01. Half-Blood

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Someone—either Aiden or Seth—sounded like they swal owed a laugh. But then the unreasonable happened.

  Lucian stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.

  I froze, my arms stuck awkwardly at my sides as the smel of herbs and incense assaulted my senses.

  “Oh, Alexandria, it is so good to see you. After al the years, and through al the fear and worry, you’re standing here. The gods have answered our prayers.” Lucian pul ed back, but he kept his hands planted on my shoulders. His dark eyes scanned every inch of my face. “By the gods…

  you look so much like Rachel e.”

  I had no idea what to do. Of al the reactions I’d expected, this hadn’t been a possibility. Whenever I’d been around Lucian in the past, he’d always looked at me with such cool disdain. This bizarre display of affection knocked me speechless.

  “The moment Marcus notified me that you were found safe, I rejoiced. I told Marcus I had a place in my home for you.” Lucian’s eyes settled back on mine, and there was something I didn’t trust in that warm gaze. “I would have come sooner, but I was attending to Council business, you see? But your old room… from when you stayed with us is stil intact. I want you to come home, Alexandria. You do not need to stay here.”

  My mouth dropped open at that point and I wondered if he had been replaced by a nicer pure-blood in the last three years. “What?”

  “I’m sure Alexandria is just overcome by her happiness,”

  Marcus commented blandly.

  There was that choked sound again, and I began to suspect that Seth was the culprit. Aiden was too wel trained to slip up twice. I stared at Lucian. “I’m… just confused.”

  “Confused? I can imagine. After al that you have been through.” Lucian released my shoulders, but then he grabbed my hand. I tried not to let my cringe show. “You’re far too young to suffer as you have. The tag… it wil never go away, wil it, dear?”

  My free hand went to my neck self-consciously. “No.”

  He nodded sympathetical y, and then led me to the chairs. He let go of my hand, readjusting his robes as he took a seat. I slumped into the other chair.

  “You must come home.” Lucian’s eyes bored into mine.

  “You don’t need to struggle to catch up with the others. This life is no longer necessary for you. I’ve spoken with Marcus at great length. You can attend the Covenant in the fal as a student, but not one in training.”

  I couldn’t have heard that right. Halfs didn’t attend the Covenant as students. They trained or they went into servitude.

  Marcus sat down slowly, his bright gaze fastened on me.

  “Alexandria, Lucian is offering you a chance for a very different life.”

  I couldn’t stop it. The laugh started in my throat and bubbled out. “This… this is a joke, right?”

  Lucian exchanged a look with Marcus. “No. This is no joke, Alexandria. I know we weren’t always close when you were younger, but after al that has happened, I have seen where I have failed you as a father.”

  I laughed again, earning a disapproving glare from Marcus. “I’m sorry.” I gasped as I pul ed myself back under control. “This is just so not what I expected.”

  “You do not need to apologize, my daughter.”

  I choked. “You’re not my father.”

  “Alexandria!” Marcus warned.

  “What?” I looked at my uncle. “He’s not.”

  “It is al right, Marcus,” Lucian’s voice fil ed with velvet-covered steel. “When Alexandria was younger, I wasn’t much of anything to her. I let my own bitterness rule everything. But now, it al seems so very shal ow.” He turned to gaze at me. “If I had been a better father figure then maybe you would have cal ed for help when your mother took you away.”

  I ran a hand over the side of my face, feeling like I’d stepped into a different world—a world where Lucian wasn’t a giant douche, and where I stil had someone who was technical y family and actual y cared for me.

  “But that is in the past, my dear. I’ve come to take you back home.” Lucian gave me a thin-lipped smile. “I’ve already spoken with Marcus, and we agree that—

  considering the circumstances—it would be for the best.”

  I snapped out of my haze of dumbness. “Wait. I’m catching up, aren’t I?” I whirled around in my seat. “Aiden, I’m catching up, right? I’l be ready in the fal .”

  “Yes.” He looked past me at Marcus. “Quicker than I would’ve thought possible, to be honest.”

