Apprehension blossomed, quickly turning my insides cold. What?
You wouldnt. He ran his hand down the side of his face. Wait. What am I saying? You would do something so incredibly stupid.
I leaned against the desk. Uh gee, thanks.
Seth shot forward, grasping my shoulders. I flinched, unable to suppress the natural response. Please tell me Im wrong. Tell me that you are not messing around with a godsdamned pure-blood. Damn it, Alex. Him? My gods, it explains so much.
Anything and everything in my head sort of emptied out. My brain had this wonderful ability of doing so when I really needed to think fast.
He laughed harshly. Now I know why he hates me, at least. Why hes always on you. I just figured it was in the figurative sense and not literal. What the hell are you thinking? What is he thinking? Youre going to throw everything away! Your futuremy futureand for what? To get more pure in you?
Shrugging his hands off my shoulders for the umpteenth time, I snapped out of it. You dont have a clue what youre talking about! Im not messing around with Aiden.
Dont you dare lie to me about something like this! He shoved his finger in my face. I had the urge to break it. You cant do this, Alex. I will not allow this to continue. Seth started for the door.
No. No! Seth, stop! Please. This time I grabbed him, pulling him back from the door. Please listen to me. Its not what you think!
His eyes practically glowed he was so angry. Its not about what I think . Its what I felt today!
Please. Just listen to me for a second. My fingers dug into his arms. You cant say anything. Theyll
Im not going to say anything to the Council, you little idiot. They would send
you into servitude in a heartbeat. He pushed me off, swearing under his breath. You know, I actually thought he might be different from the other pures, but he sure as hell doesnt act any different. Screw a half; enslave a half. Thats what they say, Alex.
What are you doing? You cant
Im going to have a little talk with Aiden.
I flew in front of him, plastering myself to the door. You are so not going to talk to him! Youre going to try to fight him.
Quite possibly. Now get out of my way.
No.
Get out of the way, Alex, he snarled. Edges of the Apollyon marks started creasing his otherwise flawless skin.
Okay, I breathed, pressing against the door. Ill tell you the truth. All rightjust please dont do anything stupid.
I dont think you should be lecturing me on not doing anything stupid.
I counted to ten. Now was not the time for me to lose my patience. Nothing happened between Aiden and me. Okay? I do care about him, all right? I know its wrong. I closed my eyes, wishing the words didnt hurt as much as they did. I know its stupid, but nothing is going on between us.
What I felt from you today wasnt nothing , Alex. Youre still lying to me.
Okay. We kissed, butstop! I pushed Seth back as he tried to pry me away from the door. Listen to me. We did kiss, but its nothing. It was stupida mistake. Its nothing to get all bent out of shape over. Okay?
He stared down at me, lips drawn tightly. Then he closed his eyes. Terse silence stretched out between us. You you love him, dont you?
I stared at him, my heart thumping loudly. No. No, of course I dont.
Seth nodded, running a hand over his face again. Alex Alex, youre insane.
Obviously, he didnt believe me. I needed to make Seth understand that nothing needed to be done about this. There was no way he could go after Aiden. Gods only knew what Seth would do, or what Aiden would do. I could see them now, brawling on the beach. One thing would lead to another, and the Council would find out. The pures would dope me up to suppress the Apollyon in me and Id be scrubbing floors for the rest of my life. Aiden would never forgive himself. I couldnt let that happen. And then there was the idiot standing in front of me. If Seth attacked a pure, that would be it. The Council would move against Seth, and even though I wanted to strangle him, I didnt want well, I didnt want anything to happen to him.
Call it self-preservation.
Nothings going on, I said. Just promise me you wont do anything.
Seth stared at me so long the silence that enveloped us started to get to me. Then the tattoo started to sink back into his skin and he looked surprisingly calm.
Youre not going to do anything, right?
No. Seth reached for me and pried my hand off the doorknob. Im not going to say anything.
Relief, sweet and beautiful, flooded through me. I let out my breath. Thank you.
Youre not going to ask why?
No. I shook my head. Im not going to look a gifted horse in the mouth.
Do you even know what that means?
Not really, I said, but it sounds about right.
Seth arched a brow, and then tugged me away from the door. Come on, lets go.
I spared our joined hands a brief glance. Where are we going?
Were going to do some training, since you apparently didnt do any of that today.
She poofed into nothing? Damn, thats crazy.
I stared at Caleb, wishing he would poof into nothing. What is everyones big deal with the terminology? I swear to the gods, if one more person questions that, Im going to lose it.