Текст книги "Deity"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

CHAPTER 2

HEART RACING, I TOOK THE STEPS TWO AT A TIME. SPY-ing Leon near my uncle’s office, I broke into a sprint. He looked mildly alarmed when he saw me.

“What is it, Alexandria?”

I skidded to a halt. “Aiden gave this to you?”

Leon frowned. “Yes.”

“Did you read it?”

“No. It wasn’t addressed to me.”

I clutched the letter to my chest. “Do you know where Aiden is?”

“Yes.” Leon’s frown turned severe. “He’s been back since last night.”

“Where is he right now, Leon? I need to know.”

“I don’t see how there could be any reason you’d need Aiden badly enough to interrupt his training.” He folded thick arms across his chest. “And shouldn’t you be heading to class?”

I stared a moment before I spun around and took off again. Leon wasn’t stupid, so he hadn’t accidentally told me where Aiden was, but I didn’t care enough to look into the reason behind that.

If Aiden was training then I knew where to find him. A cold, damp breeze sprayed my cheeks as I burst through the lobby doors and headed toward the training arena. The milky gray sky was typical for late November, making summer seem so long ago.

Classes for lower level students were being held in the larger training rooms. Instructor Romvi’s impatient barking from behind one of the closed doors followed my quick footsteps down the empty hall. Toward the end of the building, across from the med room where Aiden had brought me after Kain had handed my ass to me in training, was a smaller room equipped with the bare necessities and a sensory deprivation chamber.

I had yet to train in that thing.

Peeking through the crack in the door, I saw Aiden. He was in the middle of the mat, squaring off with a punching bag. A fine sheen of sweat coated his ropey muscles as he swung, knocking the bag back several feet.

Any other time I would have admired him rather obsessively, but my fingers spasmed, crunching the letter. I slid through the gap and crossed the room.

“Aiden.”

He whipped around, eyes flaring from a cool gray to a thunderous shade. He took a step back, wiping his arm across his forehead. “Alex, what… what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

I held the letter up. “Did you read what was in this letter?”

He had the same look as Leon. “No. Laadan asked me to make sure you got it.”

Why had she trusted Aiden with such news? I couldn’t even begin to figure that out unless… “Did you knowwhat was in this letter?”

“No. She just asked me to give it to you.” He bent, swiping a towel off the mat. “What’s in the letter that has you chasing me down?”

A stupid, totally unimportant question rose to the surface. “Why did you give it to Leon?’

He averted his eyes, growing still. “I thought it would be best.”

My gaze dropped from his face to his neck. There was that thin, silver chain again. I itched to know what he wore, since he wasn’t a jewelry type of guy. I dragged my eyes back to his face. “My father is alive.”

Aiden tilted his head toward me. “What?”

A bitter feeling settled in my stomach “He’s alive, Aiden. And he’s been at the New York Covenant for years. He was there when I was there.” The swirling emotions I felt when I first read the letter picked up again. “I saw him, Aiden! I know I did. The servant with the brown eyes. And he knew—he knew I was his daughter. That must be why he always looked at me strangely. It’s probably why I was so drawn to him whenever I saw him. I just didn’t know.”

Aiden looked pale under his natural tan. “Can I?”

I handed him the letter and then dragged shaking hands through my hair. “You know, there was something different about him. He never looked doped-up like other servants. And when Seth and I were leaving, I saw him fighting the daimons.” I paused, drawing in a deep breath. “I just didn’t know, Aiden.”

His brows furrowed as he scanned the letter. “Gods,” he murmured.

Turning away from him, I hugged my elbows. The sickening feeling I’d been staving off flowed through my stomach. Anger boiled the blood in my veins. “He’s a servant—a freaking servant.”

“Do you know what this means, Alex?”

I faced him, shocked to find him so close. At once I caught the scent of aftershave and saltwater. “Yes. I have to do something! I have to get him out of there. I know I don’t know him, but he’s my father. I have to do something!”

Aiden’s eyes widened. “No.”

“No what?”

He folded up the letter in one hand and grabbed my arm with the other. I dug in my heels. “What are you—?”

“Not here,” he ordered quietly.

Confused and a bit startled by the fact that Aiden was actually touching me, I let him lead me to the med office across the hall. He shut the door behind him, turning the lock. An uncomfortable heat flooded my system as I realized we were alone in a room with no windows, and Aiden had just locked the door. Seriously, I needed to get a grip because this was sonot the time for my ridiculous hormones. Okay, there really wasn’ta time for them.

