Not My Apocalypse Read Free Page A

no harm and the ghosts calmed down.
    In other cemeteries I came across Hel, Hecate, the Morrigan (a raven goddess who heard about me from the crows), Odin, and Anubis. Through them I met lots of other deities. Some of them were nice to me, some of them were jerks. A lot of them seemed curious about me and asked me lots of questions. They all knew the prophecy about me, and I guess they assumed that since I was supposed to bring about the end of the world, I actually wanted to. Most of the ones that took the time to talk to me and gave me a chance realized I wanted nothing to do with my father’s plans, or for that matter, Jehovah’s.
    Some of the nicer ones invited me to visit them. Persephone, who was especially nice to me, invited me down to her underworld early one fall so I could keep her company. None of the other Greek deities wanted to go down to Hades and she got bored in the depressing realm filled with the shades of the dead. The idea of hanging out in the gloomy Greek underworld didn’t bother me at all. I mean shit, it sounded better than being at home.
    I made sure it was okay to bring along Mew-Mew (like, that he wouldn’t get stuck there or something) and I followed her down. It was the longest I’d been away from home, and yeah it was gloomy but Persephone was fun (okay, so I admit I have a little crush on her. I see why Hades would want her, although I hope I don’t have to kidnap a girl to get her to stay with me). I was in the Greek underworld for a month before Satan came looking for me. Hades was not happy about him showing up and for a while there I thought it was going to start a fight. But Hades kicked me out, so I had to go back home.
    Satan didn’t ever do me permanent damage, but he did beat the shit out of me whenever he dragged me home. And every time, I told myself that someday I would be strong enough to fight back.
    ***
    The plan was to steal Apollo’s horse that night and hide him somewhere. Emily would go with Colin and steal the spears just after sunrise when Ra laid them aside for the day. I chose to be on horse-stealing duty because I figured my affinity for fire might make me less likely to get hurt. Besides, I like animals and I was happy for an excuse to visit the stable of Apollo. Most of the Greek gods weren’t very nice to me, so I hadn’t gotten the chance before.
    Stefan and Elliot came with me to the stables. I got in contact with Persephone and she snuck us into the sky-realm without me telling her why we wanted to get up there. She didn’t ask, either, and left us to go about our business. Elliot led the way to the stable. It’s a good thing I’d been hanging out with gods for years and visiting all kinds of strange realms. If this had been my first time in a sky-realm, I might have freaked out. I’m only half divine, so I can’t flit around wherever like gods can, but my father was once an angel and I inherited an ability to travel in sky-realms. Stefan sank into the clouds with each step like it was deep snow, but Elliot did just fine.
    The stable of the sun was fucking awesome. Even at night, when everything around it was dark, it had a glow coming from inside, like the sun itself was in there sleeping. We got up to the huge doors, but they were bolted shut. It took the three of us a few tries and more than a little straining to lift the bar and get one of the doors open.
    Inside, it was so bright it was hard to see. I had to blink and squint for a long time, and I was worried someone would find us right then, when I was half blind and couldn’t see to defend myself. As my eyes started to adjust, I could make out the bright shapes of the horses in their stalls.
    The place smelled like heat—not like something burning, but like a hot, dry day. The animals were snorting, a little nervous as they watched us. I could talk to some horses, but not all. Unfortunately, it turned out I couldn’t talk to any of Apollo’s horses. So I had to do the best I could.