The Power (Titan #2)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “True.”

  We didn’t talk for a few moments as we neared the dorm, and I figured we wouldn’t have a lot of alone time in the next two days. Right now, Deacon was fanboying all over Hercules. Man, I felt for Luke, who looked like he wanted to gouge his own eardrums out and throw them on the floor, stomping on them, when we left. It wouldn’t be long before everyone reconvened to make plans for our trip. There was something I wanted to talk to Josie about.

  “Hey.” I caught her hand and hauled her back to me. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” She placed her hand on my chest and tilted her head back. “Why do you ask?”

  “Really?”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Really.”

  “Okay.” Guiding her off to the bench, I sat and tugged her into my lap. She tensed for a moment and then relaxed. “I saw the way you looked when Alex and Apollo saw each other.”

  Josie’s eyes met mine for a moment and then skittered away. I wasn’t having that. I caught her chin, forcing her gaze back to mine. She sighed. “Was it that obvious?”

  “No.” My gaze searched hers. When Josie had locked up earlier, watching her father get all friendly with Alex, I found myself wanting to hit Apollo with akasha for the hundredth time. “It wasn’t noticeable.”

  “But you noticed.”

  I looped my arm around her hips. “That’s because I’m always watching you. If you knew how much, you would probably think it was creepy.”

  “Seth,” she laughed.

  “Truth? I stared at your ass the whole way to this bench.”

  “Oh my God.” She shook her head. “You’re ridiculous, Sethie.”

  “I’m honest.” Sometimes.

  “Yeah . . .” Another sigh shuttled through her. “I just . . . He barely even addresses me, you know? And I never get to ask him anything. He pops in and out without any real discussion. He seemed . . . he seemed really happy to see Alex. Like they hugged and I . . .”

  I wanted to hurt Apollo.

  She exhaled roughly. “I don’t have my grandparents anymore. Or my mom, and he’s my father, but he doesn’t act like it. I just feel like I’m an orphan sometimes. I mean, I really am.”

  “I feel you,” I said. Josie leaned in, resting her cheek on my shoulder. I lifted my arm, folding my hand around the nape of her neck. “You’re not alone in that. I understand.”

  “You do,” she murmured.

  I smiled slightly as I looked down at her. Those beautiful eyes were closed and long lashes fanned her upper cheeks. Then she lifted her head. Curving her hand along my cheek, she raised her mouth to mine.

  The brush of her lips against mine was tentative at first, nothing more than a sweep of her lips, but it hit me hard. I knew she felt the swift reaction to her. There was no hiding what was pressing against her ass or how my hand tightened along the back of her neck.

  “I like kissing you,” she said. “Thought I’d share that.”

  I caught the corner of her lip, nipping lightly. “Well, whenever you want to do that, have at it.”

  “Any time?”

  Tilting my head, I took the kiss deeper, and Josie eagerly met it. It was like we weren’t even sitting outside, where anyone could walk right up to us. It didn’t matter. She squirmed in my lap, restless and seeking more. My hands joined in, sliding down her body, stroking over the curves waiting under her clothes. I wanted to explore her. Wasn’t going to happen right then, though.

  Sensing Alex, I pulled away. “We’re about to have company.”

  “Huh.” Josie blinked and then shifted her gaze over my shoulder. “Oh. That is so weird.”

  I said nothing as I shifted on the bench, turning Josie so her legs dropped between mine. I expected her to get up and put some distance between us. I wasn’t sure if she was okay with the very obvious state of our relationship being out there given . . . well, given my past with these two.

  Aiden’s steps slowed as they approached us. Clearly, the expression on my face was not exactly a welcoming one. “Sorry,” he said, looking up to the sky. “We don’t mean to interrupt.”

  “But you’re going to?” I replied.

  “Yeah.” Alex’s grin was weak. “We just left them. I’m not sure how any of us are going to survive long in Herc’s presence. He’s a giant douchebag.”

  Josie giggled. “That’s what I said.”

