Текст книги "Apollyon"
Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout
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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 22 страниц)
CHAPTER 10
After I forced Aiden to drop that little bomb, we went into the large sitting room. I was numb. Apollo could kill me? Apollo had wantedto kill me? Then why had he shown up and put a smackdown on Thanatos? Gods, why was I trying to be logical about this? Apollo was a god. Who knew?
I sat beside Deacon and decided to push the Apollo issue aside for right now. “Okay, can I start small? What is today’s date?”
Marcus leaned against a desk. I realized then he was in jeans and I couldn’t think of a time when I’d ever seen him so casual. “Today is April 5th.”
Blinking a couple of times, I sat back. A month… I’d basically lost an entire month. Gods, what was going on in the world outside this cabin? I cleared my throat. “And where am I? If it makes you feel better, you can just tell me the state.”
“Apple River,” Aiden said, keeping watch by the large picture window.
I folded my arms, which kind of hurt. “Okay, I know you have to be making that name up.”
A slight smile formed on Aiden’s lips. “It’s real. You’re in Illinois.”
“Illinois?” My brain was stuck on the name Apple River being real.
“And it’s about as empty and boring as it sounds,” Deacon said, tipping his head at Luke. “And really backwoods. I went out once. Scary. Lumberjacks, enough said.”
Solos scuffed. “This is my father’s hunting cabin—one of many—and it’s not that scary.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay. So the gods? How many of them are ticked off right now?”
“All of them.” Marcus laughed, swishing the contents of his glass. The smile quickly left his face. “All of them, Alexandria.”
“We haven’t seen many of the gods, but Hephaestus reinforced the bars,” Lea said, studying her nails. “He was kind of scary.”
I guessed I’d been out of it when he’d showed. “I can’t believe Apollo hit me with a god bolt.”
“I can’t believe Aiden punched him,” Marcus said, downing the rest of his wine.
“What?” My mouth dropped open. “You did not.”
The half-grin spread until a dimple appeared in his left cheek. “I did.”
“All those times you yelled at me for hitting people, and you hit a god?” I couldn’t believe it.
That half-grin turned into a full smile. “This was a different situation.”
Oh. Okay. Shaking my head, I moved on. “All right, have there been any more attacks like… like what happened to the Covenant?”
Laadan stared at me. “He… he didn’t tell you?”
I figured by “he” she meant Seth. “I’m not sure. He kept me out of a lot of stuff.”
“Except for telling you that they were working with daimons,” she said, and I nodded. She glanced at Marcus and sighed. “A lot has been happening out there, dear. And very little of it is good.”
Steeling myself for the worst, I wrapped my fingers around the crystal rose. “Tell me.”
“We really don’t have to tell you.” Lea picked up a slim remote control and twisted, pointing it at a flatscreen on the wall. “We can just show you.”
Lea picked one of the nationwide news stations. I didn’t think there’d be anything happening right this instant, but apparently so much had happened, it was always on the news.
An image of destroyed buildings and toppled cars streamed over the screen. It was Los Angeles. Three days ago, there had been a catastrophic earthquake, a magnitude 7.0. A day later, another had hit the Indian Ocean, triggering a destructive tsunami that had wiped out an entire island.
And there was more.
Devastating wildfires plagued the Midwest and portions of South Dakota—near the University. I figured Hephaestus’ automatons had something to do with that, considering they breathed balls of fire or whatever. There were various skirmishes in the Middle East. Several countries were on the brink of war.
Scrolling along the bottom of the screen was a breaking news announcement—seismic activity had begun below Mount St. Helens. Fears of a full volcanic eruption had people fleeing nearby towns.
Holy baby daimons…
The news anchor was interviewing a doomsday fanatic.
I sat back, soaking it in, horrified by what was happening. All of this because of Seth—and me—and there were so many innocent lives that had been lost, so many more that hung in the balance. There was a good chance I was going to hurl noodles all over the floor.
Lea turned the TV off.
“The gods are responsible for all of that?” I asked.
Laadan nodded.
Man, the gods werepissed.
“There is more,” she said gently, and a mad laugh bubbled up in my throat. How could there be more? “So many Sentinels have been killed by Lucian’s… by his army. And many pure-bloods have simply disappeared. Those who have reached the Covenants are holding strong, but no one is safe. Then there are the occurrences with mortals that look like wild animal attacks, but we believe them to be the work of the daimons. It appears like they are trying to provoke the gods.”
