Текст книги "Deity"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

CHAPTER 5

I OVERSLEPT THE FOLLOWING MORNING AND MISSED my first two classes. It kind of worked out, since I didn’t have to face Olivia after trying to choke her the day before, but the exhaustion from the previous night continued to drag at me. I spent the break before my afternoon classes arguing with Seth.

“What is your deal?” He pushed his chair back.

“I’ve already told you.” I glanced around the sparsely populated common room. It was better than eating in the cafeteria where everyone stared at us. “I know you knew about Lucian’s plan to put me in the Apollyon Relocation Program.”

Seth groaned. “Okay. Fine. He may have mentioned it. So what? It’s a smart idea.”

“It’s not a smart idea, Seth. I need to graduate, not go into hiding.” I looked down at my barely touched cold-cut sub. My stomach turned over. “I’m not going to run.”

He leaned back in the chair, lacing his hands behind his head. “Lucian does have your best interests in mind.”

“Oh, gods. Do not start with the Lucian crap. You don’t know him like I do.”

“People change, Alex. He may have been a giant douche before, but he’s changed.”

I leveled a look at him, and suddenly, I didn’t even know why I was arguing. My shoulders slumped. “What is the point, anyway?”

Seth frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” I toyed with my straw.

He leaned forward, nudging my plate. “You should eat more.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I snapped.

He held up his hands, sitting back. “Simmer down, cuddle-bunny.”

“All of this is your fault, anyway.”

Seth snorted. “How is this my fault?”

I scowled. “No one wants to kill you, but you’re the one who’ll have the potential to wipe out the entire Olympian Court. But everyone is like, ‘Let’s kill the one who isn’t doing anything!’ And you canjust skip off into the sunset while I’m dead.”

His lips twitched again. “I wouldn’t skip off if you were dead. I’d be sad.”

“You’d be sad because you wouldn’t be the God Killer.” I picked up my sub, turning it over slowly. “Olivia hates me.”

“Alex…”

“What?” I looked up. “She does, because I let Caleb die.”

His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t let Caleb die, Alex.”

I sighed, suddenly wanting to cry. It was official: I was certifiably whacked out today. “I know. I miss her.”

“Have you tried talking to her?” His eyes widened at my look. He motioned at the sub. “Eat.”

Grudgingly, I took a huge, sloppy bite.

Seth arched a brow as he watched me. “Hungry?”

I swallowed. The food formed a heavy lump in my stomach. “No.”

We didn’t talk for a few minutes. Without wanting to, I turned over my left hand and looked at where the staple-shaped rune glowed softly. “Did… did you do this on purpose?”

“What? The rune?” He took my hand, holding it so my palm faced up. “No, I didn’t do it on purpose. I’ve already told you that.”

“I don’t know. You looked like you were concentrating really hard when it happened.”

“I was concentrating on your emotions.” Seth ran his thumb around the glyph, coming close to touching it. “You don’t like this, do you?”

“No,” I whispered. Another mark meant one more step toward becoming someone—something else.

“It’s natural, Alex.”

“It doesn’t feel natural.” My eyes flicked to his. “What does this one mean?”

“Strength of the gods,” he answered, surprising me. “The other one means courage of the soul.”

“Courage of the soul?” I laughed. “That doesn’t make sense.”

His hand slid to my wrist, resting his thumb over my pulse. “They are the first marks the Apollyons receive.”

My wrist seemed so small in his hand, fragile even. “Did yours come early?”

“No.”

I sighed. “What happened… between us last night?”

A wicked grin played over his lips. “Well, most kids call it making out.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I pulled my hand free and rubbed my palm over the edge of the table. “I felt it—the energy or whatever you want to call it—leaving me and going into you.”

“Did it hurt you?”

I shook my head. “It kind of felt good.”

