Sentinel

CHAPTER 19

Saturday had been a day full of pain.

While we were getting better at fighting Perses, we still were getting our butts handed to us. Seth had come close to taking Perses down with a kick. The Titan had stumbled, but he hadn’t fallen. He’d come back at Seth, and within seconds the First was on his back.

But Sunday got worse.

“Mats are for the weak,” Perses announced as I bounced across the blue butt-saver, and that comment took the happy right out of my step. He raised a hand, and the mats flipped up on their own, starting to fold like accordions. “Warriors do not need mats.”

Jumping back, I missed being smashed and folded by less than a second. Under the mats was nothing but cold, hard floor. I sighed, knowing this was going to sting, and as usual, we had a crowd watching. Three pures had mixed among my friends. Solos was already cringing.

Perses motioned me forward. “Come on, girl.”

I took a deep, calming breath before I stalked toward him. Attacking in anger seemed like a good idea. The gods knew I was known to do so from time to time, but I made mistakes in the heat of it, and making mistakes with Perses or Ares wouldn’t end well for me.

He immediately launched at me, swinging a meaty hand at my head. Easy. I dipped down, avoiding the attack. Springing up, I twisted to the left as he kicked out with a booted foot. I blocked him at the knee, and then struck out for his throat. Perses countered, sneaking a punch that caught my arm and spun me. I tried to twist out of it into the fall, but as I turned, he threw his arm out, hitting me across the chest. Air exploded out of my lungs. Stumbling back, I was unprepared when he kicked out, sweeping his legs out from underneath me. I hit the hard floor on my back, knocking the oxygen out of my cells this time.

“Ow,” I moaned, bending my knees. I blinked the ceiling back into focus, clearing the white flecks of light from my vision.

Aiden’s curse rang loudly.

Hovering over me, Perses’ laugh grated on my nerves. “I hope, when you become the God Killer, Ares stands still for you.”

I flipped him off.

The Titan tipped his head back and laughed. “Charming.”

Rolling to my feet, I limped over to the side, passing our little audience. Olivia caught my eye and smiled sympathetically. Almost, she mouthed.

Almost didn’t really count. I joined the guys by the wall. “Well, that was a fail.”

“It wasn’t.” Aiden tucked a stray piece of my hair back behind my ear. “You did well.”

“She looked like a pancake when she hit the floor,” Seth remarked, earning a pissy look from both of us. He laughed as he jogged off toward Perses.

Sitting down, I took the bottle of water Aiden handed me and gulped it down. As Seth squared off against Perses, I readied myself for another round. When Seth ate floor, Aiden took his place. Half of my bones felt brittle, as if they were about to break, and I couldn’t fathom why Aiden was subjecting himself to this when he didn’t have to. Not that Perses was complaining. The more butts he was kicking, the happier he was. I stretched my legs out, easing the sore muscles. Every time I went up against Perses, I wanted to tap into akasha and just give a good old, aether-fueled bitch-slap in the—

“Holy daimon butts,” I whispered.

Seth glanced down at me, frowning. “Uh, what?”

Popping up to my feet, a smile split my lips. “I got it.”

He shook his head as he studied me. “Got what? Milk?”

“No.” Excited, I couldn’t wait until Aiden went down. Not that I really wanted that, but I wanted at Perses. “I know how to take him down.”

Seth snorted.

I ignored his lack of faith in my ability. Never once during our training had Perses told Seth and me that we couldn’t use our Apollyon abilities. We’d just assumed that we couldn’t. After all, we were treating these training sessions like we were back in class, fighting instructors. But we weren’t. We also weren’t normal students.

Aiden caught a kick in the middle of the back, taking him to his knees.

“We’re so stupid,” I said to Seth, grinning.

His brows rose. “Speak for yourself, Angel.”

As Aiden started back toward us, I passed him halfway, brushing my fingers down his arm. “I got this,” I told him.

He smiled down at me, and as I continued forward, I saw the pures gathered at the doors exchange looks of disgust and disbelief. I flipped them off.

Perses yawned. “Back so soon, girl?”

“I can’t wait to see your face when you hit the floor.” I shook my arms out, letting the rush of power in my veins make it to my skin.

His gaze flickered over me, and I knew that he, like the gods, could see the marks of the Apollyon. A smooth brow rose. “Well, let’s do this.”

Backing off, we circled one another, eyeing each other for that fine, slim moment of weakness. Springing forward, he twisted in midair, kicking out, but I spun to the side. He landed in a crouch, shooting up. Summoning akasha, I welcomed the rush of power as I threw my hand out. Shock flickered across his face. A pulse of light arced across the short distance between us, smacking into his chest. It wouldn’t kill him, but it definitely did the trick.