At some point, Aiden had moved to stand behind the couch. His hands were on the back of the cushion. His presence was comforting, but I was shocked to the core. Apollo could have appeared in front of me and done a naked jig and I wouldn’t have blinked an eye. Seth hadn’t mentioned any of this, but Aiden hadtried to tell me while I was in the cage.
And I’d told him I hadn’t cared.
I started to stand, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate.
“It’s a lot to swallow, huh?” Luke said as he stared at his black boots. “The world’s gone to shit in about a month’s time.”
“It’s not too late. The gods are showing us what they want.” Lea sounded entirely too mature to be the girl I’d thrown an apple at a couple of months ago. “They want Seth dead.”
I knew that wasn’t so much the case. They wanted one of us dead, preferably before we came within hugging distance. I racked my brain for something useful. After I’d Awakened, I’d learned the history of all the Apollyons, but none of that was useful. None of it except something with Solaris…
“It’s just not as simple as killing Seth.” Solos scratched at the stubble on his chin. “There is the problem of getting close. Dionysus said that Lucian had many Sentinels and Guards, mostly halfs.”
Dionysus? How in the world had he come into the picture? Wasn’t he the god of drunks or something?
“And if we get too close—if Alex gets too close, then…” Marcus trailed off.
Then he would take my power, possibly even drain me, because I now wasn’t sure Seth could stop if he wanted to. No matter what he’d said to me while we were connected, I couldn’t rely on his promises—his sales pitch—because I really didn’t believe Seth knew what he was doing.
I stood then, because I couldn’t sit anymore. Walking to the window, I stared at the shadowy landscape as I twisted the necklace between my fingers. Night had fallen and, even with my suped-up eyesight, the trees were dark and ominous. My reflection stared back at me, pale and unfamiliar. It was me—Alex, slightly rounded cheeks and wide lips. With the exception of the freaky amber eyes, I looked the same.
But I felt different.
There was a stillness inme that had never been there before. I didn’t really know what it meant yet.
“Then what do we do?” Luke asked. “Hide Alex forever?”
My lips twisted into a grim smile. That wasn’t going to work.
“I could get behind that as long as someone brings in a DS or a Wii,” Deacon joked, but it fell flat. “Or not…”
There was a pause and then Lea said, “Please gods, tell me you’re not still against killing Seth.”
“Now is probably not the best time to go there,” Marcus said.
“What?” I heard her come to her feet, and her anger blasted the room. “Alex, you have to understand, especially after everything he’s done to you.”
“Lea,” Aiden snapped, finally getting involved in the conversation.
“Don’t ‘Lea’ me. Seth has to die, and Alex is the only person who can do it!”
Dropping the necklace, I faced them. “I know… he needs to be dealt with. I understand that.”
Everyone, including Aiden, stared at me. He started to speak, but closed his mouth. Truth be told, I loathed the idea of killing anything at this point. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it when I faced a daimon again, and even though Seth had been a real bastard about things, I knew that deep down he was nothing more than an unloved little boy who wanted acceptance. And yeah, he had a major akasha addiction, but he was a victim in all of this, too. The only person I’d probably enjoy taking out, just a little bit, was Lucian. Yeah, I could get behind that.
But getting to Lucian wasn’t going to happen.
“Alex,” Marcus said softly.
I took a breath, unable to put forth the words necessary for what needed to be said. “What do we do?” I glanced at Aiden and then Solos. They were the skilled Sentinels here. Time for some battle strategy, which wasn’t my strong suit, because I was more of a “run into things head-first and face-plant a wall” type of fighter. “We have to stop Seth and Lucian, but we can’t just walk up to them. We need to be able to get close without them knowing, and we– Ineed to know how to fight Seth without transferring my power to him.”
Aiden looked like he didn’t like the sound of that, but he turned to Solos and nodded. “Apollo said that it may take a few days for him to come back, but he asked that we don’t lift the wards until he can come to us. Those wards prevent them from finding us, and right now they are the onlything stopping the gods from finding us.”
“How did Thanatos find me?” I asked, curious.
“You went outside, beyond the wards,” Aiden said. “Hopefully Apollo can tell us more when he returns.”
“So we wait in here until then and do nothing?” Lea slumped against the cushion, crossing her arms. A petulant look crossed her face.
“We don’t sit and do nothing,” Solos said, eyeing the girl. “What we need to do is train and prepare for what… for what’s coming. That’s what Apollo wanted.”