  Thril ed that he hadn’t thrown me under the bus, I turned back to my uncle. “I can do this. I have to be a Sentinel. I don’t want anything else.” My voice rasped with desperation. “I can’t do anything else.”

  For the first time since I’d met Marcus, he actual y looked pained, like he was about to say something he didn’t want to. “Alexandria, it’s not about the training. I’m aware of your progress.”

  “Then what is it?” I didn’t care that I had witnesses to my panic. The wal s were closing in, and I didn’t even understand why.

  “You wil be taken care of,” Lucian tried to look reassuring. “Alexandria, you can no longer be a Sentinel.

  Not with such a horrific conflict of interests.”

  “What?” I looked back and forth between my uncle and stepfather. “There’s no conflict of interests. More than anyone, I have a reason to be a Sentinel!”

  Lucian frowned. “More than anyone, you have a reason not to be a Sentinel.”

  “Minister—” Aiden stepped forward, his eyes narrowing on Lucian.

  “I know you’ve worked hard with her and I appreciate that, St. Delphi. But I cannot al ow this.” Lucian held up a hand.

  “What do you think wil happen once she graduates? Once she leaves the island?”

  “Uh, I’l hunt and kil daimons?”

  Lucian turned to me. “Hunt and kil daimons?” His face turned paler than normal—which was saying something—

  as he turned to Marcus. “She doesn’t know, does she?”

  Marcus eyes closed briefly. “No. We thought… it would be for the best.”

  Unease slid down my back. “Know what?”

  “Irresponsible,” hissed Lucian. He lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  I shot to my feet. “Know what?”

  Marcus looked up, his face drawn and colorless. “There’s no easy way to say this. Your mother is not dead.”

  CHAPTER 11

  NOTHING EXISTED BUT THOSE WORDS.

  Marcus stood and edged around his desk. He stopped in front of me. The pained look had returned, but this time it was also mixed with sympathy.

  The clicking of the wal clock and the gentle hum of the aquarium motors fil ed the room. No one spoke; no one pul ed their eyes from me. I had no idea how long I stood there staring at him while I tried to piece together what he’d said. Nothing made sense to me at first. Hope and disbelief crashed together, then a horrifying realization as I understood the sympathetic look that had crossed his face.

  She was stil alive, but…

  “No… ” I pushed away from the chair, trying to put distance between his words and me. “You’re lying. I saw her. The daimon drained her, and I touched her. She was so… so cold.”

  “Alexandria, I’m sorry but—”

  “No! It’s impossible. She was dead!”

  Aiden was at my side, placing a hand on my back. “Alex

  —”

  I twisted out his grasp. His voice— Oh, gods—his voice said it al . And when I looked at him, saw the sorrow etched across his striking face, I knew.

  “Alex, there was another daimon. You know that.”

  Marcus’ voice carried over the sound of rushing blood that fil ed my ears.

  “Yes, but… ” I remembered how freaked out I’d been.

  Sobbing and hysterical, I’d shaken her and begged her to wake up, but she hadn’t moved.

  And then I’d heard someone else outside.

  Panicked
, I’d barricaded myself into the room and grabbed the money. Things had been blurry then. I’d needed to run. It was what Mom had prepared me to do if something like that ever happened.

  My heart stuttered and missed a beat. “She… she was stil alive? Oh—Oh, my gods. I left her.” I wanted to puke al over Marcus’s polished shoes. “I left her! I could’ve helped her! I could’ve done something!”

  “No.” Aiden reached for me, but I backed away. “There was nothing you could do.”

  “The other daimon did it?” I glared at Marcus, demanding an answer.

  He nodded. “We assume so.”

  I started to tremble. “No. Mom wouldn’t become… it’s impossible. You—you’re al wrong.”

  “Alexandria, you know how it could have been done.”

  Marcus was right. The energy the daimon passed on was tainted. She would’ve been addicted from the first moment on. It was a cruel way to turn a pure-blood, robbing them of al free wil .

