“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Issues Boy,” he said, and Seth scowled. “Herc here can hurt you, but I’m telling him not to. The same goes for you. I need both of you to behave.”

“That’s no fun,” pouted Hercules.

“Wait.” Deacon’s gaze bounced back and forth. “Can we call you Herc?”

The demigod looked over his shoulder. “Everyone else does.”

“So cool,” murmured Deacon, silver eyes wide.

I felt like I needed to sit down.

Apollo glanced over at the couple standing in front of the couch and he smiled, warming the ethereal beauty of his face. My chest squeezed. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you two,” he said. “Both of you look very happy.”

“We are,” Aiden responded.

Next to him, Alex let out a little squeal and then she shot forward. Apollo chuckled as he opened his arms wide, welcoming Alex. He hugged her. She hugged him. The squeezing in my chest increased.

I stiffened and then forced myself to not have any reaction. I shouldn’t have one in the first place. This was . . . sweet. They obviously hadn’t seen each other in a very long time. Casting my gaze away, I focused on Herc. He was watching Apollo curiously, as if he’d never seen the god hug anyone before. The demigod’s gaze slid to mine. I looked away and saw Seth watching me. I smiled at him, because I didn’t have a reason not to smile. Everything was cool.

Everything was not cool.

Reaching up, I flipped my ponytail over my shoulder. I don’t know why it bothered me. Okay. I totally did. Apollo hadn’t even greeted me. His daughter. I was just standing over here like a doofus.

Aiden clapped a hand on the god’s shoulder and said something too low for me to hear as Alex drew back. She smiled up at Apollo, and I exhaled very slowly. Time to pull the big-girl panties up. Things were weird between Apollo and me, and Alex had known him for a long time, like really known him. I only knew the fake Apollo and the real Apollo, and I could literally count on both hands how many times I’d seen him.

Seth folded his arm over my shoulder, and I kept that smile plastered across my face. “So, what’s the game plan?” I asked, focusing on Herc.

Turning toward us, Apollo eyed the arm around my shoulder, and I silently dared him to say something about it. “It’s fairly simple. I see you’ve found the Librarian. Otherwise I’m not sure how you would have a vial of Pegasus blood.”

“I did.” I kept my voice level. “I also found the icons.”

“Perfect. I knew you would.” His smile was brief, not nearly as enormous as it had been when Alex squeal-tackled him. “Now, all we need are the demigods.”