His nostrils flared as if he smelled something he liked. Then, without any warning, he leaned over the table between us, clasped my cheeks and brought his mouth to mine. The kiss was soft, teasing, and felt really weird. Kissing last night really hadn’t counted—or at least I’d convinced myself of that. So this was the first real kiss since the Catskills, and it was a totally public display. And I was still holding the sub in my right hand. So yeah, it felt bizarre.

Seth pulled back, smiling. “I think we should do that more often, then.”

My cheeks were burning, because I knew people were staring. “Kissing?”

He laughed. “I’m all about kissing more, but I meant what happened last night.”

Out of nowhere, anger crept over me. “Why? Did you feel anything?”

One brow arched. “Oh, I felt something.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I meant when you were holding my hand and the mark appeared. Did you feel anything?”

“Nothing you apparently want me to talk about.”

“Gods.” I squeezed the sub. Globs of mayo splattered off the plastic plate. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”

Seth slowly exhaled. “Are you PMSing or something? Because your mood swings are killing me.”

I stared a moment, thinking wow, did he really just go there? And then I cocked back my arm and launched the sub across the table. It hit his chest with a somewhat satisfying plop, but it was the look on his face as he jumped out of his seat that almost had me smiling. A cross between disbelief and horror marked his features as he knocked pieces of lettuce and ham off his shirt and pants.

There were only a handful of people in the common room, mostly younger pure-bloods. All of them stared, eyes wide.

Throwing a sub at the Apollyon probably wasn’t something that should be done in public. But I couldn’t help it; I laughed.

Seth’s head jerked up. His eyes were a heated, angry ocher. “Did that make you feel better?”

My eyes watered from laughing so hard. “Yeah, it kind of did.”

“You know, let’s cancel training after class for today.” His jaw flexed, cheeks flushed. “Get some rest.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

Seth opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped. Brushing off the last of the ham and cheese, he pivoted around and left. I couldn’t believe I’d just thrown my lunch at Seth. That seemed a little extreme even for me.

But it was funny.

I giggled to myself.

“Are you going to clean that up?”

Jumping a little in my seat, I looked up. Linard stepped out from behind one of the columns, eyeing the mess on the floor. “Are you, like, watching me?”

He smiled tightly. “I’m here to make sure you are safe.”

“And thatis kind of creepy.” I pushed out of my seat, grabbing a napkin off my plate. I picked up what I could, but the mayo was stuck to the carpet. “Is this Lucian’s idea?”

“No.” He folded his hands behind his back. “It was Dean Andros’ request.”

I stilled. “For real?”

“For real,” he replied. “You should get going. Your next class will begin soon.”

I nodded absently, tossed my trash, and grabbed my bag. Marcus’ order surprised me. I expected Lucian to sic his Guards on me. He wouldn’t want anything to happen to his precious Apollyon. Maybe Marcus didn’t find me as distasteful as I thought he did.

Linard followed me out of the common room, keeping a discreet distance. It reminded me of the day I’d bought the spirit boats that Caleb and I had released into the sea. The memory tugged at my heart and worsened my foul mood. I was like a zombie in the rest of my classes. After a quick change into my training clothes, I walked into Gutter Fighting. Instructor Romvi looked absurdly pleased with my appearance.

I dropped my bag and leaned against the wall, pretending that I wasn’t bothered by the fact that I had no one to talk to. The last time I’d even been in this class, Caleb had still been alive.

Pressing my lips together, I let my gaze roam over the wall where the weapons were kept. I’d grown so used to this room during my practices with Aiden that it was like home to me. Standing near the wall of things meant to kill daimons with, Jackson grinned at something another half-blood said. Then he looked straight at me and smirked.

Once upon a time I’d found him hot, but somewhere between my daimon mom murdering his girlfriend’s parents—if he was actually still with Lea—and the last time I squared off with him, I’d stopped thinking so highly of him.

I held his stare until he looked away. Then I continued my perusal. Olivia stood next to Luke, tying her curly hair into a ponytail. Bruises marked the caramel-colored skin of her neck. I glanced down at my hands. I’d done that.