  I wanted to scream and cry, but I told myself I could handle this. The burning in my eyes told me I was a liar. I turned back to Marcus. “She’s… a daimon?”

  Something akin to pain flickered across his otherwise stoic face. “Yes.”

  I felt trapped in this room with virtual strangers. My eyes skittered across their faces. Lucian seemed bored with this, surprising considering his earlier outpouring of affection and support. Aiden looked like he was having a hard time keeping his expression blank. And Seth… wel , he was watching me expectedly. Waiting for me to break down into hysterics, I assumed.

  He might get that. I was one step away from a ful -blown freak out.

  Swal owing against the thick lump in my throat, I tried to slow the wild beating in my chest. “How do you know this?”

  “She’s my sister. I would know if she were dead.”

  “You could be wrong.” My whisper held a tiny shard of hope. Dead was better than the alternative. There was no coming back once a pure turned into a daimon. No amount of power or begging—not even the gods could fix it.

  Marcus shook his head. “She was spotted in Georgia.

  Right before we found you.”

  I could tel this hurt him—possibly as much as it hurt me.

  She’d been his sister after al . Marcus wasn’t as emotionless as he made himself out to be.

  Then the Apol yon spoke. “You said her mother was seen in Georgia. Was not Alexandria in Georgia when you found her?” His voice was oddly accented, almost musical in quality.

  I slowly turned to him.

  “Yes.” Aiden’s dark brows furrowed.

  Seth appeared to consider that. “Does it not strike anyone as odd? Could it be her mother remembered her?

  Was actual y fol owing her?”

  A strange look crossed Marcus’s face. “We’re aware of the possibility.”

  It didn’t make sense. When pures were turned, they didn’t care about things from their previous lives. Or, at least, that was what we believed. Then again, it wasn’t like anyone took the time to question a daimon. They were kil ed on sight. No questions asked.

  “You believe her mother is aware of her. Possibly even looking for her?” Seth asked.

  “There’s a chance, but we cannot be sure. It could have been a coincidence that she was in Georgia.” Marcus’s words rang false.

  “A coincidence that she was in Georgia in addition to the two other daimons fol owing her?” Aiden asked. Marcus’s scowl deepened, but Aiden continued, “You know how I feel about this. We don’t know how much of their previous lives daimons retain. There’s a chance she’s looking for Alex.”

  The room tilted, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Looking for me? Not as my mother, but as a daimon. For what? The possibilities startled me… sickened me.

  “It is al the more reason to remove her from the Covenant, St. Delphi. Under my care, Alexandria wil be protected by Council Guards and the Apol yon. If Rachel e is hunting her then she wil be safest with me.”

  When I opened my eyes, I realized I was standing in the middle of the room. Each breath I took hurt. The need to give in to the tears was there, but I forced it down, al the way down. I lifted my chin and looked Marcus straight in the eye. “Do you know where she is now?”

  Marcus raised his eyebrows as he turned to Lucian, who took a moment before he responded. “I have a dozen of my best Sentinels hunting for her.”

  I nodded. “And you al —al of you think that knowing that my mother… is a daimon wil get in the way of me being an effective Sentinel?”

  There was a pause. “Not al of us agree, but yes.”

  “I can’t be the first person to face that.”

  “Of course not,” said Marcus, “but you are young, Alexandria, and you… ”

  My breath got caught in my throat again. “I’m what?”

  Il ogical? Distraught? Pissed off? Those were a few things I was feeling right now.

  He shook his head. “Things are different for you, Alexandria.”

  “No. They’re not.” My voice rasped. “I’m a half-blood. My duty is to kil daimons no matter what. This won’t affect me.

  My mom—she’s dead to me.”

  Marcus stared at me. “Alexandria… ”

  “Wil you force her from the Covenant, Minister?” Seth asked.

  “We wil not force her to leave.” Marcus interjected, his eyes on me.

  Lucian swung toward Marcus. “We agreed on this, Marcus.” His strained voice was low. “She needs to be placed under my care.”