Because something wascoming, and it was a war.
“Hopefully Apollo can convince the gods to lay off,” Aiden said, jaw working. “Right now, we need the gods on our side.”
“Agreed,” half the room said.
Hope flickered in my chest. “Do you think they’ll stop this… zombie-apocalypse-in-the-making if they realize I’m back on Team Not-Insane?”
No one really looked hopeful, but Aiden smiled at me, and I knew he did it to make me feel better, because it was what I wanted to hear. It took everything in me not to cross the room and jump him.
Priorities, Alex, priorities…
Everyone agreed on starting training as soon as possible. And it made sense. Fighting was not like riding a bicycle. Muscles weakened, reflexes slowed. Honestly, we had no other choice. Hopefully no other gods showed up, dishing out some good old god wrath.
I sat on the edge of the couch and started fiddling with the rose again. I knew everyone was waiting to hear any plans Seth had shared with me. They were going to be disappointed. “The only thing Seth told me about was the daimons, and he knew I’d told Aiden afterward. I don’t think he was too concerned. He really didn’t tell me anything else. The plans he… the plans we made were about freeing my father.”
Laadan’s eyes dampened, and I hoped we could talk soon. There was so much I had to ask her.
Solos didn’t even try to hide his displeasure. “Well, that’s not really helpful.”
“It’s not her fault,” Aiden shot back.
The Sentinel cracked a distorted smile. “Simmer down, Loverboy.”
My mouth opened to deny that Aiden was my loverboy. The response was immediate, inherent in nature. I forced my mouth closed before I could say anything. Everyone in this room already knew that Aiden and I were togethertogether. Hell, everyone in the world probably guessed, courtesy to Lucian’s announcement before Seth blew up the Council, which had made Aiden Public Enemy Number Two.
It was odd being so open about it, though—not odd in a bad way, but something that would take me a little to get used to. I wasn’t Aiden’s dirty little secret.
I’d never been his dirty little secret.
Deacon laughed. “Oh, you’re sogoing to be the next person who gets hit. I’m putting money on that.”
“You need to add yourself to that list.” Aiden looked about seventy-percent serious.
“And I’m putting money on that,” Luke threw in.
I shot forward, gripping my knees. “I do remember something! It’s not major, but Seth was heading north. He’s probably heading to the Catskills.”
“That’s something to go on.” Marcus glanced at his glass, as if he couldn’t fathom how it was empty. “He won’t reach it. Not with the Khalkotauroi surrounding the place.”
Olivia shuddered. “You think they can actually stop him?”
“They’ll slow him down.” Marcus pushed off the desk, heading for the door. “Anyone else in need of refreshments?”
“You sharing?” Deacon perked up.
Surprisingly, Aiden didn’t caution him. Perhaps a little underage wine drinking wasn’t our biggest concern at the moment. Our group scattered, some following Marcus on the wine run. Only after they left did I realize that the Dean of the Covenant was supplying alcohol to minors.
This really was an alternate universe.
After a few minutes, it was just Aiden and me. He sat beside me, exhaling a long breath. “You doing okay?”
Wondering how many times he was going to ask that in twenty-four hours, I turned to him. “I’m fine, really.”
He looked like there was something he wanted to say, but he leaned forward and kissed my forehead instead. “I’m going to go check the grounds.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Stay here and take it easy, Alex. Just for tonight, okay?”
I felt the urge to pout. “You shouldn’t have to do that alone.”
“I’m not.” He flashed a grin. “Solos will be with me.”
“He wasn’t with you earlier. That’s what you were doing when everyone was eating, right? Checking the grounds, making sure no daimons were sneaking up on us?”
“I doubt there are any daimons out here.”
But he was still patrolling, because that’s what Sentinels did, and I thought about how he was willing to leave this life… leave it for us. I bet, if we lived in some place like Apple River, he’d still check the yard every night. Thinking that brought a smile to my lips.
“I’ve missed your smiles,” he said, standing.
I looked up, wanting to grab his hand and make him stay. “I’ll be here waiting.”
“I know.”
He looked at me strangely and then he left, and I was alone… alone except for the low buzz in the back of my head. I tried not to pay attention to it, because it symbolized a whole truckload of potential problems. That damn buzzing meant that Seth was still there, and I didn’t know what that really meant in terms of him contacting me.
Glancing at the window, I took a breath but it got stuck. What if Seth could reach me? Would I be able to fight off what he wanted? If I did, could I somehow reason with him? Or would I just lose myself again, and this time there’d be no reaching me? An ache pierced my chest.