Perses stumbled back, his body bending at the waist. There were only a few seconds to complete this. Spinning around, I aimed my knee for his stomach. He tried to avoid the kick, but he wasn’t fast enough. I caught him in the midsection. He went down on one knee as I straightened. Bringing my arm down, I slammed my elbow into his back, between his shoulder blades. He planted his hands on the floor to catch himself. Moving lightning-quick and putting every muscle into the motion, I brought my leg up. The toe of my sneaker connected with his solar plexus. Perses flipped.

He hit the floor on his back, his eyes wide.

Silence.

It was like the sound had been sucked out of the room. And then I heard Aiden yell, and then Luke, and then Olivia. I’d done it.

I’d taken down a mother-freaking Titan.

Ares could suck it.

Standing over Perses, a ridiculously large smile crossed my face. “I don’t think you’ll be calling me ‘girl’ anymore.”

He grunted.

“What the hell?” Seth stalked up to us. “You used an element—akasha. How was that fair?”

Rocking back on my heels, I resisted the urge to start jumping around and clapping. “He never said we couldn’t use our abilities. We just assumed we couldn’t.”

Seth stared at me.

Perses shifted to his feet. “She’s right. It’s only taken a week for you idiots to figure that out. Even that one,” he said, gesturing to where Aiden waited. “He could’ve used fire, but he never did. To defeat Ares or any god, you will have to use every weapon you have. That was the lesson.”

I almost giggled with glee—actual glee.

Seth’s mouth dropped opened. “If that’s the case, I’ve couldn’t taken you down the first day.”

“But you didn’t.” Perses smiled as he tapped a long finger against his head. “You need to start using this as well as your muscles.”

Okay. I felt like clapping.

Seth rolled his eyes, but he turned to me. Nice work, Angel.

My smile spread, and I let my pride consume me for a moment. Perses ended the session shortly after that, and Seth disappeared out the door, parting the crowd like he was our version of Moses. I watched him go, knowing I needed to track him down. We had to do the transfer tonight.

Aiden hugged me when I joined him, resting his chin atop my head. “Brilliant.”

I laughed as I squeezed him. “Not really. Think about how long it took me to figure out that we should’ve been using our abilities the whole time.”

“Seth and I didn’t figure it out at all, so you’re one step ahead of us.” He stepped back, sliding his hands off me. A shiver coursed through me, something that didn’t go unnoticed. His eyes switched from gray to sliver. “What are you doing now?”

A flutter started in my stomach. “I’d love to do what you’re thinking.”

“But?”

“I need to talk with Seth.” Stretching up, I kissed his cheek. Part of me might have done it because the gaping pures were still at the door even though our friends had disappeared. The other part did it because I liked kissing Aiden. “See you in a bit?”

Aiden nodded, but the tense line of his jaw said he wasn’t happy. “You want me to go with you?”

I laughed under my breath. “No. That’s not going to help.”

He grumbled something and then said louder, “You did well today, you know that?”

A wide smile crossed my face. “Yes, I do.”

Aiden chuckled. “Modesty?”

“Bah!” I started to turn, but stopped. “Hey, can we, like, chill tonight? Watch a movie with Olivia and the guys? Deacon and Luke?”

He nodded. “If that’s what you want.”

It was what I wanted. Tomorrow, when we left for New York, things would get, well, they would get real. And I wanted the night before to not be stressful.

With the exception of trying to convince Seth to transfer power, and hopefully, I wouldn’t turn into the Terminator Apollyon afterward.

That would ruin our movie plans.

“Alex?”

I spun back to Aiden. “Yeah?”

“Be careful,” he said, swiping up his water bottle.

“Always.”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I knew he was worried about what I was about to do, and I knew he wanted to be with me, but having Aiden and Seth in the same room wasn’t going to help.

Walking toward the door, I raised an eyebrow at the remaining pures. They shifted to the sides, allowing me to pass.

I stopped in the hallway, facing them. “Hi.”

The three pures exchanged surprised glances, but none of them spoke.

“Ah, you have nothing to say.” I popped my hands on my hips and rocked back on my heels. “I know it’s shocking to see a pure and a half together. And yes, we’re together in the biblical sense.”

Their eyes widened.

I smirked. “And seriously? That’s not a big deal. So, why don’t you three douche canoes go find something else to gawk at? Or, I don’t know…get a hobby. Or better yet, there’s this huge war that’s about to start. You guys could go figure how you could help instead of standing around like a bunch of bigoted ass-hats. Okay? Buh-bye.”

Spinning around, I left them staring at me for a much better reason than age-old prejudices.

Back in the day, if I were looking for Seth, I’d probably have found him in the girls’ dorms or somewhere where a lot of single females were mingling, but now? I wasn’t so sure. With the exception of his wild and crazy night in Vegas, I hadn’t seen him pay attention to anyone, really.

Troubled, I sighed.

All of us had changed so much in the last year. Sometimes I didn’t recognize myself when I looked in the mirror, and not in the physical sense. It had to be the same for Seth—probably even more so for him.

