Текст книги "Pure"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

“Everyone will be watching you—everyone of importance. You will give Seth unprecedented power. We cannot afford any misguided behavior from you, Alexandria. Neither can Seth.”

Irritation flared deep inside me. At eighteen, something called palingenesis would hit me like some kind of instant supernatural puberty. I’d Awaken and my power would shift to Seth. What power, I had no clue, but he’d become the God Killer. Everyone cared about Seth, but me? They didn’t seem so concerned with what would happen to me.

“People expect more from you. They will watch you because of what you will become, Alexandria.”

I disagreed. They watched because they feared history would repeat itself. The only time there’d ever been two Apollyons in the same generation, the First had turned on the Council. Both Apollyons had been executed. Two Apollyons at one time was considered dangerous by the Council and the gods. It was why Mom had taken me from the Covenant three years ago. She’d thought she could keep me safe, hide me among the mortals.

“At Council, you cannot behave like this. You can’t run around starting fights and mouthing off at people,” he continued. “There are rules—rules of our society that you must follow! They will not think twice about throwing you into servitude, and it won’t matter who you’re related to. Do you understand?”

Exhaling slowly, I lifted my head and found Marcus by the aquarium. His back was to me. “Yes, I understand.”

He ran a hand over his head. “You will leave your dorm for school, training, and dinner—dinner at the assigned time—and that is all. As of now, you have no friends.”

My gaze narrowed on his back. “Am I, like, grounded or something?”

He looked over his shoulder at me, lips thinning. “Until further notice, and do not even think of arguing with me. You cannot go unpunished for this.”

“But how can you ground me?”

Marcus turned around slowly. “You broke a girl’s nose with an apple.”

Suddenly, I didn’t want to argue. I wasgetting off light. Being grounded also didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t like my social calendar was full. “All right, but are you going to tell me if you found the

daimon?”

He stared at me a moment longer. “No. We haven’t found the daimon yet.”

I gripped the chair. “So… it’s still around?”

“Yes.” Marcus motioned me up, and I followed him to the door. He addressed one of the Guards. “Clive, escort Miss Andros back to her room.”

I groaned inwardly. Clive was one of the Guards I seriously suspected of hooking up with Lea. Every single conversation spoken inside Marcus’s office somehow got back to Lea. Considering Clive had a thing for young girls who wore fake Prada shoes, he was the likeliest suspect.

“Yes, sir.” Clive bowed.

“Remember our conversation,” Marcus said.

“But what about—”

Marcus shut the door.

Which part should I remember? The fact I was a disgrace to him or the fact there was a daimon running around? Clive grabbed my arm, fingers biting deep. I winced, trying to jerk my arm back, but he increased the pressure. The daimon tags still felt oddly sensitive.

“I guess you’re enjoying this.” I clenched my jaw.

“That would be a good guess.” Clive shoved me into the stairwell. The pures were wealthy, and I mean, more money than anyone could comprehend. Yet there wasn’t a single elevator in the entire campus.

“You think you can get away with anything, don’t you? You’re the dean’s niece, the Minister’s stepdaughter, and the next Apollyon. You’re just so damn special, aren’t you?”

There was a very good chance I might hit him, but with my fist instead of an apple. I jerked my arm free. “Yeah, I’m that damn special.”

“Just remember you’re still a half-blood, Alex.”

“Just remember I amthe dean’s niece, the Minister’s stepdaughter, and the next Apollyon.”

Clive stepped up, his nose almost touching mine. “Are you threatening me?”

I refused to back down. “No. I’m just reminding you of how special I really am.”

He stared a moment, then gave a short, harsh laugh. “Maybe we’ll all get lucky and you’ll be a daimon snack on the way back to your dorm alone. Have a good night.”

I laughed as loud as I could and was rewarded with the door slamming shut. Hurrying down the stairs, I forgot about Clive. There was a daimon on campus and it’d already attacked one pure-blood, almost killing her. Who knew how long it would take before the daimon half needed its next fix? Mom had said a pure would keep a normal daimon going for days, but was it the same for a daimon half?

She hadn’t said anything about that, but she’d talked a lot about their plans to overthrow the Council and the pures while I’d been captive in Gatlinburg. Mom and Eric, the only surviving daimon from Gatlinburg, had plotted to turn the halfs first, and then send them back to infiltrate the Covenants. Sounded like that was already well underway… or could it just be a random attack?

Yeah, I doubted that.

