Текст книги "Pure"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

CHAPTER 7

NOT SURPRISINGLY, SETH KNOCKED ON MY BEDROOM WINDOW that night. Honestly, the curfew thing sucked—being confined to my room and not being able to really sleep usually left me with a mad case of boredom—so I kind of welcomed his little visits. Especially when he just wanted to watch a movie and I’d fall asleep.

But tonight was different.

I still hadn’t decided what to wear tomorrow, and that was a major deal. Aiden only ever saw me in boring gym clothes. I needed something cute—a little sexy—but I couldn’t look like I was trying too hard. My entire closet was on my bed. And of course, I’d just seen some of Seth’s—uh, more private parts. I kind of didn’t want to see his face tonight.

The knock came again, more urgent. Groaning, I went to the window and opened it. Thankfully he was fully dressed. “What?”

Seth loped over the windowsill, inviting himself in. “Nice jammies.”

“Shut up.” I grabbed a sweater off the bed and slipped it on, wishing I’d put on long PJ bottoms instead of shorts and a thin tank.

“You know, I don’t care about the tag marks. Makes you look dangerous in an extremely hot way.”

“It’s not the marks I’m covering up, and you know that.”

“Partly true and partly a lie. The scars embarrass you, because you’re incredibly vain for a chick who wants to be a Sentinel. And you’re uncomfortable being half-naked around me—”

“I’m not half-naked! And I’m not uncomfortable around you. AndI’m not vain.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” He sat down on my bed.

Okay. I was lying. Vanity wasn’t the worst sin and yeah, Seth made me uncomfortable for a lot of reasons, but that wasn’t the point. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to check on you.”

My brows furrowed. “Why?”

His glanced around the room, his gaze settling on the clothes scattered around. “Can’t find what to wear?”

“Uh… I was just going through my closet.”

“I can tell.”

I sighed, rubbing my forehead wearily. “What do you want? As you can see I’m kind of busy.”

A brow arched. “I know. What an exciting life you live, going through your closet on a Friday night and all.”

“Yeah, not all of us have the exciting life you do, Seth.”

His lips split into a satisfied grin. “I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“You’re mad at me.”

I stared at him and lifted my arms, waiting for a better explanation.

“You’re upset over this afternoon.” He pushed aside several potential choices for tomorrow as he leaned back. “Were you jealous, Alex?”

My jaw almost hit the floor. It took me a moment to respond. “I’m confused to why you think I’d be jealous.”

Seth gave me a knowing look. “Perhaps you’re jealous of Elena?”

“What?” I picked up a cute sweater I’d bought before we’d gone into lockdown. “Me, jealous of Elena and her Tinkerbell hair—don’t think so.”

He stretched over and tugged the sweater out of my hand. “Oh. Catty, aren’t you?”

“Not at all. If I’d only known about your Peter Pan complex, I would’ve introduced you two sooner.” I reached for it, but he rolled it up into a ball and tossed the sweater across the room. “Ugh! You are so annoying!”

“Just admit you’re jealous. That’s the first step, and the second step is doing something about it.”

I glared at Seth. “I could care less what—or who—you do in your spare time.” Then something struck me. “Wait. You know what? This is messed up.”

“Do tell.”

“Everyone jumps me about how every single thing I do is a reflection upon you, but you’re doingpeople in the garden! How is that okay?”

“You make it sound so distasteful.” He smiled much like a cat. “Don’t knock it until you try it. Oh. Wait. You haven’t tried anything, have you, my little virgin Apollyon?”

I swung out at him as hard as I possibly could. Anticipating my reaction, Seth caught my hand. His eyes flashed dangerously as he tugged me forward. My own momentum caused me to stumble. I ended up falling forward.

Seth twisted onto his side and circled his arms around me. “Always hitting,” he said cheerfully. “I think we should work on your manners.”

The side of my face was smashed into a pile of shirts that had gone into the “maybe” pile. “Oh, come on. You’re wrinkling all my clothes, you jerk-face.”

“Your clothes are fine. I want to chat.”

I tried to elbow him, but his arms clamped down. “Really, you want to talk right now?”

He wriggled closer. “Yes.”

“And we have to be lying like this for what reason?”

“I don’t know. It makes me feel good. I know it makes you feel good. And I don’t mean the way I’m sure you think I mean.” He paused, and I could feel his chest rise and fall against my back. “Our bodies relax around each other.”

I scrunched up my face, not buying his reason at all. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Let’s talk about the fact you haven’t been sleeping.”

“What?” I managed to squirm enough to get one of my arms loose and flip onto my back. “I… I sleep fine.”

