Half-Blood

CHAPTER 14

I PRETENDED NOTHING WAS WRONG THE NEXT

DAY IN practice. It worked wel until we took a break and Aiden asked how I was doing.

I kept my voice even. “I’m fine.”

Then I beat the crap out of the dummy.

Toward the end of practice, a surge of energy shimmied down my back right before Seth showed up. He stood by the door, watching quietly. I had the sinking suspicion he was there for me. Groaning, I took my time rol ing up the mats.

Aiden nodded in Seth’s direction. “Is everything okay?”

“Who knows?” I scowled.

Aiden straightened, coming to his ful height. “Has he been bothering you?”

A huge part of me wanted to say yes, but in reality, Seth hadn’t real y bothered me. And if he had, what could Aiden do about it? Aiden was a badass Sentinel warrior, but Seth was the Apol yon. Where Aiden control ed fire— pretty awesome—and he could fight, Seth control ed al four elements— pretty scary—and could wipe the floor with Aiden’s face.

Aiden stared at Seth in a way that said he had no problem confronting Seth on my behalf. As stupid as it seemed, I felt a smile tug my lips.

So wrong.

Forcing the smile off my face, I skirted around Aiden. “I’l see you later, okay?”

He nodded, eyes stil trained on Seth. Okay then.

Grabbing my bottle of water off the floor, I trudged across the floor. I nodded at Seth as I passed him, half-hoping he was there to partake in the epic stare down with Aiden and nothing else, but he turned and immediately fel in step with me.

Seth’s smile looked self-satisfied. “Your trainer does not like me.”

“He’s not my trainer. He’s a Sentinel.” I kept walking.

“And I doubt he’s even concerned with you.”

Seth chuckled. “Your trainer, who is also a Sentinel, barely spoke to me while we were in Lake Lure. And when he did, I would say it was quite coldly. It hurt my feelings.”

I doubted that. “He probably wasn’t up to making friends considering what was going on.”

“Considering your mother was a part of the attack party?”

He raised a casual eyebrow. “He seemed abnormal y affected when we reviewed the recordings and saw her.”

His words were a wel -placed smack in the face.

Stopping, I faced him. “Seth, what do you want?”

He tipped his head back. A dark cloud rol ed in overhead, casting a gray gloom over the quad. It was going to storm. “I wanted to see how you were doing. Is that so wrong?”

I thought about that. “Yes. You don’t know me. Why would you care?”

He looked down, meeting my eyes. “Okay. I don’t real y care. But you’re the reason I’m stuck in this hil bil y rathole, babysitting a self-righteous prick.”

My eyes widened. The lilt of his voice made those words sound classy. It was almost funny. “You know, I real y don’t care about that right now.” I stopped as several halfs passed us. They looked at us—looked at me. I did my best to ignore their stares.

“Of course you don’t. Your mother murdered a classmate’s family. My mind would be elsewhere, too.”

“Gods!” I gaped. “Real y, that was great.” I walked off ahead.

Seth fol owed. “That wasn’t… very nice of me. I’ve been told I’m painful y blunt. Perhaps I should work on that.”

“Yeah, perhaps you should go do it right now.” I tossed the words over my shoulder.

Undaunted, he caught up with me. “I asked Lucian, you know. I asked why I was here.”

I gritted my teeth and kept walking. The ominous looking clouds continued to rol in. The sky looked like it was going to split open any moment.

“Do you know how he responded? He asked what I thought about you.”

I was only half curious to hear his response.

“He was eager to hear what I had to say.” Lightning shot across the sky, striking off the coast. A fraction of a second later, thunder silenced the conversation. I picked up my pace as the girls’ dorm came into view. “Don’t you want to know?”

“No.”

Another flash of lightning lit the sky. This time it struck inland, somewhere beyond the marshes. It was close, too close. “You lie.”

I spun around. My smartass response died before it ful y took form. Inky marks broke the golden tone of his skin on every piece of exposed flesh. They twisted into designs, held for a few seconds, and then moved into another form.

What were they?

I tore my eyes from his arms, but the tattoos stretched across his otherwise flawless cheek, etching toward the corners of his eyes. An urge to touch them slammed into me.

“You see them again, don’t you?”

There was no point in lying. “Yeah.”

Anger and confusion flared deep in his eyes. Lightning shrieked across the sky. “That’s impossible.”

