Текст книги "Pure"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

My heart stuttered, missing a beat.

“As the Head Minister, it pains me deeply to suggest this, but I fear we have no other choice. We must protect the future of our true Masters. I petition that we remove Alexandria Andros from the Covenant and place her under the supervision of the Masters.”

I jerked forward blindly. I couldn’t even move as the rush of fear coated my mouth and churned my stomach into raw knots. This was what Telly wanted—the whole reason for me being here. It had nothing to do with what the daimons planned.

From above, I felt a tempest building. It drifted over my skin, raising the tiny hairs on my body. Seth was a storm about to explode.

“Minister Telly, my stepdaughterhas committed no crime that warrants servitude,” Lucian objected. “She has to be found guilty before you can expel her from the Covenant and place her into servitude.”

“As the Head Minister—”

“You have a lot of power as the Head Minister. You can expel her from the Covenant, but you cannot sentence her to servitude without due cause or by vote of the Council,” Lucian said. “Those are the rules.”

I looked up, my eyes meeting Aiden’s. This was one of those rare moments in my life that I knew exactlywhat Aiden was thinking.

I twisted around in the chair. Telly glared at Lucian, but I saw that Lucian was right. Telly could expel me, but he couldn’t send me into servitude on a whim. He would need the Council to do so, and I had a feeling if the Council agreed it would be the last thing they ever did.

“Then I call for a vote.” Telly’s voice was like ice.

I calculated the distance from where I sat and the door to my right. My muscles tensed as I let go of the chair and twisted sideways. My sweater fell from my lap. I didn’t want to hurt the half-blood Guards, but I was going to get past them.

Then what?

Run like hell.

“How do you vote?” asked Telly.

The first “yes” sent a shiver through me; the second caused the air to ripple with electricity. The audience shifted as the third “yes” skyrocketed the tension. I wanted to look at Aiden one last time, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the door. It would be my only chance.

Three of the Ministers said “no,” and Telly stalked toward the end of the dais. The next said “yes,” and my stomach dropped. I wanted to cry out, but fear clamped my throat shut. Facing down daimons was one thing, but a lifetime of servitude was my worst fear.

“Head Minister Elders, you are the last vote.” I could hear the smile in Telly’s voice.

Silence filled the room, holding the pures transfixed and stretching my nerves into taut lines. This was it… This was it…I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath.

“She has proven to be… a problem,” Diana said, her voice as clear as Telly’s. “There are many areas which concern me greatly, but I have to vote ‘no.’ She has to break the Breed Order to be placed in servitude, and she has not, Minister Telly. Everything that has been provided has been circumstantial.”

Sagging against the chair, the air expelled from my lungs. Violent energy pulled back, slithering from my skin as it made its way back to its host.

Telly didn’t take that well, but there was nothing he could do. He returned to my side, glaring. I wanted nothing more than to karate chop him in the neck.

“Then Miss Andros, you shall continue as you are, for now.” Telly smiled tightly. “One more mistake, Alexandria, one more time and that will be it. You will be placed into servitude.”

CHAPTER 23

AFTER COUNCIL, MARCUS ESCORTED ME TO MY ROOM WITH explicit instructions. “Do not leave this room unless someone is with you.”

Had he seen this room? Spending the rest of however long it took for Seth to show up or Laadan to take pity on me felt like punishment. I hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t my fault Telly was a lunatic, hell-bent on sending me into servitude.

But I spent the rest of the day and the better part of the evening in my room, picturing the look on Telly’s face after I Awakened and lit him up with enough Apollyon juice to obliterate him into nothing. And all those pures who’d looked at my scars with such disgust? I’d give them something to freak out about. Okay. Maybe I was overreacting a tad bit. But Telly’s antagonistic attitude chafed at me. I needed to get out, needed to do something.

What I really needed was to hit something.

Just when I was about to go crazy, there was a soft knock on my door. Rushing toward it, I threw it open. Laadan stood in the doorway, two crystal glasses in her hands. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright.

Please be here to let me out of this room.

Her eyes weren’t really focused on me as she smiled. “I figured you could stretch your legs.” She stepped back. “Coming?”