  “Great minds think alike.” Alex’s smile warmed. “We just want to make sure you guys are okay with us going along with you all.”

  “Of course,” Josie said, leaning back into me. She wasn’t getting up or moving away from me. Not a single part of her was . . . ashamed or worried about what anyone thought.

  Damn.

  “Good,” Alex replied.

  I smoothed my hand over Josie’s hip. “Not like we really had a choice if we said we didn’t want you two going along.”

  “Nope,” Aiden responded with a smirk.

  My gaze met his. “Just like old times.”

  There was a pause and those gray eyes burned silver as he said, “Hopefully not.”

  Chapter 23

  Josie

  “You can’t stop me,” Deacon stated firmly, probably in the most serious voice I’d ever heard him use. “I’m a grown adult.”

  Aiden took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. “I can stop you. Easily.”

  “I’ll like to see you try.”

  Watching the two brothers argue was like having front-row seats at a tennis match. I had no idea who was going to win. Deacon wanted to go with us to find the other demigods. Aiden was not having it.

  “You don’t want to see me try.” Aiden was sitting on the couch inside of the room he and Alex were sharing, which was actually a pretty decent-size room. Bigger than mine or Seth’s. It had a real living room—an actual couch, two papasan chairs, and an ottoman that Alex was sitting on. I honestly had no idea how I’d ended up here.

  After Alex and Aiden found Seth and me on the bench, the four of us had walked back to the dorm. We entered their room, and while I’d been gaping at the size of the thing, Seth left to go find Solos. He’d said he’d be back.

  That was an hour ago.

  I was really hoping he hadn’t run into Hercules, because I was sure that wouldn’t end well at all.

  “You probably think I want to go with you because of Luke.” Deacon stood in front of the couch, his cheeks flushed with frustration. “It’s not because of him.” He glanced at Luke. “No offense, babe.”

  “None taken,” Luke said from the other side of the couch.

  “But I also would like to take a moment to point out that he is also missing classes to go on this demigod scavenger hunt.”

  “That’s different,” Aiden reasoned calmly. “He’s trained, Deacon. You know that. This trip could be dangerous.”

  “I know that, and it’s not like we haven’t had this conversation a million times. I get that you want to protect me. I appreciate that, but I’m not a kid anymore.”

  My gaze connected with Alex’s as she winced. I totally got where Deacon was coming from. I also understood why Aiden wanted him to stay here, where it was measurably safe. We had no idea what would happen out there.

  “I know you’re not a kid, Deacon.”

  Deacon shook his head. “You don’t get it. I know how to protect myself, but it’s more than that. I don’t get to see you for half a year, Aiden. That’s six months. You’re unreachable to me,” he said, and his voice dropped. “It’s like you’re dead.”

  Luke leaned forward as Aiden winced.

  Aiden said, “Deacon—”

  “No. You need to hear this. Both of you do. I’m happy that you guys are okay. That you’re going to have eternity and you’re together, but it’s not easy on me,” he said, eyes glistening, and I felt like I shouldn’t be here to witness the very raw pain Deacon was expressing. “I miss you, and this is my time. I have six months to see you. That’s it before you have to go back. And who knows how long this is goin
g to take? You could be gone the entire six months. I want to see you. That’s fair.”

  His brother lowered his gaze as he shoved his hand through his thick hair. He didn’t say anything as Luke rose, walked over to where Deacon stood, and wrapped his arm around Deacon’s shoulder, drawing him to his chest. He kissed the top of Deacon’s blond curls.

  “Damn.” Aiden dropped his arm and looked up. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

  “Of course not,” muttered Deacon. “That’s why you need me around. I think of all things.”

  Aiden laughed hoarsely and then glanced over at Alex. She smiled reassuringly at him, and it was so apparent that those two were on the same page, as if their minds and souls were linked.

  Would Seth and I ever get to that stage? Would we have a chance? I sucked in a short breath and forced it out slowly. We would have that opportunity. I had a plan. Not the greatest. I just needed Apollo to hang around long enough for me to put that plan into action.