Unable to think about that without ending up in the corner rocking, I reached for the remote and turned the TV on. The news still focused on the horrific earthquake in Los Angeles and the developing story coming out the Pacific Northwest.
Taking in the destruction the gods were wreaking, I knew only one thing—and it hurt in a way that shouldn’t have, in a way I couldn’t really explain. Seth had to die, but I had no idea how to do it… or if I really could, when it came down to it.
CHAPTER 11
I stayed in front of that TV the entire night, tired but not sleepy. Aiden passed out in the recliner beside the couch around three in the morning. I doubted that he was cool with leaving my side for long stretches of time. I didn’t know if he was worried that I’d turn into Evil Alex again, or if he just needed to be near me. Either way, I was comforted by his soft snores. I think he was waiting for me to give up on my morbid fascination with the news, but I didn’t.
Every newscaster had something different to add. More pictures streamed in from all around the globe. Mortals poured into the L.A. streets, rioting and looting, but in the Middle East, they dropped to their knees in the streets and prayed.
Clutching the remote until my knuckles ached, I tried—really tried—to imagine what it must be like to be these mortals. To be caught in something so much bigger than them while having no idea that, at any given second, everything could be ripped away from them.
I had more in common with them than I realized.
It really did seem like the end of the world. No mortal could explain the series of catastrophic events that, in their limited knowledge, couldn’t be related to each other.
What was happening out there was beyond horrifying, and the destruction was because of Seth and me. Maybe it wouldn’t have come to this if Seth hadn’t attacked the Council. Maybe the gods would’ve left us alone to live our lives.
Maybe they would’ve found a way to kill us anyway.
I didn’t know and it really didn’t matter. This was where we were now, and things were screwed up. While all the knowledge of the Apollyons was floating around in my head, none of it was useful when it came to fixing this.
Laadan appeared in the doorway, dressed in slacks and a white sweater today. Her hair was perfectly coifed, in spite of the fact the world had donned its crazy pants. The woman was awe-inspiring.
She glanced at Aiden and smiled. “Care to join me for some coffee?”
How could I ever turn down caffeine? Nodding, I started out of the room, but backtracked to where Aiden rested and fixed the quilt I’d draped over him a few hours ago. The man must have been exhausted, because he didn’t wake up, which was rare.
I followed Laadan into the kitchen and watched her make quick work of the coffee. With our steaming cups in hand, we went into the sunroom for the privacy it offered. We sat on the window seat, our legs tucked toward each other. Finally, we were going to talk about my father, and I had no idea what was going to come out of her mouth.
I was even a little scared, stupid and weak as that was, and my stomach was flipping all over the place. I knew nothing of my father, only discovering that he was a half-blood and alive a few months ago.
Laadan took a sip of her coffee and blinked several times. “First, I want to apologize for what happened to you at the Council. I—”
“You don’t have to apologize. That wasn’t your fault.” And it wasn’t. Laadan had been compelled to give me the Brew—like a suped-up roofie of the gods—by one of Telly’s Guards, probably the one I’d killed…
“What they tried to do to you was horrid.” Tears filled her eyes, shining like crystals. “I wish—I wish I had known. I am so sorry—”
“Laadan, seriously, you don’t have to apologize. I know you would never willingly do something like that. And I know you don’t remember who did it. It’s okay.” And gods, I did not want to talk about that night. Beside the fact that it made me think about the Guard I’d killed, if I hadn’t ended up puking my guts out, Seth and I… we would’ve done it, and after everything now, I don’t think I’d ever get over that.
I sat my coffee on the small wicker table as my stomach roiled. “I want to know about my dad.”
A remarkable change occurred in Laadan. A different kind of sheen misted in her eyes. She took another drink, her pointer finger tapping off the glass. The anticipation was killing me.
“Your father is a… an incredible man, Alex. You should know that above all else.”
My breath fell short. “I know.” I did know, because he had to be to break the rules and love my mother. “The Elixir didn’t work on my father, did it?”
Laadan smiled wistfully. “Your father—Alexander—well, he always had a strong will, much like you. The Elixir has taken its toll on him, but he never completely fell to the compulsion. I do not know how, but he resisted it from the beginning.”
I clasped my hands together. “I think I saw him on the stairs once, and then toward the end, during the attack. He was fighting…”
“You did see him.” Her gaze moved to the window behind us. Early-morning sunlight sliced over the frost-covered glass. “He was in the library the night we spoke of your mother and him.”