Thank you, gods.I followed her graceful form down the hall and the steps. Downstairs, the pures were in full celebratory mode. From the sounds coming out of the ballroom and reception hall, they sounded trashed already. No one would be paying attention to me. They were too busy partying it up. Their blasé attitude toward everything was infuriating and frustrating.

“I thought you could use the company,” she said slowly, speaking for the first time since she’d appeared outside my door.

We stopped outside the crowded reception hall. Laadan stood beneath a painting of the Goddess Hera. The resemblance between the two was striking. She offered me a glass of the luminous red liquid. “Here, you deserve this after the day you had.”

The glass felt warm in my hand. “What is it?”

She smiled as her gaze drifted away. “It’s something special for a special girl. You’ll love it.”

“Are you buzzing?” I giggled.

Laadan sighed dreamily. “It’s a beautiful night, Alex. How is your drink?”

I lifted the glass and took a cautious sniff. It smelled magnificent—like wild orchids, and a hint of honey and sesame. Looking up, I saw Laadan float into the entrance of the reception hall. I trailed behind her, my gaze gliding across the crowd as I brought the glass to my lips. I saw Marcus and Diana standing super close. Once again, the smile on Marcus’s face confused me. He never smiled like that, especially not when I was around.

Giggles erupted across the room, drawing my attention. Young pure girls surrounded a good-looking male, clamoring over each other to be the closest to him. Several Guards stood behind the happy little group, looking equally bored and aloof. Among them stood the pure-blood Guard whom Telly had called on during the first session. I shuddered, holding the glass tighter. Then my eyes flitted further into the hall and settled on Aiden.

Dawn stood by his side, looking stunningly beautiful and staring at him with large eyes the color of amethyst. Seeing them together didn’t bring the warm and fuzzies. He’d never showed her an ounce of interest outside of being friendly, but she was the kind of girl Aiden would be allowed to date—should date.

Maybe he’d marry her one day—or another pure like Dawn. He’d settle down and commit. Stop, I ordered myself. That didn’t matter—not even if he had a dozen pure-blooded babies. I’d accepted I couldn’t be with him. Besides, I’d kind of chosen Seth. But hurt climbed deep inside my chest, taking root around my heart. I deserved a swift kick in the butt for standing here, staring at him like some kind of obsessive stalker chick.

“Your drink, dear, are you not going to try it?”

“Oh.” I glanced down. It still felt wonderfully warm in my hand. The drink burned my lips and the tip of my tongue, but went down surprisingly smooth. It actually tasted minty—a warm wintergreen. “It tastes…”

Laadan was gone.

Surprised by her vanishing act, I looked around the hall, finding Aiden instead of Laadan. He’d moved, standing at the end of the hall now. Minus Dawn, he spoke to another pure, but he appeared focused on me.

His disapproval stretched beyond where he stood and slammed into me. Was it because I was outside my room? If so, that irked me. What also irked me was the fluttering in my chest.

Aiden broke away from the pure, stepping forward and looking very, very angry. My heart leapt in my chest. He was coming to me—not Dawn, not some other pure, but me. The fluttering in my chest increased.

Any attention was good attention.

Suddenly, I hated that idea. Hated the fact I would be satisfiedwith that. I tipped the glass back and took a long swallow. It was either that or throw myself on the floor, sobbing and flailing.

I took another sip, expecting the burning this time. It did taste good, really good. I looked up again and found that a tall, blond pure partially blocked Aiden, but his furious gaze still found me. I quirked a brow at him and brought the glass to my lips again, taking another draft.

Aiden cut around the pure and made a beeline straight for me.

Out of nowhere, and I mean freaking nowhere, Seth appeared and whipped the drink out of my hand, splashing red drops all over my sweater.

“Jeez!” I ran my hand over my mouth. “Was that necessary?”

Seth brought the glass to his face and sniffed it. Swearing under his breath, he shoved it at Aiden. “Who gave you this?” Seth demanded.

“Why do you care? It’s just a drink.”

“Alex, who gave you this drink?” Aiden’s quiet voice left no room for me to push his buttons.

