Not My Apocalypse Read Free

he’s inviting us to steal them?”
    Emily nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
    So, one problem down. I looked at Elliot. “So, what about you?”
    He looked even more upset than Emily had. “Apollo said no. I mean flat-out no, no hints that he might secretly want to help us or anything.”
    I sighed. “I guess we’ll just fucking have to steal one, with or without an invitation.”
    “Won’t he be upset when he finds out?” Elliot asked.
    “Yeah, probably, but we’ll worry about that later.”
    “How are we supposed to steal one of Apollo’s horses?” Colin asked.
    “I’m still working on that. We’ll figure something out. So, what did you find out?” I asked Stefan.
    “Thor said we’ve got a few days at least. The sun horse is limping and Sköll is catching up, but he’s not quite there yet. And get this, when the horses are resting, no one is bothering to check the horse out and treat him. It’s like they want the world to end or something.”
    “No, they don’t want it to end, they just think it’s inevitable, so they aren’t trying,” Colin said.
    “But it is inevitable,” he said. “Ragnarok is going to happen.”
    “Yeah, maybe so. But it doesn’t have to happen now .” I looked around at them. “It doesn’t have to be now,” I repeated, feeling fire inside me, both metaphorical and real. “Not on my watch. Not on our watch, right?”
    Stefan had a light in his eyes that told me he was on board. Colin was with me, too. Emily didn’t look so sure, but she’s the youngest of us so I give her some slack. Elliot looked like he wanted to hide. “We’re the sons and daughters of gods; we’re supposed to be heroes, right? Well, except for me, but fuck that. I don’t want to end the world. I want to save it.” I’d meant it yesterday when I first brought up the idea of stopping Ragnarok, but now it really sank in that we were going to try to fight off an immortal being and save the world. It wasn’t just an idea; it wasn’t just one of those things I said when I was pissed off about my lot in life. I really, honestly wanted to save the world.
    “But we’re just kids,” Elliot said.
    “A few thousand years ago most of us would be considered adults. Besides, who else is gonna do it?”
    “I’ll do it,” Stefan said. “I don’t want the world to end.”
    “I don’t want the world to end either, but I’m scared.” Emily said.
    “You can help with switching the horses. We’ll hold off Sköll,” I said.
    “What about the injured horse? Apollo needs his horses, too, so we’ll have to switch them back before he goes and takes it, and we end up where started,” Colin said.
    I rubbed my temple. “We’ll take the injured horse to someone to get healed.” I searched my memory for horse deities. “We’ll get like, fucking Epona or something.”
    Colin perked up. “Oh hey, I can get her.”
    “What about the noninterference issue?” Elliot said. “If Ra can’t help us directly, then she won’t either.”
    Emily said, “But it’s not an act of aggression. If Ra helped us stop Sköll, then they could say he was trying to attack another pantheon. Healing a wounded horse isn’t the same thing.”
    Elliot kept looking for excuses. “But she still might not want to risk it.”
    “Then we’ll see if she knows someone who will. We’ll worry about that later. We need to move on this now.” I had to hope Satan didn’t find me until after we saved the world.

Chapter 2
    It’s because of cemeteries and ghosts that I first met other gods. The first one I met was a sort-of god. I mean, when I asked him if he was, his answer was kind of fuzzy and I gave up trying to get him to explain. He was a cemetery guardian, and more than just a ghost. He’d come when the ghosts cried out, afraid of me. They wanted him to throw me out to protect them. This skeletal figure showed up and introduced himself as Ankou and threatened to drive me out of his territory. I convinced him I meant