“Good.” He lowered his head, kissing me to the point where I almost forgot about what I had to do. “You ready? Marcus will be waiting for us at the Council.”
I wasn’t ready, but I said yes. I quickly changed into a Sentinel uniform. The thrill I normally got from donning the all-black uniform was gone.
Completely gone.
You’re not a Sentinel anymore.
Had I ever really been a Sentinel? The first time I’d put the uniform on and left to face my mom, I’d felt like one. The badass rush had filled me when I’d donned one after I broke the connection to Seth and prepared to enter the Underworld with Aiden.
I shouldn’t be wearing this uniform now. The inner-annoying-Alex voice agreed.
But I kept it on, because I needed to look the part even if I didn’t feel it. Strapping the daggers onto my thighs, I slipped the Glock Aiden handed me into the side holster. He patted my rear as I walked past him and, well, that made me feel a little better about the uniform.
My uncle was with Diana, waiting in one of the side rooms. There was a decent crowd out there, and the bacon I’d eaten was doing funny things in my stomach. Standing in the wings of the raised dais reminded me of when Lucian and Seth had turned on the Council.
Marcus still looked rough, but like all pures, he healed quickly. The bruises were fainter, and the swelling had gone down. “How are you feeling, Alexandria?”
One of these days, he would consistently call me Alex, and people would also stop asking how I was. “Okay. You?”
He gave me a tight smile. “Better.”
Solos entered, and Aiden immediately started questioning him about the walls. The gate was holding. There’d been no more attacks, and scouts had been sent out, like the party that had met us at the wall before we entered the University. Luke was among them.
Deacon had been chatting with Olivia, but he’d quieted at that and sat up straight on the bench. His gaze shifted from his brother to Solos, and I was grateful Deacon hadn’t seen the two Sentinels who’d been down by the burnt-out wreckage. His eyes, the only feature he shared with Aiden, were a bright silver. Worry etched into his features.
I made my way over to him. “Luke will be okay. He’s an awesome Sentinel.”
His lips tipped up in an uneven smile. “I know. It’s just…”
No one, no matter how good they were, was truly safe, especially not a Sentinel. I wished there was something more I could say, but if Deacon and Luke were serious about each other, he was going to have to get used to the dangers Luke faced. It was a harsh reality.
“He’ll be okay,” I reassured him, and Deacon nodded, exhaling softly.
Val entered from the main room, a hand on the hilt of his dagger. His blue eyes were extraordinarily bright against his swarthy complexion. “Everyone’s ready if you are.”
My uncle turned to me and nodded. Full of nervous energy, I stepped forward, relieved when he and Aiden followed.
Walking onto the Council dais was freaky. After all, Head Minister Telly, the leader of all the Councils, had once tried to place me under the Elixir and commit me to servitude during a Council session. So, yeah, I wasn’t a big fan of walking before the twelve thrones. All I could think, as I stopped in the center, flanked by two pure-bloods, was that I wished I had prepared a speech or something.
A lot of people were staring at me—well over three hundred, if I had to hazard a guess. In the back were all the Guards and Sentinels not on patrol, and the numbers were disheartening—maybe a hundred to a hundred and fifty. And most of them had to be from the University, meaning most of the others didn’t make it here…or they had sided with the other side.
So not good.
Council members who resided at the University were easy to pick out. They were in their ceremonial robes: red, blue, white and green, representing the different houses of power. Fire. Water. Air. Earth. Council members who had taken refuge here weren’t dressed in their finery, but the cool disdain of seeing a half-blood standing where they belonged was written all over their faces, as well as on the faces of many students and staff members.
One would think in a time of war that prejudice wouldn’t be strengthened, but it seemed to only fortify the age-old beliefs that halfs were less than pures.
A Council member in the front curled her lips as she leaned over to another member, whispering what was probably a very flattering observation.
And then, before I could even open my mouth and say a single, embarrassingly inept attempt of joining the masses, a Council member in red robes stood and the real fun began.