  The door opened and, as I looked over. Hercules strolled in. His upper lip curled. Distaste was clearly etched into his handsome features. “Even this room is small. Why is everything so small here?”

  “It’s a dorm,” Luke explained, and I had to give him credit for even trying. “Things are kind of small in dorms.”

  I thought about my dorm back in Radford. “And this is actually bigger than—”

  “This is not big,” Herc cut me off, and then lifted his arm, flexing his bicep. “This is big.”

  I opened my mouth, but yeah, I had no words.

  “But why do you all have a better room than me?” he asked, looking around with a critical eye. He gazed at Aiden. “I mean, who are you, anyway?”

  “Well.” Alex popped up from the ottoman. “I’m hungry. You want to go get some food with me?”

  Several seconds passed before I realized she was talking to me. I stood slowly as she walked over to the door, sending me a look that warned I better hurry. I did.

  Once out in the hall, she lifted her arms and shook her fists at the ceiling as she stomped her feet. Full tantrum mode.

  I grinned.

  “Oh gods, I can’t even deal with that guy,” she said. “It’s only been a couple of hours and I want to gouge his eyeballs out with my toenails.”

  “Toenails?”

  “Yes,” she seethed. “Because they are blunt and it would hurt more, after I delivered a kick to his stupid face.”

  I laughed as the image formed in my mind. “He’s definitely a jerk.”

  “I’m not even surprised that Apollo managed to find the most annoying demigod,” she said as we walked down the hall. “Besides the fact that he has impeccable timing, he has a superpower when it comes to finding douchebags.”

  The fact that Alex was aware of how bad Apollo’s timing was made me think of how she’d discovered that. We reached the crowded lobby. Several students standing near the furies gawked openly at her as she strode toward the door. Night had fallen.

  “Wait.” I caught up to her, keeping my voice low. “Isn’t there a curfew?”

  Alex snorted as she opened the door. “Yeah, but it doesn’t apply to us.”

  My brows flew up as we walked out of the door and, sure as hell, walked right past the Guards enforcing curfew. They said nothing. Not even when Alex wiggled her fingers at them.

  Alrighty then.

  “I hope there’s still something to eat in the cafeteria,” she said, glancing over at me. “By the way, I’m almost always starving.”

  “Same here.” I wished I’d had my hoodie with me. The wind was still cool, even in June. “They will probably have some cold food out. They normally do overnight. Someone keeps it stocked throughout the night.”

  “Cool.” We walked a few moments in silence and then she said, “Are you good with everything? Leaving for Cali and what we might face out there?”

  I nodded and immediately stopped myself from reading more into what was definitely a harmless question. “I am. I mean, I don’t know what exactly we might come across, but I’ve . . . I’ve faced a Titan before.”

  Her lips pursed. “I’d heard. You took Hyperion out.”

  “Kind of,” I said as we followed the walkway, eerily alone on the quad. “I just put him out of commission.”

  “After being . . . alone with him,” she added quietly.

  I glanced at her sharply. She was staring straight ahead. I didn’t respond.

  “You know I fought Ares, right?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  She wet her lip and then stopped walking, facing me. “Ares didn’t just kick my ass and he didn’t do it quietly. He . . . he broke me for a long time, in a way that I wasn’t sure I’d ever really recover from.” Each word she spoke was painfully blunt and obviously wasn’t easy for her to speak. “I don’t know what happened when you were with him. No one has said anything, but I know how . . . I know how evil works.”

  Closing my eyes, I looked away and swallowed. There’d been no nightmares the last couple of days. I was hoping they’d stay away. Total textbook avoidance, but I really didn’t have the time for a mental breakdown.

  “Anyway,” she said. “I’m just putting this out there. If you want to talk about any of that stuff with Hyperion, I’m here.”

  “Okay.” I cleared my throat as I flipped my ponytail over my shoulder.