“Laadan gave it to me. What’s the big deal?”

Seth’s mouth dropped open, but Aiden’s reaction was far stronger. “Shit. Unbelievable.”

“What?” I looked between the two. “What’s going on?”

“Freaking pures,” Seth spat. “I can only begin to imagine what they hoped to achieve with this.”

The glass looked like it would shatter in Aiden’s hand. Fury radiated off him in waves and his eyes burned, but he wouldn’t look at me now. Not at all. “Dammit. Was this your first glass?”

“Yes.” I stepped forward. “Aiden, what’s going on?”

Seth exhaled harshly. “Half a glass is more than enough.”

“There is no way Laadan would have given her this.” Aiden scowled. “She knows what this drink will do.”

“Laadan did give it to me. I wouldn’t lie about that. Tell me what the hell is going on.”

Seth ran a hand over his head. “I think I’m going to hit someone.”

I shot a look at Seth. He wouldn’t look at me either. Was there something wrong with my face? I put my hand to my cheeks and the only thing I noticed was my skin felt warm.

“I can’t leave now.” Aiden spoke in crisp, short words. “Telly and the other Ministers want us here. She can’t be left alone, Seth.”

Seth nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

Aiden barked a short laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Seth demanded. “Let her roam free?”

My temper snapped. I reached out and grabbed Aiden’s arm—a bad thing to do to a pure in public, but they were acting like I wasn’t even standing here. “What is going on?”

Aiden whirled around and grasped my hand, pulling me between the two of them. “There is no way Laadan would have given you this drink freely. Did she seem strange to you? Acting different in any way?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “She seemed buzzed.”

His eyes snapped fire. “She was compelled to give you this drink.”

“No way, that’s impossible. It’s completely illegal to compel another pure. You have to—”

“Someone set you up, Alex, and they wanted to badly enough to break the rules themselves. All pures know what that drink is just by looking at it. You were given Aphrodesian Brew, Alex.”

“Brew? Oh. Oh. Oh, my gods.” I felt cold and hot all at once. I’d just drunk the equivalent of an Olympian roofie. Disbelief set in. “You have to be wrong. A pure wouldn’t compel another pure and Laadan would never give me something like that. I don’t care what you say.”

“Alex,” Aiden said gently. “There are pures who know you’re close with Laadan.”

“Aiden, we need to get her out of here. Soon,” Seth interjected.

I glanced at him. “I feel fine. I must not have had enough.”

Seth laughed dryly. “Yeah.”

Aiden let go of my hand, staring at Seth. “I don’t like you—let alone trust you.”

A muscle feathered along Seth’s jaw. “You don’t have any other options at this point. I won’t let anything happen to her, Aiden. And I wouldn’t… take advantage of her.”

I shot Seth a dirty look. “No one is taking advantage of me unless I want to be taken advantage of.”

Whoa, that didn’t come out right.

“Out of the question,” Aiden said in a low, dangerous way.

“Guess what? I don’t like you, either. But you don’t have any other choice. Either you risk this or you trust me enough to know that I’ll keep an eye on her.” Seth paused, his gaze meeting Aiden’s. “I have just as much invested as you.”

I scratched my leg. “Invested in what?”

They ignored me.

Aiden sort of growled. “If anything—anything happens to her—”

“I know,” replied Seth. “You’ll kill me.”

“I’ll do worse,” Aiden growled. “Don’t take her to her room. We don’t need Marcus knowing about this. Take her to… your room. As soon as I can, I will come.” He turned to me and forced a smile. I hated that kind of smile. “Everything is going to be okay. Just please, please listen to Seth, and whatever you do, don’t leave his room.”

I stared at Aiden. “Wait. I want—”

Aiden had already turned and disappeared into the crowd. Then Seth took hold of my hand, leading me from the hall. I really didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard rumors at the Covenant about the Brew, knew that Lea had supposedly had some, but I’d never seen anyone under its influence.

Seth didn’t say anything as we navigated the hallways and headed upstairs. Several flights of stairs later, I still felt okay. “I really feel fine. Nothing is wrong with me. I’m sure I can go to my room. I won’t leave.”