“She should not be standing before the thrones of Ministers,” he said, his hands forming fists against his robes. “This is not what the Council chambers should be used for. And a traitorous pure-blood stands there, too! One who used compulsion on his own kind. It’s a disgrace.”
Aiden arched a brow, looking wholly unrepentant.
I sighed and folded my arms.
A low murmur started from the back of the room. A student shot to her feet. She was a pure-blood, a beautiful redhead who reminded me of Dawn, Lea’s sister. “People are dying outside these walls, mortals and pures and halfs alike, and the first thing you have to comment on is the fact that there’s a half-blood standing on the Council stage?”
The Council member whipped around. “As a pure-blood, you should respect the laws of our society!”
“Laws of our society?” The girl’s eyes widened as she laughed. “Are you insane? I heard that daimons almost broke through the walls yesterday, and that a god was controlling them. Who gives a shit about our laws right now?”
I kind of really liked this girl.
Marcus stepped forward, clearing his throat as he tipped his chin up. “You may not agree with the use of the Council chambers, Minister Castillo, but that is not the point of this meeting.”
As the Minister clearly stated why he felt this was the perfect moment to discuss his opinions, my gaze met Laadan’s. I immediately thought of what she’d told me about my father while we were in Illinois. I’d hoped I’d find him here, but deep down, I knew he wouldn’t be. He’d most likely stayed in the Catskills with the other half servants, protecting and leading them. Head Minister Telly had enslaved him, placed him on the Elixir, and even cut out his tongue, but my father…he was a leader.
And I was his daughter.
“This is stupid,” I said, loud enough that it shut up the over-talkative Council member. All eyes were on me. I took a step forward. “We’re arguing over whether or not I belong on this stage—this stupid stage. That’s all this is. And these thrones? They’re just chairs. Who cares? They mean nothing to me or to the rest of the world. They only mean something to you because you made them so.”
The minister turned the color of his robes. “How dare you?”
“Oh, I dare.” Tapping into some of the anger that simmered in my stomach like a poison, I pulled it to the surface. “Yes, I am a half-blood. I am one of many trained to give their lives so you can sit in your precious chairs. So how about you show the halfs a little bit of respect?”
“Alexandria,” Marcus said in a low voice, stepping up beside me.
I was on a roll, and there was going to be no stopping me. “But I am also the Apollyon. If I wanted to, I could blast your asses into next week, or use compulsion to gain everyone’s agreement here, but I don’t believe in forcing people to do things they don’t want to. You could learn from that.”
Several heads turned to one another. Whispers grew. The Minister tipped his chin up defiantly. “I see what you’re getting at, but that does not change the blatant rape of our laws!”
“Rape of our laws? Whoa. That isn’t insulting or anything.” I shook my head at all of those nodding. “You people are insane. You don’t get it. When Ares gets through the wards, which he will, he will be sitting on one of your precious thrones. None of you will be. And he will do with you as he pleases.”
“He is a god,” another Minister a
rgued, a women in her late forties. “We are their servants. If he—”
“Oh, yeah, you’ll definitely be his slaves. Maybe we should stop right here and invite him in. Karma is a big, fat—”
“Alex,” Aiden said, shaking his head slightly.
I rolled my eyes, but took a deep breath and forced my gaze away from the Minister before I made him start squawking like a chicken. Honestly, that would make just as much sense as the words he was saying. I scanned the crowd. “I watched Ares kill people without lifting a finger. I heard his plans. He doesn’t care about any of you. He sees pures just as you see the halfs. He will enslave you along with the mortals. He believes the gods should rule over the mortal realm once more, and that’s a dangerous desire. He will make war on the mortals, on you, and any god who stands in his way. There will be no Council to argue over. There will be new rules and new laws to follow, and all of us will still be on the same level. I can promise you that. And if he succeeds in turning the First into a God Killer, then the other gods will rip this world apart to stop him. They’ve already begun.”
