Deity (Covenant #3)(92)

“I’m just pointing out the truth,” he replied blithely. “When you turn eighteen, which is in what? Five days? You don’t have any control over that.”

My hands balled into fists. Gods, I hated when he was right. Especially when he was scary right and Seth was pretty damn scary right now. I couldn’t—I refused to show that. So I relied on anger. “You don’t have any control over me, Seth!”

Seth arched one eyebrow. A slow, wicked smile spread across his face. Recognizing that look, I shot back, but he was so incredibly fast. His arm snaked out, catching me around the waist.

Instinct took over. My brain switched off and I flipped into fight mode. Letting my legs go limp, I became dead weight in his arms. Seth cussed and as he dipped to catch me, I sprang up, slamming my knee into his midsection. A whoosh of air left his lungs as he stumbled back.

Spinning around, I threw out my arm, catching him across the chest. It wasn’t a meek hit. I put everything into it and Seth went down on one knee.

I darted toward the door, ready to fight my way out of the house and down the street if necessary.

I never made it—not really.

My fingers wrapped around the doorknob the same second I felt a rush of power in the room that raised the tiny hairs all over my body. Then suddenly, I was off my feet, flying backward. Hair blew around my face, clouding my vision.

Seth’s arms went around my waist and he tugged me against his chest. “You know, I like you better when you’re furious. Do you want to know why?”

I struggled in his embrace, but he held on, and it was like trying to move a semi-truck. “No. I really don’t care, Seth. Let me go.”

He chuckled deeply, and the sound rumbled through me. “Because when you’re angry, you’re always one step from doing something irrational. And that’s how I like you.”

Seth let go without any warning and I spun around. I saw it in his eyes then, in the way his lips parted. Panic froze the blood in my veins. “Don’t—”

Seth’s hand shot out, wrapping around my neck. The marks of the Apollyon spread across his skin with dizzying speed. What existed in me, that part that had been created to complete him, responded in a heady rush. The marks flew down his arm, reaching over his fingers. A second later, amber light crackled in the air, and then a weaker sheen of blue. His hand circled, pressing down, burning the skin on the back of my neck, creating the fourth rune.

There was a second, right before my brain overloaded with sensation, an instant where I regretted ever allowing Seth to get close to me, to forge the bond between us into something that seemed unbreakable. He had planned this all along.

And then I wasn’t thinking anymore.

Chapter 27

SETH’S EYES GLEAMED AS THE PRESSURE INSIDE ME shifted through the cord, leaving me and flowing into him. Suddenly, light flared from four points: my stomach, both palms, and now the back of my neck. Pain pricked along my skin like an angry wasp and then dulled. My head grew heavy, legs weak as the pleasant tug and pull continued.

His free arm caught me just as my legs buckled. I must’ve blacked out, for how long, I didn’t know. I was flat on my back when the room came back into focus. A thick haze settled over me, dragging me down through the bed.

“There you are,” Seth said. The hand he smoothed through my hair trembled slightly.

There was a strange, almost metallic taste in the back of my throat. “What… what happened?”

Seth slipped his hand out from my hair. “You didn’t Awaken, but…” He grabbed my hand and pressed down on my palm.

The response was immediate. My back arched. It felt like something had reached down into my core, grabbed hold and then yanked. It wasn’t painful but not pleasant either. “Seth…”

When he let go, the invisible strings were cut. I collapsed, boneless and weak and Seth… he sat back on his haunches, holding his hand in front of his face. An awed, childlike expression filled his face as the bright blue light covered his hand, burning brighter than ever before.

“Akasha… this is good, Alex. This is more… I can feel you under my skin.”

Dazed, I watched the ball of light dull and the excitement went out of Seth’s eyes. Somehow I knew, even as his dipped and pressed his lips to my cheek, that Seth had harnessed the kind of power needed to kill a god, if only for a few moments.

Lightning struck outside the window, but still no more brilliant than the glimpse of the end. I knew I needed to get out of here, but when I tried to sit up, I felt like I was glued to my bed.

He smiled as he settled beside me, moving his hand back to my cheek, turning my head toward him. His thumb trailed over my lower lip. “Did you see that?”

I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t and I felt sick to my soul. Thunder drowned out the beating of my heart.

“It was beautiful, wasn’t it? So much power. Lucian will be disappointed that you didn’t Awaken after the fourth mark, but something happened.”

What did that mean? I didn’t understand and my thoughts were too fuzzy. The cord jumped as his hand slipped under my head and drifted back to the rune on my neck. “This is the rune of invincibility,” he explained. “When you Awaken, it will be activated. Then the gods cannot touch you.”

I met his eyes and forced my heavy tongue to work “I don’t… want you to touch me.”