Half-Blood c-1

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  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 glance 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.

  We went into a smal room with glass wal s. I practical y col apsed in the white wicker chair. The Guards fol owed us, but Lucian waved them off. “Please notify Dean Andros that Seth and Alexandria are here. He wil understand.” The Guards hesitated but Lucian assured them with a dismissive nod. When they left, he faced Seth. “Sit?”

  “I prefer to stand.”

  “Um… there’s a boat on fire outside.” My voice sounded tight and too high. “Someone might want to check it out.”

  “It wil be taken care of.” Lucian sat in one of the chairs beside me. “Alexandria, I have not been entirely forthcoming with you.”

  A tiny scoff huffed out of me. “Real y.”

  He leaned forward, resting his hands against his checkered pajama bottoms. “Three years ago, the oracle told your mother that, on your eighteenth birthday, you would become the Apol yon.”

  I laughed out loud. “That. Is. Ridiculous.”

  “Is it?” Seth turned to face me. He looked like he wanted to shake me.

  “Um… yes!” My eyes widened. “There’s only one of you guys… ” My voice trailed off as I remembered what I’d read in the book Aiden had loaned me. Al at once, I felt hot and cold.

  “Before Rachel e left, she confided in Marcus. He didn’t agree with her decisions, but she felt she needed to protect you.”

  “Protect me from what?” As soon as those words left my mouth, I already knew the answer. Protect me from what’d happened to Solaris. I shook my head. “No. This is just too crazy. The oracle didn’t tel Mom that!”

  “You are referencing the other part, the one where she said you wil kil the ones you love? That is not the important part. What is important is you wil become another Apol yon.” He turned to Seth, smiling. “Having Seth here was the best way to discover if what the oracle had said was correct.”

  Seth paced the length of the sitting room. “It makes perfect sense. Why I… sensed you the first day. No wonder your mother left here. She probably thought she could somehow hide you among the mortals.” He turned and eyed Lucian. “Why would you want to bring us together?

  You know what wil happen.”

  “We do not know what wil happen.” Lucian returned his gaze. “There have not been two of you in over four hundred years. Things have changed since then. So have the gods.”

  My eyes bounced between them. “Guys… I know what you’re saying, but you’re wrong. There’s no way I’m what he is. There’s no way.”

  “Then how do you explain what happened outside?” Seth glared at me.

  Taking a deep breath, I ignored him. “It’s not possible.”

  “What did happen?” Lucian sounded curious.

  Lucian’s eyes danced between us as Seth explained about the blue cord and how, for a few seconds, we’d heard each other’s thoughts.

  It was clear he wasn’t surprised.

  “It is real y nothing to be concerned about. What you experienced was just a way of recognizing one another.

  This is the reason I assigned you here, Seth. We had to see if she was the other half. The possibility—it was too great an opportunity to pass up. I just didn’t expect it to take this long for you two to come together.”

  “Is it worth the risk?” Seth frowned. “If the gods didn’t know about her before, they wil soon. You could have just let this be. Is her life nothing to you?”

  My stepfather leaned forward, his eyes meeting Seth’s.

  “Do you understand what this means? Not just for you, but our kind? Two of you wil change everything, Seth. Yes.

  You’re powerful now, but when she turns eighteen your power wil become limitless.”

  That seemed to perk Seth’s interest. “But the gods—they won’t al ow that to happen.”

  Lucian leaned back. “The gods… have not spoken to us in ages, Seth.”

  “What?” Seth and I both shouted. That was some serious stuff right there.

  Lucian flicked his wrist in a dismissive manner. “They have removed themselves, and the Council does not believe they wil intervene on anything. Besides, if the gods are curious or concerned, they already know about Alexandria. If the oracle has seen it then the gods already kno
w. They have to be aware of her.”

  I didn’t believe Lucian. Not for one second. “They weren’t aware of Solaris!”

  Both of them looked at me. A line formed between Lucian’s brows. “How do you know of Solaris?”

  “I… I read about her. They kil ed both of the Apol yons.”

  Lucian shook his head. “You do not know the whole truth behind that. The other Apol yon attacked the Council and Solaris was obligated to stop him. She did not. That is why they were executed.”

