Deity (Covenant #3)(60)

Marcus’ green eyes flashed. “You are right. I didn’t know. There were a lot of things I wasn’t aware of. Like the real reason you left New York and the fact that you’ve already been receiving the Apollyon marks.”

Oh, no. I didn’t dare look at Aiden.

“It wasn’t until a few nights ago that I was even aware that the Order of Thanatos could be involved,” Marcus continued, his shoulders stiffening. “If I had known the truth, this could’ve been prevented.”

I squirmed as much as I could. “I know, but if we’d involved you in what happened in New York, then you’d be at risk.”

“That doesn’t matter. I need to know when these kinds of things happen. I’m your uncle, Alexandria, and when you kill a pure-blood—”

“She did it out of self-defense,” Aiden said.

“And you compelled two pure-bloods to protect her.” Marcus shot a glare over his shoulder at Aiden. “I get that, but that doesn’t change the fact that I needed to know. All of this created a perfect storm for something like this to happen.”

“You’re not… mad at Aiden? You aren’t going to turn him in?”

“Sometimes I doubt his critical thinking abilities, but I understand why he did it.” Marcus sighed. “The law requires that I do, Alexandria. It even requires that I turn you in, and by not doing so, I’ll face charges of treason. Just as Aiden will face charges of treason if anyone discovers what he did.”

Treason equaled death for them. I swallowed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I dragged all of you into this.”

Aiden softened. “Alex, don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault.”

“It’s not. You can’t help… what you are. And all of this is because of what you are.” Marcus’ lips curved into a half smile. “I don’t agree with a lot of the decisions you’ve made or the fact that both of you have kept very important things from me, but I cannot blame Aiden for doing what I would’ve done in the same situation. I’m your uncle, Alexandria, and I will be tough on you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care for you.”

Stunned into silence, I stared at him. Could I’ve totally misinterpreted everything about this man? Because I seriously would’ve bet my life that he couldn’t stand me. But had it just been his version of… tough love? Blinking back tears, I suddenly wanted to hug him.

The look on Marcus’ face told me he probably wouldn’t be comfortable with that.

Okay. We definitely weren’t on hugging terms yet, but this… this was good. I cleared my throat. “So… wow. Leon is Apollo.”

Aiden grinned.

Grinning back at him, I suddenly felt panicked and it took me a second to realize why. “Oh, my gods.” I started to sit up, but Marcus stopped me. “I need to call Seth. If he suspects anything, he’ll go crazy. You don’t even know.”

Aiden’s grin faded. “If he’d known—felt it through your bond, then he’d have already gone crazy. He doesn’t know.”

He had a point, but I still needed to talk to him.

“We think it’s best that he doesn’t know, not until he is here with you,” Marcus said. “Right now, we cannot afford for him to lose it. And he did call for you last night. Aiden told him you were sleeping.”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “After he complained about me answering the phone that he gave you, he hung up. If he felt anything, he doesn’t know why.”

Sounded like Seth. Relieved, I settled back down. “Can someone grab my phone, though? If he doesn’t hear from me, he’ll suspect something and blow someone up.”

“That can be arranged.”

“I’ll get it,” Aiden said, sighing.

“Good. And while you go get it, why don’t you take a shower and get some rest. You haven’t slept since yesterday morning,” Marcus said. “Lucian’s Guards are outside the door. No one will get past them.”

The only reason I trusted Lucian’s Guards was the fact that there was only one person who wanted me to Awaken more than Seth, and that was Lucian. “Does Lucian know what happened?”

Marcus stood. “Yes, but he agreed that it would be wise to keep Seth in the dark for a little while.”

“And you trust Lucian?”

“I trust that he understands that we cannot afford any acts of retaliation from Seth. Other than that, not particularly, but he needed to know about Telly. He has some of his people looking for the Head Minister,” He paused, running a hand down the side of his face. “Don’t worry about things like that right now. Get some rest. I’ll be back later.”

There were still a lot of questions, like who were the Sentinels that Marcus trusted? And how in the world could we keep a secret like this from Seth? But I was tired and I could tell that both of them were, too.

Aiden lingered after Marcus left. He came to my bedside, his silvery gaze drifting over me.


“You haven’t left this room, have you?” I asked.

Instead of answering, he bent and placed his lips against my forehead. “I’ll be back shortly,” he promised. “Just try to get some rest and don’t get out of the bed until someone is with you.”

“But I’m not tired, not really.”