What I’d learned in Gatlinburg was the whole reason I’d be attending the November Council session, but my testimony seemed pointless now.

I rounded the second floor level and came to an abrupt standstill. Apprehension trailed icy fingers down my spine, awakening the uncanny sense we half-bloods carried in our blood. I glanced over my shoulder, practically expecting a half-blood serial killer to be standing behind me… or at least Clive, about to push me down the steps.

But there was nothing.

Trained not to ignore the freaky sixth sense that alerted us to all kinds of messed-up things, I admitted that maybe I shouldn’t have pissed off Clive. After all, there was a daimon roaming around. I took the steps two at a time and flung open the door to the main level.

Dread still trailed along with me, coiling around my fingers. It didn’t help that the

long hallway was lit only by flickering overhead lights, adding to the creepy feeling. Where were all the Instructors and Guards? It was tomb-quiet.

“Clive?” My eyes devoured every vacant inch of the hallway. “If you’re messing with me, I’m seriously going to break yournose.”

Silence was my answer.

Tiny hairs on my body stood up in warning. Up ahead, the statues of the muses cast harsh shadows over the front lobby. Scanning every nook and cranny for a possible threat, I made my way down the hall. My footsteps echoed madly, almost as if the sound was laughing at me. I came to a sudden halt, mouth dropping open. There was a new addition to the Academy lobby, one that hadn’t been there when I’d been escorted to Marcus’s office.

Three new marble statues had been erected in the center of the lobby. The angelic, beautiful women clustered close to one another, their arms folded close to their bodies and their wings arched high above their tilted heads.

Oh, my gods.

There were furiesin the Covenant.

Entombed for now, their arrival was a sign from some very unhappy gods. I walked around them slowly, as if they’d break free from their shells and rip me from limb to limb at any moment. I imagined they were waiting, sharpening the claws that would appear in their true form.

Furies were ancient, horrific goddesses once used to capture those who had committed evil but had not been punished. Now they appeared whenever there was a threat to the pures as a whole… or to humankind in general.

Something was about to go down, or already had.

Tearing my eyes away from their serene expressions, I pushed open the heavy doors. A hand clamped down on my arm. My gasp of surprise came out as a shriek as I leaned back and brought my leg up to deliver a vicious kick. My eyes flicked up an instant before I made contact.

“Crap!” I yelped.

Aiden blocked my knee, brows raised. “Well, your reflexes are definitely getting better.”

Heart racing, I closed my eyes. “Oh, my gods, you scared the crap out of me.”

“I can tell.” He dropped my arm, his eyes falling to my pants. “So it’s true.”

“So what’s true?” I still couldn’t get control over my heart. For crying out loud, I’d thought he was a daimon about to chomp down on what’s left of my arm.

“You got into a fight with Lea Samos and broke her nose.”

“Oh.” I straightened, pursing my lips. “She called me a daimon loving—”

“Words, Alex, just words.” Aiden tipped his head to the side. “Haven’t we had this conversation before?”

“You don’t know Lea. You don’t know how she is.”

“Does it matter how she is? You can’t fight everyone who says something negative about you. If I approached people the way you do, I’d be fighting all the time.”

I rolled my eyes. “People don’t talk bad about you, Aiden. Everyone respects you. You’re perfect. They don’t think you’rea daimon. Anyway, there’s a new happy family entombed in the lobby back there.”

He frowned.

“There’re furies in the lobby—statues of them.”

Aiden dragged a hand over his head, sighing. “We were afraid that might happen.”

“Why are they here?”

“The Covenant has been breached, which is something the Council assured would never happen. It was part of their agreement with the gods ages ago, when the first Covenant was established. The gods see this breach as the Council not able to handle the daimon problem.”

My stomach flopped. “And what does that mean, exactly?”

He grimaced. “It means, if the gods believe the pure-bloods have lost control, they will release the furies. It’s not something anyone wants. The furies will go after anything they perceive as a threat—daimon, half-blood, or…”

“Apollyon?” I whispered. Aiden didn’t respond, which confirmed I was correct. I groaned. “Awesome. Well, hopefully that doesn’t happen.”

“Agreed.”

I shifted uncomfortably, my brain unable to really process the new threat. “What are you doing over here, anyway?”

Aiden pinned me with a dark look. “I was going to see Marcus. What are you doing roaming around by yourself?”

“Clive was supposed to escort me back to the dorm, but that kind of fell through.”

