Half-Blood

CHAPTER 16

AS AIDEN GUIDED ME TO HIS COUCH AND SAT ME

DOWN, he had this look about him. It was sort of dangerous and comforting at the same time. “Let me… get you a glass of water.”

My gaze crawled over his living room. It wasn’t much bigger than my room back in the dorm, and much like mine, it was devoid of anything decorative. There were no pictures, favorite paintings, or artwork cluttering the wal s.

Instead, books and comics lay scattered across the coffee table, lined the numerous bookshelves, and sat stacked on his smal computer desk. No television. He was a reader—

probably even read the comics in ancient Greek. For some reason, that made me smile.

Then I noticed the corner of the room, between the bookshelf and the desk. A guitar leaned against the wal , and several colorful guitar picks formed a line on one of the shelves—every color except black. I knew it—those hands were used for something graceful and artsy. I wondered if I could ever get him to play for me. I’d always had a thing for guys who played guitars.

“You play?” I tipped my chin toward the guitar.

“Occasional y.” He handed me a glass of water, and I downed it before he sat beside me. “Thirsty?”

“Mmm.” I wiped away a few drops off my lips. “Thanks.

What’s up with the picks?”

He glanced at the guitar. “I col ect them. A weird habit of mine, I guess.”

“You need a black one.”

“I guess I do.” Aiden took the glass and set it on the coffee table, frowning when he noticed the tremble in my hands. “Alex, what happened?”

My laugh hitched in my throat. “It’s going to sound crazy.” I stole a quick peek at him, and seeing the concern for me on his face was nearly my undoing.

“Alex… you can tel me. I won’t judge you.”

I kind of wondered what he’d thought happened.

His hand came out and wrapped around mine. “You trust me, right?”

I stared at our hands, those fingers. You are fated to be with him. Those words had a shattering effect on me. I pul ed my hands free and stood. “Yes. I did. I do. This is just so crazy.”

Aiden remained seated, but his eyes fol owed my erratic pacing. “Try starting at the beginning.”

I nodded, smoothing my hands over my dress. I started with the party. The look on Aiden’s face hardened when I told him what Cody had said and turned even more dangerous when I explained how Seth had kil ed someone’s boat. I told him everything, even the skeevy part with Seth, and how we were “two halves” or whatever.

Aiden was a remarkable listener. He didn’t ask any questions, but I knew he caught everything I threw down.

“So, it can’t be true, right? I mean, none of this is real.” I returned to prowling the length of his living room. “Lucian said it was why Mom left. The oracle told her that I was the second Apol yon and that she was afraid that the gods would… kil me, I guess.” My laugh sounded a little shril .

Aiden ran a hand through his hair. “I suspected something strange when Lucian wanted to bring you back to his house. And when you said you’d seen Seth’s markings… I can’t believe I’ve been around someone so rare this entire time. When do you turn eighteen, Alex?”

I slid my hands down my sides nervously. “March fourth.”

Less than a year from now.

Aiden rubbed his chin. “When you spoke to the oracle, did she say anything like this?”

“No, she only said I would kil the ones I love. Nothing about this, but she said so much crazy stuff.” I swal owed, hearing the blood rushing in my veins. “I mean, looking back, some of the things she said made sense, but I just didn’t understand.”

“How could you understand?” He came around the smal wooden table. “Now we know why your mother would take such a risk in leaving the safety of the island. She wanted to protect you. The story of Solaris is truly tragic, but she stood against the Council and the gods. That’s what sealed their fate. Not what was written about them in the books.”

“Why would Solaris do that? Didn’t she know what would happen?”

“Some say she fel in love with the First. When he stood against the Council, she defended him.”

“That’s so stupid.” I rol ed my eyes. “She basical y committed suicide. That isn’t love.”

Aiden gave the briefest of smiles. “People do the damndest things when they’re in love, Alex. Look at what your mother did. It’s a different kind of love, but she left everything because she loved you.”

“I never understood why she left.” My voice sounded young and fragile. “Now I know. She real y did leave to protect me.” The knowledge sat like curdled milk in my stomach. “You know, I kinda hated her for pul ing me away from here. I never understood why she would do something so risky and stupid, but she did it to protect me.”

“It must bring you some sort of peace to know why, doesn’t it?”

“Peace? I don’t know. Al I can think is if I wasn’t some kind of giant freak, she’d stil be alive.”

My words caused a flicker of pain to cross his face. “You can’t blame yourself for this. I wil not al ow it, Alex. You’ve come too far for this.”

