I felt Aiden stiffen beside me and I shook my head. “No.
Not real y.”
A slow smile crept across Seth’s face as he flipped the dagger in his hand. “Real y, I’d let you play… with the grown-up toys.” He stopped in front of me, offering the blade handle first. “Here. Take it.”
My gaze fel to the shiny metal in his hand. The end had been sharpened to a brutal point. Like I was under a powerful compulsion, I reached for it.
Aiden’s hand clamped down on Seth’s, pul ing the dagger and Seth’s hand out of my reach. Startled, I looked up at Aiden. His furious silver eyes met and held Seth’s.
“She wil train with the daggers when I decide so. Not you.
Your presence here is not welcome.”
Seth’s eyes flicked to Aiden’s hand. His smile didn’t falter once. “Awful y control ing, aren’t you? Since when do pures care so much about what a half-blood touches or doesn’t touch?”
“Since when would an Apol yon concern himself with a half-blood girl? One would think he had better things to do.”
“One would think a pure-blood would know better than to fal for—”
“Okay.” I stepped between the two, cutting off only the gods knew what Seth was about to say. “Time to play nice, boys.” Neither of them seemed to hear or see me. Sighing, I grabbed Aiden’s arm. He looked at me then. “Practice is over, right?”
Reluctantly, he let go of Seth’s wrist and backed off. Even he looked surprised by his response, but he watched Seth intently. “For now—yes.”
Seth shrugged and flipped the blade over again, his gaze centered on me once more. “I actual y don’t have anything better to do then concern myself with a half-blood girl. ”
There was something about the way he spoke that gave me the chil s. Or it could have been the skil in which he handled the blade with. “I think I’l pass.”
After that, Aiden and I left the training room, neither of us speaking. I wasn’t sure why Aiden had reacted as strongly as he did or why Seth felt the need to push Aiden like that.
But by the time I met up with Caleb, I pushed it to the furthest corners of my brain to dwel on later.
Caleb decided we needed fun, and fun existed on the main island at Zarak’s weekly movie night. He always got his hands on movies just released in the theater, and since none of us got to go to places like that very often, it was a big deal to watch whatever the mortal world currently obsessed over. I was surprised he was stil holding it after the funerals yesterday, but I assumed everyone needed to let loose a bit, remind themselves they were stil alive.
But as soon as we arrived at his house, I knew things weren’t going to be fun. Everyone stopped talking when we walked down into the basement that’d been converted into a mini-theater. Pures and halfs alike stared at me, and the moment Caleb fol owed Olivia upstairs, people started whispering.
Pretending like I wasn’t at al bothered, I sat down on one of the unoccupied love seats and focused on a spot on the wal . Pride kept me from fleeing the room. After a few minutes, Deacon broke free of the cluster of kids and joined me.
“How’re you doing?”
I slid him a glance. “Great.”
He offered me a drink out of his flask. I took it and swal owed a mouthful, watching him out of the corner of my eye. “Careful,” he chuckled as he pried the flask out of my fingers.
The liquid scorched my throat and made my eyes burn.
“Jeez, what is that stuff?”
Deacon shrugged. “It’s my own special mix.”
“Wel … it’s certainly special.”
Someone from the other side of the room whispered something I couldn’t make out, but Cody busted into laughter. Feeling paranoid, I tried to ignore him.
“They’re talking about you.”
Slowly, I looked at Deacon. “Thanks, buddy.”
“Everyone is.” He shrugged as he flipped the flask over in his hands. “Frankly, I don’t care. Your mom’s a daimon. So what? It’s not like you can help it.”
“It real y doesn’t bother you?” Of al people, I thought it should bother him.
“No. You’re not responsible for what your mother did.”
“Or didn’t do.” I bit my lip, staring at the floor. “No one knows if she did anything.”
Deacon raised his eyebrows as he took a long drink.
“You’re right.”
