“I hate to be Realistic Rachel, but even if you guys agree to go ask the gods, there’s one problem with that.” Alex lifted her brows as I faced her. “How are you going to get to Olympus?”
“That is an issue,” Aiden agreed. “I seriously doubt that Apollo will answer our summons and bop us over there.”
Slowly, I looked over at Aiden. “Did you just say bop?”
“Shut up,” he replied.
“I thought it was kind of cute.” Alex made her way over to Aiden’s side. “I like the word.” She threw her arms around Aiden’s waist. “Bop. Bop. Bop.”
Staring at her, my brows lowered. Sometimes I wondered if Alex was dropped on her head a lot as a small child. I knew she was as a teen. I’d seen it happen. Often. And it probably explained a lot.
“Guys.” Josie waited until all our attention was on her. “I know where there’s a gateway.”
~
Josie
“The library?” Alex pulled her arms free from Aiden and visibly shuddered. “I hate libraries.”
Aiden looked down at her fondly. “Not always.”
Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and I had a pretty good idea that something must’ve gone down between them in a library.
“The library? The one here?” Seth asked.
I nodded as I crossed one arm over my waist. I knew he wasn’t happy with me revisiting the path that led to a face-off with the Titans, but unless we figured out another way, this was the only path before us.
“When I met Medusa, she took me to this place that was underneath the library, but it was actually outside. Super weird, but that’s where I saw the Pegasus,” I said, and a faint smile curved Seth’s lips when I brought up the Pegasus. I’d been so excited to see one, I had talked about it for hours. “Medusa told me where we were. She said it was a gateway to Olympus.”
“Whoa,” Alex murmured.
“Wait.” Seth brushed a strand of his hair back from his face. “I thought the doorways leading to this place Medusa took you were gone?”
“They were.” That was the only wrinkle in my plan. “I didn’t see the doors and the librarian I saw acted like they’d never been there, but they have to be there.”
“We could always knock down the walls,” Aiden suggested.
Alex looked up at him. “I can totally see Marcus’s face when you ask him for permission to knock down walls in the library.”
Seth was quiet for a moment and then he said, “You know, I’m always of the mindset it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
~
Once Seth and I were alone in our room, I turned to him and immediately asked, “Are you really okay with this plan? Knocking down a wall? Going to Olympus?”
Seth walked into the small kitchen area. “I am always down for blowing stuff up and pissing people off in the process.”
I arched a brow. No big surprise there. “Besides that part, what are you thinking?”
“Honest?”
I nodded. “Yes. Honest.”
“You and I talked about facing the Titans. Both of us want that to be the last damn option.” Opening the fridge door, he grabbed a water. “But right now, it is the only option. Thirsty?”
“No.”
He paused, fridge door open as he looked over at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Okay. Yes. I’m thirsty.”
Seth winked as he grabbed another bottle. “I hate the idea of you having to do anything that puts you in danger.” Walking over to me, he handed me the bottle. “To be honest, it terrifies me, but if I would do anything to make sure our child grows up in a world not terrorized by Titans, I know you would do the same.”
The plastic bottle crinkled under my grip. “You know I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the baby.”
“I know.” Taking a drink, he then placed the bottle on the small, brown end table. “But that doesn’t mean at some point you’re not going to be in a situation where it’s dangerous. You stayed here and it wasn’t exactly safe.”
It hadn’t been. Not when you had jerk-face pures running around and Furies being unleashed. Unscrewing the cap, I then took a drink. “So, we should go ahead and do this. Alex and Aiden said they’d keep an eye on Erik, and we have Deacon and Luke with Cora and Gable. There’s no point in delaying this.”
“We should probably wait until the library closes before we head in there and try to blow up walls.”
“Good point.” I grinned, but it quickly faded. “And if there isn’t anything behind those walls? I honestly don’t know what to do at that point.”
Seth took my hand and led me over to the couch. “Then we come up with something else.” Sitting down, he pulled me into his lap. I held onto the water as I slid against his stomach. “That’s what we do.”
Sometimes Seth made things sound so simple. I took a drink of the water as I leaned against him, letting my head rest against his shoulder. “You know what I’ve been wondering?”
“How I’m so awesome?”
I laughed softly. “No. I already know why.” I ran my fingers along the label on the bottle. “Do you wonder why the Titans have been so quiet after taking control of Chicago? We haven’t heard a single thing. And when you guys went to get Erik, they didn’t show up.”
“I do wonder.” He looped an arm around my waist. “I think they’re scared after what happened to Hyperion.” His thick lashes shielded his eyes. “I’m not saying that to be cocky. I don’t think they expected me to be able to do what I can. Killing Hyperion caught them off-guard. They’ve entrenched themselves and are lying low.”
“Or they’re planning something other than laying waste to the city.” A shiver curled its way down my spine as I turned to put the water on the end table next to the couch and saw a red light blinking on the phone. “Hey, we have a message.”
Stretching over, I hit the play button and a female voice filled the room. “Good morning, this is Dr. Morales and this message is for Seth and Josie. I have good news for you. I’ve found an OBGYN who is ready to see you two as soon as you like. Give us a call back and we’ll give you the contact information.
The message ended, and my gaze found Seth’s. Those lashes had lifted, and the amber eyes churned with emotion. A slow grin tugged at my lips. “Our life is so…it’s so weird.”
Chapter 25
Seth
The morning started off more than just weird.
Luke and Deacon stood shoulder to shoulder before Josie and me, and I knew before they even opened their mouths, this wasn’t going to be good.
Probably because both of them were up this early.
“We just ran into Laadan and Marcus, and we just learned the most messed-up thing ever,” Luke started.
“Really? The most messed-up thing?” Josie was finishing her braid, wrapping a band at the end, securing the strands. “There’s been a lot of messed-up things lately.”
“Yeah, but this takes the cake.” Deacon leaned into Luke. “Marcus heard back from campus security. They reviewed the tapes.”
“And they found what?” Impatience crowded my tone. Josie and I had plans today and a lot to get done.
“They found nothing,” Luke answered.
“Nothing?” Josie frowned as she rested her hands on her hips. “What does that mean?”
“It means no one entered the morgue other than one of the doctors, and they left about ten minutes later. Not carrying a body out.” Deacon glanced at me. “They checked the film to see if anyone messed with it, and there were no cuts or anything like that. His body just…it disappeared.”
My mouth opened, but I had no idea how the hell to respond to that. At all. Bodies didn’t just up and disappear.
“Is that possible?” Josie exclaimed.
Deacon’s eyes widened. “Not as far as I know.”
“But…how?” Josie twisted toward me. “How could his body just disappear inside the morgue?”
“I don’t know.” I dragged a hand over my head, clasping the back of my neck. “I mean, we all have seen some strange shit, but this…” I was actually kind of speechless.