Аполлион

A second passed, and then I said, “Solaris.”

Nothing happened at first, and then the water rippled as if I had blown a soft breath upon it. Part of me expected her face to appear in the basin, but the water settled again. Then there was a sudden fissure of energy that crawled up the walls and rolled over the floors. Tiny hairs on my body rose and a shudder worked its way across me. There was a soft gasp of surprise and I turned.

Solaris had arrived.

CHAPTER 26

When I’d stepped into the Underworld, I really hadn’t known what to expect. The same could be said for Solaris. I’d really had no clue, and still I was blown away.

Solaris stood directly in front of Caleb and she looked a lot better than I’d thought she would. For some reason, I’d expected that she and the First would be serving it up in Tartarus, but her white gown was pristine and intact. Silvery-blonde hair, long and wispy, settled over thin shoulders. She was tall and willowy and her eyes were like mine—a bright amber color. Her delicate, porcelain features reminded me of a frail, exotic flower, which I hadn’t been expecting. Maybe I was rocking one hell of an ego or something, but I’d thought she’d look like me.

She was the complete opposite of me.

Solaris looked around the room, her pale brows rising as she took in where she was. Surprise and a little bit of fear flitted across her face, but when her eyes landed on me, a keen understanding seeped into those ashen eyes. A sense of familiarity washed over me, mirrored in her expression.

Striding forward, Solaris stopped a mere foot from me, her head tilted inquisitively. When she spoke, her voice was soft. “You are the Apollyon.”

There wasn’t much time for me to figure out how she knew what I was. “I’m one of them.”

Another flicker of surprise shot across her face, quickly followed by sorrow. “So there are two again?”

I nodded.

She glanced over her shoulder. “And neither of these are he. I can tell. One of them is dead. One of them is a pure-blood.”

I ignored Caleb’s offended look. “No. The First isn’t here.”

Solaris faced me, brows knitted. “You have Awakened. I can see the marks of the Apollyon.”

“You can?” I glanced down, surprised to find that my visible skin was all marked up. I hadn’t even felt them.

“How can you be Awakened and not be with the First? You are not dead.”

Yet. “It’s complicated. That’s why we’ve come to talk to you.”

“Oh.” The sorrow deepened and her lashes swept down. “He is like mine?”

Everyone in the room, even Persephone, was fixated on Solaris, but she seemed wholly unaware of them now. I took a breath and fought the sudden tightening in my throat. The grief rolling off Solaris was palpable.

“Yes.” My voice sounded hoarse. “He’s like yours.”

Twisting away, she wrapped her arms around herself. “Then there is nothing that I can do for you.”

I stared at her. “But we haven’t asked anything.”

“If he has lost himself to the aether, to the call of akasha, there is nothing to be done.” Her chin tipped down, causing her hair to slip forward, shielding her face. “And there is nothing to be done for you. I tried… but the power transferred.”

“Wait.” I stepped toward, pushing down on the frustration roaring inside me. “I haven’t transferred my power to him. He’s only the Apollyon. Not the God Killer.”

Solaris stiffened. “That’s not possible.”

“It is. I haven’t been near him since I Awakened. There is something about the aether and akasha with him, but he’s still just the Apollyon.” I paused, drawing in a long breath. “I need to know how to stop the transfer.”

She remained quiet.

“And I think— I know—that you know how to do it.”

Her head swung toward me. “There is no way. I blocked that knowledge so no other Apollyon could learn it.”

“Well… I saw something when I Awakened. You turned to him, tried to stop him. You knew how, but the Order found you first.”

Solaris laughed a dry, brittle laugh. “Is that what history tells you?”

I glanced at the goddess, figuring she’d know, but she looked as confused as I felt. “But I saw it—”

“Did you? The Awakening is what the previous Apollyons wish for you to see. At the moment of your death, when it does come, you will implant your memories. Some of them may be as you wished to see them, but not how they truly existed.”

Well… daimon butt. Did Seth know that? “What happened, then?”

Her lashes swept down again. “When I first met him, he wasn’t like he was in the end. He was a beautiful, kind man who just happened to be the Apollyon.” A small, sad smile pulled at her lips. “We really didn’t understand any of it. We were the first to exist in the same generation. He didn’t even understand why he came to find me. It was like he was drawn and I didn’t understand what was happening when I Awakened. The pain… I thought I was dying.”

I winced, unable to imagine going through that without Aiden and without any knowledge of what was happening.