Gods, what had I been thinking? Guilt and shame tore through me. When I looked up, Luke was watching me. His stare wasn’t hostile or anything just… sad.

I looked away, chewing on my lip. I did miss my friends. And I really missed Caleb.

Class quickly began, and even though I was tired, I threw myself into it. I got paired with Elena for a series of cinch work and holds. Going through the various techniques, my brain was finally able to shut down. Here, in training, I didn’t think of anything. There was no sorrow or loss, no fate to deal with or father to save. I imagined this was what being a Sentinel would be like. When I’d eventually go out hunting, I wouldn’t have to think about anything other than locating daimons and killing them. Maybe that was the real reason behind wanting to be a Sentinel, because then I could go through life… and do what? Kill. Kill. And kill some more.

That wasn’t what I really wanted, deep down inside. I was just realizing that now?

Even slow on my feet, I was a bit faster than Elena. When we moved into take-downs and reversals, which consisted of getting thrown down and trying to get out of it, I was able to keep her pinned, but I was slowing down, growing weary.

She broke my hold and tipped her hips, rolling me onto my back. Staring down at me, she frowned. “Are… are you feeling okay? You look really pale.”

I really needed to Google how long the lingering effects of a cold lasted, because this was seriously getting annoying. All I wanted was a bed. Before I could respond to Elena’s question, Instructor Romvi appeared behind us. I bit back a groan.

“If you’re able to talk, perhaps you are not training hard enough.” Romvi’s pale eyes were like glaciers. He loved to terrorize me in class; I’m sure he’d missed me. “Elena, off the mats.”

She stood and slinked off, leaving me with the Instructor. Around us, students were sparring. I rolled to my feet and shifted my weight restlessly, preparing myself mentally for whatever he was going to throw at me. I turned away, placing my hands on my hips.

His hand smacked down on my shoulder. “One should never turn their back in war.”

Shrugging his grip off, I faced him. “I didn’t realize we were at war.”

Something gleamed in his eyes. “We are always at war, especially in my class.” He looked down his hawkish nose at me, which was a common practice since he was a pure-blood who’d once been a Sentinel. “Speaking of which, it is nice of you to finally join us, Alexandria. I was beginning to believe you thought training was no longer necessary.”

Several responses rolled to the tip of my tongue, but I knew better than to let them out.

He looked disappointed. “I heard that you fought during the daimon siege.”

Knowing fewer words usually ended with less of my butt being kicked, I nodded while I pictured a pegasus landing on his head and biting him in the neck.

“You also fought the furies and survived. Only warriors could claim such a feat.”

My gaze slid past him to where Olivia and Luke now stood watching me from the edge of the mats. How many times had we been in this position? But this was different, because Caleb used to be among them.

“Alexandria?”

I focused on him, mentally cringing. I should never take my eyes off Romvi when he was talking. “I did fight the furies.”

Interest sparked in his eyes. “Show me what you did.”

Caught off-guard, I took a step back. “What do you mean?”

A small smile tugged up one side of his lips. “Show me how you fought the furies.”

I dampened my lips nervously. I had no idea how I’d fought the furies and survived—only that everything had turned amber, like someone had splashed the tawny color over my eyes. “I don’t know. Everything was happening so fast.”

“You don’t know.” He raised his hand and the sleeve of his tunic-style shirt slipped up his arm, revealing the downward-turned torch tattoo. “I find that hard to believe.”

I experienced a momentary lapse of sanity. “What’s up with the tattoo?”

His jaw clenched, and I expected him to attack. But he didn’t. “Jackson!”

Loping onto the mats, Jackson came to stop and rested his hands on his narrow hips. “Sir?”

Romvi’s eyes held mine. “I want you to spar.”

I glanced at Jackson’s smiling face. What Romvi wanted me to do was show him how I’d fought the furies and survived, using Jackson to do so. It didn’t matter who I was fighting; I couldn’t show what I didn’t know.

