“It is imperative that we find the remaining demigods before the Titans do, but until recently, it would have been like looking for a long-haired cat in a room full of Himalayan cats.”

Like looking for what in what?

Josie’s brow wrinkled as her mouth opened, and then she snapped it shut. She gave a little shake of her head.

He continued on. “Since most of my brethren had not kept . . . tabs on their offspring, it could take us years to locate them. We do not have the luxury.”

“I’m guessing you’ve discovered another way to locate them?”

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t steal my thunder, Seth.”

I rolled my eyes. “By all means, please continue then.”

“Thank you for your permission,” he countered drolly. “I’ve discovered that there is something that can sense out a demigod, even if their abilities are locked and hidden away.”

“Really?” Josie sat on the arm of the chair next to the coffee table. “Please tell me it’s not something I need that librarian for, because I’m pretty sure she’s, like, left the country or something.”

His lips tipped up on the corners. “She is still around, but she is . . . how do I put this? Shy? Keep looking for her. You will find her.” He tilted his head to the side. “But no, you do not need her for this. What we need is another demigod.”

My brows inched up. “Wait. That isn’t particularly helpful. We don’t have another demigod other than Josie. Unless she can sense them out.”

“She can’t sense them out,” he replied.

“I couldn’t even sense you when you showed up,” she said, shoulders slumping. “Why don’t I get some kind of cool internal warning system?”

“You do.” Apollo turned the icy-blue stare on me. “But you’re new at this and I’m going to hazard a guess here and say you were too distracted to recognize what you were feeling.”

I smiled at him, the kind of smile I knew he hated.

“Oh,” Josie murmured from where she was perched. “That’s kind of awkward.”

“Anyway.” Impatience colored his tone, and of course, it was directed at me. Whatever. “An original demigod can sense other ones. They actually have some kind of internal homing signal. Has to do with the amount of aether and recognizing the similarity.”

“Huh.” Josie glanced over at me, her eyes widening as our gazes locked, and I did everything to hide my smile.

“Once we get a demigod down here, in this realm, it will take no time for the other demigods to be located,” Apollo explained. “The only hold-up is getting one of them here.”

“Of course,” I murmured.

He shot me a wry look. “It’s going to take some finagling. With the exception of our most recent offspring, demigods have been forbidden to enter the mortal realm for thousands of years. Their presence could have . . . consequences.”