Deity (Covenant #3)(39)

“I don’t know,” he said, looking at me. His eyes were gunmetal gray. “And I have a hard time believing that Seth wouldn’t know, either. Didn’t he tell you that, once you Awaken, the knowledge of the previous Apollyons will pass on to you?”

“Yeah, he did. Seth would have to know.” An uncomfortable feeling clawed for my attention as I rested my chin on my palm. If Seth knew everything that the previous Apollyons knew, then wouldn’t one of them, in all these years, have figured out that they were a product of a union between a pure and a half? And wouldn’t one of the Apollyons have to know about the Order, especially if the lives of Solaris and the First had passed to Seth during his Awakening?

“What is it?” Aiden asked quietly.

Anger stirred, poking at the cord. “I don’t think Seth is being completely honest with me.”

Aiden didn’t respond.

I drew in a deep breath. “I don’t understand why he would lie about this. Maybe… maybe he just never put two and two together.” That sounded lame even to me, but my brain had a hard time accepting that Seth could be hiding something like this. Why would he?

A few moments passed before Aiden spoke. “Alex, if the Order does exist today, then they could be behind the attacks in the Catskills. And if they are the eyes and hand of Thanatos, they’ve pegged you as a threat.”

I thought about what the furie had said before she’d tried to rip my head off—that I was a threat and it wasn’t anything personal. But trying to kill me was very personal. “Do you think the furies were there because of the daimon attack, or because… of me?”

“They didn’t react until the daimon attack.”

Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes. This was all giving me a headache. “There are just so many things that don’t add up—the Order, the furies, Seth. Why did they go after me instead of him?”

Aiden closed the book. “I need to tell Marcus about this. If the Order is still alive and well, then this is serious. And if Telly is a member, then we need to be careful.”

I nodded, prying my eyes open. I could feel his gaze on me again. “Okay.”

“And I don’t want you going to Romvi’s class anymore,” he continued. “I’ll talk to Marcus and I’m sure he’ll agree with that.”

“That shouldn’t be hard. Tomorrow is the last day of classes before break, so I’ll skip.” I shivered. “Do you think the ‘eyes of Thanatos’ part is something literal? And daggers actually dipped in real honest-to-gods Titan blood?”

“Knowing the gods, I’d go with ayes.” There was a pause, and Aiden reached over, capturing my chin with the tips of his fingers. He slowly turned my head toward him. “What are you not telling me, Alex?”

A frisson of heat shot through me. “Nothing,” I whispered, and tried to turn my head, but he kept me still.

“You know you can tell me anything, right? And I know there is something you’re keeping from me.”

Seth’s warning to keep the Apollyon marks quiet was overwhelmed by the desire to tell someone what was happening. And who better to tell than Aiden? He was the one person in this world that I trusted, especially considering how much he’d risked to keep me safe. Seth wouldn’t be happy if he knew, but then again, I wasn’t particularly happy with Seth at the moment.

“It’s happening,” I said finally.

Aiden’s eyes searched mine. “What’s happening?”

“This—the freaky stuff.” I lifted my hands, palms up. His gaze dropped without releasing my chin, and when his eyes met mine again, they were questioning. “I’ve started getting the marks of the Apollyon. You can’t see them, but they’re there, on both of my palms. And there’s one on my stomach.”

He seemed taken aback by this, releasing my chin but not moving away. “When did this start happening?”

I looked away. “The first happened while we were in the Catskills. Seth and I were training one day and I got mad. Somehow, I blew up a rock and then the next thing I know there was this cord coming from Seth and I got a rune.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well, we really weren’t getting along then and you were busy. And Seth asked me not to say anything until we knew what was going on.” Sighing, I told him about the rest of the times and how I’d seen my own cord. Displeasure rolled off Aiden by the time I finished telling him. “It happens when we’re… touching sometimes. Seth thinks that, if I get the fourth mark on the back of my neck, then I’ll Awaken. Maybe ahead of schedule, and he’s all thrilled by that prospect.”

“Alex,” he breathed unsteadily.

“Yeah, I know. I’m a huge freak even by Apollyon standards.” I laughed. “I don’t want the fourth mark. You know, I’d kind of like to ride out the rest of being seventeen and not be the Apollyon. But Seth is all like, ‘this would be the best thing ever’.”

“Best thing for who?” he asked quietly. “You or Seth?”

I laughed again, but my weird humor dried up when I recalled how I suspected Seth of doing the rune things on purpose.

“Alex?”

“Seth says it would be best for me because I’d be stronger, but I think he’s… I think he’s jonesing for a power boost. Reminds me of Super Mario Brothers power up or something, because I can feel it—akasha—going from me to…” My mouth dropped open. “Son of a bitch.”