Seth pulled me down the hallway.

“Look, why won’t you talk to me? Especially after last night—”

He shot me a dangerous look over his shoulder. “This right now has nothing to do with last night.”

I glared back at him even though I thought his hand felt incredibly smooth around mine. “Are you mad at me?”

“Alex, I’m not mad at you. But I am pissed right now. It’s best I just don’t speak. I might end up burning down this building.” Letting go of my hand then, he pushed open the door to his room and motioned me forward. “In.”

I shot him a haughty look. Really, they were making this into a bigger deal than– “What the hell?”

Seth kicked the door shut behind him. “What?”

“How come you get this awesome room?” I turned around, amazed by the cathedral ceilings, plush carpets, and a big screen television that took up half the wall. And the bed—it was the size of a boat. My current predicament was temporarily forgotten. “I’ve been sleeping in a closet. This isn’t fair.”

He dropped his key on a dresser. “I’m the Apollyon.”

“So? I am, too, and I got a matchbox for a room. A coffin would’ve been bigger.”

“You’re not an Apollyon yet.”

That was the extent of our conversation for several minutes. I watched him prowl around the room, and then over to the window. There he stayed.

“What’re you doing?”

Seth leaned against the windowsill, attention fastened on whatever he saw outside. Several strands of hair had slipped from the tie and obscured most of his expression. “Help yourself to whatever you want in the room. Watch some TV or go to sleep.”

My temper stretched and snapped. “You’re an ass.”

He didn’t respond.

I shifted uncomfortably, wishing I’d thrown on a shirt under the hoodie. The room felt steamy, nearly unbearable. I went to the bed to sit down, but stopped. A strange sensation crawled up my spine. It felt different—incredible. Like an incredible rush of—of happiness. Yes. Like waves of sunshine and all things good.

Everything suddenly seemed okay—great even.

Seth turned from the window, his eyes narrowing on me. “Alex?”

I twisted around slowly. The room seemed lighter, soft, beautiful. Everything seemed beautiful. I think I may have sighed.

“Oh, gods,” Seth groaned. “It’s starting.”

“What’s starting?” I barely recognized my own voice.

Seth looked at me pointedly. I thought he looked funny, so I laughed, and it was like a switch being thrown. I wanted to run and dance, and sing—and I couldn’t sing, but I wanted to—and I wanted to… do stuff.

His slouch vanished and his expression took on a hard edge. “Go sit down, Alex.”

I tipped my head back. Well, it kind of fell back, and I liked the weight of my hair falling into empty space, just hanging there. It felt good on my neck.

“Seriously, go sit down.”

“Why?” I lifted my head, swaying a little. My skin tingled, like, all over—tingled like electric shocks—like when Aiden used to touch me or when I’d kissed Seth last night. I’d liked that, too, but I’d liked Aiden’s kisses better. Seth’s touch evoked something different. Gods, my brain wouldn’t shut up. It just kept going and going.

He pushed away from the window. “You look ridiculous, Alex.”

I stopped moving, having no clue exactly when I’d started swaying back and forth. “Yooooou look mooooore ridiculous,” I sang. “You’re brooding. Brooding doesn’t fit you.”

He rubbed his chin as his gaze followed me with the intensity of a hawk stalking its prey. “This is going to be a long night.”

“Maybe.” I inched closer to him, because I wanted to be closer to something, someone. “Hey. You smiled.”

He dropped his hand. “Don’t.”

I giggled. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t come any closer, Alex.”

“You had no problem being close to me last night. Why, are you scared of me?”

“I’m not.”

“Then why can’t I?”

Amusement flickered across his face for a second before vanishing. “Alex, you need to go lie down.”

I spun around, suddenly overcome by the urge to dance. When we’d waltzed in the field—that’d been fun. I wanted to do it again, and I wanted Seth to join me. Dancing alone was kind of lame.

“Alex—”

“Okay. I’m sitting down.” Then I darted for him. I must’ve taken him off guard, because he didn’t move, and come on, Seth could’ve moved out of the way if he’d wanted to.

But he didn’t.

