“So,” I said, drawing out the word. “My father can change the way he looks?”
“Oh, yeah. He can pretty much do anything,” Luke said, and the corners of his lips tipped up, and I smiled back, mostly out of relief. “Also has this horrible habit of popping in at the most inopportune times.”
“I second that.” Seth sat up.
Deacon plopped down on the end of the bed, tilting his head to the side as he grinned at me. “The whole hooking up with your dad thing aside, I can’t believe I’m sitting on a bed with an Apollyon and a bound demigod.”
“It’s like the start of a bad joke,” Luke said. He grinned as he reached out, patting my blanket-covered leg. “My life just got so much more interesting.”
CHAPTER
19
A TINY bit of guilt pricked at me for leaving Josie alone with Luke and Deacon. One of them alone could be a lot to deal with, but two of them were something else, something overwhelming.
I cracked a grin, imagining Josie at the moment. Those eyes— eyes I’d never thought were beautiful before, but I sure as fuck thought so now—were probably wide, and that pretty mouth was also probably hanging open.
But I trusted these guys, the four of them—Solos, Marcus, and those two. And before I had ducked out, knowing I needed to chat with Marcus alone, I had pulled Luke outside and reminded him of two things: that Josie was important and she needed to be kept safe, and that he needed to keep his mouth shut about me. He hadn’t looked happy about it, but I also knew he didn’t want to piss me off either.
What Luke and Deacon knew, Josie didn’t need to know. Or maybe she did, and I just didn’t want her to know. It didn’t matter. What’d almost happened back there… Well, nothing uncomplicated could come from it. If she had been any other girl, I wouldn’t have thought twice. I’d have been in and out of her, thoroughly enjoyed myself, and then forgotten about the whole thing. But I did rub some brain cells together when it came to her. Strange thing was, knowing she should have a big “No Touching” stamped all over her soft, curvy body, didn’t change the fact I wanted to touch, kiss, link, slam into, and take it slow with that body.
Great. The hard-on had let up when Deacon and Luke showed, but now was back to the point it made thinking or walking—hell, breathing—difficult.
I didn’t even know what it was about her. She wasn’t a classic beauty, and gods knew, in the past, that was about all that it took to get me off. She wasn’t strong, and that was something I admired in anyone. But her beauty was different and she sure as hell wasn’t weak.
In just a handful of days, she hadn’t just gotten under my skin. She had crawled in there, set up camp, and wasn’t leaving for a while. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d ever been that affected.
Stripping off my clothes, I turned on the shower, let the heat fog the bathroom mirror, and then got my ass under the steady stream. There was no thinking about right and wrong now. I slid my hand down my abs, gripping the base of my heavy erection. An image of Josie formed in my thoughts, of her underneath me, staring up at me with heavy eyes and rosy, parted lips. A groan broke free and my back bowed. It didn’t take much. A couple of tight strokes later, and I was like a fifteen-year-old boy jacking off for the first time. Release tingled down to the tip of my dick, and the orgasm crashed into me, stronger and fiercer than any time I’d actually been with a chick, and it had been my hand that had brought that on.
Hell, it had been more than my hand. It had been the thought of Josie, and wasn’t that messed up? Gods, I needed to get my head on straight and my hand off my cock. With that in mind, I actually used the shower for what it was meant to be used for, toweled off, yanked my hair back, and once the clothes were on, I was out the door.
In the hall, across from Josie’s room, I stopped and considered checking in, but then I assumed I’d probably end up getting hard again, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk to Marcus with an erection.
Which begged the question, how in the fuck was I supposed to train her when I was a walking boner? And that thought immediately led to, how in the hell had Aiden pulled it off when he’d trained Alex?
I laughed drily as I headed down the empty hall.
Aiden hadn’t pulled it off. He’d been a pure and Alex was an Apollyon, but ultimately a half, so a relationship between the two should’ve never happened, but it had. And when I’d helped train Alex, I’d been able to separate whatever I wanted from what we needed to do, but oh, I didn’t think this time around was going to work out that way.
And why in the hell was I thinking about those two? They had their happily ever after—well-deserved, but fuck. Probably had to do with Aiden’s slightly crazier, albeit cooler, younger brother currently cozying up to Josie.
I was outside in the brisk March wind, ignoring the open gawking from nearby students who’d never had the pleasure of seeing the Apollyon in real life, and boy, didn’t that change up their Monday morning routine? I’d just passed the training facilities and was rounding the marble-columned library, when it hit me with the impact of a cement truck.
Holy shit, I was turning into Aiden St. Delphi.
Being all saintly and shit, tampering down urges because it was the right and decent thing to do, and instead, masturbating in the shower like a loser. Holy fuck, I was probably starting to care. Before I knew it, I’d be holding hands with her.
Oh shit, I’d already held her hand.
