Deity (Covenant #3)(86)

I ran my hands over my head, wanting to pull my hair out. “Seth, was this Lucian’s idea or not?”

“Why does that matter? What if it was? He only wants to keep us safe. He wants change and—”

“And he wants Telly’s throne, Seth! How can you not see that?” Coldness seized my insides as I stared at Seth. Lucian wanted power and taking Telly out was one way to achieve that, but that didn’t mean he could take complete control of the Council… or did it? I shook my head. “There’s no way the gods would allow this. They don’t want what Telly did.”

“The gods are the enemy here, Alex! They don’t speak to the Council, but they do speak to the Order.”

“Apollo saved my life, Seth! Not Lucian!”

“Only because they have plans for you,” he said, stepping forward. “You don’t know what I know.”

My hands curled into fists. “Then tell me what you know!”

“You wouldn’t understand.” He turned toward the still form in the cell. “Not yet. I don’t even blame you for it. You have too much pure in you—now more than ever before.”

I flinched. “That wasn’t… wasn’t fair.”

His eyes closed and he ran the heel of his palm over his forehead. “You’re right. That wasn’t fair.”

Taking the moment of clarity, I seized it. “You can’t keep him here, Seth. You’re right. He has to be punished for what he did, but he needs a trial. Keeping him like this, under a compulsion in a cell, is wrong.”

Gods, it was a messed up day when I was the voice of reason.

Seth turned to me. He opened his mouth, but closed it. “I already have too much invested in this.”

Dread inched down my spine. I started toward him, but stopped. I folded my arms over my chest. “What do you mean?”

He reached out toward me, but I jerked away. Confused, he lowered his hand. “How can you want him to live?”

“Because it’s not our place to decide who lives or dies.”

His brows furrowed. “And what if it will be?”

I shook my head. “Then I don’t want any part of that. And I know you don’t, either.”

Seth sighed. “Alex, you’re training to be a Sentinel. You’ll make life-and-death decisions all the time.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it?” He inclined his head toward me, a smug smile washing away any hesitation.

“Yes! As a Sentinel, I’ll kill daimons. That’s not the same as playing jury and executioner.”

“How can you not see I’m doing what needs to be done, even if you’re too weak to do it yourself?”

Who in the hell was this person beside me? It was like reasoning with a lunatic… .now I knew how people felt when they tried to reason with me. Irony was a cruel, cruel foe. “Seth, where are the keys to the cell?”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not letting him out.”

“Seth.” I took a tentative step toward him. “You can’t do this. Neither can Lucian.”

“I can do as I damn well please!”

I shoved past him, reaching for the handle on the door, and then I was against the opposite wall with Seth in my face. Fear blossomed low in my stomach as the cord hummed madly. “Seth,” I whispered.

“He’s staying in there.” His eyes flashed a dangerous ocher. “There are plans for him, Alex.”

I swallowed down the sudden taste of bile. “What plans?”

His gaze dropped to my lips, and a whole new fear took root. “You’ll see soon enough. You don’t have to worry, Alex. I’m going to take care of everything.”

Planting my hands on his chest, I shoved him back several feet. Shock and then anger flashed across his features. “You’re freaking insane, Seth. Don’t go down this road.”

Whirling around, he stormed back to the cell and pointed at Telly. “So, you’d rather see this thing free? Free to enslave half-bloods, to order them killed? Free to continue his assassination attempts on you? And then we are to wait for a trial—a trial rigged to protect the pure-bloods? They’d just slap him on the hand. Hell, they might even order you to apologize for screwing up his plans to kill you!”

Anger flooded me. I stepped forward, toe-to-toe with Seth. “You don’t care about what happens to the half-bloods! It has nothing to do with what you’re planning! And you know that. What you’re doing—what you’re agreeing to is wrong. And I’m not—”

“Go,” he cut me off, his voice furious and low.

I stood my ground. “I’m not going to let you do this, Seth. I don’t know what Lucian’s said that’s convinced—”

“I said go.” Seth shoved me—shoved me hard. I barely caught myself. “Maybe next time I’ll bring you roses or puppies.”

That raised my hackles, and so did the smile he gave me. It took every ounce of my self-control to turn and walk away. I hurried up the stairs. Like a thousand times in my life, I didn’t plan on listening to what I’d been told to do. But for the first time, it was probably the right thing to do. Aiden and Marcus needed to know what Seth and Lucian were up to. Maybe they could stop this, before it became too late—before Seth took part in killing the Head Minister and sealed both our fates.