Thunder sounded so loud I flinched. It clicked into place.

“The storm… you’re doing it.”

“It happens when I get moody. I’m pretty irritable right now.” Seth took a step forward, towering over me. “I wouldn’t be so temperamental if I knew what was going on.

I need to know how you can see the marks of the Apol yon.”

I forced myself to meet his eyes. That was a mistake—a huge, stupid mistake.

Power surged, raw and intense. I felt it crawl over my skin and slither down my spine.

And at once, my head emptied of everything except the need to find the source of the crazy power. I need to get away as fast as possible. Instead, in sort of a daze, I stepped forward. It had to be what he was. The energy coursing through him had this kind of pul ing effect, one that gripped pures, halfs… even daimons.

I was feeling those effects now. The wildness that lingered in me reared its head and urged me forward. It urged me to touch him, because I was pretty sure whatever was happening would somehow be exposed the moment our skin touched.

Seth didn’t move as I gazed up at him. He looked as if he was working to put together a puzzle and I was one of the pieces. The lazy smile faded and his lips parted. He inhaled sharply and reached out with one hand.

It took a lot, but I ducked away. Seth didn’t fol ow. As soon as I stepped inside the dorm, the sky ripped open, and another flash of blinding light cut across the dark sky.

Somewhere, not too far away, it struck once again.

Somewhere, not too far away, it struck once again.

***

Later that night, I confided in Caleb as we stood together in the back of the packed rec room. The rain had driven everyone inside and our privacy wasn’t guaranteed for long.

“Do you remember what Grandma Piperi said?”

His brows rose. “Not real y. She said a lot of crazy stuff.

Why?”

I played with my hair, twirling it around my finger.

“Sometimes I think she isn’t so crazy.”

“Wait. What? You’re the person who said she was crazy.”

“Wel , that was before my mom turned al dark side and started kil ing people.”

Caleb glanced around the room. “Alex.”

No one was listening, although people looked over every once in a while and whispered. “It’s true. What did Piperi say? ‘You’l kil the ones you love?’ I thought it sounded crazy, but that was before I knew Mom was a daimon.

We’re training to kil daimons. Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?”

“Look. Alex, there is no way you’d ever be put in that situation.”

“She’s about four hours from here. Why do you think she ended up in North Carolina?”

“I don’t know, but the Sentinels wil get her before you… ”

He trailed off at the look on my face. “You won’t have to deal with it. You’re in the Covenant for the next year, Alex.”

In other words, a Sentinel would kil her before I graduated, eliminating the chance of our paths ever crossing. I real y didn’t know what to think about that.

“Alex, are you doing okay?” He tipped his head, watching me closely. “I mean… real y doing okay?”

I shrugged off his concern. “Aiden said they couldn’t be sure Mom was actual y a part of the attack. She was on the camera, but… ”

“Alex.” Understanding and sadness grew on his face.

“She’s a daimon, Alex. I know you want to think she’s not. I understand that, but don’t forget what she’s become.”

“I haven’t!” Several kids by the pool table looked up. I lowered my voice. “Look. Al I’m saying is there could be a chance, a smal chance she is—”

“That she’s what? Not a daimon?” He grabbed my arm, pul ing me around one of the arcade games. “Alex, she was with the group of daimons who kil ed Lea’s family.”

I pul ed my arm free. “Caleb, she came to North Carolina.

Why else would she come here if she didn’t remember me, want to see me?”

“She could want to kil you, Alex. That’s for starters. She’s already kil ed.”

“You don’t know! No one does.”

His chin came up. “What if she did?”

My anger faded into determination. “Then I’l find her and kil her myself. But I know Mom. She would fight what she has become.”

Caleb ran a hand through his hair and clasped the back of his neck. “Alex, I think you… oh.”

I frowned. “You think what?”

His expression took on the awed look he got whenever he saw Seth.

Twisting around confirmed my suspicions. Seth stalked through the doors, immediately surrounded by his groupies.

“You know, you keep getting that look on your face whenever he comes around, people are gonna start to talk.”

“Whatever.”

I changed the subject. “By the way, what’s up between you and Olivia? Did you talk to her about Myrtle?”

“No, I didn’t. Nothing’s up between me and her.” Caleb faced me, his expression curious now. “What’s up with you and Seth? Wait, let me rephrase that: What’s up with you when it comes to Seth?”