Aiden faced me. His jaw flexed. “What are you thinking?”

“Uh…” I took a step back. No way was I admitting that. Then I realized he was angry—furious with me. “What did I do now?”

He placed the letter on the table I’d once sat upon. “You will not do something crazy.”

My eyes narrowed as I snatched up the letter, finally catching onto why he was so angry. “You expect me to do nothing? And to just let my father rot in servitude?”

“You need to calm down.”

“Calm down? That servant in New York is my father. The father I’d been told was dead!” Suddenly, I remembered Laadan in the library and how she talked about my father as if he was still alive. Rage socked me in the stomach. Why hadn’t she told me? I could’ve spoken to him. “How can I calm down?”

“I… I can’t imagine what you’re going through, or what you’re thinking.” He frowned. “Well, yes, I can imagine what you’re thinking. You want to storm the Catskills and free him. I know that’s what you’re thinking.”

Of course I was.

He started toward me, his eyes turning a brilliant silver. “No.”

I backed up, clutching Laadan’s letter to my chest. “I have to do something.”

“I know you feel like you need to, but Alex, you cannot return to the Catskills.”

“I wouldn’t storm it.” I edged around the table as he grew closer. “I’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll get in trouble. Telly said all I needed to do was make one more mistake and I was being sent to the Catskills.”

Aiden stared.

The table was now between us. “If I could get back there, then I can talk to him. I have to talk to him.”

“Absolutely not,” Aiden growled.

My muscles locked. “You can’t stop me.”

“You want to bet?” He started around the table.

Not really. The fierceness in his expression told me he’d do everything to stop me, which meant I needed to convince him. “He’s my father, Aiden. What would you do if it was Deacon?”

Low blow, I know.

“Don’t you even dare bring him into this, Alex. I won’t allow you to get yourself killed. I don’t care who it’s for. I won’t.”

Tears burned the back of my throat. “I can’t leave him in that kind of life. I can’t.”

Pain flickered in his steely gaze. “I know, but he’s not worth your life.”

My arms fell to my sides and I stopped trying to outmaneuver him. “How can you make that decision?” And then the tears I’d been fighting broke free. “How can I not do something?”

Aiden didn’t say anything as he placed his hands on my upper arms and guided me to him. Instead of pulling me straight into his embrace, he backed up against the wall and slid down, bringing me along with him. I was nestled in his arms. My legs curled against him, one of my hands fisting his shirt.

The breath I took was shallow, filled with a kind of hurt I couldn’t let go. “I’m tired of people lying to me. Everyone lied about my mom, and now this? I thought he was dead. And gods, I wish he were, because death is better than what he has to live through.” My voice broke and more tears spilled over my cheeks.

Aiden’s arms tightened around me, and his hand smoothed a comforting circle over my back. I wanted to stop crying because it was weak and humiliating, but I couldn’t stop. Discovering my father’s true fate was horrifying. When the worst of the tears subsided, I pulled back a little and lifted my teary gaze.

Damp silky waves of dark hair clung to his forehead and temples. The dim light of the room still highlighted those high cheekbones and lips I’d memorized so long ago. Aiden rarely ever fully smiled, but when he did, it was breathtaking. There’d been a few times I’d gotten to bask in that rare smile; the last time had been at the zoo.

Seeing him now, truly seeing him, the first time after he’d risked everything to protect me—I wanted to start crying again. Over the last week, I’d replayed what had happened over and over again. Could I’ve done something differently? Disarmed the Guard instead of shoving my blade deep into his chest? And why had Aiden used compulsion to cover up what I’d done? Why would he risk so much?

And none of that seemed important right now, not after learning about my father. I wiped under my eyes with my palms. “Sorry for… crying all over you.”

“Never apologize for that,” he said. I expected him to let go of me at that point, but his arms were still around me. I knew I shouldn’t, because it would just bring a world of hurt later, but I let myself relax against him. “You have this knee-jerk reaction to everything.”

“What?”

He lowered an arm and tapped my knee. “It’s the first initial response. The immediate thought when you hear something. You act on that instead of thinking things through.”

I burrowed my cheek against his chest. “That’s not a compliment.”

His hand moved to the back of my neck, fingers tangling deep in the mess of hair at the nape of my neck. Wondering if he was aware of what he was doing, I held my breath. His hand tightened, holding me so I couldn’t pull back too far. Not that I would—no matter how wrong it was, how dangerous or stupid.

“It’s not an insult,” he said softly. “It’s just who you are. You don’t stop to think of the danger, only what is right. But sometimes it’s not…right.”

