Apollyon

CHAPTER 9

No matter how convoluted my life got, one thing remained consistent—my hair looked like a baby opossum had taken refuge in it, invited some friends over, and thrown a party. That’s what I got for sleeping on it wet.

I wrangled it into a thick braid and took a deep breath.

Admittedly, I’d seen better days. Well, my face at least. Most of the damage I’d done to myself. Aiden hadn’t raised a hand against me the entire time we’d fought. He’d only defended himself. But we were both lucky to be standing after facing Thanatos and the furies.

My reflection winced.

Aiden was gone by the time I had crawled out of bed. I’d wanted to stay among the covers, inhaling his unique scent of sea and burning leaves, holding the pillow he’d used close to my chest. I’d wanted to wait there until he returned, so I could wrap myself around him, doing a replay of last night.

But reality wasn’t going to pause or wait for us. There was way too much to be done and I needed to face everyone. I took a long breath and pushed away from the mirror. Staring at my face for hours wasn’t going to fix anything.

I found the bag of clothes I’d brought with me when I’d stayed at Aiden’s parents’ house and Aiden had the sense to take when we left Deity Island. There was some items in there I hadn’t packed or noticed before—one of them being a Sentinel uniform. That brought a smile to my face. I tugged on a pair of jeans, surprised to find how loose they were. Slipping on a pair of boots that were nothing like Olivia’s, I went to the doorway and flinched. Olivia. Oh, dear gods, I’d used a compulsion on her. I seriously hoped she wasn’t still in the basement.

I crept down the silent hall, scrubbing at the itchy bruise on my cheek. I didn’t even know what month we were in. It had been cool, but not freezing when I’d been outside yesterday. Hell. I didn’t even know where I was.

Grabbing the middle of my braid, I went down the steps, fiddling with the ropey sections. At the bottom of the stairs, I caught sight of a tall Sentinel with brown hair pulled into a low ponytail. Solos. As far as I recalled, I hadn’t threatened him with bodily harm—at least, not to his face.

He turned at the waist. “Well, look who’s back.”

My cheeks flushed and I stopped on the landing, wholly unsure of what to say.

Solos smiled, and it distorted the scar that cut deep into his cheek. “I’m not going to bite, little one.”

Heat now swept over my body and I raised my chin. Gods, what was wrong with me? “Good. Because I bite back.”

“That’s what I hear.” His blue eyes glimmered. Now I flushed for a whole new reason. “I’m sure you’re hungry. You’ve slept for almost a whole day. Everyone’s in the kitchen now.”

My stomach growled at the thought of food, but then soured. “There’s not sharp silverware or anything?”

Solos’ laugh was deep and rich. “No. It’s a take-out night, so you’re in luck.”

Finding my courage, I followed him down the hallway. He went into the kitchen first and I peeked around the corner. Deacon and Luke sat on one side, several cartons of Chinese spread out in front of them. Laadan was beside them. Marcus, Lea, and Olivia were across the table. I had no idea where Aiden was.

“We have company,” Solos announced, grabbing one of those yummy dumplings and popping it into his mouth.

Everyone turned. And everyone stopped eating and stared.

I let go of my braid and gave the group the most awkward wave ever. “Hi.”

Luke dropped his chopsticks into his noodles. There was a nasty bruise on the side of his face, disappearing into his hairline.

“Did I do that?” I stepped into the kitchen. “The bruise?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “When you slammed me into the wall… without touching me.”

I winced. “I’m really sorry about that.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it.” Deacon smiled as he leaned back in his chair, rocking it up on two legs. “He’s okay.”

“My ego’s not.” He shot Aiden’s brother a dirty look. “She didn’t even touch me.”

Deacon shrugged. “Well, she is the Apollyon. Duh.”

A chair scraped over tile and my head jerked toward the sound. Marcus walked around the table and stopped in front of me. Now, I had threatened him quite a bit to his face, but he’d still come to fight yesterday, as had Solos.

I felt horrid.