  Alex smiled a little, a small one that kind of made me feel bad for being upset earlier about her and Apollo.

  As we stared at each other, realizing that we had yet another thing in common, a very tenuous bond formed between us. It was frail, brand spanking new, but we’d both looked into the eyes of . . . evil and were standing here despite it.

  “Sooooo,” she drew the word out as we started walking again. “You and Seth . . . ?”

  Oh my, that was going from one awkward conversation to another.

  “Looks like things have changed since the last time we talked.” Alex laughed then, and the earlier somberness washed away, as if she had practice moving on quickly from terrible, horrific things. “Which was what, just a day ago?”

  “Yeah.” I laughed along with her. “Feels like weeks, right?”

  “That’s how it always is when stuff is going on.” She hopped up on a low wall and walked on the edge. All right, I was back to not liking her, because I would’ve fallen right off that like a three-legged llama. “So, it seems like you guys have worked things out.”

  Part of me didn’t want to talk about this, but my tongue started moving as always. “I think so. Yes,” I corrected myself. “We’ve worked things out.”

  At least I thought we had. We hadn’t had a chance to really talk. We were together, but sitting down and actually having a conversation about the state of things was probably a good idea.

  When she didn’t respond, I looked over at her. Her expression was blank as she walked the wall.

  “He doesn’t think he should be happy or have anything good in life,” I told her, and maybe I shouldn’t have said any of that, but I wasn’t sure if Alex really got the kind of place Seth had been existing in, what he was living. “Some of it has to do with what he had to do. After what went down with Ares, the gods used him to hunt down and kill those who sided with Ares. He was basically their assassin.”

  Alex’s lips parted. “I . . . I really didn’t know that.”

  “And I know all about the things he did when he was working with Ares. He hasn’t forgiven himself for that. Not that some of those things he’d done or been a party to even warrant forgiveness, but he . . . he’s stuck, and it’s not right,” I said, stopping when she came to the edge and peered down at me. “I know there are things you probably will never be able to either forgive him for or forget about.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Sometimes I’ve completely forgiven him. Other times I still want to punch him.”

  “Understandable.” I met her gaze.

  Several moments passed and then Alex turned her gaze to the sk
y. Her shoulders rose. “I worry about him.”

  “You—”

  “I worry about what he’s capable of,” she added, and I tensed. “I know that’s not something you want to hear and please know it’s not . . . it’s not coming from a bad place. Seth is . . . he gave up everything to make sure Aiden and I had forever. There is good in him, so much good, but . . .”

  I thought about what Medusa had said. “But what?”

  Her lashes lowered, shielding her eyes. “There is so much darkness in him.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “But he can find the light.”

  Alex said nothing.

  “He deserves a real life,” I insisted. “He deserves a second chance.”

  “Agreed.” She jumped off the ledge, landing nimbly beside me. “I mean, Seth has issues, but he deserves happiness. He really does.”

  “I’m going to make sure he has that,” I told her, and I wanted to scream it from the mountaintops.

  Alex’s eyes widened as she stared at me. “That’s pretty hardcore.”

  I shrugged. “It’s true.”

  There was a pause. “You love him, don’t you?”

  There was no hesitation. “I’m in love with him.”

  Chapter 24

  With a hammering heart, I tried to hold still, to do exactly what Seth had ordered me to do, but this was pure torture.

  Blissful, crazy, delicious torture.

  Seth’s calloused palms glided up my inner thighs and around to grip my rear. I stared at the top of his bowed head. Part of me couldn’t get over the fact that he was on his knees in front of me.

  Tension ebbed and crested, and I bit down on my lip as his tongue moved along the seam of my thigh. He was killing me. Slowly. Like he’d killed me that night before, when he finally returned from meeting with Solos and we snuck back to his room. We didn’t get a lot of talking done then. Our tongues and mouths had been busy with other things. We didn’t have a lot of time alone today either. Not when we had to spend the majority of the day preparing for the trip in the morning.