Deity (Covenant #3)(103)

“There is nothing we can do.” With one hand, Aiden grabbed my arm as we crested the bridge to Bald Head Island. “Alex, please.”

I couldn’t turn away. From the way the cyclones moved in, it appeared Poseidon would spare the mortal island, but as the first funnel reached the Covenant, my chest seized. “They can’t do this! Those people are innocent!”

Aiden didn’t answer.

Water crashed through the structures. Marble and wood sliced through the air. Screams from those on the main island crawled deep into my soul where the sound would remain for an eternity.

We flew through the streets of Bald Head, narrowly avoiding the stunned pedestrians watching the freakish outburst of nature. And as we reached the bridge leading to the mainland, I saw the great walls of water recede. No building remained on Deity island. There was nothing. All of it was gone. The Covenant, buildings, statues, pures and halfs… everything had been wiped into the ocean.

Chapter 30

HOURS PASSED IN STUNNED SILENCE. I FELT SICK, COLD. How many had been on the island? Hundreds of servants and Instructors had remained at the Covenant during winter break, and people had been in their homes. Hands shaking, I smoothed my hair back as Aiden fiddled with the radio until he caught another station.

“…Meteorologists are saying that the earthquake several hundred miles off the coast of North Carolina had produced at least a thirty-foot wall of water. However, residents on neighboring islands remained unscathed. Some have reported seeing a cluster of up to a dozen cyclones, but those reports have not been substantiated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A state of emergency has been declared…”

Aiden turned the radio off. He then reached over, running his fingers over my arm, my hand. He’d been doing that since we got in the car, as if he was reminding himself that I was sitting next to him, that I was still alive after so many lives had been lost.

I pressed my forehead against the window and closed my eyes. Had Poseidon gone after Seth and Lucian, or had Apollo somehow managed to prevent total destruction? All I did know was that Seth was still breathing, because the connection was still there.

Like I’d done during the last couple of hours, I pictured my pink and glittery walls again and reinforced them with all my strength.

“How are you feeling?” Aiden asked quietly.

I peeled my head off the window and looked at him. Everything about him was stiff and tense, from the way he held the steering wheel to the line of his jaw. “How can you even think about how I’m feeling right now?”

“I saw how you reacted when… he pulled power from you.” He glanced at me, eyes silvery. “Did they… did he hurt you when you were with him?”

I was exhausted. My head ached and I was pretty sure my toes were numb, but I was alive. “No. He didn’t hurt me. And I’m fine. You shouldn’t worry about how I’m doing. All of those people…” I shook my head, swallowing against the sudden tightening in my throat. “What Lucian did by telling them you used a compulsion… I’m so sorry.”

“Alex, you have no reason to apologize. It wasn’t your fault.”

“But how can you go back? Being a Sentinel—”

“I’m still a Sentinel. And with everything that’s happened, I’m sure what I did is the last thing they’ll be thinking about.” He glanced at me. “I knew the risks when I did it. I don’t regret it. You understand?”

Aiden didn’t regret it now, but what about later—if there was a later—and he was tried for treason? Even if he wasn’t, he’d be stripped of his Sentinel duties and ostracized.

“Alex?”

“Yes. I understand.” I nodded for extra benefit. “Where are we going?”

His knuckles were bleached white. “We’re going to Athens, Ohio. Solos’ father has a place on the edge of Wayne National Forest. It should be far enough from… him as long as Apollo has given us enough time.”

“I don’t feel him.” We’d stopped referring to Seth by name out loud, like doing so would somehow make him reappear or something.

“Do you think you can shield him, keep him out?”

I glanced at the side mirror; the other Hummer followed close behind. How were they holding up? Lea? “The distance… he shouldn’t be able to connect through the bond, if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, he couldn’t feel anything when he was in New York, so…”

“That’s not all I’m worried about,” Aiden responded quietly. “It’s about an eight-hour drive.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes as he squinted into the fading sunlight. “We’ll stop along the way, most likely in Charleston, to get gas and something to eat. You think you can hold out that long?”

“Yeah. Aiden… all of those people.” My voice broke as my throat tightened. “They didn’t stand a chance.”

Aiden grasped my hand. “It’s not your fault, Alex.”

“It’s not?” Tears burned my eyes. “If I’d listened to you and Apollo when you suggested that I leave before he came back, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.” I tried to pull my hand free, but Aiden held on. I hoped he was a good one-handed driver. “I just didn’t want to believe that he… would do something so terrible.”