Some stared back in disbelief, others wore masks of fear. One of the Sentinels in the back spoke up. “Can we even stop Ares?”
No, whispered that voice. No one can stop Ares. Pressure clamped down on my chest. Swallowing hard, I struggled to ignore the now-familiar anxiety rising within me.
“He defeated you. That’s what I heard,” said a student. “And you’re the Apollyon. If you can’t defeat him, how can any of our Sentinels or Guards do anything?”
“Maybe we can reach some sort of agreement with him,” suggested an older pure. “Fighting is not the only answer.”
One of the Guards scoffed loudly. “Ares is the God of War, not the God of Treaties.”
“He is the God of War,” argued the pure. “How can we defeat him?”
“So we do nothing?” asked Val from the side of the dais. “We let the fear of falling in battle lead us into surrendering? Is that how a Sentinel or Guard behaves?”
There were several shouts of disagreement, and all were from the Sentinels and Guards—soldiers who would never leave their posts.
“I don’t know,” I said, and again, the mass quieted. “I don’t know if we can stop Ares. And you’re right, he did kick my ass every which way from Sunday, but I know that no one is safe if he succeeds. I also know that we’re not alone. We have Apollo, and Artemis, and other gods behind us, and we…we have…”
A strange feeling unfurled within me, sending a series of shivers like icy fingers all over my skin. I shook my head, causing a sharp pain to crack down my neck. I suddenly found it hard to breathe. It was like waking up unexpectedly and realizing I was already late for something.
“Alex?” Aiden stepped up beside me, his brows knitting. His eyes searched over my face. He placed a hand on my arm. “What’s wrong?”
I saw him and Marcus, but every fiber of being was focused on someone else, outside this building and so very close. The crowd shifted nervously. A tremor coursed through my body. Deep inside my core, the cord snapped alive, thrumming frantically. The marks of the Apollyon bled to the surface, swirling over my skin. My heart hammered as tiny hairs rose all over my body.
“He’s here,” I said to Aiden, my voice a thready whisper. “Seth’s here.”
CHAPTER 7
There were no sirens, and I knew there’d be none. Seth was too cool for that.
“Alex, hold up.” Aiden grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop just outside the Council building. Marcus was behind him, as was Val. “What are you doing? You just left in the middle of your speech.”
“He’s here. I know he is. I can feel him.” Seth wasn’t talking to me, but I could feel him in every cell. The cord was buzzing along happily, in a way it only did when he was near. “Tell Val to make sure everyone is safe, but I have to go.”
“Something is happening at the gate,” Val said, placing his hand over an earpiece. “I can’t get a definite response from them, but something’s going on.”
“You don’t have to go.” Aiden’s eyes turned a thunderous shade of gray. “We need to take a minute—”
“And what? Give him more time? No.”
“He’s right.” Marcus stood at our shoulders. “What is our plan? Go out there and shake Seth’s hand?”
My eyes narrowed on my uncle. “Actually, my plan was more to stab him in the eyeball and then decide what to do.”
Marcus’s jaw locked down. “I think you’re missing the point. If he transfers your power or gains control over you, it is all over. We must think about this.”
“He can’t get control over me.” My eyes flicked to Aiden’s, and I willed him to understand what I didn’t even really understand myself. I didn’t want to face Seth, but I had to see him. I had to know that my instincts were right, that he was here and I wasn’t going crazy. “We are so beyond that phase.”
Aiden shook his head. “There have been no sirens, and Val can’t get the Guards at the gate to respond. Think about that. We could be walking into a trap. You could be walking into a trap.”
Seth could keep dozens of Guards quiet with a compulsion. That fact didn’t change anything. I pulled my arm free, done with this conversation. Spinning around, I cut through the campus, heading for the gates. I didn’t even look to see if Val was doing anything. Each step made the cord tighten. My skin felt stretched to the point of ripping by the time I passed the courtyard and inhaled the sweet scent of peonies.
