The second wall looked better. Damage showed in places, but the gate was still standing and locked. Kind of good news, I guessed. But how in the hell were we supposed to get over a twenty-foot wall?

I folded my aching arms. “Before anyone gets any ideas, I am so not knocking a hole through this.”

Aiden sent a wry grin over his shoulder as he joined Marcus and Solos approaching the titanium gates. The sharp spikes along the top caught my eye, and my imagination placed decapitated heads on the things.

I shuddered.

Luke dropped an arm over my shoulders. “You hanging in there?”

“Of course.”

His brows rose. “You’ve been running like the little Apollyon Energizer Bunny.”

I almost laughed. “Hopefully, we’ll all get to recharge soon. How’s your arm?”

“Not as bad as I initially thought.” Luke squeezed my shoulders and let go. “I think Deacon’s getting blisters on his feet.”

At the sound of his name, Deacon scowled over his shoulder. “My feet arecovered in blisters.”

“Your poor precious feet,” Luke teased.

From the gate, Solos raised his hand, silencing us. My heart sped up as I grabbed the daggers strapped to my thighs. Luke moved Laadan and Deacon behind us as I inched forward.

“What’s going on?” I asked in a low voice.

Dawn had yet to crack the darkness beyond the gate, and all I could see were the shadows of more twisted trees.

Marcus cleared his throat. “Hello!” he called out, and his voice echoed on for what seemed like forever. “We… we come in peace.”

I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Wow.”

My uncle shot me a dark look and then continued. “I am Marcus Andros, the Dean of the Deity Island Covenant. I have Sentinels with me and the—”

The sound of guns being locked into place was a rat-a-tat-tat that shut Marcus up and probably stopped everyone’s hearts. Not a single shadow had moved beyond the gate.

“Turn around and lower your weapons now,” came a dark voice from behind us.

Oh, crap on a cracker.

My eyes flicked up, meeting Aiden’s for a brief second, and then, because I really didn’t want to be pumped full of titanium, I turned and hoped I hadn’t tapped that well of power inside me completely dry.

Two Sentinels stood behind Deacon and Laadan, guns pressed against their pale cheeks. But there were more than two Sentinels. Over a dozen surrounded us, forming a half-circle. They all held Glocks and looked more than ready to use them.

We were surrounded.

CHAPTER 34

“Lower your weapons,” the one Sentinel said again. He was tall and older, maybe in his forties, and apparently was used to being listened to.

Gods, it was truly possible for a crappy situation to get even crappier.

Aiden was the first to lower his daggers, placing them on the ground beside his feet. Then he rose slowly, lifting his hands. I knew he carried more weapons on him, and I hoped the other men didn’t realize that. Following suit, I got rid of my daggers, but left the gun shoved in the back of my waistband just in case.

The Sentinel in charge stalked forward, keeping his gun leveled on Solos, which I thought was kind of funny. Out of the four of us, he really should’ve had that gun pointed on me.

Then I realized he didn’t know who I was. Part of me relaxed, because if they were playing for Team Evil, I was sure they would have had pictures of my face plastered across their bedroom walls.

Marcus prepared to speak again, but the Sentinel’s eyes narrowed in warning. “I heard where you said you were from and that you mean no harm, but please tell me how we’re supposed to believe that.”

Good question. I glanced at my uncle, brows raised.

“We were a part of the group that escaped Deity Island,” Marcus said.

“Well, obviously,” replied the Sentinel.

I sort of liked this dude, gun pointed in our faces notwithstanding. A muscle flexed in Marcus’ jaw. “We are not working with Lucian or the First. I am not sure how to prove that to your standards, but we have traveled far to come here and have lost one of our own, courtesy of the automatons guarding this place. We are not your enemy here. We want the same thing, to stop Lucian and the First. Sentinel Mathias was on his way here. He should’ve arrived with news of our travels.”

“If this Sentinel was set to reach here within the last twenty-four hours, then he’s among the poor souls beyond the wall.” The leader’s gaze drifted over us. “No one has made it past them for over a day, which makes me curious how your group has.”

I hadn’t met the Sentinel who’d arrived while Aiden and I had been in the Underworld, but it sucked to hear that he was now among the dead.

“They turned on you then?” Aiden asked calmly. “They weren’t guarding the campus?”

At first I didn’t think the half-blood was going to answer, but he did. “The automatons were guarding the campus up until about a day ago, and then they started firing upon those seeking sanctuary here. We tried to stop them, and we ended losing half of the first wall and many lives. So again, I am curious to how a group consisting of teenagers and two untrained pure-bloods could’ve made it past them.”

“I’m the Apollyon,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “That might have something to do with it.”

Every damn gun went straight to me, and I wondered if that’d been the best thing to say. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiden start to move toward me.

“It’s okay,” I added quickly, keeping my hands out in front of me. “I’m the good Apollyon, as in the one who doesn’twant to take out the Council and kill the gods.”

The Sentinel in charge didn’t look relieved or awed. Instead, he appeared ticked off and like he really wanted to put a bullet between my eyes. Which wasn’t good, because I was pretty sure Aiden was already calculating the time it would take for him to pull his gun and take out this Sentinel.

Bullets were about to fly—just as the sun started to crest, too, and wouldn’t that really gore up a beautiful sunrise?

“Half of the Sentinels and Guards who have sided with the First are looking for you, and you came here?” Anger flashed in the Sentinel’s eyes. “Do you have a death wish?”

Good thing I hadn’t mentioned that Seth and I were still sort of connected. “Actually, I don’t have a death wish. And you can shoot me if it makes you feel better, but it’s not going to kill me.”

He looked like he was seconds from finding out.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep a grip on my temper. “Look, I get your unwillingness to house me. I understand that, but you need me—you need us—because we took out those automatons and we can protect you. Not to mention I’m the only one who can stop any of this. So if you throw us out to the wolves, you’re sealing your own fates.”

The Sentinel stiffened but said nothing.

“And you have to realize this isn’t about a pure-blood’s thirst for power. This is bigger than that. Only a god could’ve turned those automatons. Not Lucian, and not the First. And that god is going to wipe out anyone who stands in his way.”

I gave my best smile, the one that usually got me out of trouble or ticked off those on the receiving end of it. “And that god isn’t the only one you’re going to have to worry about. There’s another one who goes by the name Apollo—yeah, thatApollo—and he’s going to be pretty pissed if you turn us away. See, we’re kind of related and he sort of likes me.”

Someone swore under his breath.

My smile tipped higher. “Just one more thing—you hurt any of my friends, you’re going to seriously regret doing so. Get my drift? So let’s all play nice and become best friends forever.”

“I think we should let them in,” one of the Sentinels said.