Marcus placed his hands on my shoulders. There was a fine tremble to them. “Alexandria…”

My uncle had always refused to call me by my nickname, and I’d always called him Dean, due to his position at the Covenant, but things… things were different now. “Marcus?”

There was a long, terse moment, and then he gathered me in a fierce hug. For once, it wasn’t an awkward, weak one with my arms stuck out at my sides. I hugged him back, just as tightly, and tears burned the back of my throat.

Marcus and I… well, we’d come a long, long way.

When he pulled back, I bit back a gasp. Those emerald-colored eyes were normally cool, but they weren’t now. They were like staring into my mother’s eyes.

He inhaled sharply. “I’m glad to have you back.”

I nodded, swallowing thickly. “I’m glad to be back.”

“Hell, we all can agree on that.” Luke picked up a donut. “There’s nothing creepier than having a psychotic Apollyon caged in the basement.”

“Ha,” I said.

Luke winked and then tossed the donut to me. I caught it. Sugar flew everywhere.

“Or waiting for her to break loose and run amuck,” Deacon added as I took a bite. He glanced across the table. “Or waiting for someone, no names mentioned, to not listen to us and go say hi.”

Olivia’s cheeks reddened as she stood. She approached slowly, waited for me to finish chewing. I started to apologize. “I’m really sorry—”

She socked me in the stomach. Hard. I doubled over, gasping for air. “Gods.”

Solos and Marcus both stepped forward, but I waved my hand at them. “That’s okay. I deserved that.”

Then I realized they weren’t moving in to protect me, but to guard Olivia. I guessed no one was a hundred percent relaxed around me. Guess I couldn’t blame them when I wielded the most powerful weapon on earth, and only a day ago I’d been willing to use it against them.

“You totally deserved that.” Olivia’s voice shook. “Do you know how terrible I felt when Marcus came down and found me sitting there like a turd? I helped you escape!”

I thought she might hit me again, so I took a step back.

Olivia smoothed her hands over her tight curls. “But I’m better now, especially since I got to hit you.” Then she sprang forward and hugged me.

Standing there, I patted her back, hoping she didn’t change her mind and snap my spinal cord. “I’m really sorry.”

“I know.” She pulled back, smiling. Her eyes were misty.

Laadan was next. The raven-haired beauty was as elegant as ever. Dressed in a form-fitting red turtleneck and white slacks, she enveloped me in a warm hug. She smelled of spring roses and when she pulled back, I didn’t want to let go.

“We’ll talk later. Promise,” she said, and I knew she was talking about my father. Taking my hand, she pulled me to the empty spot next to Olivia. “Sit. Eat.”

Glancing around the table, I watched as a plastic plate was passed around, each person slopping a helping of food on it. Even Lea, who hadn’t said a word to me yet, placed some shrimp on the plate. When it came back to me, my mouth watered, but I had to say something first.

“Guys, I’m really sorry for everything.” I glanced down at my plate, but forced my eyes back up. “I know I was a terror and I wish… I wish none of you’d had to go through that.”

Marcus returned to his seat. “We know you weren’t yourself, Alexandria. We understand.”

Beside him, Lea cleared her throat. “I actually preferred the crazy Apollyon version to the Elixired up one, to be honest.” She glanced at me, thick lashes hiding amethyst eyes. “That was kind of freaky watching you hide behind Aiden.”

“You were pretty different,” Luke agreed, and then shuddered. “Man, the Elixir is no joke.”

“You hid in a closet,” Deacon felt the need to inform me.

Poking at my noodles, I frowned as fragments of my time on the Elixir slid into place. “I bet that was amusing to watch.”

“I don’t know if I would say it was amusing,” a new voice added.

My head jerked up and my heart toppled over itself. Aiden stood just inside the kitchen door, dressed as always—as a Sentinel. He stalked toward the table and picked up the carton of brown rice. He leaned against the counter, the curve of his jaw hard, eyes like flint.

They met mine. He gestured at my plate with his carton. “Eat. You need to eat.”

