He did his best to shrug. With his bruised ribs, it came off a bit lopsided. “I figured you’d see him since… ”
“Since what?”
“I know I was in and out of it back in the cabin, Alex, but your mom said you were another Apol yon.” He watched me closely.
My stomach turned over and I flopped back on the bed, silent. Caleb stil watched me. Waiting. I took a deep breath and told him everything in one big rush, stopping for a breath right before I told him Seth would become the God Kil er. When it was over, Caleb stared at me as if I had three heads. “What?”
He blinked and shook his head. “It’s just… you shouldn’t be, Alex. I remember my History and Civilization class last year. We talked about the Apol yons and what happened to Solaris. This is… wow.”
“Wow isn’t the word I’m aiming for.” I pushed myself up and crossed my legs. “I mean, it’s pretty cool. Right? At eighteen, I’l either be obliterated or sucked dry by Seth instead of legal y buying cigarettes.”
“But—”
“Not that I would smoke. I guess I could pick up the habit.
Maybe, just maybe, I’l be al energized long enough to use akasha, because I saw Seth use it and it was damn cool.
I’d like to hit a daimon or two with that.”
Caleb scowled. “You’re not taking this serious at al .”
“Oh, I am. This is what I like to cal coping with the impossible.”
He wasn’t impressed by my strategy. “You said Solaris was kil ed because the First Apol yon attacked the Council, right? Not because of what she was?”
I shrugged. “So as long as Seth doesn’t go crazy, then I guess I’m okay.”
“Why didn’t Solaris stand against him?”
“Because she fel in love with him or something lame like that.”
“Then don’t fal in love with Seth.”
“I real y don’t think that’l be a problem.”
He didn’t look entirely convinced. “Thought you guys belonged together or something?”
“Not in that way!” I forced my voice calmer. “It’s like our energy responds to one another. It’s nothing more than that.
I’m just made to… I don’t know, complete him. How freaking lame is that?”
He gave me a concerned look. “Alex, what are you going to do about this?”
“What can I do? I’m not going to stop living… or give up on my life, because of what might happen. Something real y bad may come out of this or something real y good or… nothing at al . I don’t know, but I do know I’m going to focus on being one… ” I stopped, surprised by my own words. Whoa. It was one of those real y mature, real y rare moments in my life.
Dammit. Where was Aiden to witness this?
“Focus on what?”
A wide smile crept across my face. “Focus on being one kickass Sentinel.”
Caleb stil didn’t buy it, but I brought up Olivia and he was successful y distracted. Eventual y I got up to leave. On the way out, I had an idea. It kind of came out of nowhere, but the moment it popped in my head, I knew I had to do it.
“Can you meet me tomorrow night around eight?”
His gaze met mine. Somehow, I think he knew what I was going to ask, because he was already nodding. “I want to have… something for my mom.” I squeezed my arms around my waist. “Like a memorial service or something. I mean, you don’t have to.”
“Of course I’l be there.”
Flushing, I nodded. “Thanks.”
Upon returning to my room, I found two letters stuck in the door—one from Lucian and one from Marcus. I was tempted to trash both of them but I opened up the one from my uncle.
It was a good thing I did. The message was simple, loud, and clear.
Alexandria,
Please come see me immediately.
Marcus.
Crap.
I tossed both of the letters on the smal table in front of my couch and closed the door behind me. My thoughts swirled with what Marcus could want to talk to me about. Gee, the possibilities were endless. The stunt I’d just pul ed, my future at the Covenant, or the whole Apol yon thing. Good gods, I could real y be expel ed and sent to live with Lucian.
How could I’ve forgotten about that?
When I final y did make it over to his office, the sun had started its slow descent over the waters, and the hazy light sent a rainbow of colors shimmering over the ocean. I tried to prepare myself for our meeting, but I didn’t know what Marcus was going to do. Would he expel me? My stomach twisted uncomfortably. What would I do? Live with Lucian?
Go into servitude? Neither of those were options I could live with.
The Guards gave me a curt nod before they opened the door to Marcus’s office and stepped aside. My smile was more of a grimace, but elation swel ed inside me when I recognized who stood beside the massive bulk that was Leon.
Aiden gave me a smal , reassuring smile as the Guards closed the door behind me, but the moment I turned to Marcus, my skin turned cold.
He looked furious.
CHAPTER 21
IT WAS POSSIBLY THE FIRST TIME I’D EVER SEEN
HIM show any extreme emotion. I settled in for what I assumed would be a giant bitch-fest.
“First and foremost, I’m glad to see that you’re alive and in one piece.” Then his gaze dropped to my neck and final y, my arms. “Barely in one piece.”
I bristled, but I managed to keep my mouth shut.
“What you did showed you have absolutely no regard for your life or the lives of others—”
“I have a regard for other people’s lives!”
Aiden shot me a warning glare that said shut up.
“Going after a daimon—any daimon—untrained and unprepared is the height of reckless and idiotic behavior.
Of al people, you should know the consequences. With what you are, what you wil become, I cannot stress how irresponsible your actions were… ” Marcus continued, but I tuned out at that point.
