but Luke’s arms immediately dropped.
“Dammit.” He staggered back at step. “You’ve got a hard fucking head.”
Rubbing the back of said head, I turned to him, grinning. He was moving his jaw in circles. “I’ll take that as a compliment I—”
Seth’s arm circled my neck from behind, cutting off my words. “Now how are you going to get out of this?” His voice was a whisper in my ear.
For a moment, I was frozen. His body pressed against mine and that was the closest we’d been since this morning, when he’d been on me, literally on top of me, and I had been totally nude.
Oh dear.
Images flooded me. Immediately, I felt my cheeks heat. Once my brain went there, it really went there.
“Are you just going to stand here?” Seth asked, his voice sounding rougher.
I snapped out of it. Across from us, Luke stopped messing with his jaw and was watching. I shifted my hips as I gripped his arms, spreading my legs so one of them was between Seth’s. The position would enable me to steady myself in preparation to flip him, but the position also put me in direct contact with Seth’s… um, his lower parts.
He was so not unaffected by this.
I let myself acknowledge that and get all girly for a second, and then I realized I had a huge opportunity here. He was also distracted, which was rare. I hadn’t yet been able to break any of his holds and this was my chance. Gripping his arms tight, I threw my weight forward, bending at the waist.
Bad move.
My rear pushed back into his hips and his soft groan in my ear threw me off. I shifted my hips to the side, knocking my weight off balance, and Seth followed as his arms loosened around my neck. He shifted, and all the weight was forced to my right leg. It caved.
And down we went.
Falling face first, I threw out my arms and caught myself before I planted my cheek into the mat. Seth came down on top of me, his arms hitting the mat next to mine. His legs were tangled in mine, and the position we were in, it made the tips of my ears burn and my belly tightened.
“Nice,” Luke commented.
Seth lifted up so I could roll onto my back. Staring up at him, I felt the breath catch in my throat. His eyes were on fire—a bright, luminous tawny color. The shorter strands of his hair had slipped free, brushing his cheeks. The moment our eyes met, I couldn’t move. A slow smile crept over his lips. “You guys okay?” Luke called.
Seth ignored the comment as he tracked his gaze over my face, lingering over my mouth. The tightening in my belly dropped lower.
“Ya’ll need some help?”
The look on Seth’s face was easily readable. It begged a very important question. If we ignored Luke long enough, would he go away?
“Okay,” Luke said, sighing. “This is getting kind of awkward. Maybe I should go…uh, do something. I’ll lock the door behind me.”
I got a little lost as I stared into his eyes and my heart rate kicked up as he lowered his head. I was sure he was going to kiss me, right there on the mats, in front of Luke, and I—
A piercing shrill blasted through the training room, jerking Seth back. Within a second, he was on his feet, and then I was on mine before realizing it. Luke had already turned, racing toward the doors.
“What’s going on?” I winced as the sound picked up volume. “Air siren—warning signal for when the Covenant is under attack.”
CHAPTER
30
DUTY DEMANDED that I head for the gates, but there was no way I was leaving Josie out here on her own. “We need to get you back in the dorm.”
Her face was pale. “But—”
“This might not be anything, but if it is, you are not ready.” Her mouth opened again, but I cut her off. “I’m not saying that to be a jerk. It’s just the truth. You’re not ready and I need you to be safe. Okay?”
She looked like she was going to argue for a moment, but then she nodded. Taking her hand, we hauled ass back to the dorm, passing running Sentinels and panicked students being ushered into buildings. I took her to my room, figuring for some crazy reason she would be safer there.
She followed me into the room. “If it’s something, could it mean…?”
I looked over my shoulder at her, suddenly caught between two very different instincts. One was to stay with her, to ensure that she would remain safe. The other was to do what I had trained to do since I was eight, what was expected from me because of what I was.
You’re not just the Apollyon.
Josie sat on the edge of the bed, holding the quilt around her, and I shook my head as I snatched a thermal off a hanger, pulling it over the shirt I wore. “It could mean the walls have been breached.”
“Oh God,” she whispered, and I heard her shuffling around. “You…you need to go.”
Heading to the dresser, I grabbed weapons and loaded up. When I turned, she was standing there, eyes wide.
My heart hit my ribs as I crossed the distance between us. I cupped her face, tilting her chin back so our eyes met. “I do need to go. That’s my—”
“I understand,” she whispered.
A half-smile formed on my lips. What I wanted to do was blow out of there with her. Fucking disappear. Together. But that was stupid as shit, because there was nowhere either of us could go where we wouldn’t be found.