I nodded, looking away. Aiden could believe whatever he wanted, but if I hadn’t been the second coming of the Apol yon then none of this would’ve happened. “I hate this. I hate not having control.”

“But you do have control, Alex. What you are gives you more control than anyone else.”

“How so? According to Lucian, I’m Seth’s own personal electrical outlet or something. Who knows? No one does.”

“You’re right. No one knows. When you turn eighteen—”

“I’l be a giant freak.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

I raised my eyebrows and looked at him. “Okay. When I turn

eighteen the gods are going to kil me in my sleep? That’s what Seth said.”

Anger turned his eyes dark gray. “The gods have to be aware of you. I know this doesn’t make you feel better, but if they wanted to… get rid of you, they would have already. So when you turn eighteen, anything wil be possible.”

“You’re acting like this is a good thing.”

“It could be, Alex. With two of you—”

“You sound like Lucian!” I moved away from him. “Next you’re going to be tel ing me I’m Seth’s super-special other half and I belong to him, as if I’m some sort of object instead of a person!”

“I’m not saying that.” He closed the distance, putting his hands on my shoulders. I shivered under the weight of his hands. “Do you remember what I said about fate?” I shook my head. I remembered how he’d found my shorts distracting. I had that wonderful subjective memory feature.

“Only you have control over your future, Alex. Only you have control over what you want.”

“You real y think so?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

I shook my head, doubtful that I could believe in anything at this point, and started to slip away, but Aiden’s hands tightened around my shoulders. An instant later, he gathered me close to him. I hesitated, because being this close to him was possibly the sweetest kind of torture.

I needed to break away… move as far away as possible, but his arms circled my shoulders. Slowly, careful y, I rested my head against his chest. My hands fel to the curve of his back and I inhaled deeply. His scent, a mixture of the sea and soap, fil ed me. The steady beat of his heart under my cheek warmed and comforted me. It was just a hug, but gods, it meant so much. It meant everything.

“I don’t want to be to this Apol yon thing.” I closed my eyes. “I don’t even like to be in the same country as Seth. I don’t want any of this.”

Aiden smoothed his hand down my back. “I know. It’s overwhelming and scary, but you’re not alone. We’l figure this out. Everything is going to be okay.”

I pressed closer. Time seemed to slow down, al owing me a few moments of the simple pleasure of being in his arms, but then his fingers sifted through my hair, finding their way to my scalp, and from there, he guided my head back.

“You don’t have anything to worry about, Alex. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Those forbidden words wrapped around my heart, forever etching into my soul. Our eyes met. Silence stretched between us as we stared at each other. His eyes shifted to fierce silver and his other arm slid to my waist, tightening. His fingers drifted from my hair and slowly traced the curve of my cheekbone. My pulsed thrummed through me as his intense stare fol owed his fingertips. He moved them down my face and then over my parted lips.

We shouldn’t be doing this. He was a pure-blood.

Everything could come to a crashing end for us if we were caught, but it didn’t matter. Right now, being with him seemed worth whatever consequence could come from it.

This was right, like it was meant to be. There was no logical explanation for it.

Then he leaned forward and rested his cheek against mine. Hot tingles spread through me as his lips moved against my ear. “You should tel me to stop.”

I didn’t say a word.

Aiden made a deep sound in his throat. His hand slid up my back, leaving a trail of fire in its wake, and his lips moved across my cheek, stopping to hover above mine. I forgot how to breathe, and most importantly, how to think.

He moved, ever so slightly, and his lips brushed across mine once, and then twice. It was such a soft, beautiful kiss, but when the kiss deepened, it wasn’t a shy one. This was one of dangerously pent-up need, a desire that’d been denied far too long. The kiss felt fierce, demanding, and soul burning.

Aiden pul ed me to him, pressing me right up against his body. And when he kissed me again, it left both of us breathless. Our hands tangled with each other’s bodies as we made it back to his bedroom. My hands found their way under his shirt and over the taut skin of his sides. We separated long enough for me to get the shirt off, and gods, each hard ripple was as breathtaking as I’d imagined.

Easing me down on his bed, his hands glided from my face to my arms. Next his hand traveled over my stomach, then my hip, and under the hem of my dress. Somehow, the top of my dress ended up at my waist, and his mouth moved over my body. I melted into him, his kisses, and his touch. My fingers dug into the tight skin of his arms, and my insides were in tight coils. Every place our bodies touched, sparks flew.

Aiden pul ed his lips away from mine, and I made a sound of protest, but then his mouth trailed across my throat and to the base of my neck. My skin burned and my thoughts were on fire. His name was barely a whisper, but I felt his lips curve against my skin.

