Аполлион

I nodded. Jackson had taken sparring too far, planting his boot in my face—I had a tiny scar to prove it—and I was sure that Instructor Romvi had goaded him into it. As we headed into the bathroom and I looked for a somewhat decent stall, I wondered if Romvi was still alive.

Romvi had disappeared after Linard had delivered Head Minister’s Telly’s ultimatum, and Seth had had members of the Order hunted down, as they were the only real threat to us. As terrible as it sounded, if he had met his end, I wouldn’t be too torn up. Romvi’d had it out for me from day one.

The trip to the bathroom turned out to be uneventful, since I didn’t consider the risk of catching hand, foot, and mouth disease to be an event.

Back in the Hummer, with my lap full of Skittles and other assorted goodies, I was surprised by the fact Medusa hadn’t appeared in the toilet and tried to eat me. Perhaps this trip wouldn’t be so bad.

I glanced behind me, past where Deacon and Luke were sharing nachos. Marcus’ arms were spread along the back of the last seat. His gaze was focused on the back of Aiden’s head like he could somehow bore holes through it.

Okay. Perhaps this trip wouldn’t be so bad for me. Aiden on the other hand…

Flipping to the front, I caught Aiden’s gaze and offered a sympathetic smile. “Skittles?”

“Please.”

I dusmped some into his open palm, then picked out the green ones.

Aiden grinned at me. “You know I don’t like the green ones?”

Shrugging, I popped them in my mouth. “The few times I’ve seen you eat them, you leave the green ones behind.”

Deacon popped his head between our seats. “That’s true love right there.”

“That it is.” Aiden’s gaze flicked to the road.

I flushed like a little schoolgirl and focused on the remaining pieces of candy until Deacon drifted back into his seat. I handed all the red ones to Aiden.

A couple of hours after we’d hit the traffic apocalypse outside of Sioux Falls, the open skies had darkened and night was only minutes away. Knots formed in my stomach as I thought of the distance between me and the University evaporating. We were still about four hours away, but that was nothing after being in the car this long.

The University was nestled deep in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Not near Mount Rushmore, but in the part known as the Northern Hills. It was a heavily protected wilderness, only reachable in vehicles such as the one we were in. People had to know what they were looking for to even see the entrance to the school.

I’d never seen the University in person, but I knew it looked like something straight out of Greece. Like all the Covenants, the mortals believed the school to be a part of an elite, invitation-only education system. Even though I was sort of excited to see the school, my nerves hummed for a different reason.

My father could be there—or he could be on his way there.

Hope soared in my chest and I felt giddy for a few seconds. I didn’t know what I’d do if I saw him—probably something along the lines of pouncing and tackling the man, and I so hoped I wouldn’t bawl like a baby and embarrass myself.

I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up. My father might not be there. He might never show up there. He could be dead.

My stomach tumbled, and for a moment I thought I was going to hurl.

The thing was—and what I kept trying to tell myself was—I didn’t know. And there was no reason to get worked up either way. And I had more important things to concentrate on, like how in the hell I was going to convince a bunch of Sentinels and Guards to risk death by warring against Seth and a god.

Aiden’s cell went off, and the look on his face as he listened wasn’t good.

“What?” I asked, feeling my stomach drop again. I wondered if I had an ulcer… or if that was even possible.

“Got it,” he said into the phone, and then snapped it shut. “We’re being followed.”

I spun in my seat, just like Marcus and Luke did. The headlights from Solos’ Hummer were right behind us. I squinted. Several car lengths behind there was another set of headlights. I wasn’t an expert on those things, but it looked an awful lot like another Hummer.

Sentinels and Guards loved to drive Hummers. The bigger the better and all that jazz—probably making up for something else. Mortals drove Hummers too, but every instinct was telling me it was Covenant-issued and not a friendly.

Crap.

“How long?” I asked.

“Since we passed Sioux Falls,” Aiden replied, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.

“There’s an exit coming up—take it. We need to get off the main highway.” Marcus cussed as he leaned back, pulling out a Glock. “Good news is that the road will be clear of mortals. Bad news is that the roads will be clear.”

There would be no one around for either side to worry about exposure, if they even cared about that anymore.

“Tell Solos to follow,” Marcus said, “and to get close to us.”