“It’s going to be okay. I just need you to stay in here.” My eyes searched hers as she nodded. “Nothing should get to these dorms, but if they do, you’ll have this.” Reaching down, I unstrapped one of the daggers and placed it in her hand, folding her fingers around the handle. “I know you haven’t learned how to use this, but it’s fairly simple. Anything that you don’t trust comes at you or through the door, you stab. You don’t stop until they’re down.”
Her gaze flicked to the dagger she held, and a wisp of panic unfurled in my chest. “Do you understand, Josie? I need to know that you can do this.”
She lifted her lashes and drew in a breath. “I understand.”
The unease didn’t leave, but the sirens were cycling again and I didn’t have time to wait. This wasn’t any kind of false alarm. “Wait here for me. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be here. Promise.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t moving away from her. There was no way I could waste anymore time. My ass needed to be out there, but she was…
Fuck.
Drawing her up against me, I dipped my head and I kissed her. Nothing soft or teasing about it. I got right inside her, parted her lips, and took her breath. I threw…well, everything I had said to her and everything I hadn’t said, into that kiss. When I drew back, she looked a little dazed.
“Stay here,” I told her again, letting go, because if I didn’t in that moment, I wouldn’t. “Lock the door behind me.”
She nodded slowly, and I forced myself to move my feet to the door. Hell, it was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do, and that… Yeah, that didn’t bode well.
The halls outside the door were empty. Picking up my pace, I hit the lobby just as the elevator doors opened, and Luke stepped out, striding forward as he loaded a gun.
“Fancy seeing you again,” I remarked.
“Wanted to make sure Deacon was where he was supposed to be.” He didn’t even try to hide the fact that he’d done exactly what he had been trained not to do.
Just like me.
Sentinels were already forming in the lobby as I arched a brow at Luke. “This whole retirement thing isn’t going too well for you.”
He snorted. “No shit.” Holstering the gun, he hit the door, pushing it open. “By the way, I told Deacon to get his ass down to Josie’s.”
“She’s not in her room.”
Luke sent me a look, but wisely kept his mouth shut, and he pulled out a slim cellphone. “I’ll text and let him know.”
“Make sure he says who he is and that he comes in peace or some shit, because I left her with one of my daggers and instructions to stab anything that comes through that door.”
His brows flew up, but his fingers flew over the screen of the phone, and then we were jogging down the path, around the academic buildings, and hey, it was like old times. Great.
Floodlights were on, lighting up the entire campus in spite of the thick clouds that raced across the sky and hid the sun. As we passed several groups of Sentinels heading toward the dorms, I felt a little bit of relief. The students would be well-guarded. That meant Josie would be too, by default.
As we neared the main council building, I spotted Solos. “What’s going on?”
Eyes squinting into the chilly wind, he nodded in the direction of the walls. “Reports are a breach. No more than that.”
“Real helpful stuff right there,” Luke commented.
Solos glanced at him. “Thought you quit the Sentinel stuff.”
“Thought you were on the Council,” Luke returned.
I sighed, walking ahead of them. “I don’t think you ever can quit. Being a Sentinel is like being in the damn mafia.” I unhooked my dagger, feeling its slight weight against my palm. “You don’t get out.”
“You know, that’s a great comparison,” Solos replied. “Let’s hope none of us are taking a cement swim today.”
Smirking, we rounded the main campus building, and from that vantage point we could see beyond the courtyard, to the first wall. Wind picked up, carrying with it a scent of decay and soil.
“Shit,” muttered Luke.
My chest turned to ice as I scanned the scene we were racing toward. “Shades. Dammit.”
The three of us exchanged looks. This was not good, and that didn’t need to be explained.
“Now we know what happened to the scouting group,” Solos said with a sigh. “This is not going to be easy.”
If shades were here, there was only one reason. They were here for Josie. I stopped dead in my tracks. “I need—”
A shadow darted out between the statues, slamming into Luke and knocking him to the ground. It was a female Sentinel, and the scent of death clung to her. I spun around, reaching for the back of her dirtied shirt. Yanking her up and off Luke, I tossed her to the side.
She skidded across the pathway, her pitch-black eyes freaky as shit. It was a shame, I thought, as she popped back on her feet and rushed me. Once possessed, there was nothing that could be done. I sidestepped her easily, moving up behind her. Two hands on either side of her head and the twist. The crack was like thunder, and when I let go, she crumpled like a paper bag, but not before black smoke poured out of her mouth, hitting the sky.
And that sucked, because as it zoomed over our heads, it didn’t take a genius to figure out it was going to climb down the throat of another unsuspecting person.
“Well there,” Solos drawled.
I flipped around, sighing when I saw five Sentinels that reeked of death.
“How large was this damn scouting party?” Luke grunted as he picked his ass up.
“Twenty-three,” Solos answered, starting forward again.