His gaze and fingers fol owed some unseen path as he rol ed me on top. “You’re so beautiful. So brave, so ful of life.” He guided my head down and dropped a sweet kiss against the scar on my neck. “You have no idea, do you?

You have so much life in you, so much.”

I tipped my head and he kissed the tip of my nose.

“Real y?”

“Yes.” He brushed my hair back from my face. “Since the night I saw you in Georgia, you’ve been under my skin. You got inside me, became a part of me. I can’t shake it. It’s wrong.” He shifted us, rol ing me across the bed until he leaned above me. “Agapi mou, I can’t…” He brought his lips down to mine once more.

There were no more words. Our kisses hardened, his lips and hands took on a purpose that could only mean one thing. I’d never gone this far with a guy before, but I knew I wanted to be with him. There was no doubt, only certainty.

Everything in my world hinged on this moment.

Aiden lifted his head, staring down at me with that question in his eyes. “Do you trust me?”

I ran my fingers over his cheek, then his parted lips.

“Yes.”

He made a deep sound in his throat and caught my hand.

Bringing it to his lips, he pressed a kiss against each fingertip, then my palm and then my lips.

And that was when someone knocked on the door.

We both froze against one another. His eyes, stil cloudy with hunger, met mine. A second passed, and another. I thought he was going to ignore it. Gods, I wanted him to ignore it. Badly. Deeply. My life depended on it. But the knock came again, and this time a voice accompanied it.

“Aiden, open this door. Now.”

Leon.

Crap. That was al I could think. We were so busted. I didn’t know what to do. I just lay there, wide-eyed and naked. Total y freaking naked.

Never taking his eyes off me, Aiden slowly lifted himself and stood. Only when he bent to retrieve the shirt I’d tossed aside did he break eye contact. He left the bedroom without a sound and closed the door behind him.

I stayed there for a few moments, caught in disbelief. The mood was completely ruined—obviously, and I was stil naked. Anyone could bust in here, and here I was, sprawled across the bed. His bed…

Freaked out more than I ever could’ve imagined, I jumped up and grabbed my dress. Throwing it on, I looked for a place to hide, but Leon’s words froze me.

“I didn’t mean to wake you, but I figured you’d want to know this immediately. They’ve found Kain. He’s alive.”

I listened, my stomach in my throat, as Aiden managed to convince Leon that he would meet him in the infirmary while I absolutely re-fused to look at his bed. My head came up as Aiden opened the door. “I heard.”

Aiden nodded, his gray eyes fil ed with inner conflict. “I’l let you know what he says.”

I stepped forward. “I want to come. I have to hear what he says.”

“Alex, it’s past your curfew, and how would you know to be in the infirmary?”

Dammit. I hated it when he was right. “But I can sneak in there. The rooms are just separated with partition wal s. I could stay behind them—”

“Alex.” Loverboy was gone. Shoot. “You need to go back to your dorm. Now. I promise I’l tel you everything he says, okay?”

Seeing no way to win this argument, I nodded. We waited a couple of more minutes before we left his house.

At the door, Aiden paused, his fingers curling at his side.

My brow furrowed. “What?”

Aiden’s gaze settled on me, and the air left my lungs.

Passion slammed into me, hard and hot. The look on his face—in his eyes—sent shivers through me. Without saying a word, he cupped my face and brought his lips to mine.

The kiss took whatever air I had left in me. It was heady and deep, heart-stopping. I never wanted it to end, but it did.

Aiden pul ed back, his fingers slowly trailing away from my cheeks.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” His voice sounded thick. Then he disappeared into the darkness outside of his cottage.

I stumbled back to my dorm on rubbery knees, replaying what’d happened between us. Those kisses, his touch, and the way he’d looked at me were forever branded in my mind. Two seconds from losing my virginity.

Two freaking seconds.

But that last kiss—there was something in it, something that fil ed me with nervousness and heartache. Once inside my room, I paced back and forth. With learning that I’d become a second Apol yon on my birthday, what’d happened between Aiden and me, and Kain’s unexpected reappearance, I was wired. I took a shower. I even straightened my room, but nothing could wear me out. Right now, Aiden and the other Sentinels were questioning Kain

—getting the answers I needed. Was Mom a kil er?

Hours went by as I waited for Aiden to come by with news, but he never did. I fel into a restless sleep and woke way too early. I had about an hour before training would begin, and there was no way I could wait any longer. The plan formed in my mind. I threw on my gym clothes and hurried outside.

The sun had just crested the horizon, but the humidity made the air murky. I avoided the Guards on patrol, skirting the sides of the buildings as I made my way to the infirmary.