“You sleep for a few hours. Then you wake up. Nightmares, huh?”

I stared at him. “Why do you always have to be so creepy?”

His lips twitched. A flicker of amusement, then his expression returned to a customary smug mask. “Whenever you’re upset you suck me right in. Wakes me up every single night, and now I’m not getting any sleep unless I stay with you.”

I scooted over, but his arm caught me. “Well, sorry. I don’t know how to stop it. If I did, I wouldn’t interrupt your precious beauty sleep.”

Seth chuckled low in his throat. “I guess it’s because the connection between us is getting stronger since we’re spending more time together. With you being an emotional wreck these days, I spend half my time wanting a Valium.”

The urge to kick him off the bed hit me hard. “I’m not an emotional wreck.”

He didn’t bother responding to that. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd that the only times you sleep all the way through the night are when I stay with you?”

It did strike me as odd—and annoying. “So?”

Seth leaned over. “Your body relaxes around me and you can rest. All thanks to your favorite thing—the connection we share. If you get too upset, you just need me. It will work both ways once you Awaken.”

I jerked as far away from him as I could, which wasn’t very far at all. “Oh, for the love of the gods, you have got to be kidding me.”

“Alex, I’m as serious as a daimon attack.”

And I knew he was being serious. I just didn’t want to admit it. The idea of him sensing my emotions made me what to hurl. If I wanted to cry, he’d know. The same went for needing to punch someone or if I was in the middle of a hot make-out session, he’d know and—

My eyes widened in realization and a strange feeling unfurled in the pit of my stomach. “Wait. Wait one second, Seth. If you can feel my emotions or whatever when I’m spazzing out, then I should be able to feel yours.”

“Right, but not—”

I moved so fast I broke free of his embrace and shot to my feet. He stayed on the bed, half-reclined. “Oh. My. Gods. I havefelt you.”

Seth’s brows rose slowly. “No way, I know how to shield myself so that I’m not broadcasting my every wish and desire like you.”

“Oh. No. You are so wrong.” My cheeks burned just thinking about it. The nights I’d felt all hot and tingling—and right before I’d walked in on him and Elena—it wasn’t just my overactive hormones. “Oh, this sucks.”

Interest sparked in his eyes and he sat up, resting his hands on his knees. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve felt you a couple of times—at night. Like when you’re doing… your thing.”

He gave a short laugh, and then it seemed to hit him. His mouth dropped open. “Doing my thing?”

“Yeah,” I said, growing frustrated. Did I have to spell it out for him? “Just forget I said anything.”

“No. Not likely. What did you feel?”

This really did suck. It was also mortifying and beyond freaky. “You know, fooling around. I’ve felt… you then.”

Seth stared at me so long I thought he lost the ability to speak. Then, when I was just starting to get worried, he threw his head back and laughed. Really loudly—and he didn’t stop.

I gaped at him. “It’s not funny!”

“Oh, it’s probably the funniest damn thing I’ve heard in a long time.” He stopped long enough to draw in a deep breath. “This is great.”

“It’s not great. What kind of connection is this? A one-way hotline to Pervyville?” I took a step forward, on a roll now. “It’s disgusting. Freaky—stop laughing, Seth!”

“I can’t,” he gasped. “Of all the times for you to connect with me, and it had to be then? Damn Alex, I didn’t know you’re such a peeping—”

I hit him hard on the arm. It wasn’t a playful tap. It would bruise. I wanted to do more—like kick him in the head.

“Jeez. And you’re so violent. Do you know how hot—”

I swung at him again, but this time Seth was prepared. He dodged my fist and caught me around the waist. Before I could even break his hold, he flipped me onto my back. This time he hovered above me, arms planted on either side of my head. A wild and beautiful smile chipped away at some of the coldness in his face. Not all of it, but some. “This is priceless.”

“You are so annoying.”

That seemed to amuse him even more. He laughed so hard I felt it rumble through me. Not in the way Aiden’s laugh usually did. Aiden’s laugh made me feel all light and fluttery. Seth’s made me feel weird—flushed and weird. And a part of me wanted to hear it again—or feel it again. Which was wrong—all kinds of wrong—because I didn’t think of him that way. At least my brain didn’t. My body, on the other hand, had a totally different viewpoint on these things.

My body must be a sad, lonely thing.

“You know,” Seth grinned, “you probably shouldn’t have told me this. I’m going to take advantage—Alex, what are you doing?”

I didn’t get what he was talking about at first. Then my eyes dropped and I saw my hand pressed against his stomach, my fingers curling around his shirt. How in the world did my hand get there, because surely– surely, I didn’t do that?