As Romvi headed off the mats, he stopped and whispered to Jackson. Whatever he was saying brought an easy grin to Jackson’s face right before he nodded.

Wiping my hand over my clammy forehead, I slowed down my breathing and tried to ignore the fine tremors running through my legs. Even tired I could take Jackson. He was a good fighter, but I was better. I had tobe better.

“You’re going to be hurting by the end of class,” Jackson taunted, cracking his knuckles.

I raised a brow and motioned him forward with one hand. I may’ve have a serious hankering for a pillow, but I could take him.

I waited until he was only a foot away before I launched a brutal offensive. I was fast and light on my feet. He would feint in one direction to avoid a sharp thrust and end up with a sideways kick in his back. Before long, he ended up on his back, panting and swearing from a fierce spin kick.

“I’m going to be hurting?” I said, standing above him. “Nah, I don’t think so.”

Breathing harshly, he jumped onto the balls of his feet. “Wait and see, baby.”

“Baby?” I repeated. “I’m not your baby.”

Jackson didn’t respond to that. He flew into a butterfly kick, which I dodged. Those kicks were brutal. Blow after blow, we went after each other—each hit more vicious then the last. Admittedly, I was taking this a little too seriously myself. I wasn’t going easy on the douchebag. A weird kind of darkness rose in me as I blocked a series of kicks and jabs that would have brought even Aiden down. I grinned in spite of the sweat pouring off me and the way my forearms ached. I channeled all of my earlier anger into fighting Jackson.

Our sparring eventually drew the attention of the other students. I was only slightly surprised when Jackson’s fist glanced off my jaw and Instructor Romvi didn’t call the fight off. If anything, he looked like he was getting his jollies off by watching the brutal fight.

So Jackson didn’t want to play by the rules and Romvi didn’t care? Whatever. He swung his fist around again, but this time I caught his hand and twisted it backward.

Jackson broke the hold too easily, which showed that I was reaching my own limits. I turned on my heel, saw that the overhead lights flickered—or was it my eyes? – and with one powerful roundhouse kick, I took Jackson’s legs right out from under him. There wasn’t a moment to celebrate his obvious defeat. I saw Jackson move for my legs. I tried to jump like we’d been taught, but worn down, I was too slow. His leg caught mine, and I landed on my side, immediately rolling out of range.

“I’m sure that’s not how you defeated the furies.” Instructor Romvi sounded smug.

I didn’t have a second to think about how much I wished I could drop-kick Romvi. Jackson whipped around. I scooted to the side, but his kick caught me in the ribs. Pain exploded, so unexpected and so intense, that I froze.

Sensing that Jackson wasn’t done yet, I brought my hands up, but that teeny, tiny second cost me. Jackson’s heel slipped past my hands, hitting my chin and cutting my lip right open. Something warm gushed into my mouth, and I saw flashes of light. Blood—I tasted blood. And beyond the flashing lights, I saw Jackson’s boot come up one more time.

CHAPTER 6

JACKSON WAS GOING TO STOMP MY HEAD IN.

That was so not a part of training.

At that last possible second, someone caught Jackson by the waist and tossed him to the mat. My hands flew to my mouth. Something sticky and warm covered them immediately.

All I tasted was blood. Hesitantly, I ran my tongue along the inside of my mouth, checking to make sure I hadn’t lost any teeth. When I figured that I still had a full set, I pushed to my feet, spitting out blood. Then I lunged at Jackson.

I came up short. Shock nearly brought me to my knees.

Jackson was already preoccupied with fending off someone else, and that someone was Aiden. Pain was momentarily forgotten as I vaguely wondered where hehad come from. Aiden didn’t watch my classes anymore. He didn’t even train me, so it wasn’t like he had a reason to be hanging around these rooms.

But he was here now.