  I frowned. The book hadn’t said anything like that.

  Seth final y sat. “What do you have to gain from this?”

  Lucian’s eyes went wide. “With you two, we can eliminate the daimons without risking so many lives. We could change the rules—the laws surrounding half-bloods, the marriage decrees, the Council. Why, anything could be possible.”

  I wanted to punch him in the gut. Lucian didn’t care about halfs.

  “What rules of the Council do you wish to see changed?”

  Seth watched Lucian’s face.

  “These are things best discussed later, Seth.” He waved his hand at me, smiling that weird, icky smile again. “She’s fated to be your other half.”

  Seth turned and gave me a long look. “Could be worse, I suppose.”

  Okay, that creeped me out. “What do you mean by that?”

  “You two are like puzzle pieces. You fit together. Your power wil feed his… and vice versa.” Lucian smiled.

  “Real y, it is amazing. You are his other half, Alexandria.

  You are fated to be with him. You belong to him.”

  It felt like something heavy sat on my chest. “Oh. Oh. No.”

  Seth frowned at me. “You don’t have to sound so disgusted.”

  The other day I’d felt compel ed to touch him, I’d thought it was just because of what he was, but could it be because of what we were? I shuddered. “Disgusted? It’s… revolting!

  Do you hear yourselves?”

  Seth sighed. “Now you’re just being insulting.”

  I ignored that, ignored him. “I… don’t belong to anyone.”

  Lucian met my stare, and I was struck by the intensity.

  “But you do.”

  “This is insane!”

  “When she turns eighteen,” Seth pursed his lips, “the power—her power shifts to me.”

  “Yes.” Lucian nodded eagerly. “Once she goes through the palingenesis—the Awakening—at eighteen, al you have to do is touch her.”

  “Then… ” He didn’t need to say it. We al knew.

  Seth would become a God Kil er.

  He turned to Lucian. “Who knows about this?”

  “Marcus knows, as does Alexandria’s mother.”

  My heart dropped.

  Seth glanced at me, his expression unreadable. “It explains why she has come so close to the Covenant when most daimons wouldn’t dare, but why? A half can’t be turned.”

  “Why else would a daimon want to get their hands on an Apol yon? Even now, the aether in Alexandria could feed them for months.” Lucian gestured at me. “What do you think wil happen if her mother has her after she goes through the palingenesis?”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You think she’s here so I can be like some sort of meal plan for her?”

  He glanced up. “Why else would she be here, Alexandria? It is why I was against you being in the Covenant, as was Marcus. It had nothing to do with the time you’ve lost or your previous behavior. There was a chance we could not stop Rachel e by the time you would graduate.

  The risk was too great that you would come face to face with her and falter in your duty. I cannot al ow a daimon to get their hands on an Apol yon.”

  “But now it’s different?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Lucian stood, placing his hands on my shoulders.

  “With her so close, we wil be able to find her. You wil never have to face her. This is a good thing, Alexandria.”

  “A good thing?” I gave a harsh laugh and shrugged off his hands. “This is al twisted and… sick.”

  Seth whipped his head in my direction. “Alex, you can’t just ignore this. Ignore what you are. What we are—”

  I threw my hand up between us. “Oh, don’t even go there, buddy. We aren’t anything! We wil never be anything!

  Okay?”

  He rol ed his eyes, clearly bored with my protests.

  I started backing out of the room. “I seriously don’t want to hear about any of this again. I’m just going to pretend this conversation didn’t take place.”

  “Alex. Stop.” Seth stepped toward me.

  I glared at him. “Don’t fol ow me! I mean it, Seth. I don’t care if you can throw me through the air. If you fol ow me, I’l jump off a freaking bridge and take you with me!”

  “Let her go.” Lucian gave an elegant wave of his hand.

  “She needs time to… come to grips with this.”

  Surprisingly, Seth listened. I left then, slamming the front door behind me. My thoughts bounced around my head in a chaotic mess on the way back to the island. I barely noticed the air was no longer thick with smoke. Someone had taken care of the boat fire. The Guards at the bridge looked bored when they waved me through.

  Minutes later, I crossed the campus and the section of sandy beach separating the faculty and guest lodging from the rest of campus. Under no circumstance was I—or any student for that matter—al owed to wander around their housing, but I needed to talk to someone—I needed Aiden.

