Perhaps I could’ve handled it better. Then again, how did one gently break that kind of news? Over tea and crumpets? My stomach grumbled. Gods, I was hungry.
With Josie’s book bag in my hand, I stepped off the porch circling the library and cut across the lawn. I knew where her dorm was, which floor she was on and what room was hers. I could give her some time to digest the information, but I’d seen the panic in her blue eyes—so strong and raw I could taste it. Giving her time would backfire. She’d use those hours to further convince herself that none of this was real.
My hand tightened around the strap. Too bad I couldn’t bop her on the head or something, transferring the truth and the knowledge of our world to her. A nifty-ass trick like that would come in handy right about now.
Even more fucked up was the fact that, when I bit down on my lower lip, I could taste her skin, and that sent a bolt of oh-yeah straight through all my happy places. Not that it took much. A breeze could get that same kind of effect, and Josie…she wasn’t the kind of girl I’d go for. I tended to go for more of the in-your-face kind of hotness. Not pretty girls who existed somewhere between plain and sweet.
Her hair wasn’t plain, though.
Neither were her lips. Pouty. Bow-shaped. Soft-looking.
Or her eyes. Even though she clearly got them from her father’s side, there was always something…sexy about a pair of deep-blue peepers.
And she looked like she had a body under the chunky sweaters.
Fuck. Now my happy places were really happy.
I’d just crossed the midway point in the long stretch of lawn when I felt a sudden, oily heaviness slinking over my skin. I stopped, my narrowed gaze swinging over the trees and the students hurrying back and forth in the chilly night air. My attention landed on a middle-aged guy holding a briefcase. Glyphs raced across my skin in warning, but even without them, I would’ve known something wasn’t right about the dude.
He was standing in the middle of the lawn, staring right back at me. In the pale moonlight, his lips pulled back in a sneer.
Interesting. Looked mortal, but I’d bet my punching arm that he wasn’t—at least, not anymore.
The man pivoted, walking off quickly in the opposite direction. I glanced quickly to where Josie’s dorm rose in the distance, but then wheeled around. It took no time to catch up to the guy as we passed under a cluster of oaks. Dropping her bag on the ground, I reached out and clamped my hand down on the man’s shoulder. A jolt traveled up my arm, and the murky and thick feeling increased.
Yeah, something was not right about this dude.
I spun him around and stared into watery eyes, a washed-out color devoid of life. Inhaling, I caught a stale, musky scent that reminded me of when I’d been in the Underworld. Not a very pleasant smell.
Slamming my hand into the center of his chest, I pushed him back against the trunk of a thick oak, moving us out of the path of unsuspecting bystanders. My lip curled. “You smell of death.”
The thing inside the man cocked its head to the side and laughed a high-pitched wailing sound that most likely caught a bit of attention. “Funny that you know the smell,” it said, its voice distorted as if standing at the end of a long tunnel. “Since you reek of death yourself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Wow. That was a clever comeback.”
“Fuck you,” it snarled.
“Even more ingenious. I bet you can carry on a real deep conversation. Let’s talk about the shitty economy next.”
The thing wearing the man smiled. “And I bet Hades is going to enjoy shoving every imaginable item up your ass when you finally get down there and become his personal chew toy.” It laughed as my hand tightened around the collar of its shirt. “What? Everyone knows about the deal you made, Apollyon.”
My eyes narrowed as my gaze drifted over it. There had to be a reason why it smelled like it’d rolled around in the Underworld and spritzed himself with cologne of death with an extra side of River Styx. My gaze shot back to his face as I remembered what Apollo had said about when the Titans had escaped. “You’re a fucking shade.”
It arched a brow, and those washed-out eyes turned all-black. “And you’re too late.”
The thing threw its head back against the tree with such force that the man’s skull cracked like a clap of thunder. It opened its mouth and pulled a Supernatural—the TV show Deacon always seemed to be watching whenever I was within a ten-mile radius of him. Black smoke poured out of it, whirling up into the trees, blacking out the branches before it disappeared into the night. I dropped my hand, and the guy hit the ground, dead on arrival.
I glanced down at the body. Next to him was the fallen briefcase. There was a name engraved—something ending in Ph.D. “Well, shit.”
Spinning around, I snatched the bag off the ground and picked up my pace. Shades were on campus, and there was no doubt in my mind that they were the ones that had escaped with the Titans. Which meant there was a damn good chance that the Titans were aware of Josie’s location.
I kept to the thicker shadows, moving faster than the mortals could track, becoming nothing more than a burst of wind until I hit the paved walkway leading up to Muse Hall.
Slowing, I jogged up the steps and threw open the door while I hoped Josie had calmed the hell down. The last thing I needed her to do was freak out and run screaming into the hills while I had damn shades roaming the campus, and worse yet, a possible Titan or two or five.
As I headed toward the elevators, a dark-haired brunette swung around from where she sat perched on the arm of the couch. Her glossy lips turned up at the corners as her gaze tracked my progress across the lobby. I got an eyeful of her chest as she bent over, folding her arms under her breasts. The low-cut sweater showed more than enough to get my notice.