Seth folded his arm over my shoulder, and I kept that smile plastered across my face. “So, what’s the game plan?” I asked, focusing on Herc.
Turning toward us, Apollo eyed the arm around my shoulder, and I silently dared him to say something about it. “It’s fairly simple. I see you’ve found the Librarian. Otherwise I’m not sure how you would have a vial of Pegasus blood.”
“I did.” I kept my voice level. “I also found the icons.”
“Perfect. I knew you would.” His smile was brief, not nearly as enormous as it had been when Alex squeal-tackled him. “Now, all we need are the demigods.”
“And that is where I come in. It’s why I am incredibly useful.” Herc looked around the room, as if he was making sure everyone was focused on him. Over his shoulder, I saw Luke roll his eyes. “I can sense other demigods—”
“Yes,” Seth cut in, sounding bored. “We know. Your super-special spidey senses allow you to sniff out other demigods.”
His eyes narrowed. “I am super-special.”
Aiden closed his eyes as he scratched his fingers through his dark hair. Beside him, Alex bit down on her lip.
I stepped in before the conversation derailed. “But how are we going to use that now? Can you sense where the demigods are now?”
Herc smiled as he checked me out, and he didn’t even try to hide it. His gaze lingered in areas that made me feel like I was standing there nude. “Why don’t you and I take this conversation—”
“Do you want to die?” Seth asked casually. “For real this time?”
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Herc winked at me, and I couldn’t tell if this dude was for real or not. “I’m not sure if you know this or not, but I’ve slayed many beasts—the Nemean lion, the nine-headed hydra, a fire-breathing Cacus. I could keep going—”
“Please don’t,” Apollo said with a sigh, and I placed my hand on the back of Seth, balling my fingers around his shirt. “No one cares.”
Herc snorted. “Everyone cares.”
“I kind of care,” Deacon suggested. “I mean, I want to hear about the nine-headed—”
“Shut up, Deacon,” Aiden said.
Looking over his shoulder, Herc grinned. “We’ll talk later.”
Deacon beamed.
“I didn’t bring him here first,” Apollo explained. “That’s what’s been taking so long. I took him around the whole damn globe—”
“It was a lot of fun,” Herc added.
“It was horrible,” Apollo replied stoically, and my lips twitched. “We were able to find the locations of three of the demigods—ones not captured by the Titans. We couldn’t locate the captured ones.”
“Huh. Not so special then,” murmured Seth.
Luke choked on what sounded like a laugh.
Apollo’s irises disappeared, replaced by fathomless white orbs that spit tiny bolts of light.
“Uh-oh,” whispered Alex.
“One of the demigods is in Canada, near the city of Thunder Bay. Another is located in a small village called Pluckley. It’s in Britain. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”
“Actually,” Luke drawled, “it’s supposedly one of the most haunted villages in all of Britain, so that’s kind of ironic that a demigod . . . Okay,” he said, eyes widening when Apollo faced him with a less than impressed pinch to his face. “Never mind.”
“The other demigod is in southern California, in the area of Malibu,” Apollo continued. “I don’t care which one you start with first, but those are the three who need to be found.” There was a pause and he turned to me. Or at least I thought he did. I couldn’t tell since he didn’t have normal eyeballs. “I must leave. I will return when I can.”
Then Apollo—my father—was gone, simply disappearing as if he was never there. Gone without so much as a handshake.
Let alone a hug.
And before I could ask him anything about my mom or Erin.
Seth
“Herc is sort of a douchebag.”
“Sort of?” I laughed as Josie and I walked across the north quad. The only sign of the earlier fight was the missing statue. “He’s a giant bag of dicks. Small dicks, too.”
She laughed as she scanned the grounds. The late-afternoon sun was already beginning to fade and the warmer temps were dropping. “He seems very full of himself, but if he’s able to lead us to the other demigods then we need to tolerate him.”
“I can’t make any promises.”
Glancing over at me, she grinned. “You think Solos is going to be able to make use of the Pegasus blood?”
Solos had shown back up after Apollo had left. Once he got past the unexpectedness of finding Hercules, Josie had shown Solos the vial. The older Sentinel was going to lace weapons with the toxin. Not the Covenant daggers, though, since that was way too dangerous. He was going to use the blades that were shaped like icicles once released. At least with them, we didn’t have to worry about accidentally nicking someone.
“I’ve never been to California,” Josie said, arms swinging at her sides. “I’m glad we picked there first. Is it wrong that I’m kind of excited?”
“No. Why would it be?”
Her shoulders rose as she glanced up at the sky. “Because it’s not like we’re going on vacation. I know it’s going to be dangerous out there, or it could be. We have to convince some random person that they’re a demigod.”