His eyes narrowed and then he sighed. Tipping his head toward the dorms, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark cargos. “Come on, I’ll walk you back. You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

I pushed away from the doors. “Cuz there’s a daimon still on campus? And furies ready to attack?”

He glanced down at me, frowning. “I know your flippant attitude is an act. It’s probably what made you turn an apple into a deadly weapon. You of all people know how serious this is.”

My cheeks flushed at his reprimand. Guilt twisted my stomach into raw knots. I stared down at the markings on the pathway. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the person you should be apologizing to.”

“Well, I’m sure as hell not apologizing to Lea. So you can forget that.”

Aiden shook his head. “I know what Lea said upset you. I can even… understand your reaction, but you have to be careful. People are—”

“Yeah, I know. People are watching me, blah and blah some more.” I squinted at the shadows of the patrolling Guards. It was the time between dusk and nightfall, but the lamps hadn’t kicked on yet. The largest buildings—the ones housing the school, training facilities, and dorms—slipped dark shadows over the pathway. “Anyway, do you guys have any idea where the daimon could be?”

“No. We’ve searched everywhere and are still searching. Right now we’re focused on keeping the students safe.”

We stopped at the bottom of the steps outside my dorm. The porch was empty, a sign of everyone’s unease. Girls usually hung out here, hoping to get some guy time in. “Did Melissa see the daimon? Was she able to give some sort of description?”

Aiden ran a hand over his forehead. “She barely remembers anything from the attack right now. The doctors… well, they think it’s the trauma. A way of protecting herself, I guess.”

I looked away, grateful it was dark outside. Why couldn’t I forget what’d happened in Gatlinburg? “It’s probably more than just that. She’s a pure. Where one of us would be trained to pay attention to details, to gain as much information as possible, she wasn’t. She’s just like a… normal girl. And if the attack happened at night, she probably thought it was a nightmare. Waking up to something like that? I couldn’t even imagine.” I stopped. He was staring at me strangely. “What?”

“It’s just that you’re thinking along the right lines.”

I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face. “I’m that awesome. I know.”

His lips twitched as if he wished to smile. “So, how much trouble are you in?”

“Grounded basically, but I guess I got off light.” I was still smiling like an idiot.

“Yeah, you did.” He looked relieved. “Try to stay out of trouble and pleasedon’t sneak around the grounds. I doubt the daimon is still here, but you never know.”

Drawing in a deep breath, I folded my arms over my chest. “Aiden?”

“Hmm?”

I stared at Aiden’s boots. They were shiny, never scuffed. “It’s starting, isn’t it?”

“You’re talking about what your mother told you, aren’t you?”

“She said this is what they would do. And Eric’s still out there. What if he’s behind this and—?”

“Alex.” He leaned toward me. We were close, but not as close as we’d been in the gym. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Eric or not. We’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not scared.”

Aiden reached out, brushing his fingers over mine. It was a brief touch, but my body tingled nonetheless. “I didn’t say you were scared. If anything, you’re too brave.”

Our gazes met. “Everything is changing.”

“Everything already has.”

Later that night, I tossed and turned. My mind wouldn’t shut down. The daimon attack, the apple assault, bitchy furies, the impending Council session, and everything else kept cycling in one giant, endless cluster. Each time I flipped over, I grew more irritated at the prospect of another sleepless night.

The trouble sleeping had started about a week after returning from Gatlinburg. I’d fall asleep for an hour or so before a nightmare crept into my dreams. Mom was usually in those nightmares. Sometimes I relived fighting her in the woods; sometimes I didn’t kill her, and other times it was just me and Daniel, the daimon with the too-friendly hands.

Then there were the dreams where I wantedto be turned into a daimon.

I’d flipped onto my stomach and shoved my face into the pillow when I felt a strange tingling in the pit of my stomach—like the butterflies right before a first kiss, only much, much stronger.

I pushed up and squinted at the clock. Past one in the morning, and I felt wide awake. And hot—really hot. Thinking the temperature controls may’ve gone all wacky again, I got up and opened the window by the bed. Cool, damp air rolled in from the ocean, providing some relief. I didn’t feel like I’d crawl out of my skin at any moment, but I still burned—like all over. I ran my hands over my face, aching in a way that reminded me of the time I’d spent with Aiden. Not our training sessions, oh no—but the night before I’d found Kain, the night I’d lain naked in Aiden’s bed.

But I remembered more than the physical stuff. Words I’d never ever forget in a trillion years– you got inside me, became a part of me.No one had ever said anything like that to me—no one.

