DIVINE » l. valdez

least favourite emperor? nero

if i trust in you, would you let me down?

In an instant, the warmth that had enveloped Hina once more disappeared. 

"Meg?" Hina repeated, her voice shrinking. 

"Meg, we are friends." Apollo looked crestfallen. "How could you do this to me?"

The demigod in question looked down, her short hair hiding her face. "I tried to tell you, to warn you."

"She has a good heart." Nero smiled. "But, Apollo, you and Meg have been friends for just a few days—and only because I asked Meg to befriend you. I have been Meg's stepfather, protector, and caretaker for years. She is a member of the Imperial Household."

Hina felt numb. After everything she had shared with Meg, her life story, her greatest fears- she had backstabbed them. 

"I risked my life for you," Apollo said in amazement. "And that actually means something, because I can die!"

Nero clapped politely. "We're all impressed, Apollo. Now, if you'd open the gates. They've defied me for too long."

Hina couldn't bring herself to look at Meg, her heart pounding in her chest. Instead, she turned studying the oak trees. 

Nero's previous efforts—chain-saw scars, burn marks, bites from ax blades, even some bullet holes littered the surface. All these had barely chipped the outer bark. The most damaged area was an inch-deep impression in the shape of a human hand, where the wood had bubbled and peeled away.

"Nero, what have you done?" Apollo demanded, his gaze still fixed on the trees.

"Oh, a number of things! We found a way into this antechamber weeks ago. The Labyrinth has a convenient opening in the myrmekes' nest. But getting through these gates—"

"You forced the palikos to help you?" Hina cut him off, eyes glued to Paulie the geyser god, where he hung beside the other demigods.

Apollo's face reddened, his hands gripping his wind chimes as if contemplating throwing them at the emperor. "You used a nature spirit to destroy nature? Meg, how can you tolerate this?"

The girl kept her expression guarded, not giving away any trace of the Meg Hina had talked with hours before. 

"Come now," Nero said. "Meg knows there are good nature spirits, and bad ones. This geyser god was annoying. He kept asking us to fill out surveys. Besides, he shouldn't have ventured so far from his source of power. He was quite easy to capture. His steam, as you can see, didn't do us much good anyway."

"And the five demigods? Apollo asked. "Did you 'use' them, too?"

Hina almost didn't want to hear the answer. The thought of her friends being used against their will made her knees weak.

"Of course. I didn't plan on luring them here, but every time we attacked the gates, the grove started wailing. I suppose it was calling for help, and the demigods couldn't resist. The first to wander in was this one." He pointed to Cecil Markowitz. "The last two were your own children—Austin and Kayla, yes? They showed up after we forced Paulie to steam-broil the trees. I guess the grove was quite nervous about that attempt. We got two demigods for the price of one!"

All Hina could see was red. Her hands shook violently as Nero watched her gleefully. 

Apollo let out a guttural howl and charged the emperor. He wouldn't have gotten far, the Germani could have ripped off the former god's head in an instant. Thankfully, Apollo tripped over a human pelvis and skidded through the bones.

"Apollo!" Meg rushed forward but he flailed onto his back and wildly kicked into the air like a toddler. 

"I don't need your help! Don't you understand who your protector is? He's a monster! He's the emperor who—"