Page 1 of Until the End of Ever
1
KLEOS
Idoubted anything could have prepared me for today.
In theory, I knew we had come here to get answers from a god. The strange runes that had been seared into my skin as part of a dark ritual to control me might be gone, replaced by Lucian’s writing, but the person who’d cursed me was still as elusive as ever.
We needed to know who it was, and none of our research had helped, so we were desperate enough to waste half a day on a field trip.
Just in case.
I hadn’t let myself think about what the “in case” entailed.
If I had, I would have imagined a thunderous voice from the deep, muttering vague, indiscernible verses. Wasn’t that what people usually got when they sought prophecies?
Then the great serpent appeared, and I was too busy worrying about not getting eaten—and not allowing my lethally courageous friends to turn themselves into snake chews—to think. But even if I’d taken the time to pause and ponder the significance of dealing with Python, I wouldn’t have imaginedhim.
I’d always pictured Apollo as blond in my mind, but fiery red waves made equal sense.
I hadn’t really considered the gods as actual people, but in my errant thoughts, the sun god wasgood. Warm. Maybe even funny. Like someone who loved sunbathing on a summer’s day with a cocktail in hand.
How wrong I was.
Something like him couldn’t be reduced to any one word, especially notgood. He was blindingly gorgeous, his presence so great it felt like it could crush me, bone and soul.
When he stepped towards us, it was a struggle to remain on my knees. My instincts were to run away.
His eyes varied between the blue of the clearest sky one moment, flashing as red as fire the next.
I was terrified. Even more terrified than when I faced Python.
Python was a simple godly creature. It was hungry; we looked like a good snack. He would have eaten our flesh and blood and essence, absorbing everything we were or could have been. I understood that.
What Apollo might want from us? I had no clue. I wasn’t naive enough to think that eating us was out of the question.
Each step he took made my heart thunder harder in my chest.
“You can straighten up, you know. I’m not one to stand on ceremony.”
Hesaidthat, but I had a feeling that if we hadn’t immediately prostrated ourself at his feet the moment he’d appeared, he might have burned us all to ash.
Hesitant, I made myself rise from my knees, straightening my spine one vertebra at the time.
I struggled to look at him properly. Keeping my gaze down, I only stole glances from the corners of my eyes.
The bow he casually held in his hand gleamed white and gold. I wondered why he bothered to carry a weapon when I was so certain he could kill us all with a mere snap of his fingers.
Not even that. A thought would have sufficed.
We shouldn’t have come.
“Great Apollo, you honor us with your presence.” Lucian took one step forward, ever so slightly to his right.
Towards me.
Though considerably more discreet, it was no different than his stance when Python had emerged. He was shielding meagain.
A quirk in the flawless creature’s lips told me he missed nothing. I fucking hoped he wasn’t offended by Lucian’s protectiveness. My guess was if he had been, we would have known.
