The Sentinels wil die out there, one after another. I hate that I stil think of my mother… as my mother.”
Seth leaned forward and grasped my chin. The shock of his touch wasn’t as shattering as before, but the bizarre transfer of energy stil shimmied through me. “Then take the hate and do something about it, Alex. Use the hate. Don’t sit here like there is no hope for them—for us.”
For us? Did he mean for our kind or for him and me?
“You saw what I can do. You wil able to do that. Together, we can stop them. Without you, we cannot. And damn it, I need you to be strong. What good are you if you end up a damn servant because you cannot deal?”
Wel … I guess that answered my question. I smacked his hand away. “Get out of my face.”
He leaned in closer. “What exactly are you going to do about it?”
I shot him a warning look. “I don’t care if you can shoot lightning from your hand. I wil kick you in the face.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? Could it do with the fact you know I wil not hurt you—that I cannot?”
“Probably.” I real y wasn’t sure about that. Twenty-four hours ago he’d dragged me clear across an island.
“That doesn’t sound particularly fair, does it?”
“This whole stuff with you isn’t fair.” I poked his chest with my finger. “You have the control in this.”
Seth made an exasperated sound. He reached out and clasped the sides of my head. “You have al the control.
Don’t you get it?”
Annoyed, I grabbed his wrists. “Let go.”
He twisted his hands and grasped mine. Those amber eyes flared, like he was up for the chal enge. After a few terse moments, he broke away and stood. “There’s the attitude I have come to know and loathe.”
I flipped him off, but the bad thing was, his general annoyingness had somehow reached me. Not that I’d admit it. Ever.
He grabbed a towel off the shelf. After dampening it, he tossed it to me. “Clean yourself up.” He sent a devilish grin my way. “I can’t have my little Apol yon-in-training looking like a mess.”
My fingers clenched around the towel. “If you ever say something that stupid again, I wil smother you in your sleep.”
His golden brows rose. “Little Alex, are you suggesting that we sleep together?”
Stunned by how he came to that conclusion, I lowered the towel. “What? No!”
“Then how could you smother me in my sleep unless you were in bed with me?” He gave a sly grin. “Think about it.”
“Oh, shut up.”
He shrugged and glanced at the door. “They’re coming.”
I was only half-curious to know how he knew that, but as I dabbed the cloth under my swol en lip, the door swung open. Marcus entered first, and Aiden appeared behind him. His gaze swept to me, checking me over once more.
The look on his face said he wanted to come to me, but with Marcus and half a dozen Sentinels present, it was impossible. I fought down the need to be in his arms and turned my attention to my uncle.
Marcus met my eyes. “I need to know exactly what happened.”
So I told them everything I remembered. Marcus remained impassive through al of it. He asked the appropriate questions and when it was over, I wanted to stumble back to my room. Reliving what’d happened to Kain had drained my soul.
Marcus gave me permission to leave, and I climbed to my feet while he gave orders to Leon and Aiden. “Notify the other Covenants. I’l take care of the Council.”
Aiden had fol owed me out into the hal . “Didn’t I ask you to not do something stupid?”
I winced. “Yes, but I didn’t know—didn’t think Kain would be like that.”
Aiden shook his head, running a hand through his hair.
Then he asked the one question no one else had thought to ask. “Did he say anything about your mother?”
“He said she kil ed them.” I inhaled sharply. “That she took great pleasure in it.”
Sympathy shone in those cool eyes. “Alex, I’m sorry. I know you hoped that wasn’t the case. Are you okay?”
Not real y, but I wanted to be strong for him. “Yes.”
He pressed his lips together. “We’l … talk later, okay? I’l let you know when we’l have practice again. Things wil be chaotic the next couple of days.”
“Aiden… Kain said she was looking for me. That she was coming for me.”
There must’ve been something in my voice, because he was in front of me so quickly. He reached out and cupped my cheek, his voice so unyielding I didn’t doubt a word he said. “I won’t al ow that to happen. Ever. You wil never face her.”
I swal owed. His closeness, his touch, evoked so many memories; it took me a moment to respond. “But if I did, I could do it.”
“Did Kain say anything else to you about your mother?”
She’ll keep killing ‘til she finds you—
“No.” I shook my head as the guilt ate a hole in my soul.
His hand dropped to his chest, where he rubbed a spot above his heart. “You’re going to do something stupid again.”
I smiled weakly. “Wel , usual y I do about once a day.”
Aiden raised a brow, his bright eyes amused for a moment. “No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing. We’l talk soon.” He passed Seth on the way back to the room. For a moment, both of their expressions hardened to stone. There may’ve been mutual respect in their faces, but there was definitely mutual dislike, as wel .
I left before Seth could stop me. By the time I made it back to the girls’ dorm, several of the students were on the porch. News traveled fast even though it was stil early, but the most shocking part was Lea stood among them.
Seeing her caused my heart to clench. She looked terrible by Lea standards—meaning she looked like the rest of us on a good day. I wasn’t sure what to say to her.
We weren’t friends, but what she was going through was unimaginable.
What could I say? No amount of apologies or words of condolence would make anything better for her, but as I got closer to her, I saw the red look to her eyes, the tight line of her normal y plump lips, and the overal air of desolation surrounding her. It provoked a memory of how I’d felt when I’d thought my mom had died. Now, take that and multiply it by two; that was how Lea felt.
Our gazes locked and my lame apology rol ed out of my mouth. “I’m sorry… for everything.”
Surprisingly, Lea nodded as she passed me on the way in. I trailed behind her, wishing she’d cal ed me a bitch or made fun of my face. That was better than this. Weary and sore, I pushed down the hal way and passed a group of girls. There were whispers, and they were right. My mother was a murderous daimon.
In my room, I crashed. Stil dressed in my clothes, I slept the kind of sleep people only got after facing something so vast and life-changing. Somewhere, in that half-lucid state before I was completely out of it, I realized that when Seth and I had touched in the medical room, there’d been no blue cord.
***
Aiden sent a note the fol owing day saying practice was stil cancel ed. He didn’t mention when he’d contact me again. Over the hours, a nagging worry developed. Did Aiden regret what’d happened between us? Did he stil want me? Were we ever going to talk again?
My priorities were pretty messed up, but I couldn’t help it.
Since I’d woken up, al I could think about was what’d almost happened between the two of us. And when I did, I felt hot and embarrassed.
I stared at the mammoth book he’d loaned me. I’d left it on the floor next to the couch. An idea popped in my head. I could return the book to him—innocent enough reason to seek him out. My mind was made up before I knew it.