This was why I didn’t want to be back here to stay, but it was a little too late for that, because I wasn’t leaving.
A chill got inside my chest though, burrowing itself deep, because there was that feeling again, of the button being reset, of history chugging along, bound to repeat itself. And once that iciness got in there, it was hard to shake.
It was like coming face to face with an oracle who communed with the gods, and she was about to drop some messed-up shit in your lap.
My steps picked up and, as I entered the main academic building, I held the door open for the two Sentinels who had been trailing my ass since I’d left the first dorm.
“Try to be a little more inconspicuous next time,” I suggested, turning just as the female Sentinel flushed.
“No offense,” said the male, stepping inside. “Orders are orders.”
Strolling past the elaborate statue of three gods joined at the hip or something equally fucked up like that, I flipped him off.
“He’s waiting for you in his office,” the female called out.
Of course he was. Pushing open the doors, I hit the stairwell and climbed about a thousand steps. One would think, at some point, someone at one of these damn Covenants would invest in an elevator.
The Dean of the Covenant’s office was down a wide hall, past a bunch of pointless offices. The last time I’d been up here…it hadn’t been good. Dark and bitter memories clogged my thoughts as I forged forward, but no matter how badly I didn’t want them there, images appeared.
Images of all of us in the Dean’s office, of Apollo showing up and yanking the gods Phobos and Deimos out of Alex, and her losing her shit afterward, because she…she had sensed something different about her. She had thought she’d been pregnant. So had Aiden, and the whole time, it had been that bastard Ares’s children invading her body, enhancing her fears and doubts.
My stomach churned as I ignored the stoic guards outside of the office and welcomed myself in.
Marcus was behind the desk, and a brow rose as I came in. He sat back in his chair, his chest expanding with a deep breath. The setup was different. There was some kind of terrarium behind him, taking up the length of the wall. Upon another look, I realized there was a huge yellow-and-white snake in there.
Did not picture Marcus as a snake guy.
I was right behind the set of chairs in front of his desk when I realized we weren’t alone. I spun around and my eyes narrowed on the silent, older man lounging against the wall, arms folded across his black thermal.
My eyes widened with recognition.
Oh, fuck me with a rusted fork. Seriously?
The older Sentinel’s weathered face crinkled with a tight smile that did not reach his whiskey-colored eyes. Yeah, I doubted he was happy to see me, being that he was Alex’s father.
I had a feeling I was going to get punched again.
“Alexander has been overseeing the Sentinels here,” Marcus explained, and the man didn’t chime in, because he couldn’t, since his tongue had been cut out years ago. “Have a seat. I figured there was something you wanted to talk to me about without Josie being present?”
Not really wanting my back to Alex’s dad, but having no choice, I turned. I just didn’t sit. “I’m going to train her as long as I can.”
He didn’t look particularly surprised by the news. “What do you mean by, ‘as long as you can?’”
The back of my skull tingled from the holes Alexander was drilling into my head. “You know I made a deal with Apollo. He tells me to head to Switzerland, I’ve got to go. I don’t know what he plans for me next. He’s got people out there looking for the other demigods, so he could put me on that. Until then, I’ll work with Josie.”
“Then you should get Luke to help you in case you are… reassigned. I’d suggest using Solos, but his responsibilities to the Council take up a lot of his time.” Marcus closed a folder on his desk, and then folded his hands on top of it. “I assume that, when more demigods are found, they will be brought here?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t tell me that, but you know how Apollo is. I haven’t seen him since I found Josie.”
He shook his head. “Apollo’s daughter… Amazing, but this could become problematic.”
Tension drew my shoulders back. “She’s very important, Marcus. And yeah, it’ll be problematic, but what’s the point once the Titans are fully charged and decide to go psycho on the world? You know they’ll go after the pures and halfs first, and then mankind.”
His eyes flashed emerald fire. “I know she’s important, Seth, and I’m also well aware of the threat. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve been on the front line of a massive disaster, but I cannot allow what happened at the Deity Covenant to happen here.”
A muscle started throbbing along my temple.
“You remember, don’t you?” He leaned forward, and he met my stare. “After the stunt you pulled with the Council, you recall what happened?”
Stunt? On Lucian’s orders, I had…I had done unforgivable things. “Personally, I wouldn’t label that as a stunt.”
His chin dipped as his hands curled into fists. “I could do nothing as Poseidon destroyed the Covenant. Do you know how many people died that day? Three-hundred and five, Seth. I will not have that happen again.”
Hearing that number was like swallowing a lead bullet. It made my skin raw, uncomfortable. “I’m not planning to pull a stunt like that again.”
He pushed off the desk and rose, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Alexander ghost forward. “I’d hope not, but I have a responsibility to these students and those who have sought refuge here.”
