The jewels and gold were removed from the bodies and placed on the pedestal. I real y wanted to leave at that point, but it would’ve been the height of disrespect. I turned away as they lit the pyres, but I stil heard the crackling as the fire ate away at their shrouded corpses. I shuddered, hating the finality of it, hating that these were quite possibly my mother’s victims.
Slowly, the mourners broke apart. Some headed back home; others went to smal receptions held in the homes of the families. I trailed behind Caleb and Olivia, going back to the Covenant, away from al the death and despair.
As we passed the pyres, my eyes found Aiden. He stood with Leon, a few feet away from Dawn and Lea. He looked up—almost as if he’d sensed me—and our eyes met. He made no other acknowledgement, but I could tel he approved of my presence. Yesterday, before the talk about hunting loved ones and the shorts incident when he’d said I was pretty, I’d mentioned I was unsure if I should come or not, considering Mom had been one of the daimons.
Aiden had looked at me with that serious frown. “You’d feel more guilty for not going and paying your respects. You deserve to do that. Just as much as anyone else, Alex.”
He was right, of course. I hated funerals, but I would’ve felt bad if I hadn’t come.
Now, he nodded slightly before turning to Dawn. He reached out and touched her arm. A lock of dark hair fel over his forehead as he bent his head, offering his condolences. I turned my attention to the large iron gates separating the town from the plot of meaningless statues.
Seth stood there, dressed in his black uniform. There was no doubt he was watching us. I ignored him as we left the cemetery.
For the rest of the day, I tried to forget that we’d lost so many innocent people.
And that Mom had been responsible.
***
I didn’t get to do anything with the daggers in the next practice. When I pitched a fit about this, Aiden watched on with amused patience.
“Come on.” I pushed the mats off the floor. “How am I supposed to get caught up when I can’t even touch a dagger?”
Aiden nudged me out of the way and took over mat duty.
“I need to make sure you know how to defend yourself—”
“She hasn’t practiced with Covenant blades at al ?”
Seth leaned against the door frame, arms folded across his chest. He watched us with a lazy expression, but his eyes were extraordinarily bright.
Aiden straightened, barely bothering to look at him. “I would swear I shut and locked that door.”
Seth smirked. “I unlocked and opened the door.”
“How’d you do that?” I asked. “The door locks from the inside.”
“Apol yon secrets. Can’t give them away.” He winked at me before turning those amber eyes on Aiden. “How can she be prepared to fight if she doesn’t know how to wield the only weapon she wil have against a daimon?”
Seth gained cool points in my book with that question. I looked at Aiden expectedly. The cold, distasteful expression he wore earned way more cool points.
“I was unaware that you had any say in her training.”
Aiden arched a coal black eyebrow.
“I don’t.” Seth pushed off the wal and sauntered across the training room. He plucked one of the daggers off the wal and faced us. “I’m sure I could convince Marcus or Lucian to let Alex have a few rounds with me. Would you like that, Alex?”
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 mutt
ered, 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.
Instin
ctively, 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.”
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