I glanced at the clock again, sighing. Fifteen minutes went by, then twenty minutes, then half an hour. Finally, I stopped paying attention to the time. My heart pounded until I squeezed my eyes shut. I could almost see Aiden now, feel the soft

brush of fingertips and hear those words again. Then, without any warning, the itchy feeling vanished. The cool air coming in from the window suddenly felt brutal.

“What the hell?” I flopped onto my back. “Hot flashes? Really?”

It was a long, long time before I fell asleep.

CHAPTER 3

EVERYTHING DID CHANGE THE NEXT DAY.

Olivia and I shared a trig textbook in class, trying to figure out the difference between a sine and cosine. Considering we’d be spending the bulk of our adult lives hunting and killing daimons, learning trigonometry seemed pretty pointless, so we really didn’t apply ourselves.

I drew a pair of humongous boobs on the free space above the formula and labeled them “Olivia.” She immediately scratched her name out and scribbled “Alex.”

I snorted, looking up just in time to see Mrs. Kateris, a pure-blood with enough degrees to be teaching at Yale, twist around and frown at us.

“Great,” Olivia muttered from behind her hand. “If she picks up this textbook and asks what we’re doing again, I’m going to die. Seriously.”

I yawned loudly. “Whatever.”

Mrs. Kateris placed the chalk down and clapped her hands. “Miss Andros and Miss Panagopoulos.” She paused long enough for the entire front of the class to twist around in their seats and look at us. “Would you like to share—?”

“I like how she says your last name,” I murmured to Olivia at the exact moment our classroom door swung open and a small fleet of Guards entered the room.

“What the hell?” Olivia sat up straighter.

Mrs. Kateris stepped back, smoothing her hands over the front of her skirt.

The Guards bowed in her direction, the custom when addressing pures of status, which in our world was pretty much every pure. “We apologize for interrupting your class, Mrs. Kateris,” said the first Guard. I almost didn’t recognize him. He was the Guard from the bridge, the one who’d followed me around the island—Crede Linard. Well, he must’ve been promoted.

Mrs. Kateris gave him an uneasy smiled. “No need to apologize. How can we help you?”

“Dean Andros wishes the presence of the half-bloods. We are here to escort them.”

The halfs in the class glanced around the room, confusion and wariness on our faces. Had there been another attack?

Stepping back, Mrs. Kateris clasped her hands. Guard Linard faced the class, expression impressively blank. “Please follow us.”

Olivia snapped the textbook closed as her face lost its color. “What’s going on?”

I grabbed my backpack off the floor, thinking of the furies. Everyone had been talking about them this morning, thinking they looked pretty cool. No one seemed to get what a big deal they were. “I don’t know.”

Several halfs started asking questions as we filed out of the class-room, but Guard Linard frowned at them. “No talking.”

The same thing was happening in the other classes. Doors opened as Guards led halfs in a single file down the corridor. Upstairs, the sound of herded footsteps followed our group. I glanced behind us, spotting Caleb and Luke.

Turning back around, I drew in a shallow breath. This was something serious, and we all recognized it. Tension rippled through the air, itching at our skin as we continued to the first floor. Getting down the stairwell took a ridiculous amount of time. Once again, I felt the desire to mention the fact we needed elevators.

We ended up being ushered through the lobby of the school, past the administrative offices, then into the middle of the Covenant—to the indoor coliseum. It was the only place big enough to hold all of us.

Once inside the room we students referred to simply as the “gymnasium,” we were ordered to take our seats and to stay with our classes. Olivia and I ended up in the third row. Caleb and Luke were at least in the eleventh, which sucked. I’d rather be sitting near Caleb when they dropped whatever bomb they were about to drop on us, and I knew Olivia felt that way, too.

I bounced my knee, scowling. The seats in here had been made out of some kind of sandstone, and they were the most uncomfortable things to sit on.

Olivia squirmed. “Do you—”

From the gymnasium floor below us, Guard Linard whipped around. “No talking.”

Olivia’s brows flew up, and I wondered if Linard would stroke out if I asked who was guarding the bridge. I exhaled loudly as I scanned the sea of half-bloods in green training clothes. A bunch of blue-uniformed Guards stood watch. But I didn’t see many people in the black uniforms of the Sentinels, the hunters of daimons.

Then my gaze settled on a tall blond leaning against the wall, and I recognized the well-muscled arms and narrow hips. He had one long leg bent at the knee, his booted foot planted on a mosaic of a seminude Zeus.