“I get that, but this is sounding like a lot of bullshit to me.” A brow cocked. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, it is.” The glyphs bled onto my skin. He couldn’t see them, but I knew he was picking up on the rush of energy whirling around inside me. “Because what it sounds like is that you’re willing to dump Josie outside those gates.”
“I never said that, Seth. What I am saying is that, if her presence here, or anyone’s presence here, threatens the safety of the Covenant, I will have to take steps to rectify that,” he said. “Hopefully, that will never mean turning her or anyone else away.”
That told me nothing, and as I stared at Marcus, I had to give him credit for not pissing his pants and for protecting what was his. But I would have to do the same thing.
Marcus sighed as he glanced over to where Alexander stood. “I’m going to say something I know you’re not going to want to hear.”
“Great,” I muttered.
He ignored that as he pressed his palms onto the desk. “A lot of things have changed. Some are the same. You haven’t been around to see any of that, but I know—I know—you’ve changed, and that’s the only reason why you’re standing in this office.”
Part of me wanted to ask him exactly how he thought he could’ve stopped me, but then he must’ve read my mind. “If I thought you were going to screw us over, I would’ve walked out to that first gate myself and put a bullet between your eyes. I know it wouldn’t have killed you, but it would’ve put you down long enough for me to dismember your body, and then discover how an Apollyon puts itself back together.”
My lips tipped up at the corners. “Well, that’s a brutal imagination you got going there.”
He smirked. “Like I said, you still have the attitude, and I know you could end my existence in a heartbeat, but you’ve… you’ve changed.”
I held his gaze then looked away, working my jaw. “Is there a point to this part of the conversation?”
“Not really. I just like to hear myself talk.” Marcus sat down, hooking one knee over the other as he eyed me. “As we mentioned yesterday, there are wards up against the Titans, but I’m sure you realize they won’t last forever.”
Back on more comfortable ground, I shifted my weight. “There are also shades. One got hold of Josie’s grandfather.” I paused. “She saw him die.”
His lips thinned. “That is truly unfortunate. How is she handling it?”
“She’s not.” And that was the truth.
He inclined his head. “She’s with Deacon and Luke?”
“How did you guess?”
A real smile formed. “I figured it would take them no time to find you and her. Deacon will be good for her, considering he lost his parents.” A thoughtful look encroached upon his features. “If you had arrived a few months earlier, she could’ve talked to Alex. Of all our people, she would understand.”
Inhaling through my nose, it took everything not to look at her father. Alex would understand. After all, she had seen her mother turned by daimons and, subsequently, had had to end her own mother’s life.
Happy times.
“Do you care for her?” Marcus abruptly asked. I blinked.
“Josie,” he clarified, like that was fucking necessary at that point. “Solos said you did not sleep in your room last night.” He held up his hand. “Yes, Solos kept an eye on you two, and, no, I do not care to know the details.”
“Then I don’t know what kind of answer you’re looking for,” I replied.
Marcus studied me for a moment, and then I heard the door open. I turned in time to see Alexander slipping out of the room. Very few people could be quieter than me. He was apparently one of them. When I turned back to Marcus, he was staring at the closed door. “He does not trust you.”
“I don’t expect him to.”
Marcus’s gaze shifted to mine. “He will one day.”
I smiled, but everything was brittle and wrong about it. “Why would he? It was his daughter—”
“She is also my niece—not was, Seth, and you’ve paid a heavy restitution.”
Something knocked around in my chest, a cold and hollow thing—a very real reminder. “No. No, I haven’t.”
CHAPTER
20
MY HEAD was spinning on sensory overload.
From the moment Deacon and Luke had walked into the room, they hadn’t stopped talking. Well, one of them had disappeared— Deacon—long enough for me to shower and change, and he was back by the time I walked out of the bathroom. He was wearing jeans and a sweater instead of the pajama pants, and his hair was a damp, curly mess of adorableness.
They had a way about them of coaxing information out of me. They could’ve been spies for a Greek Secret Society or something, and I was just forking over details on my life in Missouri and at college. Erin had been welcoming, but these boys were something else. The only thing they didn’t get out of me was anything about my grandparents or my mother. I wasn’t…I just couldn’t talk about them right then.
I didn’t know if Seth would be happy with me leaving the room, but the boys didn’t seem to care. They took me out and in the morning sunlight, which seemed harsher and stronger in South Dakota, then guided me to a one-story square building that housed community rooms and a cafeteria nicer than the one at Radford. Nicer, as in there were granite countertops in the prep areas, the people serving the food were extraordinarily gorgeous, and the place smelled great—like peaches and not like greasy food.
Deacon, chatting on about something, loaded me up with bacon, and Luke plopped a bottle of OJ in my other hand before they ushered me toward an empty, sparkling clean, round table.
My eyes were wide and I barely heard anything they were saying