Seth appeared on the verge of saying something ignorant, like always, but he became very, very still. I don’t even think he breathed. Slowly, I lifted my gaze and found what I expected. Swirling glyphs spread across the left side of his face. The intricate markings etched down his neck and disappeared under the hem of his black shirt, reappearing on his left arm and coming to stop over his hand.

And Seth, well, Seth was no longer laughing. Those odd eyes caught mine and flared a heated tawny. He lowered his head; the loose strands of hair brushed my cheeks. I jerked my hand back, but he was still close, way too close. So I did the only thing suitable in situations like these. I shoved my knee into his stomach—hard.

He rolled off me, onto his back, laughing once more. “Crap, Alex, why did you go and do that? Actually kind of hurt, you know?”

I scrambled off the bed, putting as much distance between us as possible. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” He tipped his head back, his gaze finding me. “I guess this was bound to happen. The more time we spend together, the more we’ll start connecting. It is the way of the Apollyons.”

“Just go somewhere, why don’t you?”

Seth flipped onto his stomach and rested his chin in his hands. “I’d love to. I could go for seconds with Elena right about now.”

I let out a groan and rolled my eyes. “No one is stopping you.”

“True, but then you’d fall asleep after pacing or reading some incredibly boring textbook and have another nightmare about Mommy, and then I’ll be awake all night long.” He arched one blond brow at me. “I do need my beauty sleep.”

I glared at him. “You’re not staying here again, Seth. You have a bed—several, actually. Go.”

“You didn’t care the last couple of times.”

“Because … well, those times were different,” I sputtered, running a hand over my hair. Turning around, I started grabbing clothes off the floor. “I didn’t know you were staying. You just helped yourself.”

Seth sighed. “You don’t like any of this, do you?”

“No. I don’t like not being in control. You know that.” I grabbed another shirt. I also didn’t like the fact that my body reacted to him even though my heart didn’t. “It’s about having control over—” I dropped the clothes and straightened. “Remember what you said to me during the summer, the night you were in my room?”

He looked confused. “Not really.”

I took a deep breath, searching for patience I didn’t have. “You promised me that you would leave if things got out of hand. Do you remember that?”

Seth’s lips pursed. “Yes, I do.”

“Do you still mean it?” I stepped forward, standing in front of him. “Do you?”

“Yes. I still mean that. I made you a promise. I keep my promises.” Seth reached out and grabbed my hand. With a gentle tug, he pulled me down beside him. Whatever relief I felt was short-lived. “Do you know what I find interesting?”

I watched him wearily. “What?”

He turned his head toward me. “You’ve never shown any interest in getting to know me better. You don’t know a thing about me.”

“That’s not true.”

His lips curled into a sardonic grin as he let go of my hand. “You don’t even know my last name, Alex.”

Well, he didn’t need a last name. Seth was just Sethto me.

“You don’t even know where I’m from, if my mom was a pure or my dad,” he continued. “I bet you don’t even know how old I am.”

I started to protest, but Seth was right. We’ve known each other for about four months, give or take a week or two, and I didn’t know anything about him. In all of the time we’d spent together, in training or when he showed up in my room, we never talked about anything personal. And I never cared to even ask. I frowned. Was I truly that self-centered?

Seth sighed. “You have this one-track mind thing going on.”

I looked at him sharply. “You can’t read my thoughts, right?”

“No. But that doesn’t mean some of what you think isn’t as obvious as reading your thoughts.” He turned to me. “Everything you think, everything you feel is always right on your face. You’re terrible at hiding your emotions. Or what you’re thinking. Like I said: one track mind. Whether it’s getting back into the Covenant, fighting your Mom or fighting your fate or that… specialperson in your life.”

“I don’t have a special person in my life!” I felt my cheeks start to burn again. “I have no idea where you come up with these things.”

One side of his lips curled upward as he met my stare. “I’m nineteen.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

Seth’s eyes rolled. “I’m nineteen years old.”

“Oh. Oh. Only nineteen—wow. I thought you were older than that.”

“Well, I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered.”

“Flattered, I guess.”

A few moments passed before he spoke again. “I’m from a tiny island near Greece.”

“Ah, that explains your voice—the accent. What island?”

Seth shrugged and didn’t respond. Sharing and caring time seemed to be over. Why had I never thought to try to get to know Seth any better? After all, I was going to be stuck with him for a while.

I bit my lip. “Do you think I’m self-centered?”

A surprised laugh escaped him. “Why are you asking?”

“Because you said I have a one track mind. And everything you listed had to do with me, like I don’t think about anything or anyone other than me.”

Seth let out a ragged sound and came to his feet. “Do you want me to be honest?”