I rol ed my eyes. “I just don’t… like him. And don’t change the subject.”

He made a face. “How can you not like him? He’s the Apol yon. As half-bloods, we’re obligated to like him. He’s the only one who can control the elements.”

“Whatever.”

“Alex. Look at him.” He tried to turn me around, but I held my ground. “Oh, wait. He’s looking over here.”

I pushed him back further. “He’s not coming over here, is he?”

He grinned. “Yes— No. Wait. Elena cut him off. “

“Oh, thank the gods.”

Caleb’s brows furrowed. “What’s your deal?”

“He’s weird and… ”

He leaned closer. “And what? Come on. Tel me. You have to tel me. I’m your best friend. Tel me why you hate him.” His eyes narrowed. “Is it because you’re undeniably attracted to him?”

I giggled. “Gods. No. You’l think the real reason is even crazier.”

“Try me.”

So I told him about Seth’s suspicions considering why he’d been ordered here and about the tattoos being real, but I left out that part about me wanting to touch him. That was too embarrassing for me to even speak out loud. He looked utterly mystified… and excited.

He practical y bounced. “The tattoos are real? Only you can see them?”

“Apparently.” I sighed, glancing over my shoulder. Elena stood awful close to Seth. “I have no idea what it al means, but Seth isn’t too happy about it. The storm earlier? The rain? That was him.”

“What? I’ve heard of some of the pures being able to control the weather, but I’ve never seen it.” He sneaked a glimpse at him. “Wow. That’s amazing.”

“Would you get the awestruck look off your face for two seconds? It’s creeping me out.”

He chucked me in the arm. “Okay. I need to focus.” It took visible effort for him not to look at Seth. It wasn’t because Caleb was attracted to him. Honestly, Seth was just chock-ful of aether. None of us could help it. “Why would Lucian’s order have something to do with you?”

“Good question.” Then it hit me. “Maybe Lucian fears I’m a risk. You know, because of Mom? Maybe he brought Seth here just in case I’d do something.”

“Do what? Let her in here? Hold a welcoming party for your mom?” Disbelief fil ed his voice. “You wouldn’t do that, and I don’t even think Lucian would consider that.”

I nodded, but my new idea carried a lot of weight. It would explain why Lucian didn’t want me returning to the Covenant. At his house, I’d be under constant surveil ance, but here I pretty much roamed around freely. The only flaw in that idea: did Lucian real y think I’d do something that terrible?

“It’s probably nothing.” Caleb chewed on his lower lip. “I mean, what could it be? It can’t mean anything.”

“It has to mean something. I have to figure it out.”

Caleb stared at me. “Do you think… you’re focusing on this because of… everything that’s happened?”

Wel , of course I was, but that wasn’t the point. “No.”

“Maybe stress is making you read more into it.”

“I’m not reading into anything,” I snapped. He didn’t look like he agreed. Exasperated with him and the conversation, I looked over the rec room. Elena stil had Seth cornered, but that wasn’t what drew my attention. Jackson was in the room.

He leaned against one of the pool tables beside Cody and another male half. His swarthy complexion seemed unusual y pale and he looked like he hadn’t slept recently. I couldn’t blame him. While I didn’t know the current status of his relationship with Lea, he had to be worried about her, upset over what’d happened to her parents.

My gaze shifted to Cody. For a second, our eyes met from across the room. I didn’t expect a smile or anything, but his icy stare and disgusted look stil cut through me.

Confused, I watched as he bent down and said something to Jackson.

I took a shuddering breath. “I think they’re talking about me.”

“Who?” Caleb turned. “Oh. Jackson and Cody? You’re just being paranoid.”

“Do you think they… know?”

“About your mom?” He shook his head. “They know she’s a daimon, but I don’t think they know she was at Lake Lure.”

“Aiden said people would find out.” My voice tightened.

Caleb seemed to grow tal er as he picked up on my fear.

“No one wil blame you. No one wil hold it against you. They can’t, because it has nothing to do with you.”

I nodded, wanting to believe him. “Sure. I guess you’re right.”

***

Over the next week, the whispers increased. People stared. People talked. At first, no one had the guts to say anything to me directly, but the pures… wel , they knew I couldn’t touch them.

On the way back to the training rooms after lunch, I passed Cody in the courtyard. I kept my head down and barreled past him, but I heard his words anyway. “You shouldn’t be here.”