I mulled that over. “Was using compulsion on Dawn and the other pure a knee-jerk reaction?”

He took what seemed like forever to answer. “It was, and it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I couldn’t do anything else.”

“Why?”

Aiden didn’t answer.

I didn’t push it. There was a comfort in his arms, in the way his hand traced a soothing circle along my back, that I couldn’t find anyplace else. I didn’t want to ruin it. In his arms, I was calmer—strangely. I could breathe. I felt safe, grounded. No one else offered that. His was like my very own prescription of Ritalin.

“Becoming a Sentinel was a knee-jerk reaction,” I whispered.

Aiden’s chest rose and fell under my cheek. “Yeah, it was.”

“Do… do you regret it?”

“Never.”

I wished I had his kind of resolve. “I don’t know what to do, Aiden.”

His chin tipped down, brushing over my cheek. His skin was smooth, warm, thrilling, and calming all in one. “We’ll figure out a way to get in touch with him. You said he never seemed like he was under the elixir? We could get a letter to Laadan; she could pass it to him. That would be the safest step.”

My heart did a stupid, happy dance. Hope was spreading out of control inside me. “We?”

“Yes. I can easily get a letter to Laadan—a message. It’s the safest way for right now.”

I wanted to squeeze him, but refrained. “No. If you get caught… I can’t have that happening.”

Aiden laughed softly. “Alex, we’ve probably broken every rule there is. I’m not worried about getting busted over passing on a message.”

No, we hadn’t broken everyrule.

He pulled back slightly, and I could feel his intense stare on my face. “Did you think I wouldn’t help you with something as important as this?”

I kept my eyes closed, because looking at him was a weakness. Hewas my weakness. “Things are… different.”

“I know things are different, Alex, but I will always be here for you. I will always help you.” He paused. “How can you ever doubt that?”

Like a fool, I opened my eyes. I was sucked right in. It was like everything that’d been said, everything I knew, didn’t matter anymore. “I don’t doubt that,” I whispered.

His lips tipped up on one side. “Sometimes I just don’t get you.”

“I don’t get myself half of the time.” I lowered my eyes. “You’ve already done… too much. What you did in the Catskills?” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Gods, I never thanked you for it.”

“Don’t—”

“Don’t say it’s not worth thanking you for.” My gaze flicked up, locking with his. “You saved my life, Aiden, at the risk of your own. So, thank you.”

He looked away, his eyes focusing on a spot over my head. “I told you I’d never let anything happen to you.” His gaze came back to me and amusement sparkled in those silver pools. “It seems more like a full-time job, though.”

My lips quirked. “I’ve really been trying, you know. Today was the first day I even did anything remotely stupid.” I left out the part where I’d been sequestered in my room with a nasty head cold.

“What did you do?”

“You really don’t want to know.”

He laughed again. “I figured Seth would be keeping you out of trouble.”

Realizing I hadn’t even thought about Seth since the moment I’d read the letter, I stiffened. I hadn’t even thought about the bond. Dammit.

Aiden drew in a deep breath and dropped his arms. “You do know what this means, Alex?”

I struggled to pull myself together. There were important things to deal with. My father, the Council, Telly, the furies, a dozen or so pissed off gods, and Seth. But my brain felt like mush. “What?”

Aiden glanced at the door, as if he was afraid to say it out loud. “Your father wasn’t a mortal. He’s a half-blood.”

CHAPTER 3

I DIDN’T GO BACK TO MY CLASSES. INSTEAD, I WENT TO my dorm room and sat on my bed, the letter resting in front of me like a snake ready to spread its venom. I was reeling from learning that my dad was still alive and…. I felt so stupid for not figuring it out right away. Laadan’s letter didn’t come out and say it. Obviously, I understood why she skirted the true bomb she was dropping in the brief letter. How else would the Council have been able to get my father under control? And I’d seen him fight. He was like a ninja with those candleholders.

My father was a freaking half-blood—a trainedhalf-blood. Hell, he’d probably been a damn Sentinel, which totally explained how my mom had known him before she met Lucian.

A half-blood.

So what in the holy Hades did that make me?

The answer seemed too simple. I flopped on my back, staring blindly at the ceiling. Gods, I wanted Caleb to talk this through with, because this couldn’t be what it was.

A pure-blood who had children with other pures made happy, little pure babies. A pure-blood who got it on with a mortal created the ever-useful half-blood. But a pure-blood and a half-blood getting together—which was so forbidden, so taboo that I couldn’t think of one situation where a child was actually produced—made… what?

