orenda [leo valdez]

lxxv. Apollo Has a Problem with Controlling His Mouth

❝we are all broken.

thats how the light gets in.❞

⤷ ernest hemiway

△△△

Lityerses had talent for making friends.

Half the crowd surged forward to kill him. The other half shouted that they, too, wanted to kill him and the first half should get out of their way. Kira stayed frozen in Leo's arms.

"You villain!" Hunter Kowalski yanked Lityerses from his chair and shoved him against the wall. She pressed a borrowed screwdriver against his throat.

"Ssssstand assssside!" Sssssarah yelled. "I will ssssswallow him whole!"

"I should've thrown him against the side of the building," Leo growled.

"STOP!" Josephine waded through the mob. Not surprisingly, folks moved aside. She pulled Hunter Kowalski off her prey, then glared at Lityerses as if he were a chariot with a busted axle. "You put trackers on our griffins?"

Lit rubbed his neck. "Yes. And the plan worked."

"You're sure Commodus knows our location?"

"He's telling the truth," Apollo said. "We heard Lityerses talking to Commodus in the throne room. Leo was supposed to tell you about that."

"Me?" Leo protested. "Hey, things were chaotic! I thought you—"

Lityerses spread his arms, which were so scarred they looked like testing logs for hacksaw blades. "Kill me if you want. It'll make no difference. Commodus will level this place and everyone in it."

Thalia Grace drew her hunting knife. Instead of gutting the swordsman, she drove the blade into the nearest coffee table. "The Hunters of Artemis won't allow that. We've fought too many impossible battles. We've lost too many of our sisters, but we've never backed down. Last summer, in the Battle of Old San Juan..." She hesitated.

It was difficult to imagine Thalia at the edge of tears, but she seemed to be struggling to maintain her punk rock facade.

"We will not lose the Waystation too," Thalia continued. "We'll stand with Josephine and Emmie. We kicked Commodus's podex today. We'll do it again tomorrow."

The Hunters cheered.

Lityerses shook his head. "What you saw today was only a fraction of Commodus's full strength. He's got...vast resources."

Josephine grunted. "Our friends gave him a bloody nose today, at least. Maybe he won't attack tomorrow. He'll need time to regroup."

Lit let out a broken laugh. "You don't know Commodus like I do. You just made him mad. He won't wait. He never waits. First thing tomorrow, he'll strike hard. He'll kill us all."