The group across from us erupted in snickers and sly looks. Zarak shook his head, turning his attention to the remote in his hand.
“I think I hate them,” I muttered, wishing I hadn’t decided to come here.
“They’re just scared.” He gave a pointed look at the knot of people across the room. “They al fear being turned. The daimons have never been this close, Alex. Four hours isn’t that far away, and it could’ve been any of them. It could’ve been their deaths.”
I shivered and yearned for another drink from Deacon’s flask. It was real y warming. “Why aren’t you afraid?”
“We al got to die sometime, right?”
“That’s dark.”
“But my brother would never al ow something like that to happen to me,” he added. “He’d die first… and he’d never let that happen either. Speaking of my brother, how’s he been treating my favorite half-blood?”
“Uh… good, real y good.”
Cody’s loud voice rang out. “The only reason she’s stil here is because her stepfather is the Minister and her uncle is the dean.”
Al week I’d been ignoring the snide whispers and awful stares, but this—this I couldn’t ignore. There’d be no saving face if I did.
I leaned forward in my chair, resting my arms on my knees. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
No one dared to speak as Cody lifted his head toward me. “The only reason you’re stil here is because of who you’re related to. Any other half would’ve been thrown into servitude.”
Taking a deep breath, I searched my memories for something calming. I came up empty. “Why would that happen, Cody?”
Deacon shifted away from me, flask in hand.
“You brought your mother back here. That’s why. Those pures died because your mother’s out there looking for you!
If you weren’t here, they’d stil be alive.”
“Crap.” Zarak stood, clearing his chair from my path. Just in time, too. I flew across the room, stopping in front of Cody.
“You’re going to regret saying that.”
Cody’s lip twisted into a smirk. He wasn’t afraid of me.
“Wow. Threatening a pure wil get you kicked out the Covenant. Maybe that’s what you want? Then you can be reunited with your mother.”
My jaw hit the floor and my fist was about to hit his.
Deacon intervened, wrapping one arm around my waist. He picked me up and set me in the opposite direction.
“Out.” He didn’t give me much of an option with his hand on my back, pushing me toward the glass doors.
Being outside didn’t calm the rage in me. “I’m going to kil him!”
“No, you’re not.” Deacon shoved the flask in my hand.
“Take a drink. It wil help.”
I unscrewed the lid and took a healthy swal ow. The liquid scorched my insides and it only fueled my anger. I tried inching past Deacon, but for someone so slender and untrained, he proved a viable roadblock.
Damn him.
“I’m not letting you go in there. Your uncle may be the Minister, but if you beat up Cody, your ass is a goner.”
He was right, but I smiled. “It’d be worth it.”
“Would it be worth it?” He stepped to the side, blond curls fal ing into his eyes as he blocked me again. “How do you think Aiden would feel?”
The question hit me in the chest. “Huh?”
“If you get kicked out, what would my brother think?”
I unclenched my hands. “I… don’t know.”
Deacon tipped his flask at me. “He’d blame himself.
Think he didn’t train or counsel you wel enough. Do you want that?”
My eyes narrowed. I didn’t like his logical reasoning.
“Just like he counsels you not to be drunk al the time? And yet you are. How do you think that makes him feel?”
He slowly lowered the flask. “Touché.”
A few seconds later, backup arrived. “What the hel happened?” Caleb demanded.
“Some of your friends aren’t playing nice.” Deacon tipped his head back toward the door.
Caleb frowned as he walked to me. “Did one of them do something to you?” Anger flashed across his face when I told him what Cody had said. “Are you kidding me?”
I crossed my arms. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“No. Let’s just head back to the other island. Those assholes in there don’t understand.”
“No one understands,” I shot back, anger stil flooding my system. “You can stay here with your friends, but I’m heading back. This was a terrible idea.”
“Hey!” Caleb’s eyebrows shot up. “They’re not my friends. You are! And I do understand, Alex. I know you’re going through a lot.”