Everyone stared at their plates as I picked up the fork I hadn’t even realized I’d dropped. I dared a peek at Aiden as I twirled my fork around the noodles. He was watching, always watching.

Deacon offered me a pair of chopsticks. “You shouldn’t be using a fork.”

I shot him a bland look. “Do I look like I know how to use chopsticks?”

He grinned. “Poser.”

“Punk,” I retorted.

His eyes rolled. “It’s not that hard. Here, let me show you.”

Deacon’s impromptu chopsticks lesson and my absolute failure at mastering them eased the sudden awkward tension around the table. Laughing, I gave up when Aiden finally ordered his brother to let me eat in peace.

Digging in, I listened to the conversation around me. There was talk of nothing important and I figured they were waiting for me to finish eating before the real, necessary conversations took place.

I finished off everything I’d been given, ate the remaining rice that Aiden had dumped on my plate as he prowled around the table, and then finished off the sugary goodness of the donuts.

Stomach full, I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “That hit the spot and then some.”

Olivia patted my stomach. “You need it… and probably a couple of Big Macs, too.”

My eyes widened. “Mmm, Big Macs… please tell me there’s a McDonald’s around here? Actually, where am I?”

Everyone grew silent, and no one looked at me.

“What? What?” I sat up, looking around the table. And then it hit me. “You guys don’t trust me, do you?”

Lea was the first to meet my eyes. “Okay. I’ll rain on this happy parade. How do we know you’re still not connected to Seth?”

“She’s not.” Aiden said, picking up the empty cartons and tossing them in a black trash bag he carried. “Trust me, she’s not connected to him anymore.”

Deacon snorted.

I glared at him.

Lea settled back in her chair, folding her arms. “Is there any other concrete proof, other than you telling us to trust you?”

Aiden glanced at me and I quickly looked away. I doubted Lea wanted to hear about that kind of proof. “I’m not connected to Seth. I promise you.”

“Promises are weak; you could be faking it,” she shot back.

“Lea, dear, she has no reason to fake it.” Laadan smiled gently. “If she was connected to the First, she wouldn’t be sitting here.”

“And my brother wouldn’t be cleaning up after us, right?” Deacon slumped back, as if it had just occurred to him that Aiden had been seconds away from death. I wanted to hide under the table as Deacon shook his head, dumbfounded. “Gods, we’d have to get a maid then or something.”

Aiden smacked the back of Deacon’s head as he passed by. “I feel the love.”

His brother tipped his head back, grinning.

Taking a breath, I stood and clenched the back of my chair. “I’m not connected to him and I’m pretty sure he can’t get through the shields. But I know he’s there. I can feel him.”

Aiden stopped and turned to me.

Whoops, better clarify that. “I mean, I can feel him, but he can’t reach me, not really. There’s just a low-level buzz. Nothing like before. He can’t get to me. I’m pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure?” Marcus asked, throat working.

I nodded and took another breath. “Look, I can’t say that something freaky won’t happen. I don’t know what he’s really capable of, but he’s going to have to try really hard to get past these shields.”

“You’ll be okay,” Aiden said. Tying off the garbage bag, muscles popped in his arms. “He won’t break through.”

Forcing a smile, I knew Aiden believed that. “And you’ll know the second he does. I don’t think I have the patience to try to fool anyone.”

Luke barked out a short laugh. “Don’t I know that.”

“Let’s take the conversation to a more comfortable place, then.” Marcus stood, grasping his glass of what I assumed was wine. I eyed the crystal longingly. “I’m sure all of us have a lot of questions.”

The group followed Marcus, but I stayed behind. Picking up the empty cans, I brought them over to the trashcan Aiden was placing a fresh bag in.

“Cleaning up?” he asked, fitting the bag to the can. “This is unexpected.”

“I’m a new girl.” I dumped the cans. “Are you okay?”

Aiden hooked a finger into the belt of my jeans and led me over to the sink. Then he rolled up my sleeves, turned on the tap and picked up the hand soap.

I rolled my eyes, but shoved my hands under the warm water. “Aiden?”