Instead, I wondered how long Leon had known what I was. Lucian had said only he and Marcus had been aware of what Piperi had told my mom, but a thought struck me.
Leon had been the first to come to my defense when they’d brought me back to the Covenant. Had he always known? I looked up at my uncle, not real y paying attention to what he was saying. There was always the chance they hadn’t been honest with me about who knew. Hel , Lucian and Marcus hadn’t been honest about a lot of things.
“If it hadn’t been for Seth, you’d be dead or worse. And your friend Mr. Nicolo would have met the same fate.”
My attention perked a bit. Where in the hel was Seth at, anyway? I’d half expected him to’ve weaseled his way into this meeting.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“Um… ” I stole a quick glance at Aiden before answering.
“It was real y stupid of me.”
Marcus arched a perfectly groomed brow at me. “Is that al ?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have done it, but I don’t regret it.” I could feel Aiden’s eyes boring through me.
Swal owing, I leaned forward and placed my hands on Marcus’s desk. “I regret that Caleb got hurt and the other daimon got away, but she was my mother—my responsibility. You don’t understand, but I had to do it.”
He leaned back in his chair as he studied me. “Believe it or not, I do understand. It doesn’t make your actions justified or intel igent, but I do understand your motivation.”
Surprised, I fel back in the chair in silence.
“Alexandria, a lot of things have changed. With the daimons able to turn half-bloods, it’s altered the way we must face every situation.” He paused, the tips of his fingers resting under his chin. “The Council is cal ing a special meeting during the November sessions in New York to discuss the ramifications. Since you were an eyewitness to their plans, you wil be attending. Your testimony wil help decide how the Council wil act against this new threat.�
�
“My testimony?”
Marcus nodded. “You were privy to the daimons’ plans.
The Council needs to hear exactly what you were told.”
“But that was just Mom… ” I trailed off, unsure of how much Leon knew.
My uncle seemed to understand. “It is highly doubtful Rachel e discovered that half-bloods could be turned. It’s more likely that she witnessed another daimon doing it.
She wanted you… for her own reasons.”
He had a good point. Based on what she’d said, it did seem like there was some big master plan—more than just her merry band of psychos. And then there was Eric; he was stil out there, hyped up on Apol yon aether. The gods only knew what he was getting himself into.
“There is something else we need to discuss.” He had my attention again. “I’ve met with Aiden and have reviewed your progress.”
He real y had my attention. I tried to sound brave and confident. “Lay it on me.”
Marcus looked amused, if only for a second. “Aiden has advised me that you have progressed enough to continue at the Covenant.” He picked up the dreaded file and opened it. I sank in my seat, remembering the last time he’d taken a gander at it. “You have a strong handle on the techniques of defense and offensive combat, but I see here you haven’t started Silat training or defense against the elements, and you’re extremely behind on your studies. You haven’t even taken a class on recon or basic guarding technique—”
“I don’t want to be a Guard,” I pointed out. “And I can catch up on the class stuff. I know I can.”
“Whether or not you want to be a Guard or a Sentinel is not even a concern at this point, Alexandria.”
“But—”
“Aiden has agreed to continue your training,” Marcus closed the file, “throughout the school year. He believes with his help and with the time you spend with the Instructors, you wil be able to ful y catch up.”
I tried my hardest not to look at Aiden, but I almost came out of my seat. Once school began, Aiden didn’t have to continue training me. He was a Sentinel ful -time. Giving up his free time for me had to mean something.
“I have to be honest, Alexandria. I’m not sure it wil be enough, but I do have to take into consideration al you have recently accomplished. Even without al the training and classroom experience, you have proven that your ability is… beyond some of our seasoned Sentinels.”
“But— wait. What?”
Marcus smiled, and it wasn’t fake or cold. In that one moment, he reminded me so much of Mom I couldn’t fight the way the proverbial wal between us cracked. However, his next words blew that barrier to pieces. “If you can graduate in the spring, I am confident you wil make an outstanding Sentinel.”
Stunned, I stared at him. I’d expected him to try to send me back to Lucian so I’d be under the Council’s thumb wel before I turned eighteen, but it was the fact Marcus had actual y complimented me that knocked me over.
Final y, I found my voice. “So… I can stay?”
“Yes. Once classes start up, you wil need to spend extra time getting caught up.”
A tiny part of me wanted to jump up and hug the man, but that reaction would be so uncool. So I managed a total y calm, “Thank you.”
Marcus nodded. “I’ve worked out an agreement with Aiden to split training with Seth. We both agreed that would be for the best. There are things that Seth wil be… better suited for as time progresses.”
I was too happy about being al owed to stay to care about spending mandatory time with Seth. After three years of being in limbo when it came to my future, I could barely contain the relief and excitement rushing through me. I nodded eagerly as Marcus outlined a plan for me to get caught up on my studies and how I would alternate days between Aiden and Seth.
When my meeting with Marcus was over, I stil wanted to hug him. “Is that al ?”
His emerald gaze settled on me. “Yes… for now.”
A wide grin broke out across my face. “Thank you, Marcus.”