Seth.

His hair was pulled back in a leather tie, but like always, shorter strands slipped free and curled around his chin. He had this golden complexion uniquely his own and a face perfectly pieced together, with those odd amber eyes holding an exotic curve. Sometimes I wondered if the gods had specially crafted those cheekbones and smug-looking lips, if they’d put the faint cleft in his chin and carved his jaw out of granite. No one else quite looked like him.

He was, after all, the First Apollyon of our generation. According to my stepfather, Seth and I were fated to be together in some weird, energy transfer way. According to me, Seth was a pain in my—

Seth inclined his head in my direction and winked. I leaned back and focused on the Guards below. Seth and I weren’t getting along at the moment. In our last training session, he’d “accidentally” hit me with a blast of pure energy and I’d “accidentally” thrown a rock at his head.

Perhaps I did have a problem with throwing things.

After what seemed like forever, Marcus entered the gymnasium, and the entire student assembly shifted forward. Around two hundred of us sat together, ranging from seven to eighteen years old. The wee ones sat on the floor, knee to knee. They probably had no clue what was going on.

Marcus wasn’t alone. Council Guards dressed in all white followed behind him. The Council resembled the Olympian Court, eight pures and two Ministers—one male and one female. Only the Covenant locations held a Council—here in North Carolina, upstate New York, South Dakota, and the wilds of Tennessee. The Council acted as our ruling government, establishing laws and carrying out punishments. The Ministers were the only ones who communicated with the gods, but if what Lucian had said during the summer was true, the gods hadn’t spoken to the Ministers in ages.

This was a lot of pomp for just one Minister. It wasn’t like the entire Council was swarming the gymnasium—just Lucian and his awesome hair. Jet black, it flowed to his waist, pin straight. Complimenting his hair was the only really good thing I could say about my stepfather. Well, that and he sent me lots of money.

The Guards bowed, straightening slowly. I noted that Seth hadn’t moved an inch. Lucian stepped forward, clasping his hands together. He wore an all white, tunic-type dress. I thought he looked ridiculous.

“A daimon attack occurred within the grounds of the Covenant yesterday.” Lucian’s clear voice rang through the silent room. “Such an attack is unprecedented and must be dealt with swiftly. At this time, we believe there will be no further… breaches of security.”

Yeah, he must’ve seen the furies. I bet he hoped there wouldn’t be any more breaches.

“But,” he continued, “we must move forward and focus on prevention.”

Like a violent tide rolling in from the ocean, apprehension swept through us. I held my breath.

“The Council and the Covenant have agreed that measures must be taken to ensure another attack does not occur.”

Marcus stepped forward then, smiling in a way that sent shivers down my arms. “Several things are going to happen over the course of the next week. New rules are being put into place and these rules will be unconditional and effective immediately.”

And here it starts, I thought angrily. One half-blood turned bad, so all half-bloods will be punished. I recognized the severity of the issue, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Marcus scanned the crowd, meeting the gazes of the halfs. His steady eyes held mine a moment, then glided past. “A curfew of seven p.m. will begin tonight for all half-bloods—” Gasps could be heard echoing through the room. My jaw hit the floor. “—unless the half-blood is accompanied by a Guard and is participating in an activity related to schoolwork. There will be no other exceptions. At no time will half-bloods be allowed into the rooms of pure-bloods unless accompanied by an Instructor or Guard. No half-blood will be able to leave the Covenant-controlled island without permission, and then must be accompanied by a Guard or Sentinel.”

“Oh, my gods,” Olivia murmured, rubbing the palms of her hands over her thighs. “Can they do this?”

I didn’t respond. The pures could do whatever they wanted. I had a feeling it was about to get a lot worse.

“Sentinels will be posted outside the dorms, along with the Covenant Guards. In addition to these measures, all half-bloods will be required to submit to a physical exam. These—” His cut a strong look toward the upper level, where several muffled curses sounded. “– theseexams will be mandatory. After every half-blood has been examined, then the exams will continue based on need.”

Ice rushed through my veins, settling in the pit of my stomach. Of course there would be physical exams. How else could they tell if any halfs had been turned? Their bodies, much like mine, would show the evidence of multiple daimon tags. It was the only sign of a half being turned.

I wanted to puke.

“Exams will begin tomorrow and will be done so alphabetically.” Marcus stepped back, allowing Lucian to take center stage once more.

