“Yeah.” I pushed strands of hair off my neck. “So I looked like an idiot to everyone?”
“No, everyone saw a beautiful half-blood. That’s all anyone saw.” Seth glanced away, a wry smile on his face. “Can I tell you something?”
I turned back to the pool. “Sure.”
“I prefer you without gloves.” His breath stirred the tendrils of hair against my neck. I had no idea how he moved so quietly.
“Oh.” I said, watching Seth as he moved to my side. Quietly, he peeled off one glove, and then the other, tossing them both away from the water. His fingers slid around the scars before he dropped my arm, stepping back. My tags never seemed to bother him. I looked at him through my lashes. “Better?”
“Much.”
I glanced down at the beautiful gown. Laadan would be so upset if I ruined her dress. I turned slightly, catching my reflection in the windows of the pool room. It didn’t look like me. I looked like a doll, a carbon copy of my mom. So much so that even Lucian had looked at me in a way that made me puke a little in my mouth. Had that been what Laadan wanted? To fashion me like her long-lost friend?
“Can you get silk wet?” I asked.
Seth made a funny noise behind me. “I’d say probably not.”
“That’s a shame.” I kicked off my shoes. My toes immediately sighed and thanked me.
“You really are going—”
I dove in. The water wasn’t as heated as I’d thought and was a shock to my system, but after a few seconds I grew used to it. Staying underwater, I swam to the opposite side of the pool.
The water immediately killed all of Laadan’s hard work. Twisting around, I found Seth at the pool’s edge. Amusement and satisfaction played out across on his face, which made him look sort of normal.
“So childish, Alex. You’ve ruined her dress.”
The vibrant red silk floated around me as I treaded water. “I know. Bad me.”
“Very bad.” He sounded more appreciative than chastising.
Grinning, I sank underwater again and closed my eyes. Under the water, it was a quiet, blissful world. I didn’t have to think, or worry… or love.
I inched my way back up and caught Seth shrugging off his shirt. I saw maybe a second of his bare upper body before I hastily ducked underwater. It wasn’t bad—all golden skin and hard muscles.
Seeing his chest wasn’t a big deal, for crying out loud.
On the nights Seth stayed with me, he did so fully clothed—thank the gods—but
it was just weird. Seth was weird— I was weird—and I couldn’t stay underwater all night. Using my legs, I pushed off the bottom of the pool.
Seth had moved to the center of the room. His head was tipped back, arms stretched high in the air as he stood on the tips of his toes, completely at ease. “Stop staring.”
I floated forward. “I’m not staring.”
He chuckled. “How’s the water?”
“Nice.”
His arms dropped to his sides. “Do you remember the last thing I told you in training?”
I pushed through the water, coming to where he stood. “You tell me a lot of stuff in training. Honestly, I don’t pay attention.”
He snorted. “You do wonders for my self-esteem.”
Rolling my eyes, I pushed off the cement wall and floated on my back. The dress streamed out around me as water glided over my skin. “I feel like a mermaid.”
Seth ignored that. “Tomorrow, when they ask you about what happened in Gatlinburg, only answer their questions.”
I sighed. “I know. What do you guys think I’m going to say? That I love daimons?”
“Just don’t elaborate on anything. Answer yes or no, and that is it.”
“I’m not stupid, Seth.”
Seth arched a brow. “I didn’t say you were. I just know you tend… to talk a lot.”
“Oh. Like you’re one—”
Seth dove in, sending a wave of water crashing over me, and I lost my balance. I sank under, only to find him swimming toward me. Recognizing the wild grin plastered across his face, I pushed back, but he caught the edge of my dress. I smacked his hand away and resurfaced. He came up a few feet away, shaking his head, sending beads of water flying.
I splashed him. “You talk more than I do.”
He floated over to the side and swung one arm over the edge. Squinting through water and hair, he made a face at me. “You look like a drowned monkey.”
“What? I do not.” I ran a hand over my hair, then under my eyes. Come to think of it, I probably had brutal raccoon eyes right now. “Wait. Do I?”
Seth nodded. “Honestly, you look like a mess. This was a bad idea. What was I thinking?”
“Shut up. You don’t look so hot yourself.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Seth looked rather… nice soaked. The whole shirtless thing probably helped. A little bit. Not much. For some bizarre reason, I thought about the day the rune had appeared.
His lips curved into a mad sort of grin as he placed his hand over the water. “Watch this.”
I tried keeping the edges of my dress from floating all the way up. “Watch what?”
The water under his hand spun, much like water going down a drain. Then it shot straight up in the air, reaching for the ceiling. The cone of water twisted in midair, arced, and then came down.
I couldn’t move back quickly enough.
Water funneled around me, pulsating and drowning out everything. Then it froze. I couldn’t see beyond the wall of still water. I tilted my head back and smiled. Being stuck in a Seth-made typhoon was strange, but also cool. Tentatively, I reached out and poked a finger through it. Wrong move. It all came crashing down.
The weight of the water pushed me under, and when I came back up, an all-out water war ensued. We both were acting like two bored kids who’d snuck away from their parents, but this was fun. It didn’t matter I was sorely outmatched in the water arena and Seth seemed intent on drowning me.
I wasn’t thinking about Aiden, or the Council, or anything.
Laughing and swallowing way too much water, I backed off while Seth pushed clumps of blond hair out of his eyes. “You’re such a girl, Seth. Do we need to take a grooming break?”
“You need to give up.” He reared back, sending his arm crashing against the surface of the water. “You can’t beat me. Ever. At anything. Give it up.”
I swam back, slipped under and resurfaced quickly. “I don’t give up, Seth.”
He inched closer. “Well, we all have to learn how to someday. Besides me. I’m secure in my awesomeness.”
“More like you’re secure in your douchiness.”
“You are such a goner.” He shot across the water, and I dropped underneath. I aimed for his legs, thinking that if I could take them out, I could take him out.
But it didn’t quite go as planned.
I got one arm around a leg and tugged. Seth retaliated by reaching down and tugging me back up to the surface. The moment my head broke through the water, I struggled and cursed. Unsurprisingly, a long, wet gown really hindered the use of one’s legs.
“That’s cheating, Alex.” Seth planted both hands above my hips. “You know what happens to cheaters.”
I tried prying his fingers from my waist. “Don’t you dare!”
He lifted me until over half of my body was out of the water. I stared down at his face. His smile went up a notch as I dangled above him. “Cold up there, huh?”
Yeah, it kind of was. “Stupid down there, huh?”
Seth’s brows flew up. “For one in such a precarious position, you sure don’t know how to talk yourself out of it.”
“That’s because it’s hard to reason with idiots.” I gave him a cheeky grin. “Why bother?”
“Oh? Is that how it is? Well, my little Apollyon-in-training, have a nice flight.”
“Seth! I swear I will—”
Using the air element, he launched me out of the water, cutting off my words. I went up… and up another couple of feet, and back down in a mess of arms and red silk several feet away. Water went up my nose as I sank to the bottom of the pool.