“Yes.”

Several seconds passed as he stared down at me. “Sometimes, Alex, you have more pure in you than you do half.”

My mouth dropped open, shocked that he would say that about me.

He ran a hand over his head. “Look, I’ve got some stuff I need to do. I’ll see you later.”

I didn’t say anything as he climbed back out the window. I sat on the bed; the fun of finding something pretty to wear tomorrow had lost most of its appeal.

You have more pure in you than you do half.

It was a terrible thing to say to a half-blood, like I was a disgrace who couldn’t be trusted—a sellout, phony, and fake. That if it came down to choosing between a half

and a pure, I’d choose the pure.

I think something crawled into my hair and made a nest during the night, because nothing I did—no curling iron, no flat iron—seemed to make it do what I wanted. One side wanted to settle in waves, while the other looked like limp spaghetti.

Maybe I was being overly critical of myself, but I truly believed that the dark smudges under my eyes made me look like I’d entered the first stage of a zombie infection. I’d put on too much lip gloss, and then rubbed my lips raw getting it off and reapplying. The mountain of concealer I’d put on the disgustingly huge zit on my temple made it seem even bigger.

I finally tore myself away from the bathroom mirror when I made a grab for the lip gloss again. I settled on a pair of skinny jeans—not the designer kind Olivia wore, more like the Target brand. I chose a deep red sweater that dipped a little low in the neckline area, and these killer heels I’d stolen from Olivia’s closet.

But before I ran out to meet up with Aiden, I was struck dumb by the cold possibility that this could be some sort of field experience. It definitely wasn’t a date, so what the hell was I doing?

And if I would be training, then I’d look stupid in heels and my boobs would fall out. While that sounded pretty entertaining for the masses, somehow I doubted Aiden would appreciate it. So with no time to spare, I slipped on a pair of checkered flats and a more sensible top—a black, cable knit sweater.

I made it to the training room late, of course.

“Sorry,” I said as soon as I spotted Aiden’s dark head by the wall of things that stabbed, out of breath from running across the quad. “I… I had to do something…”

Every single excuse I’d practiced on the way over leaked out of my mouth when I got a really good look at Aiden. He wore a pair of worn jeans, the kind that looked so comfy you wanted to climb into them. He also had on this gray sweater, and gods, oh, gods, did it look good on him—like it’d been crafted to just fit the strong expanse of his shoulders, his chest, his arms, and so on.

I needed to get a grip.

I knew this, but I rarely saw Aiden in anything other than workout clothes or a uniform. He’d been wearing something different the night I’d sent those spirit boats into the sea, but I hadn’t been paying attention. My mind had been occupied.

It was sure as hell occupied in a totally different way now.

“It’s no problem,” he said. “You ready?”

I nodded in a jerky motion. Suddenly, I felt as adept as a cow in a china shop. “So what are we doing?” I asked, humiliated to hear my voice crack halfway through the question.

Either Aiden hadn’t noticed or he pretended otherwise. “It’s a surprise, Alex.” He started walking. “Are you coming, or what?”

I hurried behind him, my suspicions were confirmed when he led me out the back way. “We’re leaving the Covenant, aren’t we?”

He pushed the hair off his forehead, clearly trying not to smile. Aiden reached into his pocket and dangled keys in front of my face. “Yes.”

“Field experience! I knew it.” Silently, I thanked every god there was that I’d developed enough common sense to change shoes.

Aiden looked at me strangely. “I guess you can consider this field experience.”

I followed him to one of the black Hummers, feeling rather smug for figuring out his surprise. “So what are we going to do? Trail some daimons back to their hive?” I climbed into the passenger side and waited until he got behind the wheel. “I have to admit, I’m not really good at the whole tailing thing. I’m more—”

“I know.” He turned on the engine and eased the dinosaur-sized vehicle out of the fleet of cars. “You’re more of an action girl instead of a sit-and-be-quiet girl.”

I smiled in spite of the fact I doubted that was a compliment. “Well, my quiet-as-a-ninja skill could definitely use some practice.”

Another quick smile appeared. “But the other skills? Not so much. I really don’t think you need much more of the additional practices. You’d definitely have more time to yourself—time to rest.”

Now I really beamed... for about three seconds. No extra practices also meant no Aiden. My smiled faded as I stared at him. Suddenly, a giant clock appeared between us, quickly counting down to when there would be no more Aiden in my life.

A rather depressing thought.

“What?”

I faced straight ahead, swallowing down the lump in my throat. “Nothing.”

When we were stopped by the first set of Guards, I expected them to demand what Aiden was doing with a half-blood. But they let us pass without so much as asking for an explanation. The same thing happened at the second bridge, the one leading off of Deity Island and onto Bald Head Island.