“What? You’re going to have sticky hands and be touching everything.” He squirted the apple-scented soap on my hands. “You’ll leave little fingerprints all over the place.”

I watched my hands disappear under his larger ones and sort of forgot about what I was asking. Who knew washing hands could be so… distracting? “Are you concerned about CSI visiting the place?”

“You never know.”

I let him finish, because who was I to stop his OCD at the moment, then I dried my hands. “That’s not what I meant. Are you okay?”

“Are you?”

I balled my freshly clean hands into fists. “Yes, I’m okay. Answer my question.”

He tilted to his head to the side. “What did you mean earlier about being able to feel Seth?”

So was this what had him suddenly uptight? “You know what it’s like when you’re in a house with a TV on mute? There’s that weird frequency you can feel?” When he nodded, I smiled. “It’s like that. He’s just there, but he can’t reach me.”

There was a pause. “Have you had any headaches?”

Confused, I shook my head. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Nothing,” he said, and he smiled. “And I’m okay, Alex. I’m the last person you should worry about.”

“But I do worry.” There was so much to worry about. Turning back to the fridge, I stretched up to grab a bottle of water. As I pulled one down, it revealed another bottle, but it was different.

The contents had been emptied out and replaced with vibrant blue liquid.

Aiden’s sharp inhale was like a blast of cold air. “Alex—”

Ignoring him, I dropped my bottle and reached for the other one. Hands shaking, I wrapped my fingers around the plastic. I knew what was in the bottle. I knew what harmlessly sloshed around inside would carry a sickeningly sweet aroma and could rob me of who I was in minutes.

Aiden swore under his breath.

Facing him, I held the bottle. “This is the Elixir, isn’t it?”

His hand clenched at his side. “It is.”

I glanced down at the water bottle. Two fears in life: losing myself to Seth and losing myself to the Elixir. Both had happened, and somehow I’d come back out of those rabbit holes. But holding it in my hands, I couldn’t deny the raw taste of fear building in the back of my throat.

It was like holding a bomb—a bomb designed to decay my mind.

Aiden looked like he wanted to rip it from my hands, and I gave a weak smile. “Should we keep it?”

“What?” Tension rolled off him, and something else. Disgust? Bits and pieces of memories of when I’d been under the Elixir weren’t pretty.

“What if we need it again?” I asked, fighting that cold lump in my throat. “Isn’t that why you… you all were keeping it?”

“No. I’d placed it there and forgot about it.” Then he did take it out of my hands. Moving stiffly, he brought it back to the sink and unscrewed the lid.

“Aiden?”

Without saying a word, he dumped what was left of the Elixir. Sweetness filled the air, rinsed away when he turned on the tap. I hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.

I placed my hand on his arm.

Muscles tensed as he stepped into me, placing the tips of his fingers on my chin, but before he could do anything, someone cleared their throat behind us. I turned, spying Solos in the doorway.

“Just making sure you two are okay,” he said, a single eyebrow arched.

A rush of shame and guilt smacked into my stomach. “I’m not going to kill him and stash his body in the fridge.”

“That’s good to know,” Aiden muttered.

“One can never be too safe.” Solos pivoted. “Chop, chop, kids; people are getting antsy.”

I sighed. “Gods, I kind of miss Apollo. At least he didn’t think I wanted to kill you.”

“Yeah, well, about that…”

I faced Aiden slowly, remembering that Aiden had somehow banned Apollo. “What did you do? You banned him, right? How? Why?”

His brows arched. “I’m not sure you really want to know what provoked that.”

Crossing my arms, I waited.

Aiden cocked his head to the side, jaw clenching. “Apollo wasn’t completely honest about a lot of things, namely how an Apollyon can be killed.”

I had a real bad feeling about this.

“Apollo can kill you, Alex. He was planning to if I took you off the Elixir and you connected with Seth again. And whoever is responsible for Seth can do him in, but it seems like that god may be working with them.” He paused, grimacing. “So, I banned Apollo from the house.”

My stomach lurched. Yeah, maybe I should’ve waited on that explanation until after my food had settled.