  Aiden could make sense out of this. He would know what to do.

  Since most of the little houses were empty for the summer, it was easy to figure out which one was his. Only one of the nearly identical cottages had a light on inside. I stopped in front of the door and hesitated. Coming here—

  not only would I get in trouble, but so would Aiden. I couldn’t even begin to wonder what they’d do if I were discovered in a pure-blood’s cabin at this time of night. But I needed him, and that was more important than consequences.

  Aiden answered after a few seconds, taking seeing me standing at his door remarkably wel . “What’s wrong?”

  It wasn’t late, but he stood there dressed as if he’d been in bed. The low-slung pajama bottoms looked better on him than Lucian. So did the tank top. “I need to talk to you.”

  His gaze dropped the length of me. “Where are your shoes? Why are you covered in sand? Alex, talk to me now.

  What happened?”

  I looked down dumbly—my sandals? They were lost somewhere on the main island, never to be seen again.

  Sighing, I pushed the tangled strands of hair back. “I know I shouldn’t be here, but I didn’t know who else to go to.”

  Aiden reached out and took hold of my arms in a gentle grasp. Without saying a word, he led me into his cottage.

  CHAPTER 16

  AS AIDEN GUIDED ME TO HIS COUCH AND SAT ME

  DOWN, he had this look about him. It was sort of dangerous and comforting at the same time. “Let me… get you a glass of water.”

  My gaze crawled over his living room. It wasn’t much bigger than my room back in the dorm, and much like mine, it was devoid of anything decorative. There were no pictures, favorite paintings, or artwork cluttering the wal s.

  Instead, books and comics lay scattered across the coffee table, lined the numerous bookshelves, and sat stacked on his smal computer desk. No television. He was a reader—

  probably even read the comics in ancient Greek. For some reason, that made me smile.

  Then I noticed the corner of the room, between the bookshelf and the desk. A guitar leaned against the wal , and several colorful guitar picks formed a line on one of the shelves—every color except black. I knew it—those hands were used for something graceful and artsy. I wondered if I could ever get him to play for me. I’d always had a thing for guys who played guitars.

  “You play?” I tipped my chin toward the guitar.

  “Occasional y.�
�� He handed me a glass of water, and I downed it before he sat beside me. “Thirsty?”

  “Mmm.” I wiped away a few drops off my lips. “Thanks.

  What’s up with the picks?”

  He glanced at the guitar. “I col ect them. A weird habit of mine, I guess.”

  “You need a black one.”

  “I guess I do.” Aiden took the glass and set it on the coffee table, frowning when he noticed the tremble in my hands. “Alex, what happened?”

  My laugh hitched in my throat. “It’s going to sound crazy.” I stole a quick peek at him, and seeing the concern for me on his face was nearly my undoing.

  “Alex… you can tel me. I won’t judge you.”

  I kind of wondered what he’d thought happened.

  His hand came out and wrapped around mine. “You trust me, right?”

  I stared at our hands, those fingers. You are fated to be with him. Those words had a shattering effect on me. I pul ed my hands free and stood. “Yes. I did. I do. This is just so crazy.”

  Aiden remained seated, but his eyes fol owed my erratic pacing. “Try starting at the beginning.”

  I nodded, smoothing my hands over my dress. I started with the party. The look on Aiden’s face hardened when I told him what Cody had said and turned even more dangerous when I explained how Seth had kil ed someone’s boat. I told him everything, even the skeevy part with Seth, and how we were “two halves” or whatever.

  Aiden was a remarkable listener. He didn’t ask any questions, but I knew he caught everything I threw down.

  “So, it can’t be true, right? I mean, none of this is real.” I returned to prowling the length of his living room. “Lucian said it was why Mom left. The oracle told her that I was the second Apol yon and that she was afraid that the gods would… kil me, I guess.” My laugh sounded a little shril .

  Aiden ran a hand through his hair. “I suspected something strange when Lucian wanted to bring you back to his house. And when you said you’d seen Seth’s markings… I can’t believe I’ve been around someone so rare this entire time. When do you turn eighteen, Alex?”