To some that wouldn’t sound like a lot, but twenty-three trained Sentinels possessed by shades was some bad shit. Not only were they rocking some ancient, pure evil, they were able to tap into all the training the Sentinels had, and all of their knowledge. And there was the fact that we could sit here and kill Sentinels all day. The shades would just possess more.
The Sentinels closed in.
I went at the one closest—the one who was smiling. Ducking under his outstretched arm, I sprung up behind him and slammed my foot into his back, knocking him forward several feet. As he caught himself and whirled on me, I sheathed my dagger and lifted my arm, summoning akasha. Amber light rolled down my arm. Nothing short of a god survived a direct hit from akasha.
He drew up short, laughed, and then tipped back his head. Opening his mouth, the shade crawled out, a thick and oily substance that zipped over our heads. The Sentinel hit the ground, unconscious and maybe alive. It looked like the pures and halfs could withstand the possession better than mortals. All that godly mojo came in handy.
“That’s not any fun,” I growled as I lowered my arm and turned just as a fist went straight for my face.
Oh hell no.
I darted to the side, grabbing the arm of the Sentinel I’d seen a few days ago, but who now showed me a face full of rage. Unhooking my dagger, I shoved the blade into his shoulder, digging in deep. The Sentinel roared, and as I hoped, the shade got the hell out of there, puffing into the air, and when I let go of the arm, the Sentinel dropped, unconscious.
“You don’t have to kill them,” I yelled toward Luke and Solos. “Disable them somehow.”
Luke shot me a look, as if he was surprised that I cared, but what-the-fuck-ever. Solos was moving closer to the grove in front of the wall, and up there, bodies littered the ground.
The possessed Sentinels kept coming. Knock one down, two more took its place. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as the energy of the battle took hold. Using the handle of my dagger on the back of one of their heads, I then spun and delivered a powerful kick in the gut to the one creeping up behind me. He went down on his back, and I aimed for the same area, in the shoulder, hoping I could deliver enough pain to get the shade running, but hopefully…yeah, hopefully, not bloodying my hands any further.
Another came right at me.
Dipping down at the last possible second, I caught the Sentinel in the stomach with my shoulder, flipping the asshole over my back. I pivoted on my heel, thrusting the dagger into another shoulder, and then the air really began to stink. I straightened as Luke whirled, his shoulders thrown back, mouth nothing more than a slash across his face. He was thinking what I was thinking.
This shit was going to be never-ending, and there was too much space between me and where I needed to be, which was back in the dorm, standing between these fucks and Josie. Not here.
I spun at the sound of pounding feet and slammed my fist into the jaw of the approaching Sentinel, knocking him out at the same moment the glyphs on my skin went crazy.
Before the Sentinel hit the ground, his chest erupted as something shiny and sharp bulldozed through it. Leaping to the side, I watched the same projectile zoom past me and slam into another possessed Sentinel, right through the eye.
I whipped back around. As the first Sentinel toppled over face-first, I got an eyeful of…good gods, breasts and a whole lot more I wasn’t expecting to see. I stumbled a step back.
Artemis stood in front of me, wearing a gauzy white tunic. I’d seen thongs cover more flesh than her outfit did. A bow was leveled on me, loaded with her extra-special silver arrows.
“Hello, Apollyon,” she said, her full lips curving up at the corners. “I wonder, do you guys ever get tired of me saving your asses?”
“I can see your nipples,” I told her.
Her laugh was like wind chimes. “Like these are the only nipples you’ve seen recently, eh?” Her arm shifted an inch and her finger squeezed off another arrow. The fleshy smack told me she had hit her target, and I just hoped it wasn’t Solos or Luke.
“There went the ‘not killing them’ part,” I sighed.
She shrugged as she waved her bow. “But do you see a shade making an escape? Nope. You don’t. Not with my arrows. Sacrifice the few to save the many.” Artemis’s all-white eyes glowed as the air around her shimmered. The see-through gown disappeared, and in its place were fewer nipples and more bubblegum-pink camo get-up. “I am sure you understand that battle practice.”
I ignored that jab, mainly because the marks of the Apollyon were speeding around my skin, forming multiple warnings. Another god was nearby.
Well, weren’t they just dropping out of the freaking sky?
My gaze shifted up the walkway and I ground out, “Fuck.”
The marble walkway was scorched, black marks forming as the stone cracked and the shape of big-ass bootprints formed, one after another. Foliage and shrubs shrank back, withering as two leather-clad legs formed, finishing off with a massive torso and chest, and then a head full of black waves.
Forming out of nothing but thin air beside him was a massive dog, like a mutated Rottweiler—if a Rottweiler had three heads and smelled like sulfur and rot.
Hades sneered in my direction. “Boy.”
“I don’t think I’ve been a boy in a long time,” I replied,