I whirled on Caleb. I knew I was being unreasonable, but I couldn’t stop. “You understand? How in the hel could you possibly understand? Your mother doesn’t want to be around you! Your father is stil alive! He isn’t a daimon, Caleb. How in the hel can you understand?”
He held out his hands as if he could somehow physical y stop my words. Pain flickered across his face. “Alex?
Gods.”
Deacon shoved the flask in his pocket, sighing. “Alex, try to calm down. You have an audience.”
He was so right. People had come outside at some point, loitering on the sprawling deck, watching with anticipation. They’d wanted a fight earlier and had been denied it. I took a deep breath and tried to rein in my anger.
I failed. “Every stupid person here thinks I’m the reason why those people died!”
Disbelief shone on Caleb’s face. “That can’t be true.
Look. You’re just stressed out. Let’s go back—”
My restraint broke. Closing the distance between us, I wondered if I would hit my best friend. Quite possibly, but I never got to find out. Out of nowhere, Seth appeared at my side, dressed in black like he always was. Did he never take that uniform off?
His presence not only stunned me into immobility, it also had a quieting effect on everyone around us. He took one long, hard look at me and then spoke in that lyrical, accented voice of his. “That is enough.”
I would’ve told anyone else to screw off, but this wasn’t a normal situation, and Seth wasn’t a normal person. We stared each other down. Clearly, he expected me to heed his warning or else.
With visible effort, I backed off. Caleb took a step toward me, but Deacon grabbed his arm. “Let her go.”
And I went. I made it past several houses before Seth caught up to me. “You let a bunch of pures get you that upset?”
“You’re such a stalker, Seth. How long were you standing there?”
“I am not a stalker, and I was standing there long enough to realize you have no self-control and you’re unstable. I kind of like that about you—mainly because I find it entertaining. But you have to know that you are not responsible for what your mother did. Who cares what a bunch of spoiled pures think?”
“You don’t know if my mom did anything!”
“Are you serious?” His eyes searched my face. He found what he was looking for. “You are! Now I can add stupid to my list of adjectives for describing you.”
I wondered what the other adjectives were. “Whatever.
Just leave me alone.”
Seth cut me off. “She’s a daimon. She kil s— kills innocent people, Alex. That’s what daimons do. There is no reason behind it. That’s what she is doing, but it is not your fault.”
I real y wanted to kick or punch him, but neither of those things would be smart. See, I did have self-control and intel igence. I sidestepped him, but Seth wasn’t having it.
He reached out, his hand closing around my forearm. Flesh against flesh.
The world exploded.
A surge of electricity shot through my body. It was like the feeling I got whenever he was near, but a hundred times stronger. I couldn’t speak, and the longer Seth held on, the more powerful the rush grew. What I was feeling was insane. What I was seeing was insane. Intense, bright blue light wrapped around his hand. It twisted like a cord, crackling and twining itself around my arm, his hand.
Instinctively, I knew it was connecting us—binding us together.
Forever.
“No. No, this isn’t possible!” Seth’s body had gone rigid.
I real y wished he’d let go of my arm, because his fingers dug into my skin and something… something else was happening. I felt it move inside me, twisting and wrapping itself through my core, and with each coil I knew it was linking us together.
Emotions and thoughts that weren’t my own raced at me.
They came in a blinding light, fol owed by vibrant colors spinning and shifting until I was able to comprehend and make sense of some of it.
This isn’t possible.
This is going to get us both killed.
I gasped for air. Seth’s thoughts slithered around mine and his emotions rol ed and tumbled through the both of us.
Abruptly, it al stopped as a door slammed shut in my mind.
The colors receded, and final y, the blue cord shimmered into a faint glow before disappearing.
“Uh… your tattoos are back.”
Seth blinked as he stared down at where his hand was stil around my arm. “This… can’t be happening.”
“What… did happen? Cuz if you know, I’d real y like to be fil ed in on this.”