Entranced by the odd blend of grace and brutality, I watched Aiden pull Jackson off the mat by the scruff of his shirt. Their faces were inches apart. The last time I had seen Aiden thatangry was when he’d gone after Seth the night I’d been slipped the brew.

“That is not how you spar with your partner,” Aiden said in a cold, low voice. “I’m sure Instructor Romvi has taught you better than that.”

Jackson’s eyes grew impossibly large. He was on the tips of his toes, arms dangling at his sides. It was then that I realized Jackson’s nose was bleeding—bleeding worse than my mouth was. Someone had hit him—that someone most likely being Aiden. Because only a pure would be able to do that and have no one intervene.

He let go of Jackson. The half fell to his knees, cradling his face. Aiden spun around, his eyes quickly assessing the damage. Then he turned to Instructor Romvi, speaking too low and quick for me or the class to understand.

Before I knew what was happening, Aiden crossed the mats and caught hold of my arm. We didn’t speak as he walked me from the training room. “My bag,” I protested.

“I’ll have someone retrieve it for you.”

In the hall, he grasped my shoulders and turned me around. His eyes went from dark gray to silver when his gaze fell to my lip. “Instructor Romvi never should’ve allowed it to go that far.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he cared.”

He swore.

I wanted to say something. Like “these things happen”… or at least, about how it could be expected since I didn’t have a lot of friends here. Or maybe I should thank Aiden, but by the warring emotions playing out across his striking face I could tell he wouldn’t appreciate it. Aiden was furious—furious for all the wrong reasons. He’d reacted as if a common guyhad hit me, and not a half-blood. As a pure-blood, there had been no reason for him to intervene. That was the Instructor’s job. Aiden had forgotten that in a moment of complete, unbridled rage.

“I shouldn’t have done that—lost my temper,” he said quietly, sounding and looking terribly young and vulnerable for someone I believed to be so powerful. “I shouldn’t have hit him.”

My eyes flicked across his face. Even though my face throbbed, I wanted to touch him. I wanted him to touch me. And then he did, but not in the way I wanted. Placing his hand on my lower back, he steered me toward the med office. I wanted to touch my mouth to see how bad it was. Actually, I wanted a mirror.

The pure-blood doctor took one look at my face and shook her head. “On the table.”

I hoisted myself up. “Is it going to scar?”

The doc grabbed a cloudy-looking white bottle and several wads of cotton. “Not sure yet, but try not to talk right now. At least until I make sure there is no damage inside the lip, okay?”

“If it scars, I’m gonna be so pissed.”

“Stop talking,” Aiden said, leaning against the wall.

The doc shot him a smile, apparently not curious as to why I had been escorted by a pure. She turned back to me. “This may sting a bit.” She dabbed the cotton over my lip. Sting?—it burned like crazy. I nearly jumped off the table.

“Antiseptic,” she said, offering a sympathetic look. “We want to make sure you don’t get any infections. Then you would scar.”

Burning? I could deal with that. It took the doc a couple of minutes to clean up my lip. I waited, somewhat impatiently, for the verdict.

“I don’t think you’re going to need stitches on the lip itself. It’s going to swell and be a bit tender for a while.” She tipped my head back and gently poked at my mouth. “But I think we’re going to need a stitch right… under your lip here.”

I winced as she started poking there too and focused on her shoulder. Show no pain. Show no pain. Show no pain. The doc dipped her fingers in the brown jar and pressed the torn skin together. I yelped as a scalding pain radiated from the skin under my lip and spread across my face.

Aiden started forward, stopping when he seemed to realize there was nothing he could—or should—do. His hands fell to his sides, and his gaze met mine, eyes an endless thundering gray.

“Just a little bit more,” she said soothingly. “Then it will all be over. You’re lucky you didn’t lose any teeth.”

Then she squeezed the skin once more. This time I didn’t make a sound, but I squeezed my eyes shut until lights danced behind my closed lids. I wanted to jump off the table and find Jackson. Hitting him would make me feel better. I believed in that.

