I went at the one closest—the one who was smiling. Ducking under his outstretched arm, I sprung up behind him and slammed my foot into his back, knocking him forward several feet. As he caught himself and whirled on me, I sheathed my dagger and lifted my arm, summoning akasha. Amber light rolled down my arm. Nothing short of a god survived a direct hit from akasha.
He drew up short, laughed, and then tipped back his head. Opening his mouth, the shade crawled out, a thick and oily substance that zipped over our heads. The Sentinel hit the ground, unconscious and maybe alive. It looked like the pures and halfs could withstand the possession better than mortals. All that godly mojo came in handy.
“That’s not any fun,” I growled as I lowered my arm and turned just as a fist went straight for my face.
Oh hell no.
I darted to the side, grabbing the arm of the Sentinel I’d seen a few days ago, but who now showed me a face full of rage. Unhooking my dagger, I shoved the blade into his shoulder, digging in deep. The Sentinel roared, and as I hoped, the shade got the hell out of there, puffing into the air, and when I let go of the arm, the Sentinel dropped, unconscious.
“You don’t have to kill them,” I yelled toward Luke and Solos. “Disable them somehow.”
Luke shot me a look, as if he was surprised that I cared, but what-the-fuck-ever. Solos was moving closer to the grove in front of the wall, and up there, bodies littered the ground.
The possessed Sentinels kept coming. Knock one down, two more took its place. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as the energy of the battle took hold. Using the handle of my dagger on the back of one of their heads, I then spun and delivered a powerful kick in the gut to the one creeping up behind me. He went down on his back, and I aimed for the same area, in the shoulder, hoping I could deliver enough pain to get the shade running, but hopefully…yeah, hopefully, not bloodying my hands any further.
Another came right at me.
Dipping down at the last possible second, I caught the Sentinel in the stomach with my shoulder, flipping the asshole over my back. I pivoted on my heel, thrusting the dagger into another shoulder, and then the air really began to stink. I straightened as Luke whirled, his shoulders thrown back, mouth nothing more than a slash across his face. He was thinking what I was thinking.
This shit was going to be never-ending, and there was too much space between me and where I needed to be, which was back in the dorm, standing between these fucks and Josie. Not here.
I spun at the sound of pounding feet and slammed my fist into the jaw of the approaching Sentinel, knocking him out at the same moment the glyphs on my skin went crazy.
Before the Sentinel hit the ground, his chest erupted as something shiny and sharp bulldozed through it. Leaping to the side, I watched the same projectile zoom past me and slam into another possessed Sentinel, right through the eye.
I whipped back around. As the first Sentinel toppled over face-first, I got an eyeful of…good gods, breasts and a whole lot more I wasn’t expecting to see. I stumbled a step back.
Artemis stood in front of me, wearing a gauzy white tunic. I’d seen thongs cover more flesh than her outfit did. A bow was leveled on me, loaded with her extra-special silver arrows.
“Hello, Apollyon,” she said, her full lips curving up at the corners. “I wonder, do you guys ever get tired of me saving your asses?”
“I can see your nipples,” I told her.
Her laugh was like wind chimes. “Like these are the only nipples you’ve seen recently, eh?” Her arm shifted an inch and her finger squeezed off another arrow. The fleshy smack told me she had hit her target, and I just hoped it wasn’t Solos or Luke.
“There went the ‘not killing them’ part,” I sighed.
She shrugged as she waved her bow. “But do you see a shade making an escape? Nope. You don’t. Not with my arrows. Sacrifice the few to save the many.” Artemis’s all-white eyes glowed as the air around her shimmered. The see-through gown disappeared, and in its place were fewer nipples and more bubblegum-pink camo get-up. “I am sure you understand that battle practice.”
I ignored that jab, mainly because the marks of the Apollyon were speeding around my skin, forming multiple warnings. Another god was nearby.
Well, weren’t they just dropping out of the freaking sky?
My gaze shifted up the walkway and I ground out, “Fuck.”
The marble walkway was scorched, black marks forming as the stone cracked and the shape of big-ass bootprints formed, one after another. Foliage and shrubs shrank back, withering as two leather-clad legs formed, finishing off with a massive torso and chest, and then a head full of black waves.
Forming out of nothing but thin air beside him was a massive dog, like a mutated Rottweiler—if a Rottweiler had three heads and smelled like sulfur and rot.
Hades sneered in my direction. “Boy.”
“I don’t think I’ve been a boy in a long time,” I replied, eyeing the dog.
The god cracked his neck to the side and spoke again, and for some reason, his accent was British. I could never figure that out. “You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy you later.”
“I doubt it’s something I’m going to enjoy.”
Artemis cleared her throat. “Really, can we save the snark-off for another time? We are here to handle the shades. You have…” She trailed off as one of Cerberus’s offspring trotted up to me, sniffing my leg.
I swear to the gods, if it pissed on me it was losing one of its heads. “Nice puppy,” I murmured.
It lifted its three heads and snarled, baring sets of shark-like teeth before it moved beyond me.
Solos rounded the corner, skidding to a halt as he saw the two gods and one of Hades’s “puppies” prowling along the edge of the courtyard. “Holy balls…”
The god of the Underworld smiled. “Funny you mention balls…” He looked at me pointedly.
My eyes narrowed.
Shaking his head, Solos refocused and his stark face caused my stomach to drop. “A group of Sentinels who’d been protecting the dorms made it out of the campus. It’s believed they were possessed.”
I didn’t even stop to think.
Pivoting around, I took off toward the dorm, running past bodies that didn’t move, others that moaned in pain. My heart was in my throat and I was vaguely aware of Luke behind me, but the space between us grew larger.
I raced up the dorm steps, my stomach knotting as I saw the glass doors blown out. There were no Sentinels in the lobby. The place was a ghost town. Veering to the right, I hit the hall at a dead run.
The moment I saw the open door, I knew—I fucking knew.
Rushing inside, I struggled to catch my breath, and I’d never been out of breath before in my life. The living area was a mess. The coffee table was shattered. A stupid painting of a god was on the floor, broken.
A soft moan came from the bedroom.
Stumbling back, I pushed through the door, gripping its frame. The blanket from the bed was pooled on the floor. Red blotches were sprinkled across the sheet. Pillows were torn, the down filling lying on the carpet. And there was the dagger I’d given Josie.
Dread exploded in my chest as I made my way around the bed. Deacon was struggling to sit up, the side of his hair matted with blood.
I dipped down beside him, gripping his shoulders. Unfocused gray eyes drifted over my face as I held him up. “Where is she?” I demanded. “Deacon, where is she?”
“They were Sentinels,” he said, gripping my arm. “We thought they were safe. I tried…to stop them.”
A potent kind of terror gripped me. “Dammit, Deacon, where is she?”
His pained eyes met mine. “They took her.”