Marcus nodded, and stil grinning, I shot to my feet. On the way out, Aiden and I exchanged relieved looks before I shut the door behind me. I bounced out of the main building and al the way to my dorm. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Such terrible things had happened, but out of al the misery, things were starting to look up.
Once inside my dorm room, I kicked off my shoes and stripped off my shirt. My tank got stuck in the shirt during the process. Turning and tugging on my shirt, I—
“Please don’t stop with just the shirt.”
“Holy crap!” I clutched my chest in surprise.
Seth sat on my bed, hands folded in his lap. His hair hung loose around his face. There was a devious smirk on his face that said he’d total y gotten a glimpse of my lacy bra.
“What are you doing in here?” Almost as an afterthought I added, “And on my bed?”
“Waiting for you.”
I stared at him. Part of me wanted Seth to leave, but I was also curious. I sat down beside him, running my hands over the tops of my thighs. I wasn’t exactly nervous, but I kind of felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. Seth was the first to break the strange silence that spread between us.
“You look terrible.”
“Thanks.” I groaned and held up my arms. The purplish-red splotches covered every portion of my arms, but I knew my neck… wel , it was bad. For a few minutes I’d forgotten about it. “I real y appreciate you pointing it out.”
Seth tipped his head at me and shrugged. “I’ve seen worse. There was a Sentinel who got cornered once in New York City. Real y was a pretty girl—a little older than you—
and just had to be a Sentinel instead of a Guard. A daimon took a bite out of her face just to prove a—”
“Ugh. Okay. I get what you’re saying: it could be worse.
Try tel ing me when I don’t look like I went to third base with a vampire. So why are you here?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?” I stared at my feet and wiggled my toes.
“Us.”
Wearily, I lifted my head and looked at him. “There’s no
—”
He reached out and placed one finger over my lips. “I have something real y important to say about that matter, and after you give me a chance to say it, I’m not going to push or ever bring it up again. Okay?”
I should’ve knocked his hand down, demanded he leave, or at least, leaned back. Instead, I gently brushed his fingers away. “Before you go any further, I want to say something.”
Seth’s brows rose curiously. “Okay.”
I took a deep breath and stared down at my toes again.
“Thank you for doing whatever… it was you did to find us. If it wasn’t for you then I’d probably be dead—or slicing and dicing someone right now. So… thank you.”
He was silent for so long I checked out what he was doing. Seth just stared at me with this dumb look on his face. To keep from smiling, I looked away. “What?”
“I think that’s possibly the nicest thing you have said to me. Ever.”
I laughed. “No it’s not. I’ve said nice things to you before.”
“Like what?”
There had to be another situation when I’d said something nice. “Like… when… ” I couldn’t think of anything. Jeez, I was a bitch. “Okay. That is the first nice thing I’ve said to you.”
“I think I need a moment to recognize and cherish this.”
I rol ed my eyes. “Moving on, what did you want to talk about?”
Seth turned serious. “I wanted to be up front on a few things with you.”
“Like what?” I scooted back against the pil ows lining the top of the bed, moving my legs so they weren’t touching him.
His brows furrowed. “Like what the future has in store for us.”
I sighed. “Seth, nothing is going to happen between—”
“Aren’t you even a little bit curious as to how I fo
und you?
Don’t you want to know how I did that?”
“Yeah, come to think of it, I would like to know.”
Seth leaned back on one arm, twisting onto his side. The movement sent locks of golden hair forward, sliding over his jaw. His hip was far too close to my curled toes. Not that he seemed to care. “I was having a real y good dream about this chick I met in Houston and we were—”
I groaned. “Seth.”
“Al of a sudden, I was hurled out of the dream. I woke up, and my heart was racing, sweat pouring. I had no idea why.
I felt sick—sick to my soul.”
I pul ed my knees to my chest. “Why?”
“Getting there, Alex. It took me a while to realize nothing was wrong with me, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. Then I felt it—the first tag. It was like I was on fire and the pain—it was something real. For a second, I actual y thought I had been tagged. It struck me then. It was you I was feeling. I went to Aiden—”
“Why did you go to him?”
“Because I figured if anyone knew where you were, it would be him. Lot of help he proved to be, though. He had no clue.”
How did he come to that conclusion? That was something better left untouched for now. “So you felt what I was feeling?”
Seth nodded. “Every. Single. Tag. Like it was my skin being ripped into and my aether being drained. I never felt anything like it.” He looked away. A few moments passed before he spoke again. “I don’t know how you… dealt with it. It felt like my soul was being torn apart, but it was your soul.”
Sort of struck dumb by what he was explaining, I listened quietly.
“Once we realized you weren’t in your room, Aiden figured out what you had done. We left immediately, and I can barely explain how I knew where to go. It was like something was leading me. Instinct maybe?” He shrugged, staring down at his hand. “I don’t know. I just knew to head west, and when we got close to the Tennessee line, Aiden said you once mentioned Gatlinburg. As soon as he said that, I knew where you were.”
“But how? Did any of this happen before? When I was fighting Kain?”
He looked up and shook his head. “I don’t think so.
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