The doc stepped back to the cabinets. Returning with a damp wipe, she started to clean the blood away, mindful of the stitch. “Next time you train her, be a little more careful. She’s only this young and pretty once. Don’t ruin it for her.”

My eyes snapped to Aiden. “But—”

“Yes ma’am,” Aiden interrupted, cutting me a stern look.

I stared back at him.

The doc sighed, shaking her head again. “Why do you halfs choose this? Surely, the alternative is better. Anyway, do you have any other injuries?”

“Uh, no,” I mumbled. The doc’s words surprised me.

“Yes,” Aiden said. “Check the left side of her ribs.”

“Oh come on,” I said. “It’s not that bad—” My words were cut off when the doc tugged up the hem of my shirt.

The doc pressed on my ribs, running her hands along the side. Her fingers were cool and quick. “None are broken, but this…” She frowned, leaning closer. Inhaling roughly, she dropped my shirt and faced Aiden. It seemed to take her a moment to collect herself. “Her ribs aren’t broken, but they are bruised. She should take it easy for a few days. Also, she should limit talking so the stitching is not pulled.”

Aiden looked like he wanted to laugh at the last suggestion. When he agreed with the doctor, she left the room pretty quickly.

“Why did you let her believe you did this?” I asked. “You’re not even training me anymore.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be limiting your speaking?”

I rolled my eyes. “Now she thinks you’re some great and terrible half-blood beater or something.”

He pointed to the door. “It wouldn’t be a far stretch of the imagination. Your Instructor allowed it to happen. The doc sees more cases like this than she probably cares to.”

And she probably saw very few pure-bloods who even cared enough to make sure the half was okay. I sighed. “What were you doing over here, anyway?”

There was a ghost of a smile. “Didn’t I tell you that making sure you stay safe is a full-timejob?”

I started to smile, but quickly remembered not to. “Ow.” I ignored his amused look. “So why were you here, for real?”

“I just happened to be over here and looked in the room.” He shrugged, staring over my shoulder. “I saw you sparring and watched. The rest is history.”

I didn’t really believe him, but I let it go. “I would’ve had Jackson, you know? But this damn cold has kicked my butt.”

Aiden’s gaze settled on me again. “You shouldn’t be sick.” He stepped forward, reaching out and carefully placing his hand around my chin. He frowned. “How did you get sick?”

“I can’t be the first half to get sick.”

His thumb moved over my chin, careful to avoid the tender spot. That was Aiden, always so careful with me even though he knew I was tough. My heart jumped. “I don’t know,” he said, dropping his hand.

Unsure of how to respond, I shrugged. “Anyway, thanks for, um… getting Jackson to stop.”

A hard, lethal look flickered across his face. “I will make sure Jackson is punished for what he has done. The Covenant has enough on its shoulders without halfs trying to kill one another.”

I lightly touched my chin and winced. “I don’t know if it was his idea.”

Aiden grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my face. “What do you mean?”

Before I could answer, a fine shiver went down my spine. Seconds later, the door to the room flew up. Seth came through, eyes wide and lips thinned. His gaze went from my lip to where Aiden held my hand. “What the hell happened?”

Confusion and then understanding dawned on Aiden’s face. He released my hand and stepped back. “She was sparring.”

Seth shot Aiden a scathing look as he made his way to where I sat on the table. He clasped my chin with two slender fingers, just like Aiden had. My heart didn’t flutter, but the cord did. “Who were you sparring with?”

“It’s no big deal.” I felt my cheeks start to burn.

“It doesn’t look that way.” Seth’s eyes narrowed. “And you hurt elsewhere. I can feel it.”

Gods, I really needed to work on that shield.

“Thank you for keeping an eye on her, Aiden.” Seth didn’t take his eyes off me. “I have it taken care of.”

Aiden opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it. He turned around and left the room quietly. The urge to jump off the table and run after him was hard to ignore.

“So what happened to your face?” he prompted again.

