I settled in the seat, carefully stretching out my legs when I really wanted to flail about. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Aiden’s amused grin. I made a face at him and he laughed softly.
Time slowed down to a crawl. Every time I looked at the clock on the dashboard I would’ve sworn two hours had gone by, but it was only twenty minutes later. When we hit the halfway point, Solos called Aiden. They needed to get gas.
Aiden wasn’t thrilled about it. “We’re too close to Minneapolis.”
In other words, we were too close to a heavily populated area. Nearly every major city in the U.S. had communities of pures on the outskirts. Where there were pures, there were daimons. And that also meant there would be Sentinels and Guards—those who might be working with Lucian.
But we didn’t have any choice. Both vehicles were running low on gas, and it was either stop now or run out of gas in the middle of nowhere and get eaten by wild coyotes and bears.
We pulled into a decent-sized travel area and I immediately reached for the door handle.
“I prefer you’d stay in the car,” Aiden said, unbuckling.
I frowned. “Why? I have the talisman.”
“I know.” He shot me look. “But knowing our luck, someone will recognize you.”
“But I have to use the bathroom.”
“Hold it,” Luke said, opening the car door. “I’ll get you something to snack on, and some water—lots of water.”
I glared at him. “That’s so wrong.”
Everyone but me rushed from the Hummer and I flung myself back against the seat, folding my arms. I got that we didn’t need another god smackdown in the middle of the gas station, but damn…
Aiden headed toward the other Hummer while Marcus pumped gas. Here I was, the freaking Apollyon, and I couldn’t even go inside to get a bag of beef jerky by myself. Geez.
A few moments later, Aiden came around to my side of the car. I debated leaving the window up, but I rolled it down. He leaned in, resting on his forearms.
“Hey,” he said, grinning.
I knew I was pouting, but I couldn’t feel my butt.
“Olivia and Lea are checking out the bathroom. Looks like it’s outside and around the back.”
“Oh, thank the gods.” I slumped in my seat.
His grin spread on one side. “I’ll make sure Luke gets you something other than water.”
“You’re the best.” I popped forward and kissed him quickly. “I mean it.”
On his way past us, Marcus’ eyes narrowed. “I feel like I’m going to need to separate you two.”
Aiden’s cheeks flushed as he pulled back and cleared his throat.
Marcus stopped beside him, folding his arms. “Especially the sleeping arrangements. And I’m not naïve enough to—”
“Whoa!” I cut in. “Not a topic that I’m willing to delve into.”
Marcus gave me a bland look. “You are my niece and I’m your guardian.”
“I’m eighteen.”
“And you’re still too—”
“Olivia! Bathroom break!” I threw open the door, nearly knocking Marcus over. Shooting my uncle a quick grin, I darted around him.
Aiden grabbed my arm. “Be careful.”
“Of course. Other than dying of fumes and wanting to hurl, it’s just a public restroom.”
He still looked like he wanted to escort me in there, but Marcus was also eyeing Aiden like he wanted to punch him again. Aiden let go and I joined the girls at the sidewalk.
“What’s going on over there?” Olivia asked.
I looked over my shoulder. Marcus’ mouth was flying a mile a minute, and Aiden stood there, stiff and silent. I grimaced. “You don’t even want to know.”
“Probably has to do with the fact that you and Aiden are having sex,” Lea announced, crossing her arms.
My jaw dropped.
“Nice.” Olivia swatted her one the arm. “Way to just throw that out there.”
Lea shrugged. “Hey, it is what it is. He’s a hottie. I’d be doing it with him every five seconds.”
“Okay. Thanks for sharing.”
Olivia eyed the other half. “Speaking of having sex like a horned-up rabbit, have you heard from Jackson? He wasn’t at the Covenant when…” She looked around and lowered her voice. “He wasn’t there when Poseidon went nuts.”
“No. My cell died and I don’t have a charger.” Her eyes narrowed on the overcast sky. “I don’t know what he might be doing. We weren’t really as close as you guys think. At least, we didn’t talk a lot.”
Olivia snorted.
“I don’t think he’s with Seth and Lucian,” I said as we started around the corner of the cement building.
“Why?” Olivia tucked a tight curl back.
“Remember when Jackson got his face rearranged?” We’d stopped outside the bathroom door, and I could already smell the funk. The girls nodded. “I’m pretty sure Seth did that to him.”
“Holy crap,” Olivia murmured as she slid the key into the door. “Because of what Jackson did to you in class?”
I nodded. Jackson had taken sparring too far, planting his boot in my face—I had a tiny scar to prove it—and I was sure that Instructor Romvi had goaded him into it. As we headed into the bathroom and I looked for a somewhat decent stall, I wondered if Romvi was still alive.
