My heart nearly broke at the sadness in his eyes.
“Will you give me a chance to speak with a few of the others before you make your decision?”
The rock moved beneath me. Atlas pulled me to a standing position and looked me in the eyes. “Are you good, Athena, or do you mean me harm? I want to trust you, but something tells me not to.”
“I’m a Seeker, Atlas. You can trust me.”
“And you truly believe that in the end we will be justified?”
I swallowed and gave a firm nod of my head.
“Then you may speak with them. But a warning, Innocent One. I see much danger if you choose to travel this road. I may be free, but I am still a prisoner here on Earth. He has made it so, but my brothers, they are slowly awakening, waiting for the right moment to strike. I do not want you walking into a trap, but there will be no other way for you to speak to them. Do you understand?
“Thank you,” I said. “I understand.”
Atlas pulled out a piece of paper. “The location of the rest of the Titans you may speak with. Careful, Thena, this isn’t a fieldtrip, nor is it one of your adventures. Remember, trust no one. Even the Light can bring in Darkness.”
I closed my hand around the golden paper.
And everything went black again.
“Thena!” The scream was so loud my head pounded in response.
Could nothing in my life be normal?
“Thena.” It was Adonis’s voice. I would know it anywhere, just like I would know my reflection in the mirror.
Why was he so frantic? So worried?
“Yes?” My voice was groggy. I needed caffeine more than air.
“Don’t you ever do that again, do you hear me, Athena? Never again.”
I felt something stroke my face. It was warm and so nice. I opened my eyes. Adonis was holding me in his lap, looking a lot like a worried mother hen. I grimaced as I tried to move.
“I’m back.” I weakly threw a triumphant fist into the air, noting the giant scowl on Adonis’s face. “Right then, so how did I disappear?”
Seth appeared on Adonis’s right. “Yeah, about that…” He stole a glance at a fuming Adonis. “We didn’t know Atlas was going to take you. It’s my fault. I—”
“Of course this is your fault!” Adonis roared, a few curses escaping his lips. “How are we supposed to protect her if we aren’t with her!”
Never in all my years had I ever heard Adonis swear. The man felt guilty when he had to watch me kill anything and was enraged when anyone used foul language. Most of all, it was against a Seeker’s character to be so crude.
“I’m fine,” I said, patting Adonis’s arm. “Really, it was a good meeting. He wouldn’t have hurt me.”
“He could have hurt you, Athena. I wasn’t there. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I—”
“Adonis, really, I wouldn’t lie, and it seems I’ve been successful with the Titan’s gatekeeper. Atlas is going to allow me to see a few more of the Watchers to plead our case.”
Seth exhaled and shared a guilty look with Adonis. “That’s good news, Athena. What did he say? Anything specific?”
Something told me to keep our conversation to myself. Seth’s face was too eager, and it wasn’t something I felt safe telling him. If I was being truly honest with myself, I would admit I didn’t feel safe telling much of anything to Seth, but I couldn’t for the life of me understand why. Obvious reason being that he was a fallen angel, but there was something more.
I couldn’t help but think of Seth when Atlas talked about masquerading. Sometimes Seth seemed perfectly normal, other times I felt… bad around him, and I didn’t know why. My emotions were confused in his presence. I felt unsure of myself, and I was never unsure of myself. Maybe that was why.
I shrugged in his direction. “It’s not important. What’s important is that I’m going to go visit the others. You guys coming?”
“You know where they are?” Seth’s eyes took on a fiery tint. I could have sworn I saw something predatory flash across his face.
I turned away, not wanting to reveal my emotions and doubts. “No, but I have Atlas.”
“He’s here?” Adonis roared, looking around the room in a frenzy. I’d never seen the man so blatantly violent or upset. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. His eyes darted around the room.
“Easy, killer,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. “He’s not here, but I do have a map.”
“An atlas?”
“Sort of.” I winked.
Seth approached me. “Let’s see this map of yours.”
I snapped my hand away from his grasp. “I’d rather keep it in my possession, if you don’t mind. Now, who’s ready for an adventure? My clock says we only have three days to find the rest of the Watchers before the rendezvous in the park.”