My head jerked up, but he was already halfway down the walkway. I headed back to training, his words replaying over and over again. I couldn’t have misheard them.

Aiden gave me a puzzled look when I entered the training room. As training neared the end, I final y said something.

“Do you think there’s a chance… my mom didn’t attack those people?”

He dropped the mat and faced me. “If she didn’t then it would change what we know about daimons, wouldn’t it?”

I nodded solemnly. Daimons needed to drain aether to survive. Mom would be no exception. “But they could…

drain without kil ing, right?”

“They could, but daimons rarely see the point in not kil ing. Even turning a pure requires an amount of restraint most daimons don’t have.”

None of the pures had been turned in Lake Lure. The attacking daimons had shown no restraint.

“Alex?”

I looked up, not surprised to see that he was standing in front of me. Concern lined his face. I forced a smile. “Part of me hopes that she’s stil in there somehow. That she isn’t al evil, and she’s stil Mom.”

“I know.” His voice was soft.

“That part in me, it’s so lame, because I know—I really know she’s bad and she needs to be stopped.”

Aiden stepped forward, his eyes were so bright and so warm. I wanted to forget about everything and fal into those eyes. Careful y, he reached out and with those fingers, he tucked back the strand of hair that always ended up in my face. I shivered, unable to help it.

“There is nothing wrong with hope, Alex.”

“But?”

“But you have to know when to let hope go.” He brought the tips of his fingers across my cheek. His hand dropped and he stepped back, the connection broken. “Do you remember why you said you needed to be in the Covenant?”

The question knocked me off guard. “Yeah… I needed to fight daimons. I have to.”

Aiden nodded. “And do you stil need that? Even after knowing that your mother is one of them?”

I thought about that for a moment. “Yes. They’re stil out there, kil ing. They… have to be stopped. I stil need that even though Mom’s one of them.”

A smal smile played over his lips. “Then there is hope.”

“Hope for what?”

He brushed past me, stopping only long enough to give me a knowing look. “Hope for you.”

I watched him leave, confused by his words. Hope for me? Hope that the kids would forget my mother was a daimon who quite possibly had slaughtered a classmate’s family?

Later that night, I felt the stares in the common lounge.

Eventual y, word did reach me. Some of them—pures and halfs—didn’t think I could be trusted. Not with Mom so close and so deadly. It was stupid.

But it got worse. Now people questioned why we’d left three years ago, and why I’d never returned to the Covenant during that time. Rumors circulated. My favorite? Mom had become a daimon long before that terrible night in Miami.

And some people believed it.

Days passed, and only a few halfs spoke to me. None of the pures did. Seth wasn’t helping matters either, and damn, he made it impossible to steer clear of him. He was everywhere: in the courtyard after practice, eating dinner with Caleb and Luke. He even showed up randomly during practice, always watching quietly. It was annoying and creepy.

A certain look would cross Aiden’s face whenever Seth stopped by. I liked to tel myself it was a mixture of dislike and protectiveness. Though today we made it through practice without Seth showing up, so I didn’t get to further examine the look. What a shame. I watched as Aiden grabbed one of the dummies we’d been practicing with and dragged it toward the wal . The thing weighed a ton, but he moved it around like it weighed nothing.

“Need any help?” I offered anyway.

He shook his head and placed it against the wal . “Come over here.”

“What’s up?”

“You see this?” He pointed at the dummy’s chest. There were several indentations in the flesh-like material. When I nodded, he ran his fingertips over them. “These are from your jabs today.” His voice fil ed with pride, and it was better than any look he could give Seth. “That is how strong your hits have become. Remarkable.”

I beamed. “Wow. I have the fingers of death.”

He chuckled softly. “And this is from your kicks.” He brushed his hands over the dummy’s hip. Part of the material had been knocked in. And part of me was envious of the dummy. I wanted his fingers to touch me like that.

“There are students your age who’ve gone through years of training and can’t inflict that kind of damage.”

“I’m the kung fu master. So what do you say? Am I ready to play with the grownup toys?”

Aiden glanced over at the wal , the one I badly wanted to touch. “Possibly.”

The idea of training with the knives made me want to do a happy dance, but it also reminded me of what the knives were used for. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

He only looked a bit weary. “Yes.”

“If… your parents had been turned, what would you have done?”