I wrapped my arms around his waist like an octopus, and I didn’t want to dance anymore. “This feels good,” I murmured, rubbing my cheek against the front of his shirt.

Seth didn’t react at first, and I knewhe thought it felt good, too. Then he grabbed my arms and untangled them from his waist. “Alex, please go sit down.”

“I don’t want to.” I tried to reach for his neck, but he stepped back. I frowned. “Why do you keep moving away from me? Are you scared of me now?”

“Yes. Right now, I am.”

I threw my head back, laughing. “The big bad Apollyon is afraid of me? I’m hot. Can’t you open up a window?”

Seth spun around and went to the window. “Why did I suggest this?”

“Because yooooou like me,” I sang, turning and turning until I felt dizzy. “You really, really like me. Gods, I need to drink this stuff more often. I feel awesome.”

Groaning, he looked for the window lock. “You won’t later.”

“Huh? You drank it before? You have! You dirty, dirty Apollyon.” I threw myself on the bed. It was socomfortable. “I love your bed.” I rolled onto my stomach, smiling. “I love it so much I’d marry it if I could.”

Seth laughed out loud. “You’d marry my bed?”

“Mmm.” I flopped onto my back. There was a painted mural on Seth’s ceiling. Angels and other winged creatures painted in pretty pastels. “I would if I could marry, but we can’t marry. Not even inanimate objects. Kind of takes the fun out of falling in love.”

“Does it?” murmured Seth.

I pushed off the bed, unable to sit still. Seth was still at the window, but he’d forgotten about the lock. “Haven’t you ever been in love, Seth?”

He blinked slowly. “I don’t think so. Does loving yourself count?”

I laughed. “No. It doesn’t. But good try. Seth?”

“Yes?”

“It’s hot in here.”

Shaking his head, he turned back to the window. “Yeah, let me find the damn lock on this thing and I’ll fix that for you.”

It was too hot. Just too hot in here, and I couldn’t stand the itchy material against my skin anymore. Seth was taking too long. I tugged the hoodie over my head and dropped it on the floor. I immediately felt a thousand times better.

Seth stiffened and let out a strangled sound. “Please tell me you did not take off your clothes.”

I giggled. “No.”

He ran his hands over his head. More silky strands sifted through his fingers. “I’m going to regret this. I’m so going to regret this.”

“I’m not naked, you idiot.” I tugged my hair off my neck and started twisting it. “And you’ve been trying to see me naked since I met you.”

“That may be the case, but not like this.”

“Naked is naked,” I reasoned.

Slowly, Seth turned around and froze. His chest rose and fell unsteadily. “Oh, for the love of the gods, Alex, where is your shirt?”

I didn’t understand why he was making a big deal about this. I had a bra on. It wasn’t like… the thought evaporated. “I’m so hot. Just give me a shirt. Your shirt would work.”

“Yes… you’re hot. I can tell.” His voice sounded thick and edgy.

I laughed and let go of my hair, but I was still hot… and out of control. The last time I’d felt this way, I’d kissed Aiden. That is, after I’d punched him in the face. I stopped moving, not liking the nervous fluttering in my stomach. I looked down, expecting to see my skin move. I poked my tummy once, but it felt like I’d jabbed my finger into the skin a thousand times. My heart skipped a beat.

“What are you doing?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know. My stomach feels all light.”

“It’s the drink. You’ll feel better if you just sit down. I’ll get you a shirt. Just hold on a sec.”

I looked up then. Seth had moved to the dresser, rummaging through the drawers. His back was to me—a vulnerable position—and he seemed to be concentrating awful hard on finding a shirt.

A new, although somewhat old, idea consumed me. I don’t think I’d ever moved so quietly in my life. I was ninja stealth. Seth didn’t realize until it was too late. He shot up and whipped around, eyes wide.

“Alex, just let me get you a shirt. Stay put.” He moved to the left.

I followed him, shadowing his movements much like I did in training. Giving up on the shirt, he darted away from the dresser—away from me. But I was quicker. Once again, I had my arms around him. Then an even better idea took over.

“Kiss me?” I asked.