I jerked straight up, heart thundering. The first time Aiden had been in my dorm room and I’d looked at him—well, I’d been ogling him, but whatever—and wondered why relationships between halfs and pures had been forbidden for eons. It wasn’t the fear of a one-eyed Cyclops, but it kind of was.

A pure-blood and a half-blood made an Apollyon.

“Shit,” I said, staring at the letter.

But it had to be more than just that. There was typically only one Apollyon born every generation, with the exception of Solaris and the First, and Seth and I. Which would mean a half and a pure only produced a child a handful of times since the time the gods had walked this earth. There had to be more times when it happened. Or were those babies killed? I wouldn’t put it past the pures or the gods to do such a thing if they knew what could come from the joining of a pure and a half. But why had Seth and I been spared? Obviously they knew what my father was since they’ve kept him around for whatever reason. My heart clenched, as did my fists. I pushed the anger down to revisit later. I’d promised Aiden I wouldn’t do anything reckless, and my anger always led to something idiotic.

A shiver inched its way down my spine. A sound came from my door, much like a lock being turned. I glanced at the letter, chewing my bottom lip. Then I looked at the clock beside the bed. I was way late for training with Seth.

The door opened and shut. I grabbed the letter, quickly folding it. I knew the moment he stood in the doorway without looking up. A level of awareness danced over my skin and the air filled with electricity.

“What happened today?” he asked simply.

There was very little I could hide from Seth. He would’ve sensed my emotions from the moment I read the letter and everything that I had been feeling while I’d been with Aiden. He wouldn’t know exactly what was causing my feelings to be all over the place—thank the gods—but Seth wasn’t stupid. I was a little surprised that he’d waited this long to come find me.

I lifted my gaze. He looked like one of those marble statues that adorned the front of every building here, except his skin was a unique golden color—otherworldly perfection. Sometimes he looked cold, impassive. Especially when his shoulder-length blond hair was pulled back, but it hung loose now, softening the lines of his face. His full lips were usually curved in a smug smile, but now they were pressed together in a hard, tight line.

Aiden had suggested that I keep the letter and its contents to myself. Laadan had broken gods know how many rules by telling me about my father, but I trusted Seth. We were, after all, fated to be together. A couple of months ago I would’ve laughed if someone had said that we would be doing whatever it was that we were doing. It’d been a case of mutual dislike when we first met, and we still had some epic moments. It wasn’t too long ago that I’d threatened to stab him in the eye. And I’d seriously meant it.

Silently, I held out the letter.

Seth took it, quickly unfolding it with long, agile fingers. I tucked my legs underneath me, watching him. There was nothing in his expression that gave away what he was thinking. After what seemed like forever, he glanced up. “Oh, gods.”

Not exactly the response I was shooting for.

“You’re going to do something incredibly stupid in response to this.”

I threw up my hands. “Jeez, does everyone think I’m going to Sparta-charge the Catskills?”

Seth’s brows rose.

“Whatever,” I grumbled. “I’m not going to attack the Covenant. I have to do something, but it won’t be… reckless. Happy? Anyway, do you remember the half-blood we passed when we were watching the Council the first day there?”

“Yes. You were staring at him.”

“That’s him. I know it. That’s why he looked so familiar to me. His eyes.” I bit my lip, looking away. “My mom always talked about his eyes.”

He sat beside me. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to send a letter back to Laadan, a letter for my dad. From there, I don’t know.” I looked at him. Thick strands of hair shielded his face. “You know what this means, right? That he’s a half-blood. And this—” I gestured at us. “We’re the reason why relations of the fun kind are forbidden between halfs and pures. The gods know what’ll happen if a pure and half hook up.”

“It’s probably more than that. The gods like the idea of subjugating the halfs. What do you think they did to the mortals during their heyday? The gods subjugated the mortals until it went too far. They still treat the half-bloods like dirt worthy of only being walked upon.”

Man, was Seth on a god-hating kick or what? I stared down at my right palm, at the faint rune that only Seth and I could see. “It was him—my father—in the stairwell. I can’t explain it, but I know it was.”

Seth looked up then, his eyes a strange shade of yellow. “Who knows about this?”

I shook my head. “The Council has to know. Laadan knew because she was friends with my… my mom and dad. It wouldn’t surprise me if Lucian and Marcus knew, too.” I frowned. “Do you remember when we overheard Marcus and Telly talking?”

“I remember dropping you on your butt.”

“Yeah, you did because you were staring at Boobs.”

