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“No,” she said. “The only thing to do was to find you, Aella, and make sure you were safe. Now, we’re going to get your mom.”
“It’s a good thing they don’t know we’re on her side,” Daciana said. “No one followed or whispered about us when Sebastian got us and snuck out of the mess hall. Very sneaky pretending to be an empty-headed moron all this time, by the way.”
Sebastian shrugged. “The Lethe took me out for all of an afternoon. Good thing whoever doused me didn’t know Dimitri can reverse the effects. It’s also a good thing for us that it stays that way. So, yes, I played the part so that our enemy thought they had the upper hand. It’s always better to be underestimated.”
Selene’s growl proved she didn’t agree.
“Yes, it is,” Tycho agreed. “Now they think Aella’s on her own. They may even think she’s on the run.”
“The rest of the school will, but not Councilman Damien,” Theron reminded. “He knows she’s not going to abandon her mom, so she has to be making her way to the entrance of the chamber by any means necessary. He’s got, like, twenty Experts guarding it right now.”
“The guards are no problem,” Sebastian chimed in, swinging my head back to him. He smirked at his Hell Boys. “We’ll take care of them easily.”
“I don’t understand,” I rasped, interrupting their planning. “You’re going to help me?”
Tycho frowned. “What? Of course we’re going to help you. Why wouldn’t we?”
“Ionna just said you’ll be branded traitors and thrown in prison if the council finds out. Why would you risk everythingfor me and my mom? You’ve only known me for a few months, and my mom’s a mortal. She—”
“Who the fuck cares?” Tycho said. “Mortal, demigod, werewolf. None of that matters. You’re our friend, she’s your mom, and you need our help. That’s all I need to know.”
“Exactly,” said Theron. “My mom may be the toughest, no-nonsense woman to ever walk the earth, but she’s also the woman who makes my favorite porridge and sings me to sleep when I’m ill.” He reddened. “And if you guys tell anyone that, I’ll deny it.
“Point is, your mom is your mom. If mine was in trouble, I’d hope you guys would be by my side to save her. I’ll be by yours.”
“Absolutely.”
“That’s right.”
“Me too.”
Sebastian shrugged. “I’m just here to enjoy theI told you soyou’ve got coming your way. I’d told you you’d need my help to save her.” He shivered. “Oh yes. That was just as good as I knew it would be.”
I barked a laugh, surprising myself. Once an asshole, always an asshole, but... he was here.
“Thank you,” I said softly. “All of you. They call you useless but all I see are Titans. Heroes.” I threw myself at Daciana, hugging her tight. “Friends.”
“Enough of this!” Selene shouted, making me jump. “It will not take long for Maximos Damien’s comrades to arrive. You must free me now!”
“We have to go now,” I agreed. “We’ll grab Alex and fill him in on the way.”
Their smiles dimmed.
“What? What is it?”
“Aella.” Daciana peered into my eyes. “Alex isn’t going to help us. When his father stood up in the mess hall, saying all those awful things about you—”
“—Golden Boy was right next to him,” Sebastian finished. “Agreeing with every word. That was right before he swore to lead the hunt to find and kill you first.”
OUR GROUP STOPPED JUSTshort of the entrance to the atrium. This was Olympia. Construction to rebuild the opulent space was already underway, and moving much faster than it could on my side of the barrier. The walls were already up, the plinths were reconstructed, and the entrance leading outside was widened for the statues to eventually make their return home.
All that was missing was a roof, and part of the floor.
“What do we do now?” I asked, pushing down thoughts of Alex. “Those are Experts. Titan Experts no doubt. Aren’t they the toughest demigods in the building?”
“Yep.” Sebastian snapped his fingers. “They were.”
Smoke billowed from beneath their feet. A strange, black whirlpool grew and grew beneath them, sprouting dark metal wings. The Experts fell screaming and shouting inside, and vanished.
