“It wasn’t.” Aiden tucked a stray piece of my hair back behind my ear. “You did well.”
“She looked like a pancake when she hit the floor,” Seth remarked, earning a pissy look from both of us. He laughed as he jogged off toward Perses.
Sitting down, I took the bottle of water Aiden handed me and gulped it down. As Seth squared off against Perses, I readied myself for another round. When Seth ate floor, Aiden took his place. Half of my bones felt brittle, as if they were about to break, and I couldn’t fathom why Aiden was subjecting himself to this when he didn’t have to. Not that Perses was complaining. The more butts he was kicking, the happier he was. I stretched my legs out, easing the sore muscles. Every time I went up against Perses, I wanted to tap into akasha and just give a good old, aether-fueled bitch-slap in the—
“Holy daimon butts,” I whispered.
Seth glanced down at me, frowning. “Uh, what?”
Popping up to my feet, a smile split my lips. “I got it.”
He shook his head as he studied me. “Got what? Milk?”
“No.” Excited, I couldn’t wait until Aiden went down. Not that I really wanted that, but I wanted at Perses. “I know how to take him down.”
Seth snorted.
I ignored his lack of faith in my ability. Never once during our training had Perses told Seth and me that we couldn’t use our Apollyon abilities. We’d just assumed that we couldn’t. After all, we were treating these training sessions like we were back in class, fighting instructors. But we weren’t. We also weren’t normal students.
Aiden caught a kick in the middle of the back, taking him to his knees.
“We’re so stupid,” I said to Seth, grinning.
His brows rose. “Speak for yourself, Angel.”
As Aiden started back toward us, I passed him halfway, brushing my fingers down his arm. “I got this,” I told him.
He smiled down at me, and as I continued forward, I saw the pures gathered at the doors exchange looks of disgust and disbelief. I flipped them off.
Perses yawned. “Back so soon, girl?”
“I can’t wait to see your face when you hit the floor.” I shook my arms out, letting the rush of power in my veins make it to my skin.
His gaze flickered over me, and I knew that he, like the gods, could see the marks of the Apollyon. A smooth brow rose. “Well, let’s do this.”
Backing off, we circled one another, eyeing each other for that fine, slim moment of weakness. Springing forward, he twisted in midair, kicking out, but I spun to the side. He landed in a crouch, shooting up. Summoning akasha, I welcomed the rush of power as I threw my hand out. Shock flickered across his face. A pulse of light arced across the short distance between us, smacking into his chest. It wouldn’t kill him, but it definitely did the trick.
Perses stumbled back, his body bending at the waist. There were only a few seconds to complete this. Spinning around, I aimed my knee for his stomach. He tried to avoid the kick, but he wasn’t fast enough. I caught him in the midsection. He went down on one knee as I straightened. Bringing my arm down, I slammed my elbow into his back, between his shoulder blades. He planted his hands on the floor to catch himself. Moving lightning-quick and putting every muscle into the motion, I brought my leg up. The toe of my sneaker connected with his solar plexus. Perses flipped.
He hit the floor on his back, his eyes wide.
Silence.
It was like the sound had been sucked out of the room. And then I heard Aiden yell, and then Luke, and then Olivia. I’d done it.
I’d taken down a mother-freaking Titan.
Ares could suck it.
Standing over Perses, a ridiculously large smile crossed my face. “I don’t think you’ll be calling me ‘girl’ anymore.”
He grunted.
“What the hell?” Seth stalked up to us. “You used an element—akasha. How was that fair?”
Rocking back on my heels, I resisted the urge to start jumping around and clapping. “He never said we couldn’t use our abilities. We just assumed we couldn’t.”
Seth stared at me.
Perses shifted to his feet. “She’s right. It’s only taken a week for you idiots to figure that out. Even that one,” he said, gesturing to where Aiden waited. “He could’ve used fire, but he never did. To defeat Ares or any god, you will have to use every weapon you have. That was the lesson.”
I almost giggled with glee—actual glee.
Seth’s mouth dropped opened. “If that’s the case, I’ve couldn’t taken you down the first day.”
“But you didn’t.” Perses smiled as he tapped a long finger against his head. “You need to start using this as well as your muscles.”
Okay. I felt like clapping.
Seth rolled his eyes, but he turned to me. Nice work, Angel.
My smile spread, and I let my pride consume me for a moment. Perses ended the session shortly after that, and Seth disappeared out the door, parting the crowd like he was our version of Moses. I watched him go, knowing I needed to track him down. We had to do the transfer tonight.
Aiden hugged me when I joined him, resting his chin atop my head. “Brilliant.”
I laughed as I squeezed him. “Not really. Think about how long it took me to figure out that we should’ve been using our abilities the whole time.”
“Seth and I didn’t figure it out at all, so you’re one step ahead of us.” He stepped back, sliding his hands off me. A shiver coursed through me, something that didn’t go unnoticed. His eyes switched from gray to sliver. “What are you doing now?”
A flutter started in my stomach. “I’d love to do what you’re thinking.”
“But?”
“I need to talk with Seth.” Stretching up, I kissed his cheek. Part of me might have done it because the gaping pures were still at the door even though our friends had disappeared. The other part did it because I liked kissing Aiden. “See you in a bit?”
Aiden nodded, but the tense line of his jaw said he wasn’t happy. “You want me to go with you?”
I laughed under my breath. “No. That’s not going to help.”
He grumbled something and then said louder, “You did well today, you know that?”
A wide smile crossed my face. “Yes, I do.”
Aiden chuckled. “Modesty?”
“Bah!” I started to turn, but stopped. “Hey, can we, like, chill tonight? Watch a movie with Olivia and the guys? Deacon and Luke?”
He nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
It was what I wanted. Tomorrow, when we left for New York, things would get, well, they would get real. And I wanted the night before to not be stressful.
With the exception of trying to convince Seth to transfer power, and hopefully, I wouldn’t turn into the Terminator Apollyon afterward.
That would ruin our movie plans.
“Alex?”
I spun back to Aiden. “Yeah?”
“Be careful,” he said, swiping up his water bottle.
“Always.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I knew he was worried about what I was about to do, and I knew he wanted to be with me, but having Aiden and Seth in the same room wasn’t going to help.
Walking toward the door, I raised an eyebrow at the remaining pures. They shifted to the sides, allowing me to pass.
I stopped in the hallway, facing them. “Hi.”
The three pures exchanged surprised glances, but none of them spoke.
“Ah, you have nothing to say.” I popped my hands on my hips and rocked back on my heels. “I know it’s shocking to see a pure and a half together. And yes, we’re together in the biblical sense.”
Their eyes widened.
I smirked. “And seriously? That’s not a big deal. So, why don’t you three douche canoes go find something else to gawk at? Or, I don’t know…get a hobby. Or better yet, there’s this huge war that’s about to start. You guys could go figure how you could help instead of standing around like a bunch of bigoted ass-hats. Okay? Buh-bye.”