Deity (Covenant #3)(47)

A tiny seedling of hope rooted in my chest. “He has a lot of power, Aiden. He has the Order, too, and gods know how many people belong to it.”

“It doesn’t matter, Alex.” Aiden placed gentle, strong hands on my shoulders. “All he has right now is fear. He thinks he can scare you into admitting the truth. He’s using that fear against you.”

“But what if he does go after everyone? What about you?”

Aiden smiled. “He can, but he’s not going to get anywhere with it. And when you don’t admit to anything, then he’ll go back to New York. And we’ll be ready if he tries something again. This isn’t the end.”

I nodded again.

Aiden looked me straight in the eyes. “I want you to promise me that you won’t do anything stupid, Alex. Promise me that you won’t turn yourself in.”

“Why does everyone think I’m always going to do something stupid?”

His look said he knew better. “Knee-jerk reaction, Alex. I think we’ve covered that.”

I sighed. “I won’t do anything reckless, Aiden.”

Aiden stared at me for a moment, then nodded. Instead of relaxing like I thought he would, he seemed to grow more tense. He exhaled roughly and then nodded once again. Whatever he was thinking, I knew it wasn’t good.

And when his steely gaze met mine, I knew there was a good chance he didn’t believe any of the promises I’d made.

Chapter 14

LATER THAT EVENING, I HELD THE CELL PHONE TWO feet from my head and still felt like Seth was yelling in my ear.

“I’m going to kill him!”

“Yeah, you’re not the first one to say that.” I climbed off the couch, scowling at the door. I didn’t need to check to know that Leon stood right outside my room. Thank the gods most of the kids were gone, because having a personal Sentinel guard would make me an even bigger freak. “And it’s pretty sad when I’m the voice of reason.”

“What else do you suggest?” he asked. “He’s the Head Minister, Alex. It’s obvious that he ordered that Guard to attack you.”

“Yeah.” I headed to my bathroom, turning my head to the side. The left side of my cheek was red and slightly swollen. A bit of blue lined my jaw. Jackson had done worse. Telly hit like a girl. I started to smile. “But Aiden said that he doesn’t—”

“Aiden’s an idiot.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, why didn’t you answer the phone last night?”

“Are you jealous?”

“What? No. It was just weird.”

Seth laughed. “I was busy and it was too late by the time I had a chance to call you. Did you miss me or something?”

Not really. I pushed away from the mirror and went into the bedroom. “Seth, what are you really doing up there?”

“I already told you.” Static filled the line for a few seconds. “Anyway, is that really important right now? You should be worried about Telly.”

I sat on the edge of the bed. “Telly said that you were there to deal with the halfs who were causing problems and weren’t responding to the elixir. Is that true?”

Silence.

Knots started to form in my stomach. “Seth.”

He sighed into the phone. “Alex, that isn’t the problem right now. Telly is.”

“I know that, but I need to know what you’re doing up there.” I plucked at a loose thread in the bedspread. “My dad… I know he wasn’t responding to the—”

“I haven’t even seen your father, Alex. Granted, I really don’t know what he looks like and Laadan isn’t telling. He could be here. He could be gone.”

Anger and frustration rushed to the surface. “What are you doing to the halfs who aren’t responding to the elixir?”

A sound of exasperation traveled through the phone. “What I’ve been ordered to do by the Council, Alex. Take care of them.”

Blood froze in my veins. “What do you mean by ‘take care of them’?”

“Alex, that isn’t important. Look, they’re just half-bloods—”

“What the hell do you think we are?” I stood and started pacing. Again. “We are half-bloods, too, Seth.”

“No,” he replied evenly. “We are the Apollyons.”

“Gods, I wish you were in front of me.”

“I knew you missed me,” Seth said. I could hear his smile.

“No. If you were in front of me, I’d kick you in your junk, Seth. You cannot be okay with… taking care of those halfs! Wrong doesn’t even sum up what that is. It’s disgusting—revolting.”

“I’m not killing anyone, Alex. Gods, what do you really think of me?”

“Oh.” I stopped, feeling my cheeks turn red.

A couple of moments passed in silence. It sounded like Seth was walking somewhere fast. “I’d like to be in your head for just one hour,” he laughed. “No. Forget that. I don’t. You’d kill my self-confidence.”

“Seth—”

“Let’s focus on the important stuff here, which is Telly. I don’t believe he doesn’t have a damn thing. He wouldn’t hold that threat of going after the pure responsible for the compulsion without having something.”