After checking out of the motel, they went back to the Greyhound station. Avery didn’t like the idea of going back, but they didn’t have much choice. Even if they could get a car, none of them could drive. The bus was their only way out of town.

Avery kept a close eye on Noah while they waited for Shane again. She told herself that they would leave if he so much as shivered. She didn’t understand why, but she now saw that Noah’s wooziness was connected to their proximity to danger. She was going to pay closer attention to it from now on.

Luckily, Noah seemed perfectly fine today.

Shane came back and handed Avery their tickets. She couldn’t help but notice the price listed on them. She and Noah would never have been able to afford them on their own. She looked up at Shane, not sure how to thank him.

Before she could think of anything, Shane noticed her staring. “What?”

“Nothing.” Avery quickly turned away. “We should get going.”

Once again, they boarded a bus and waited to depart. Avery kept her eye on Noah and didn’t relax until the bus started to move. There was no sign of any more handsy mouthless men.

“How far are we going?” Noah asked, leaning back in his seat. Avery thought he looked just as relieved as she was that nothing had stopped them this time.

“Pretty far.” Shane was across the aisle from Avery and Noah, but he leaned over to speak. “I got the tickets going as far east as possible without having to wait too long.”

Avery was suddenly filled with doubt. “What if it’s too far?” They didn’t know where they were going, or how far east their destination was. What if they had to backtrack? How long was this trip going to take?

“We’ll know.” Noah placed a hand over hers. “Dad will tell us if we’ve gone too far.”

Avery stared at her brother. How could he be so sure? The only message they had ever gotten from their dad came through Hermes, who had also said he couldn’t tell them where to go. Why did Noah think he would correct their path?

Unless…

Hermes had said their dad was the god of prophecy, and that Noah had gotten his gift. Had their dad told Noah to go east? Was he the reason Noah knew about the monsters in their path?

If so, then why was it just Noah? Apollo was supposed to be her dad too, but he hadn’t given her anything. All she had was a bow that she was lucky to have an affinity for.

Then something occurred to her.

“I’m an idiot.” Avery shook her head at herself.

“Avery?” Shane questioned. “What’s wrong?”

She got up and started walking up the aisle, bracing herself against seat backs. A few rows up, she found a girl around her age who was scrolling through something on her phone. Perfect.

“Excuse me?” Avery got the girl’s attention and smiled. “Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help me.”

“With what?” The girl sounded bored.

Avery thought fast. “I’m trying to settle an argument with my boyfriend.” She pointed back the way she had come, where Shane was leaning into the aisle to watch her. “I just need to borrow your phone to look something up.”

“Uh, sure.” The girl was now focused entirely on Shane. She handed her phone to Avery and used her now free hand to wave.

Avery opened the internet browser and typed in her dad’s name. Most of the results were for the US space program. She scrolled until she found a hit about the Greek god.

As she had suspected, Apollo was the god of multiple things. The site was rather helpful in that it laid everything out in a handy list. Prophecy, music, the sun…

Archery.

Avery felt her stomach flutter. Her dad was the god of archery. That meant her natural skill with the bow he had sent her had been inherited.

He hadn’t ignored her.