Aiden paused before he answered. “I would’ve hunted them down. Alex, they wouldn’t have wanted that kind of life, to lose al their morals and ideals—to kil . They wouldn’t have wanted that.”

I swal owed, my eyes stil trained on the wal . “But they…

were your parents.”

“They were my parents, but they wouldn’t have been once they’d turned.” Aiden stepped beside me, and I felt his eyes on me. “At some point we have to let go of the attachment.

If it’s not your… mother, it could be any other person you know or love. If that day comes, you’d have to face that they’re not the same person they used to be.”

I nodded absently. Aiden was technical y right, but in the end, his parents hadn’t been turned. They’d been kil ed, so he’d never real y faced something like this.

He steered me away from the wal at that point. “You’re stronger than you realize, Alex. Being a Sentinel is a way of life for you, not just a better option like it is for some of the others.”

Once again, his words brought a wealth of warmth. “How do you know I’m so strong? I could be rocking back and forth in my room for al you know.”

He gave me a weird look, but shook his head. “No.

You’re always… so alive, even when you’re going through something that would darken the souls of most.” He stopped there, becoming aware of what he’d said. The hol ows of his cheeks flushed. “Anyway, you’re incredibly determined—to the point of stubbornness. You wouldn’t stop until you succeeded. Alex, you know what’s right and what’s not. I’m not worried about you not being strong. I’m worried about you being too strong.”

My heart sort of swel ed. He… cared for me, and he’d hesitated before answering the question about his parents.

Somehow, it made me feel better about my own conflicted emotions, and he did bring up a valid point. No matter who I faced out there, if they were daimons, it was my duty to kil them. It was why I was training now. In a way, I was actual y training to kil her.

I took a deep breath. “You know… I hate when you’re right.”

He laughed as I made a face at him. “But you’ve been right when you don’t even realize it.”

“Huh?”

“When you said I didn’t know how to have fun—the day of the solstice? You were right. After my parents were kil ed, I had to grow up real fast. Leon says my personality got left behind somewhere.” He paused, chuckling softly. “I guess he was right, too.”

“How would Leon know? He’s like talking to a statue of Apol o. Anyway, you’re funny—when you want to be. And nice, and smart, real y smart. You have the best personality I’ve—”

“Okay.” Laughing, he held up his hands. “I get it, and I do have fun. Training you is fun and definitely not boring.”

I murmured something incoherent, because my chest, wel , it was doing that fluttery thing again. Practice was over, and even though I wanted to stay with him, there were no other reasons for me to hang out. I headed for the doors.

“Alex?”

My stomach tightened. “Yeah?”

He stood a few feet away. “I think it would be a good idea… if you don’t wear that to practice again.”

Oh. I’d forgotten what I was wearing. It was a pair of questionable shorts Caleb had picked up for me. I hadn’t even thought he’d noticed. Looking at Aiden now, I realized he had noticed. I fixed an overly inno-cent look on my face.

“Do you find these shorts distracting?”

Aiden gave me one of his rare smiles. Every cel in my body warmed. I even forgot about the terrible thing I was training for. His smile had that kind of impact.

“It’s not the shorts I find distracting.” He brushed past me, stopping at the door. “In our next practice I may let you train with the daggers if we have time.”

My distracting shorts and everything else were forgotten for the time being. “No way. You’re being serious?”

He tried to look serious, but his grin looked a bit mischievous. “I think it wouldn’t hurt, but only for a little bit. I think it wil help… you get a feel on how to handle them.”

I glanced back at the wal of weapons. I wasn’t even al owed to touch them, and now he was going to let me actual y practice with them. It was like graduating kindergarten. Hel , it was like Christmas Eve.

Without thinking, I closed the distance between us and hugged him. Aiden immediately stiffened, obviously caught off guard. It was just a simple hug, but the tension racked up several degrees. I suddenly wondered what it would feel like if I rested my head against his chest like I had when he’d come back from Lake Lure. Or if his arms came around me and he held me, but not out of comfort. Or if I kissed him again like I had that night… would he kiss me back?

“You’re far too pretty to be dressed like that.” His breath stirred my hair. “And you’re entirely too excited to be working with knives.”

I flushed, stepping back. What? Aiden thought I was pretty? It took me several moments to work past that. “I’m bloodthirsty. What can I say?”

Aiden’s eyes dropped, and I decided I needed to go to the store and find as many pairs of miniscule shorts as I could get my hands on.