I wasn’t sure how anything could get worse at this point, but Luke was right. I let him lead me out of the panic room and up the stairs. I tried not to hear the door shutting behind them.

And then we all went outside, this time with Aiden and Hercules carrying Solos’s body to a patch of land south of the landscaped pool. The shovels weren’t used. They weren’t even necessary, because Alex tapped into the earth element and a deep . . . a deep grave was formed. I realized that Aiden had sent Gable out of the room on purpose. Probably to clear his head, make him feel useful. Smart move.

Solos was placed in the grave and two coins were placed over his eyes. I’d never seen anything like it.

And I didn’t cry.

Even though I really wanted to.

The messy ball of emotion pinging around my chest might have been relieved that way, but all I could do was stand there as they moved the dirt back onto the grave.

“He will be awarded a warrior’s welcome in Tartarus,” Aiden said solemnly, his silver eyes oddly bright. “He will want for nothing.”

Staying outside wasn’t wise. Neither was going inside, but what other options did we have at this point? Once inside the kitchen, Gable turned off the oven, but there would be no getting rid of that burnt smell. Everyone split before I even realized what was happening, and I was the last to drag myself upstairs. Halfway down the hall, I heard voices—Alex and Aiden.

I should’ve kept going, but that’s not what I did. Creeping to the door, I stopped when I heard them talking in hushed voices.

“I’m going to call Marcus,” I heard Alex say.

“And I can summon Apollo and see if we can get Hephaestus to finish a cage,” Herc said, sounding surprisingly level-headed. He’d been all business since the Titan had showed up. “That will hold him.”

“It held me for a while,” Alex spoke. “But I wasn’t the God Killer at the time. And I think we all need to accept the fact that Seth has somehow become just that.”

I was hung up on the fact they were talking about putting Seth in a cage. An actual legit cage?

“The problem is, will Apollo answer your summons in a timely manner?” Aiden asked. “He pretty much answers when he feels like it, even when it’s majorly urgent.”

“That is a problem.” Herc paused. “I can go back to Olympus and retrieve Apollo. Or even Hephaestus.”

“What?” Alex demanded, and I wondered if Herc would even return. Didn’t sound like he wanted to be anywhere near Seth. “How?”

“I’m not of this realm, and I am able to reenter Olympus . . . under the right circumstances.”