“None of us enjoy the idea of limiting your freedom or imposing potentially uncomfortable situations upon you.” Lucian splayed his hands open in front of him. “We care for our half-bloods, and this is as much for your benefit as it is for the pure-blooded students.”

I covered my mouth, afraid I’d say something. Benefit us? Restricting our comings and goings, forcing us to submit to physical exams? There was no difference between us and the halfs who served them—except we wouldn’t have the pleasure of being doped up and unaware of what was happening to us.

I looked away from Lucian and caught sight of Seth again. Every line of his face had hardened in disapproval and his eyes flared like the sun. I could feel his anger as if it were my own.

After going over a couple of more rules regarding where we were allowed to enter and something about random dorm checks, the assembly drew to a close. I had a hard time focusing on what Marcus and Lucian had gone over. My own anger roiled inside me, and the brewing storm against the wall kept my attention.

We were ordered to exit the gymnasium the same way we’d entered: a silent, single-file line of half-bloods. Briefly, I caught a glimpse of Caleb’s face. Disbelief and anger warred across his boyish features, making him seem so much older. No one had considered what this could mean for Caleb and me. They would find evidence of recent daimon attacks on both of us. Then what? Shove a bleeding pure in our face and see if we attacked? I glanced over my shoulder, searching for Seth. He stood with Lucian, off from the white-robed Guards, and they appeared to be… arguing.

At lunch, we went over the new rules quietly. More Guards than normal hovered around the perimeter of the cafeteria, and even a few Sentinels stood post, limiting what we could say. I wondered what those half-blood Sentinels thought, knowing that they’d be subject to the exams, too.

Pures usually mingled with the halfs during this time, but today was different. Halfs took up one side of the cafeteria while the pures sat at the farthest tables possible. My gaze landed on Cody Hale and his cronies. Cody hung out with halfs sometimes, like when he had nothing better to do. There were many times during the summer when I’d wanted to hit him, but hitting a pure meant expulsion, and that meant servitude.

Right now his group had their heads bent together. Every so often, Cody would run a hand over his neatly-cropped, brown hair, look at our table, and snicker. I wasn’t the only one who noticed this.

Caleb’s silent anger simmered around our table. Since the whole incident in Gatlinburg, I hadn’t seen much of Caleb. My spare time consisted of training sessions while his revolved around Olivia. Looking back, I kind of wished I’d made time for him. Maybe then I would’ve noticed the subtle changes in him, the shade of darkness that seemed to surround him, how quickly he reacted with anger.

“Just ignore them, babe.” Olivia nodded toward Cody’s table, forcing a causal smile. “Cody’s an idiot.”

“It’s not just Cody.” He gave a tight laugh. “Haven’t you seen how the other pures have been looking at us? Like we’re all about to jump them?”

“They’re just scared.” Olivia squeezed his hand. “Don’t take it personally.”

“Caleb’s right.” Luke leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Today in class, a pure I’ve known for years requested his seat to be changed. Sam didn’t want to sit next to me—or any half. Hades, he looked like he didn’t want to be in the same room as us.”

I rubbed my fingers over my temple as my appetite vanished. “They’re all scared. There’s never been a daimon on campus before.”

“It’s not our fault.” Luke’s eyes met mine. “And what do they have to be afraid of? The way the Minister talked today, it sounded like the daimon wasn’t here anymore.”

“No one really knows that for sure.” I picked up my soda, watching Caleb. He didn’t speak for the rest of lunch. As we filed out of the cafeteria, I pulled Caleb aside. “You doing okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I wrapped my arm around him, ignoring the way he stiffened. “You don’t seem like it. I get—”

“You get that we’re already top suspects, Alex?” Caleb pulled away. “That none of this is right or fair? I don’t want them stripping you down, or Olivia, looking for some sign that we’re chomping on pures during our spare time. And with you…” He paused, glancing around the hallway outside the cafeteria. Luke and Olivia went on, but two Guards eyed us—the same two from yesterday. “Lea was being a bitch yesterday, but people…”

“People have been talking? Caleb, people have been talking about me since they found out my mom was a daimon. So what? Who cares?” I squeezed his hand, just like Olivia had. “Why don’t you sneak over tonight and bring a movie?”

Caleb pulled away again, shaking his head. “I got things I need to do.”

“Like Olivia?” I joked.

That brought a hint of a smile. “Come on, you’re going to be late for class. You have practice with Seth—”

I groaned loudly. “Please don’t say his name. He throws balls of energy at my head like it’s some kind of game.”