hand around my throat and my back into a wall. Dirt filled the air as he leaned in, getting all up in my face. “You test every strain of my patience,” he growled as his fingers dug into my windpipe.

  “This is my I-don’t-give-a-fuck face, in case you’re wondering.”

  “You best learn quick who you’re speaking to, Seth.”

  Wrapping a hand around his wrist, I bared my teeth. “And you best learn real quick who you’re messing with.” Slamming my free hand down on his, I broke his hold and threw him back.

  Apollo caught himself as shock splashed across his face. His wide-eyed gaze met mine as I came off the wall.

  “There’s only one reason why I won’t kill you,” I warned, stalking toward him. “But that does not mean I will not bring you to an inch of your death.”

  A muscle thrummed in his jaw as several moments passed. “Do you have any idea of what you have begun? The chain of events you have started?”

  I opened my mouth, but I really didn’t have an answer.

  “Do you not remember what Ewan had said to you?” He straightened as he referenced the nymph. Apollo shook his head. “You better be ready.”

  A cold shiver curled done my spine. “Ready for what?”

  “There will be consequences,” Apollo said. “There will be consequences for what you have done tonight.”

  “Aren’t there always?”

  He lifted his chin as he stepped back. “Not like this, Seth. Not like this.”

  ~

  Josie

  I knew what’d happened the exact moment I woke. I realized my bed was empty and the world was shaking. It was like some kind of instinctual knowledge told me what happened.

  I was going to kill Seth.

  Okay. I wasn’t going to kill him, but I was most definitely going to hit him.

  Throwing the covers off, I shot to my feet and grabbed my clothes off the floor, hastily pulling them on in case the entire Covenant came down on my head. I rushed from the bedroom and through the sitting room. Throwing open the door, I drew up short, coming face to face with a silver-eyed demigod.

  “Where is he?” I demanded. My heart pounded painfully in my chest.

  Aiden glanced up at the flickering overhead light. “You know where he went.”

  I cursed under my breath as a doorway down the hall opened and Alex stumbled out, blinking rapidly. She threw her arms out as a tremor rocked the hallway. “Oh gods, this is not a normal earthquake, is it?”

  Aiden sighed. “I’m going to go with no.”

  She lowered her arms. “You let him go?”

  “Didn’t really have a choice,” Aiden replied dryly. “Think you forgot the whole Seth-is-a-god-now thing.”

  Alex stopped, frowning. “You’re shirt’s inside out.”

  Of course it was.

  Doors all up and down the hall opened and I spotted Deacon and Luke. I drew in a sharp breath as I stepped back. The flickering light steadied. “How long ago did he leave?”

  “You miss me already?”

  Gasping, I spun around. Seth stood in front of the door. I didn’t think. Cocking back an arm, I punched him in the stomach as hard as possible.

  Seth grunted out a laugh as he bent at the waist. “Gods.”

  “What did you do?” I demanded, and then I really saw him as he straightened. There was a faint bruise on his cheek. His lip looked raw and his shirt . . . his shirt was charred at the hem. “What happened to your face—your clothes?”

  “Don’t worry, my perfect face will heal,” he said, grinning in a way that looked like it would hurt.

  I shook my head. “Seth. . . .”

  The grin slipped from his face. “I had to, Josie.”

  “But you didn’t,” I whispered, but . . . but who was I kidding. Did I for one second truly believe that Seth wasn’t going to go after Hyperion? No, I didn’t. I closed my eyes. “Hyperion is dead?”

  “Yes. So are quite a few charbroiled daimons that eventually climbed out of a hole in the ground.” A few seconds later, I felt his hands on my cheeks. Aware that we had audience, I stiffened as he leaned in, resting his forehead against mine. “I know you’re probably pissed and even disappointed. I’m sorry for that. He could not live. Not now. There was no way.”

  I shuddered, torn between being relieved that Hyperion was gone and horrified by the possible repercussions. What was going to happen? Hyperion was a big deal. Then I remembered. My head snapped up and my eyes opened. “Mitchell? Did you—”

  Seth shook his head. “I’m sorry. He . . . he didn’t make it.”

  “No,” I whispered, refusing to believe it. “He was alive. He had to be.”

  His tawny eyes searched mine. “Psychi mou, he had been gone for a while.”

  Tears crawled up my throat. I don’t know why it affected me so much, but it did, because saving Mitchell was important. He hadn’t deserved what was done to him. And to die like that? It was so wrong.

  Seth said something, and then the next second we were back in the room, on the bed. I was in his lap, and his arms were tight around me. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It is not your fault, Josie. You couldn’t have changed the outcome.”

  I wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe if I’d gotten my head together quicker I would’ve remembered the box truck.

  “Please.” He tipped my chin up so our gazes met. “This is not your guilt to carry. Hyperion did that to him. The Titans did. You are not at fault.”

  Repeating those words over and over in my head didn’t change how I felt and beyond the bitter sadness of discovering that Mitchell had died, how in the world were we going to entomb the Titans now? Seth could not keep killing them. God only knows what was happening out in the world even though the tremors here had stopped.

  I took a deep, shaky breath. “What’s going to happen now?”

  He folded his hand over my cheek as a shadow crossed his features. “I know things aren’t going to be easy. I don’t know everything that is going to happen, but I know one thing.”

  “What?”

  “You will not have to fear Hyperion or any Titan. Our child won’t have to worry about things not being okay,” Seth said, splaying his other hand across my lower stomach. “Because we’re going to end this. We’re going to make it okay for this child.”

  “Together?”

  Seth’s lips brushed the curve of my jaw. He stopped to press a kiss to my pulse and then said, “Together.”

  Closing my eyes, I wiggled closer to him. I didn’t want to think about how we were going to stop any of this. Right then, I just wanted to focus on us—on what we both had been feeling earlier, because that had been warm and wonderful.

  Maybe that made me a terrible person. There was so much death and I knew there would be more. Things were happening outside of this little piece of the world. We had no idea what was going to happen in the next hour. The world could try to come crashing down