“I can’t believe they just let you take me off the island without a single question,” I said as Aiden navigated the streets of the mortal island. “What happened to the rules?”

“I’m a pure-blood.”

“And I’m a half-blood—a half-blood who’s not supposed to step one foot off the Covenant, let alone Deity Island. Not that I’m complaining or anything. I’m just a little surprised.”

“They assume we’re doing field training.”

I glanced at him. “Aren’t we?”

Smiling, Aiden leaned over and turned on the radio. He settled on a rock station, and I stared at him. The early smugness started to flake away. He didn’t give any further explanation when I asked again, and finally, I decided to stop asking and we started talking about normal things. My classes, an episode of some TV show called Sanford and Son—never heard of it—but some guy apparently pretended to have a heart attack every episode, and Aiden found it hilarious. I wasn’t convinced of the hilarity.

We talked about how I’d almost beaten him in practice yesterday, and how he was considering buying a motorcycle. Which I was strongly behind, because really, what could make Aiden hotter than he already was?

A motorcycle.

“What kind of bike are you looking at?”

He got this dreamy, far-off look on his face—almost like the kind of look I got when I saw chocolate… or him. “A Hayabusa.” He passed a string of cars without missing a beat.

“A crotch rocket?” I reached for the radio, flipping the stations. Aiden had the same thought in mind, because his fingers brushed over mine. I jerked back, flushed.

Aiden cleared his throat. “It’s more than a crotch rocket. It’s, well, let me put it this way. If it came down between me saving a Hayabusa or the Minister, it would be a difficult decision.”

I busted out laughing. “Oh, my gods, I can’t believe you admitted that.”

He started to smile. “Well.”

“It’s awesome,” I gasped.

The smile grew, exposing the deep dimples in his cheeks. For a moment, I stopped laughing, stop smiling—hell, I stopped breathing. Then I saw the sign along the interstate for Asheboro, and I really did stop breathing for a couple of seconds.

We were thirty miles from Asheboro. “I know Asheboro,” I whispered.

“I know.”

I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn’t pull my gaze from the window. The trees lining the road formed an array of browns, reds, and yellows. The last time I’d been near Asheboro it had been summer, and the rolling hills had been green.

Seven years ago.

Tearing myself away from the window, I stared at Aiden. He focused on the road. “I know where we’re going.”

“You do?”

Excitement bubbled through me. So did disbelief. I bounced forward in my seat. “This isn’t field experience.”

Aiden’s lips twitched. “Consider it an experience in taking a day off—a day being normal.”

“You’re taking me to the zoo!” I screeched, bouncing again. The seatbelt choked me back.

He couldn’t keep the smile back. It covered his face, filled his eyes. “Yes, we’re going to the zoo.”

“But—but why?” I swiveled around in the seat, pressing my face against the window. The smile on myface was absurdly huge. “I don’t deserve this.”

Several moments passed. “Yes, you do. I think you deserve a break from everything. You’ve been working so hard, pulling double—triple—duty. And you really don’t complain—”

I shot around, facing him. “I complain. I complain all the time.”

Shaking his head, Aiden laughed. “I stand corrected.”

Shock kept pushing more stupid statements out of my mouth. “But I’ve been in so much trouble. I threw an apple at Lea’s face. I fought Guards. I cheated on my trig exam.”

Aiden looked at me, frowning. “You cheated on your math exam?”

“Uh, forget that. Anyway, wow, I’m just surprised.”

“Alex, you need to get away from it all every once in a while. You need a break—a real one. Just like I do,” he paused, concentrating on the road. “I figured we could get away together.”

I think my heart may have exploded, right then and there. The importance of what he was doing—the implication of it—didn’t pass me by unnoticed. This was huge—huge to us. Pures and halfs didn’t get away together for a relaxing day. We may coexist together, but we lived in different worlds. We had to. It was the rules, the way of our society. Aiden risked a lot by doing this. If by random chance we were spotted, he’d be in a lot of trouble. Maybe not as much as me, but hell, I didn’t care. I cared that he wanted to do this for me.

That had to mean something—something really wonderful.

Aiden glanced at me, his eyes shining—with what? I didn’t know, but in that instant, I could only think about what I felt for Aiden. Until then, I hadn’t been willing to admit that it was anything more than a crush or lust, because really, who didn’t lust after him? But what expanded in my chest, swelled my heart until I felt sure it would burst from my chest, wasn’t a silly crush. It wasn’t just a physical attraction.

It was love.

I loved Aiden—I loved a pure-blood.