“I swear to the gods, Alex, I will pick you up and throw you over my shoulder. You cannot go out there. Think for a second.” Aiden was right by my side, head down low and his voice a low warning. “Remember what we talked about last night. If you’re—”
“I remember,” I shot back, picking up my pace. “And that has nothing to do with this.”
“That has everything to do with this!”
I blinked, sort of stunned that he would yell at me, but how could I be surprised? Aiden would do anything to keep me—and the baby, if there was one—safe, but if Seth was here, there was no hiding. Nothing was safe.
Marcus appeared on my other side. “What did you two talk about last night? And yes, I know this isn’t the appropriate moment for this discussion, but you two really need to find separate beds so there aren’t any ‘late night’ chats.”
I almost laughed, because wow, if only he knew how late in the game that advice was. “This isn’t the right time for that talk. Trust me.”
“That I don’t find reassuring.” Marcus thrust a hand through his wind-tossed brown hair, his bright green eyes narrowed. “Alexandria, please listen to us. This isn’t safe or smart. We have to think about this.”
Aiden stepped in front of me, forcing me to skid to a stop. His hands landed on my shoulders. “You’re starting to scare me. Okay?” His cupped my cheeks gently, forcing my eyes to his. “You’re not ready for this—ready for him.”
Alex?
I sucked in a sharp breath as I pulled away. Aiden’s fingers trailed off my cheeks. The cord coiled tightly, straining inside me, and then expanded, yearning for its other half at the sound of Seth’s voice. He came right through the shields. Was it because he was so close? Or was I truly unprepared because this was the first time that we had been near each other since I’d Awakened?
My gaze shifted beyond Aiden to the walls in the distance. Seth?
There was a pause, and then the cord snapped inside me. We need to talk.
I don’t know what it was about those four words that set me off, but rage poured into me, so potent and so quick that I almost screamed in fury. “We need to talk.” That, after everything, was what he had to say? I wanted to drop-kick that question into his face.
I took off, my boots digging into the loose dirt. Aiden shouted, and I heard him coming after me, but I was fast when I wanted to be, faster than him. I flew past the last of the statues and almost ran into a pack of Guards crowding the entrance to the wall. They didn’t move, didn
’t speak.
They were enthralled.
“Move,” I shouted, shouldering the Guards aside. “Get out—” The words died on my lips. I came to a complete standstill, but it felt like the ground was moving under my feet. “Oh my gods…”
He stood a foot away from the closed gates, separated from me by iron and titanium. His hair was longer than it had been when he’d come back from the Catskills, falling over his forehead in a mess of blond waves. He was dressed as a Sentinel; all the black was a contrast against his golden skin. His impossibly perfect features were devoid of the typical, ever-present smirk, but the inky black marks of the Apollyon glided across his skin, and his iridescent amber eyes were fixed on mine.
Seth was beautiful. It was like the gods themselves had pieced him together, and in a way, they had. There’d always been a lack of humanity in his beauty, the whole time I’d known him. As I stared at him now, seeing him for the first time in months, there was something brimming in his eyes and etched into his features that had never been there before.
It made me uneasy in my own skin.
Movement behind him drew my attention. Luke stepped forward as if in a daze. He didn’t even blink as he unlocked the gate. Hinges groaned, and then the heavy gate swung open. It was just Luke with Seth, but I knew there were others. Every instinct in my body told me an army waited over the crest, just waiting for the signal to attack us.
Seth stepped forward, his eyes only leaving mine to take in my altered appearance. That emotion strengthened in his eyes and face, and I refused to believe what I was seeing. In that moment, I wanted to kill him and I wanted to touch him. Weird, but I figured it had something to do with what we were.
“Alex,” he spoke out loud, shattering the trance.
The very thought of him made my skin crawl. I wanted to find a wool brush and scrub all the memories of him out of my head. I hated him for what he’d become, for what he’d allowed, and I hated him for the fact that a part of me still loved him, because he was a part of me—a part that had turned on me like a venomous pet snake.
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