He looked up, his eyes glowed in the darkness. The bewildered look faded, replaced by anger. “We’re going to die.”
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “I— what?”
Whatever he knew final y clicked into place for him. His lips thinned, and then he started walking, dragging me along behind him.
“Wait! Where are we going?”
“They knew! They knew this entire time. Now I understand why Lucian ordered me to Council when they found you.”
My feet slipped in the sand as I stumbled to keep up with him. I lost a sandal in the process, then lost the other one a couple of steps later. Dammit, I liked those sandals. “Seth!
You’re going to have slow down and tel me what’s going on.”
He shot me a dangerous look over his shoulder. “Your pretentious stepfather is going to tel us what is going on.”
I didn’t like to admit it, but I was scared, real y freaking scared. Apollyons can be unstable—dangerous even. No joke. Seth picked up the pace, dragging me behind him. I slipped. My knee caught the hem of my cotton dress, ripping it. With an impatient groan, he hauled me to my feet and continued.
Lightning zipped through the sky as he continued to drag me across the island. It struck a docked boat only a few yards away. The light stunned me, but Seth ignored the mess his anger had created.
“Stop!” I dug my feet into the sand. “The boat’s on fire!
We have to do something!”
Seth whirled around, his eyes luminous. He yanked me against him. “It’s of no concern to us.”
Heavy breaths heaved within my chest. “Seth… you’re scaring me.”
His expression remained hard and fierce, but his grip around my arm loosened a bit. “It’s not me you should be scared of. Come on.”
He pul ed me past the burning boat and up the silent coastline.
Seth turned when he spotted Lucian’s house, taking the wide porch steps two at a time. Clearly, he didn’t care if I could keep up with him or not. He let go then and started banging on the door like the police did on television.
Two fearsome-looking Guards opened the door. The first one spared me only a quick glanc
e before fastening narrowed eyes on Seth.
Seth’s chin came up. “We need to see Lucian now.”
The Guard straightened. “The Minister has retired for the evening. You wil have—”
A brutal burst of wind rushed from behind us. For a second, I couldn’t see past the mess of hair blowing in my face, but when I did, my heart stopped. The near hurricane force gust hit the Guard in the chest, slamming him back and pinning him halfway up the wal of my stepfather’s opulent foyer. The wind quieted, but the Guard remained up against the wal .
Seth stepped in through the door and looked at the other Guard. “Go get Lucian. Now.”
The Guard peeled his eyes off his coworker and hurried off to do Seth’s bidding. I fol owed Seth in, my hands shaking so badly I held them together. “Seth? Seth, what are you doing? You need to stop. Like right now. You can’t do this! Busting into Lucian’s house—”
“Be quiet.”
Retreating to the furthest corner of the foyer, I stared at the Guard. The air crackled with tension and power—the Apol yon kind of power. I pressed against the wal as it crawled over my skin and inched its way deep inside me.
A decent amount of commotion and movement at the top of the stairs drew my attention. Lucian came down the winding staircase, clad in pajama bottoms and a loose shirt. Seeing him like that made me giggle, but it came out kind of short and hysterical.
Lucian noted my semi-petrified position in the corner, and then glanced at the Guard suspended up against the wal . Final y, he gave Seth a strangely calm look. “What is this about?”
“I want to know how long you were going to continue this madness before the both of us were slaughtered in our sleep!”
My mouth dropped open.
Lucian’s voice remained level and cool. “Let the Guard down and I wil tel you everything.”
Seth didn’t look like he wanted to, but he dropped the Guard, and not very gently. The poor man crashed to the floor. “I want to know the truth.”
Lucian nodded. “Why don’t we move into the sitting room? Alexandria looks like she could real y sit down.”
Seth glanced over his shoulder with a frown, as if he’d forgotten about me. I must’ve looked pretty pitiful, because he nodded. I half debated making a run for it, but I doubted I’d get very far. Besides, beyond the fear, I was also curious as hel as to what was going on.
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