His eyes widened and he let out a shocked laugh. “Boobs? What?”

“You know—that girl who was all over you in the Catskills.” When his brows rose, I rolled my eyes. So like Seth that he’d have trouble remembering whichgirl. “I’m talking about the one who had, well, huge boobs.”

He stared off into the distance for a moment and then laughed again. “Oh. Yeah, that one—wait a second. You named her Boobs?”

“Yeah, and I bet you don’t even remember her name.”

“Ah…”

“Glad we’re on the same page now. Anyway, Remember how Telly said that they already had one there? That they could keep them together? Do you think he was talking about my father and me?” If Marcus and Lucian knew, I wanted to bash their heads together, but confronting them would place Laadan in danger.

Seth glanced down at the letter. “That would make sense. Especially considering how badly Telly wanted you to be placed into servitude.”

Minister Telly was the Head Minister of all the Councils and he’d had it out for me from the get-go. My testimony about the events in Gatlinburg had been a complete ruse to get me in front of the entire Council so they could vote me into servitude. And I truly believed that Telly was behind the compulsion that’d been used on me the night I almost turned into a human popsicle. If Leon hadn’t found me, I’d have frozen to death. Then there was the night the equivalent of an Olympian roofie had been given to me in a coarse attempt to catch me in a compromising position with a pure. It would’ve worked if it hadn’t been for Seth and Aiden spotting me with the drink.

My cheeks burned as I remembered that night. I’d pretty much molested Seth—not that he’d complained. Seth had known I was under the influence of the brew and he’d tried to control himself, but the bond between us had spewed my revved-up lust all through him. I would’ve lost my virginity if I hadn’t ended the night by puking up my guts. I know the whole situation bothered Seth. He felt guilty for giving in. And Aiden’s fist had done a number on Seth’s eye after discovering me on the bathroom floor… in Seth’s clothing. Aiden couldn’t understand how I’d forgiven Seth… and sometimes I couldn’t, either. Maybe it was the bond, because what linked us together was strong. Maybe it was something more.

Then there was the pure-blood Guard who’d tried to kill me, saying he needed to “protect his kind.” I suspected Minister Telly had been behind that, also.

“Who else knows about this?” Seth dragged me from my musings.

“Laadan asked Aiden to give me this letter, but Leon did instead. Leon claims he didn’t look at the letter, and I believe him. It was sealed. See.” I pointed out the broken stamp. “Aiden didn’t know what was in it, either.”

Seth’s jaw flexed. “You went to Aiden?”

I knew I needed to proceed with caution. Seth and I weren’t together or anything, but I also knew he wasn’t messing around with anyone else now. The hot flashes I’d picked up on since returning from the Catskills had only been when he was around me, mostly during our hands-on training sessions. Seth was foremost a guy. It happened… a lot.

“I thought maybe he knew, since Laadan entrusted him with the letter, but he didn’t,” I said finally.

“But you told him?”

There was really no point in lying. “Yes. He knew I was upset. Obviously, he’s trustworthy. He’s not going to say anything.”

Seth was silent for a heartbeat. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

Oh, no. I focused on the floor, then my hands, and finally the wall. “I didn’t know where you were. And Leon told me where Aiden was.”

“Did you even attempt to find me? It’s an island. It wouldn’t have been hard to do.” He placed the letter on the bed, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his feet point to me.

I bit my lip. I didn’t owe him anything, or did I? Either way, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Seth might act like he had none, but I knew differently. “I just wasn’t thinking. It’s not a big deal.”

“Okay.” He leaned over and his breath warmed my cheek. “I felt your emotions this afternoon.”

I swallowed. “Then why didn’t you come looking for me?”

“I was busy.”

“Then what’s the big deal about me not looking for you? You were busy.”

Seth brushed the thick hair off my neck, tossing it over my shoulder. My muscles locked up. “Why were you so upset?”

I turned my head. Our gazes locked. “I just found out that my dad’s alive, and that he’s a servant. That’s kind of emotional.”

His eyes deepened to a warm amber. “That’s a good point.”

There wasn’t much space between our mouths. A sudden nervousness took over. Seth and I hadn’t kissed since the day in the labyrinth. I think my cold had grossed him out, and it wasn’t like I’d been pushing it, but I hadn’t sneezed or sniffled since early this morning. “You know what?”

He smiled slightly. “What?”

“You don’t seem very surprised about my father. You didn’t know, did you?” I held my breath, because if he did, I didn’t even know what I’d do. But it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Why would you even think that?” His eyes narrowed. “You don’t trust me?”