  I knew he was saying a hel of a lot more. I watched Marcus consider whatever that unspoken thing was.

  “She can remain at the Covenant.” Marcus kept his gaze steady. “Nothing wil be jeopardized if she stays here. We can discuss more of this later, don’t you agree?”

  My eyes widened as I watched the Minister submit to Marcus. “Yes. We wil discuss this in great detail.”

  Marcus nodded before turning to me. “The original deal stil holds, Alexandria. You wil have to prove to me you are ready to attend in the fal .”

  I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Is there anything else?”

  “No.” I turned to leave but Marcus stopped me.

  “Alexandria… I’m sorry for what has happened. Your mother… didn’t deserve this. Neither do you.”

  A sincere apology, but it meant nothing to me. I was numb inside, and I wanted nothing more than to be away from al of them. I left the office with my head high, not seeing anyone. I even made it past the Guards, who’d probably heard everything.

  “Alex, hold up.”

  Struggling to control the cyclone of emotions building in me, I whirled around. Aiden had fol owed me out. I warned him off with a shaky hand. “Don’t.”

  He flinched back. “Alex, let me explain.”

  Over his shoulder, I saw we weren’t alone. The Guards stood by the closed doors to Marcus’s office—and so did the Apol yon. He watched us with casual indifference.

  I forced my voice low. “You knew this entire time, didn’t you? You knew what’d real y happened to my mother.”

  The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Yes. I knew.”

  Hurt exploded in my chest. Part of me had hoped he hadn’t known, that he hadn’t kept this from me. I took a step forward. “We’ve spent every day together and never once did it cross your mind to tel me? Did you think I didn’t have a right to know the truth?”

  “Of course I thought you had the right, but it wasn’t in your best interest. It stil isn’t. How can you focus on training—

  focus on preparing to kil daimons—when you know your mother’s one of them?”

  I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. How could I focus now?

  “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but I don’t regret keeping it from you. We could’ve found her and disposed of the problem without you knowing any different. That was the plan.”

  “That was the plan? To kil her before I found out she was alive?” My voice grew louder with each wo
rd. “You preach to me about trusting you? How in the hell can I trust you now?”

  Those words struck home. He took a step back, running a hand through his hair. “How does knowing what your mother is make you feel? What does it make you think?”

  Hot tears burned in the back of my throat. I was going to break right here in front of him. I started backing up.

  “Please. Just leave me alone. Leave me alone.”

  This time, when I turned away, no one stopped me.

  ***

  In a daze, I climbed into my bed. A sickening feeling settled over me. Part of me wanted to believe everyone was mistaken and Mom wasn’t a daimon.

  My stomach churned and I curled into myself. Mom was out there, somewhere, and she was kil ing people. From the moment she’d turned, the need to feed on aether would’ve consumed her. Nothing else would matter to her.

  Even if she did remember me it wouldn’t be in the same way.

  I scrambled from the bed, barely reaching the bathroom in time. I fel to my knees, clutched the sides of the toilet, and gagged until my body shook. When I was done, I had no strength to stand.

  My thoughts whirled into a heady mess. My mother’s a daimon. Sentinels were out there, hunting her down. But I couldn’t replace her warm smile with that of a daimon’s.

  She was my mother.

  I pushed away from the toilet and rested my head against my knees. At some point, there was a knock at the door, but I ignored the sound. There was no one I wanted to see, no one I wanted to talk to. I don’t know how long I stayed there. It could’ve been minutes—or hours. I wil ed myself not to think and to just breathe. The breathing part was easy, but the not thinking part was impossible. Eventual y, I crawled to my feet and stared at my reflection.

  Mom stared back at me—al except the eyes, the only thing we didn’t share. But now… now she’d have those gaping sockets and her mouth would be ful of jagged teeth.

  And if she did see me again, she wouldn’t smile or hug me. She wouldn’t brush my hair back like she used to.

  There would be no tears of happiness. She might not even know my name.

  She would try to kil me.