I could only stare. I knew someone had been in there. “The books that fell over—that was him?”
She nodded.
How many times had I been close to the man—to my father—without knowing? A hurricane of disappointment swelled inside me. “And… and he knows I’m his daughter?”
“Yes, he knows.” She reached out with her free hand, gently touching the skin of my face, near a bruise that was already starting to heal. “He would recognize you anywhere. You look so much like your mother.”
That bite of sadness strengthened and I pulled back. “Then why didn’t he talk to me?”
Laadan looked away, her chin lowering.
“I tried talking to him, Laadan. In the stairwell, but he just… stared at me. And why didn’t he come up to me in the library? I know he couldn’t just announce who he was, but why…” My throat tightened. “Why didn’t he want to talk to me, at least?”
Her head snapped toward me. “Oh, honey, he wanted to talk to you more than anything, but it’s not that simple.”
“Seems simple to me. You open your mouth and talk.” I struggled to sit still. Had he heard of my escapades? Gods know rumors of my problems with authority had traveled far and wide. Had he been embarrassed as a trained Sentinel? Worse yet, as a father? “I just don’t understand.”
She took a breath. “He was close to you a lot when you were there and you didn’t know, but it was also very dangerous for him to be seen around you. The truth of what he is, what your mother was, and what you are, was too much of a risk. You already had too many eyes on you.”
The conversation Seth and I had overheard came back to me. We already have one here. Anger sparked and was quick to ignite a fire inside me. Marcus… Marcus had known, and now that it was all out in the open, we were so going to talk about that.
“What I told you in the library that night? That he would be proud of you because of who you have become and not what you will become?” She clasped my fisted hand in her gentle grip. “That is the truth. From the moment you arrived back at the Covenant last summer, I did my best to keep him up-to-date on how you were. Your mother… she didn’t know what had happened to him and Alexander wanted it that way. In a way, death was easier than the truth.”
I blinked away sudden tears and wanted to pull my hand free, but like always, Laadan’s calming nature was disarming.
“Things are more complicated than you realize, Alex. He couldn’t talk to you.”
Shaking my head, I tried and failed to understand that. I’d think that a father would’ve done anything to speak to his daughter just once.
Laadan squeezed my hands and let go. “The Masters always suspected that your father was different, and that perhaps he was influencing other servants. They treated him quite cruelly. He cannot talk to you, Alex. They removed half his tongue.”
I balked at what she said. I’d heard her wrong. There were no other options. “No. I saw him talking with another servant in the dining hall.”
She shook her head sadly. “If anything, you saw a servant talking tohim.”
Forcing myself to remember the morning after I’d been slipped the Brew more clearly, I tried to see my father and the younger servant. Things had looked tense and his back had been to me most of the time. I’d assumed that he’d been talking by the reaction of the other servant.
I hadn’tseen him talk.
Shooting to my feet, I heard Laadan’s little gasp of surprise. Even I was a little shocked by how fast I moved. The marks of the Apollyon appeared on my skin and tingled as they glided in various directions. She couldn’t see them, but some innate sense coaxed her to scoot back.
“They cut out his tongue?” Power surged over my skin.
“Yes.”
That was it. I was going to take out the Council and every freaking Master on this planet. Bad, dangerous thoughts, but gods, how could they do something like that?
“How can I be so surprised?” I said out loud, and then laughed madly. “How am I surprised by this, Laadan?”
There was no answer.
Turning away, I struggled to control my fury. Already I could hear the branches slapping along the side of the cabin. Knowing my luck, I’d probably cause an earthquake. Controlling the elements was easy, but I’d learned through the Awakening that my emotions affected them, made them violent and unpredictable.
As did the amount of aether, the essence of the gods, that coursed through my veins.
Our society had always been cruel to the half-bloods. Pures had always taken a role of dominance, and the things that I knew went on behind the closed doors of some of the pures—things no one talked about, things I wanted to rage about—happened every day. And like every other half, I’d been in a subservient role my entire life. I’d grown up being taught to accept these things, because there was no other choice for me, or for any other half. Even after living in the mortal world, I’d come back into the fold, barely missing a step when I’d seen the servants.
And only once had I intervened. I’d received a punch in a jaw for it, but stopping a Master from striking a female servant was nothing compared to what those halfs went through.
In reality, it was more than accepting the Breed Order. I’d grown cold to it, because it hadn’t affected me.