Romvi had disappeared after Linard had delivered Head Minister’s Telly’s ultimatum, and Seth had had members of the Order hunted down, as they were the only real threat to us. As terrible as it sounded, if he had met his end, I wouldn’t be too torn up. Romvi’d had it out for me from day one.
The trip to the bathroom turned out to be uneventful, since I didn’t consider the risk of catching hand, foot, and mouth disease to be an event.
Back in the Hummer, with my lap full of Skittles and other assorted goodies, I was surprised by the fact Medusa hadn’t appeared in the toilet and tried to eat me. Perhaps this trip wouldn’t be so bad.
I glanced behind me, past where Deacon and Luke were sharing nachos. Marcus’ arms were spread along the back of the last seat. His gaze was focused on the back of Aiden’s head like he could somehow bore holes through it.
Okay. Perhaps this trip wouldn’t be so bad for me. Aiden on the other hand…
Flipping to the front, I caught Aiden’s gaze and offered a sympathetic smile. “Skittles?”
“Please.”
I dusmped some into his open palm, then picked out the green ones.
Aiden grinned at me. “You know I don’t like the green ones?”
Shrugging, I popped them in my mouth. “The few times I’ve seen you eat them, you leave the green ones behind.”
Deacon popped his head between our seats. “That’s true love right there.”
“That it is.” Aiden’s gaze flicked to the road.
I flushed like a little schoolgirl and focused on the remaining pieces of candy until Deacon drifted back into his seat. I handed all the red ones to Aiden.
A couple of hours after we’d hit the traffic apocalypse outside of Sioux Falls, the open skies had darkened and night was only minutes away. Knots formed in my stomach as I thought of the distance between me and the University evaporating. We were still about four hours away, but that was nothing after being in the car this long.
The University was nestled deep in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Not near Mount Rushmore, but in the part known as the Northern Hills. It was a heavily protected wilderness, only reachable in vehicles such as the one we were in. People had to know what they were looking for to even see the entrance to the school.
I’d never seen the University in person, but I knew it looked like something straight out of Greece. Like all the Covenants, the mortals believed the school to be a part of an elite, invitation-only education system. Even though I was sort of excited to see the school, my nerves hummed for a different reason.
My father could be there—or he could be on his way there.
Hope soared in my chest and I felt giddy for a few seconds. I didn’t know what I’d do if I saw him—probably something along the lines of pouncing and tackling the man, and I so hoped I wouldn’t bawl like a baby and embarrass myself.
I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up. My father might not be there. He might never show up there. He could be dead.
My stomach tumbled, and for a moment I thought I was going to hurl.
The thing was—and what I kept trying to tell myself was—I didn’t know. And there was no reason to get worked up either way. And I had more important things to concentrate on, like how in the hell I was going to convince a bunch of Sentinels and Guards to risk death by warring against Seth and a god.
Aiden’s cell went off, and the look on his face as he listened wasn’t good.
“What?” I asked, feeling my stomach drop again. I wondered if I had an ulcer… or if that was even possible.
“Got it,” he said into the phone, and then snapped it shut. “We’re being followed.”
I spun in my seat, just like Marcus and Luke did. The headlights from Solos’ Hummer were right behind us. I squinted. Several car lengths behind there was another set of headlights. I wasn’t an expert on those things, but it looked an awful lot like another Hummer.
Sentinels and Guards loved to drive Hummers. The bigger the better and all that jazz—probably making up for something else. Mortals drove Hummers too, but every instinct was telling me it was Covenant-issued and not a friendly.
Crap.
“How long?” I asked.
“Since we passed Sioux Falls,” Aiden replied, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.
“There’s an exit coming up—take it. We need to get off the main highway.” Marcus cussed as he leaned back, pulling out a Glock. “Good news is that the road will be clear of mortals. Bad news is that the roads will be clear.”
There would be no one around for either side to worry about exposure, if they even cared about that anymore.
“Tell Solos to follow,” Marcus said, “and to get close to us.”
As Aiden relayed the message to Solos, I kept my eyes glued to the stretch of highway behind us as we hit the ramp and flew down the dark, back road. Then I saw what Aiden hadn’t said, and what Marcus must’ve realized once Solos had moved into the other lane.
It wasn’t one Hummer; it was two, and I was sure both were packed.
Double crap.
Luke was straining to get a better look. “We can’t let them report back, guys. If they haven’t already. We’re too close to the university.”
“So you really think they’re his—Lucian’s?” Deacon asked, gripping the back of my seat.
Aiden nodded. “Everything’s cool, though. We’ve got this.”
The strength in his words—the determination to get everyone through this—was so like him. No matter what, he held it together. He might falter a step or two, but he weathered the blows and he never gave up. Not on me. Not on his brother. And never on life. Gods, no wonder I loved this man.