“No. Ido.” And I really did… most of the time. “But you just weren’t surprised at all.”

Seth sighed. “Nothing surprises me anymore.”

I thought of something else. “Do you know which of your parents was a half-blood?”

“I guess it had to be my father. Mother was a pure through and through.”

I didn’t know that. Then again, there was very little I knew about Seth. Sure, he liked to talk about himself, but it was all on a superficial level. Then there was the greatest mystery of all. “What’s your last name?”

“Alex, Alex, Alex,” he chided softly, rising to his knees.

I squeezed my hands together, recognizing the calculated edge to his gaze. He was soup to something. “What?”

“I want to try something.”

Since we were on my bed and Seth was a pervert most of the time, my suspicion level was pretty high. It showed in my voice. “Like what?”

Seth pressed me back until I was lying flat. He hovered above, a slight tilt to his lips. “Give me your left hand.”

“Why?”

“Why are you so damn inquisitive?”

I arched a brow. “Why do you always have to invade my personal space?”

“Because I like to.” He patted my stomach. “And deep down you like it when I do.”

My lips pressed together. I was pretty sure the bond between us liked it when he did. I could feel it right now. It practically purred. Whether I liked it was something I was still trying to figure out.

“Give me your left hand,” he ordered again. “We’re going to work on your blocking technique.”

“And we have to be holding hands to do this?” In my bed, I wanted to add.

“Alex.”

Sighing loudly, I gave him my hand. “Are we going to sing songs now?”

“You wish.” He straddled my thighs, placing a knee on either side. “I have a lovely singing voice.”

“Do we have to do this right now? I’m not really feeling it after everything.” Practicing blocking techniques of the mental kind required concentration and determination—two things I was lacking right now. Well, to be honest, concentration was something I usually lacked on most days.

“Now is the best time. Your emotions are all over the place. You need to learn how to push through that.” Seth grabbed my other hand, threading his fingers through mine. He bent so far that the edges of his hair brushed my cheeks. “Close your eyes. Picture the walls.”

Closing my eyes was something I did not want to do with Seth sitting on me. The bond between us had been growing stronger every day. I could feel it moving low in my tummy, thrumming to the surface. My toes curled inside my fuzzy socks. The same feeling I had the day I blew up the boulder swamped me. I wanted to touch him. Or the bond wanted me to touch him.

Seth tipped his head to the side. “I know what you’re feeling right now. I totally approve of it.”

My cheeks burned. “Gods, I hate you.”

He chuckled. “Picture the walls. They’re solid, cannot be breached.”

I pictured the brick walls. In my mind, they were neon pink. With sparkles. I gave the walls sparkles because they gave me something to focus on. Seth had said the technique could work against compulsions if done correctly, but when dealing with emotions, the walls weren’t built around the mind, they were built through the stomach and over the heart. The walls formed in my mind first and then I shifted them down, giving myself a body of armor.

“I can still feel it,” Seth said, shifting restlessly above me.

This really must suck for him, I realized. He could tell I was still obsessed with Aiden, upset over my dad, and conflicted over him. And the only thing I got to pick up from him was when he was feeling randy.

The damn cord inside me—my connection to Seth—started to hum, demanding that I pay attention. It was like an annoying pet… or like Seth. I wondered if I could use the cord to block my emotions. Opening my eyes, I started to ask but then shut my mouth.

Seth had his eyes closed and he looked like he was really concentrating on something. His lids fluttered every so often, lips drawn into a tight, tense line. Then the marks flowed over his skin, moving so fast that the glyphs were nothing more than a blur as they raced down his neck, under the collar ofhis shirt.

My heart jumped. So did the cord inside me. I tried to pull my hand free before those marks reached my skin. “Seth.”

His eyes snapped open, glazed over. The marks glided over his skin. A burst of crackling amber light radiated from his forearm. Struggling to get out from underneath him and away from that damn cord, I only succeeded in having my hands pinned down.

Panic unfurled, ripping through me. “Seth!”

“It’s okay,” he said.

But it wasn’t okay. I didn’t want that cord to do what I knew it was going to do. And then it was doing it. The amber cord wrapped around our hands, snapping and sparking, spreading down my arm. I jerked back, trying to scoot sway, but Seth held on, his eyes locked with mine.

“The cord—it’s the purest power. Akasha,” he said. Akasha was the fifth and final element, and it could only be harnessed by the gods and the Apollyon. The hue of Seth’s eyes turned luminous. They almost looked crazy. “Hold on.”