And that was inexcusable.
Stepping away, I ran my hands down my outer thighs. The breath I inhaled was harsh. This was bigger than me and my own problems with becoming a Sentinel and continuing on while others of my kind were enslaved. This was more than my father. It was the Breed Order.
“This has to change,” I said.
“I agree, but…”
But now, right this instant, there was nothing I could do. Believe it or not, we had bigger problems. The Breed Order and how halfs were treated wouldn’t matter if we were all dead.
Facing Laadan, I realized something huge—huge to me, at least. Old Alex would’ve probably stormed off somewhere and kicked a Master in the junk. A huge part of me wanted to do that, but the new Alex—this girl/woman/whatever who came out of nowhere knew that some battles had tobe planned.
That new Alex waited.
I sort of struck myself speechless.
Laadan, more observant than I realized, smiled and patted the spot beside her. “You’re growing up.”
“I am?” Seemed late in the game for that sort of nonsense. I sat, and when she nodded, I sighed and sounded ten years older. “Growing up sucks, then.”
“There is a naiveté to young selfishness.”
My brows rose. I was itchy, like I had slipped on more responsible and mature skin and a part of me didn’t like that. Shaking it off, I went back to my dad. “You talk to him a lot?”
“As much as I can. Communication is one-sided at times, but he can write, obviously. I know he got your letter, but unfortunately with everything happening, I do not know his response or if he had the chance.”
I nodded in a jerking motion. “Do you know where he is right now?”
She fingered the lace on the edge of her sweater. “Alexander is at the New York Covenant.”
“He’s still there?” When she nodded, I wanted to get up and figure out how to get to New York, but logic seeped in. It would be near impossible to get to him. And with Seth out there, looking for us? It would just be plain stupid to go running off.
“When the Elixir stopped working, there was a lot of confusion among the servants. There are very few like him who resisted the compulsions. Those who are going through their own awakening of sorts need a leader, and that is your father. There is a lot of turmoil there, with the recent attack and with what the First is doing.”
But I wanted to scream that I needed him here with me. Wasn’t I more important? His long-lost daughter? I frowned. Well, good to see some of my naïve selfishnesswas still present.
“Does he still love my mother?” I asked, peeking at her.
Her expression was guarded. “I think a part of him will always love her.”
“Do you love him?” I blurted out.
Laadan swallowed and a long pause followed. In the gap, I heard someone moving around in the kitchen.
I started to grin. “You like him.”
Looking away, her lips pursed.
I nudged her with my elbow. “You like him a lot.”
She drew herself up. “Your father—”
“Is the love of your life?”
“Alexandria,” she snapped, but there was no real heat to her tone.
I laughed as I leaned back against the cool windowpane. I knew that my parents had this wondrous, forbidden love affair that started long before Stepfather Douchey had come into the picture. And if it hadn’t been for the Breed… the godsdamn Breed Order, they’d still be together. Gods, so many things would be different. Namely my mother… she’d still be alive, because I bet my dad was like Aiden. He would’ve never allowed anything to happen to my mom.
Laadan’s lips curved up at the corners. “You are so much like your father. Your stubbornness and tenacity.” Her gaze went to the closed door. The smell of fresh coffee grew. “And just like your father, you dared to love a pure-blood.”
My mouth opened. Touché. “Well, I kind of walked into that one.”
I thought she snickered, but I had to be wrong, because that would be so unladylike of her.
For some odd reason, some of the weight lifted from my shoulders and I went from vengeful, albeit more mature Alex, to girlie-girl in less than two seconds flat. “I do love him. I really do. More than… more than I probably should.”
She patted my hand. “You can never love someone more than you probably should.”
I wasn’t sure about that.
“He loves you just as strongly. It was obvious to me from the beginning.”
“It was?”
“The Aiden I knew, the one before he went to Atlanta to find you, had always respected and viewed halfs equally, but he never would’ve taken time away from his Sentinel duties to help any half.”
Knowing what had been done to his parents in front of him while he was a small boy, I could see where she would think that. Becoming a Sentinel and avenging his parents had become everything to him.
“And then I saw the way he was around you in New York.” Her smiled turned wistful again. “It’s all in the way he looked at you—the way he constantlylooked at you. You were his world, probably before either of you realized that.”
“You could tell all that by the way he looked at me?” I may’ve sounded skeptical, but oh, wow, that girlie-girl was jumping and shrieking inside me.