Cool air greeted me inside the narrow building. I moved through corridors lined with smal er offices and a couple of larger rooms equipped to handle medical emergencies.

The pure-blood doctors lived on the main island and only staffed the infirmary during the school year. This early on a summer morning, only a few nurses would be in the building.

I already had excuses ready if I ran into one of those nurses. I had kil er cramps. I’d broken my toe. I’d even say I needed a pregnancy test if it meant I could get to where they had Kain, but I didn’t need any of my excuses. The medical compound was tomb-silent as I prowled down the dimly lit hal way. After checking several of the smal er rooms, I stumbled into a ward used to accommodate several patients at once. Instinct led me past the empty gurneys and beyond the pea green curtain.

I froze, the papery thin fabric fluttering behind me.

Kain sat in the middle of the bed, dressed in loose jogging pants and nothing more. Dul locks of hair hid most of his downturned face, but his chest… . Swal owing down the sudden rise of bile, I could only stare.

His chest, incredibly pale, was covered with crescent-shaped tags and thin slices that looked like they’d been made by one of our Covenant-issued daggers. There wasn’t much space on him that wasn’t marked.

He lifted his head. His blue eyes stood out against a corpselike pal or. I inched closer, feeling something in my chest tighten. He looked so bad, and when he smiled at me, he looked worse. His skin was so washed-out that his lips looked blood red. A tiny bit of guilt flashed inside me.

Maybe I could’ve waited to question him, but in typical Alex fashion, I jumped in.

“Kain? Are you okay?”

“I… think so.”

“I wanted… to ask you some questions if… it’s okay with you?”

“You want to ask about your mother?” He looked down at his hands.

Relief crashed through me. I wouldn’t have to explain myself. I stepped closer. “Yes.”

He was quiet as he continued staring down at his hands.

He was holding something, but I couldn’t see what it was. “I told the others I didn’t remember anything.”

I wanted to sit down and cry. Kain had been my only hope. “You don’t?”

“That’s what I told them.”

An odd sound came from behind the green curtain on the other side of Kain’s bed, like cloth dragging across a smooth floor. My brows knitted as I looked past him.

“Is… is someone back there?”

The only answer was a low gurgling. Dread came out of nowhere, inching down my spine, demanding that I flee this room now. I pushed past the bed and threw back the curtain. My lips parted in silent scream.

Three pure-blood nurses lay sprawled on the bloody floor. One stil clung to life. An angry red line ripped across her throat as she pul ed herself across the smal distance. I reached for her, but with one last bubble of a noise, she was gone. Rooted to the spot, I couldn’t think or breathe.

Throats slashed. Al dead.

“Lexie.”

No one but Mom cal ed me that—no one. I turned around, my hand fluttering to my mouth. Kain remained on the opposite side of the bed, staring down into his hands.

“I think the nickname Lexie is far better than Alex, but what do I know?” He laughed, and it sounded cold, humorless. Dead. “I didn’t know anything until now.”

I bolted.

Kain moved surprisingly fast for someone who’d been tortured for weeks. He was in front of me before I made it to the door, Covenant dagger in hand.

My eyes froze on the dagger. “Why?”

“Why?” His voice mimicked mine. “Don’t you get it? No.

Of course you don’t. I didn’t get it either. They tried it on the Guards first, but they drained them too fast. They died.”

Something was so, so wrong with him. The torture could have done it; al those tags could’ve driven him crazy. But it didn’t real y matter why he’d gone insane, because he was most definitely a lunatic—and I was cornered.

“By the time they got to be me, they’d learned from their mistakes. Gotta drain our kind slowly.” He glanced down at the dagger. “But we aren’t like them. We don’t change like them.”

I backed up, swal owing down the fear. My training vanished. I knew how to deal with a daimon, but a friend driven crazy was a different story.

“I was hungry, so hungry. There’s nothing like it. I had to.”

Horrifying realization set in. I took another step back just as he launched himself at me. He was so fast, faster than he’d ever been. Before I could even ful y register the swing, his fist connected with my face. I flew back, crashing into one of those little tables. It happened so quickly I couldn’t break my fal . I landed in a messy heap, dazed and tasting blood in my mouth.

Kain was on me immediately, yanking me to my feet and flinging me across the room. I hit the edge of the bed hard, and then the floor. Scrambling to my feet, I ignored the pain and faced the one thing that could not be.

Beyond reason or explanation, I had no doubt that Kain was no longer a half-blood. Only one thing moved as quickly as he did. Impossible as it was, he was a daimon.