“I broke it,” I muttered, straining away from him.

Seth tilted my chin to the side, frowning. “I can tell. This was really done while sparring?”

“Yeah, well, it was done to my face in class.”

His frown deepened. “What is that supposed to mean?”

I knocked his hand away and slid off the table. “It’s nothing. Just a busted lip.”

“Busted lip?” He caught me around the waist, pulling me back. “I swear I see a boot print on your chin.”

“Really—is it that bad?” I gingerly touched my chin, wondering what he’d think if he saw the boot print on my ribs.

“So vain.” Seth grasped my hand. “Who were you sparring with?”

I sighed and tried to wiggle free, but it was no use. Seth—and the cord—wanted me to be here with him. I placed my cheek against his chest. “It doesn’t matter. And aren’t you still mad at me for throwing food at you, anyway?”

“Oh, I’m not too happy about that. I think mayo stains.” His embrace loosened a little. “Does it hurt?”

Lying was pointless, but that’s what I did. “No. Not at all.”

“Yeah,” he murmured against the top of my head. “So who did you spar with?”

I closed my eyes. Being this close to him, with the bond and everything, it was easy to stop thinking. Just like it had been while fighting. “I always get paired with Jackson.”

After class the following day, I piddled around the training center. I found myself walking into the smaller room Aiden had been in when I’d found out about my father. Of course, he wasn’t in there now. No one was. Dropping my bag just inside the door, I approached the punching bag hanging in the middle of the mats. It was an old, raggedy thing that had seen better days. Sections of the black leather had been knocked off. Someone had taken duct tape and patched it up. I ran my fingers over the edges of the tape.

Restlessness inched over my skin. The idea of going back to my dorm and spending time alone wasn’t appealing. I hadn’t seen Seth since he’d dropped me off yesterday. I guessed he was still pissed about the sub issue.

I pushed the bag with my palms. Then I flipped my hands over. Two softly glowing glyphs stared back at me.

My gaze went back to the punching bag. Had my father trained at this Covenant? Stood in this very room? It would explain how he’d known my mother so well. Again, melancholy crept over me.

The door to the room opened. I turned, expecting Guard Linard. But it wasn’t him. My heart did a brief, stupid happy dance.

Aiden stepped inside the training room, the door sliding shut behind him. He wore the garb of a Sentinel: a black long-sleeved shirt and black cargos. I just stared at him like an idiot.

The way my body responded to him—to a pure-blood—was entirely unforgiveable. I knew this, but it didn’t stop the way my breath caught or the warmth that stole over my skin. It wasn’t just how he looked. Don’t get me wrong—Aiden had the whole rare masculine beauty thing going for him. But it was more than that. He got me in a way very few people did. He didn’t need a bond to do so, like Seth. Aiden figured me out through his unwavering patience… and not putting up with any of my crap. During the summer we’d spent hours together training and getting to know one another. I liked to think something beautiful had grown out of it. After what he’d done to protect me in New York… and then with Jackson, I could no longer really be angry with him about the day he’d told me he couldn’t love me.

Aiden watched me curiously. “I saw Seth entering the main part of Deity Island and you weren’t with him. I figured you’d be here.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “I just knew you’d be in one of the training rooms even though you were told to take it easy.”

Whenever he was dealing with something, he hit the mats. I was the same way, which reminded me of the night I’d accosted him after learning my mom’s true fate. I turned away, running my fingers down the center of the bag.

“How are you feeling—your ribs and lip?”

Both were sore, but I’d felt worse. “Good.”

“Have you written the letter for me to give to Laadan?” he asked after a few moments.

My shoulders slumped. “No. I don’t know what to say.” It’s not like I hadn’t thought about it, but what do you say to a man you’d believed dead—a father you’d never met?

“Just tell him how you feel, Alex.”

I laughed. “I don’t know if he wants to know all of that.”

“He would.” Aiden paused, and the silence stretched out between us. “You’ve seemed… out of it lately.”