Crap.
She was right behind me now and I was only a step away from my classroom. I wasnt going to make it. Alex, she said. We need to talk.
Im not doing this right now. Because really, being told that it was my fault Caleb was dead was not on the top of my list of things to hear today.
Olivia grabbed my arm. Alex, I need to talk to you. I know youre upset, but youre not the only one whos allowed to miss Caleb. I was his girlfriend
I stopped thinking. Whirling around, I dropped my bag in the middle of hall and caught her by the throat. In a second, I had her against the wall and on the tips of her toes. Eyes wide, she grabbed my arm and tried to push me off.
I squeezed just a little bit.
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Lea, her arm no longer in a brace. The daimon half thatd broken her arm had also killed Caleb. Lea stepped forward like she wanted to intervene.
Look, I get it, I whispered hoarsely. You loved Caleb. Guess what? So did I. And I miss him, too. If I could go back in time and change that night, I would. But I cant. So please just leave me
An arm the size of my waist shot out from nowhere and tossed me back a good five feet. Olivia slumped against the wall, rubbing her throat.
I whirled around and groaned.
Leon, the King of Impeccable Timing, glared at me. You are in need of a professional babysitter.
I opened my mouth, but then I closed it. Considering some of the things Leon had interrupted in the past, he had no idea how true his statement was. But then I realized something more important. If Leon was back, then my uncle and Aiden were also back.
You, Leon gestured at Olivia, get to class. He turned his attention back to me. You are coming with me.
Biting my tongue, I grabbed my bag off the floor and
that, I whispered.
His lips tipped up on one side. Sometimes I just dont get you.
I dont get myself half of the time. I lowered my eyes. Youve already done too much. What you did in the Catskills? I swallowed the lump in my throat. Gods, I never thanked you for it.
Dont
Dont say its not worth thanking you for. My gaze flicked up, locking with his. You saved my life, Aiden, at the risk of your own. So, thank you.
He looked away, his eyes focusing on a spot over my head. I told you Id never let anything happen to you. His gaze came back to me and amusement sparkled in those silver pools. It seems more like a full-time job, though.
My lips quirked. Ive really been trying, you know. Today was the first day I even did anything remotely stupid. I left out the part where Id been sequestered in my room with a nasty head cold.
What did you do?
You really dont want to know.
He laughed again. I figured Seth would be keeping you out of trouble.
Realizing I hadnt even thought about Seth since the moment Id read the letter, I stiffened. I hadnt even thought about the bond. Dammit.
Aiden drew in a deep breath and dropped his arms. You do know what this means, Alex?
I struggled to pull myself together. There were important things to deal with. My father, the Council, Telly, the furies, a dozen or so pissed off gods, and Seth. But my brain felt like mush. What?
Aiden glanced at the door, as if he was afraid to say it out loud. Your father wasnt a mortal. Hes a half-blood.
CHAPTER 3
I DIDNT GO BACK TO MY CLASSES. INSTEAD, I WENT TO my dorm room and sat on my bed, the letter resting in front of me like a snake ready to spread its venom. I was reeling from learning that my dad was still alive and. I felt so stupid for not figuring it out right away. Laadans letter didnt come out and say it. Obviously, I understood why she skirted the true bomb she was dropping in the brief letter. How else would the Council have been able to get my father under control? And Id seen him fight. He was like a ninja with those candleholders.
My father was a freaking half-blooda trained half-blood. Hell, hed probably been a damn Sentinel, which totally explained how my mom had known him before she met Lucian.
A half-blood.
So what in the holy Hades did that make me?
The answer seemed too simple. I flopped on my back, staring blindly at the ceiling. Gods, I wanted Caleb to talk this through with, because this couldnt be what it was.
A pure-blood who had children with other pures made happy, little pure babies. A pure-blood who got it on with a mortal created the ever-useful half-blood. But a pure-blood and a half-blood getting togetherwhich was so forbidden, so taboo that I couldnt think of one situation where a child was actually producedmade what?
I jerked straight up, heart thundering. The first time Aiden had been in my dorm room and Id looked at himwell, Id been ogling him, but whateverand wondered why relationships between halfs and pures had been forbidden for eons. It wasnt the fear of a one-eyed Cyclops, but it kind of was.
A pure-blood and a half-blood made an Apollyon.
Shit, I said, staring at the letter.
But it had to be more than just that. There was typically only one Apollyon born every generation, with the exception of Solaris and the First, and Seth and I. Which would mean a half and a pure only produced a child a handful of times since the time the gods had walked this earth. There had to be more times when it happened. Or were those babies killed? I wouldnt put it past the pures or the gods to do such a thing if they knew what could come from the joining of a pure and a half. But why had Seth and I been spared? Obviously they knew what my father was since theyve kept him around for whatever reason. My heart clenched, as did my fists. I pushed the anger down to revisit later. Id promised Aiden I wouldnt do anything reckless, and my anger always led to something idiotic.