Using the freaky connection between us, I headed down the marble pathway leading beyond the high-rising dorms. The cord began to tighten as I rounded the last dorm and the cemetery came into view.

A shudder snaked down my spine.

Seth was in the cemetery.

Yeah.

Picking up my pace, I reached the titanium-encased gates quickly. Among the mausoleums and a statue of Thanatos, the red and purple hyacinths swayed softly in the breeze. They caught my attention for a few moments as I walked to the center of the cemetery. Under the peaceful gaze of the stone Thanatos, I scanned the tombs.

There he was.

Sitting on a stone bench, Seth’s back was to the path. He sat straight, his gaze focused on the olive trees. It was so weird seeing them here in South Dakota, but like the gardens, the cemeteries had a godly green thumb. But what was even weirder was seeing Seth out here. Hanging out in places where tombs were built to remember the dead wasn’t his thing.

“Are you following me?” His voice carried on the wind.

I made my way over to him and sat beside him. “Maybe.”

One side of his lips tipped up. “Did you come to gloat about taking out Perses?”

“No.” A tiny grin fought to make a way onto my lips. I lost. “Maybe a little.”

He chuckled. “Figured.”

“I did damn good.”

Casting me a sidelong glance, he arched a brow. “You did. I almost had him.”

“So did Aiden,” I reminded him. “‘Almost’ being the key word.”

“Whatever.” He turned back to staring at the trees. I wondered what was so interesting about the clusters of leaves.

“What are you doing out here?”

“It’s weird, right? To be hanging out here?” He bent forward, resting his arms on his thighs. “I don’t know. It’s quiet. I like to come out here and think.”

It was quiet, too quiet. Granted, we were sitting in a middle of cemetery. Not a very happening place. “What are you thinking about?”

He chuckled again, but the sound was weak and strangely hollow. “Like you really care.”

I blinked and opened my mouth. His tone was light, but there was a coating of frost to his words. “If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t ask. You of all people know that.”

Moments passed, and then a breath shuddered from him. “Do you know what I think about when it’s quiet, Alex? I think about all the bad things I’ve done.”

My breath caught in my chest like someone had punched me. I didn’t know what to say at first. What I had seen Seth do and what I knew he’d been a part of was enough to earn him a trip to Tartarus. Then there were the things I didn’t know about and really didn’t want to find out.

Shifting on the bench, I rubbed my hands over my sweats as a chill danced along my skin. It was cooler in this part of the campus, unnaturally so for the time of year. It seemed like forever passed before I spoke. “We’ve all done bad things.”

“Ah,” he said, scrubbing his hands down his face. A smile peeked through every few seconds, but when he finally dropped his hands, it was gone. “Have you ever killed an innocent person?”

Dropping my gaze, I shook my head. “No.”

“That’s the level of bad things I’ve done. Maybe you’ve kissed a boy you shouldn’t have. Maybe you acted out when you should’ve thought more clearly about something,” he replied. “Maybe you hurt someone’s feelings or did the wrong thing, but nothing you’ve done will ever touch what I’m responsible for.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted quietly. “I can’t tell you that any of that is okay. You’d know I was lying. But Seth? You weren’t completely responsible for everything.”

“When an addict kills someone to get money for drugs, are they not responsible? Or is it the drug dealer’s fault?” When I didn’t answer, he laughed dryly. “Anyway, obviously I’m not thinking about those things right this second. You’re here. And I know there’s a reason for you being here other than stalking me.”

Now I felt kind of bad for why I had come looking for him. In spite of everything that Seth had done to others and to me, a part of me still cared for him and considered him a friend—and something more that could never quite be labeled. He needed someone to talk to. He needed someone to help him make things better. He needed someone who cared for him—cared for him more than I did.

Swallowing, I turned my gaze to the trees. I felt like an über-bitch for my next words. “I want to do the transfer of power now. That’s why I came here.” He was silent, but I could feel his eyes drilling holes through the side of my head. “I don’t want to wait until we get to the Catskills. We should do it now. Get it over with so we—”

“No.” Steel poured into that one word. “We wait until we’re about to face Ares. Not a moment sooner.”

I turned my head toward his. “Why not? And don’t you say ‘because I said so’.”

His lips twisted wryly. “Damn, there goes my only explanation.”

My eyes narrowed.

“We wait,” he said, his eyes narrowing too. “It’s not up for discussion.”

“How can you say it’s not up for discussion? You’re not the only person who has a say in this.”

“I’m the only person whose say matters,” he replied.

Pushing off the bench, I stood in front of him. “Oh, now you’re just pissing me off.”

Seth smiled. “So?”

“This isn’t funny, Seth. Why in the hell are you so adamant on waiting? I’m ready. You should be ready, too. This isn’t just about you, buddy.”

The infuriating smile remained fixed. “Like I said before, you have no idea what it’s like to be the First, how hard it is. So you can’t even imagine what it will be like when you become the God Killer.”

Anger flooded my system. “Oh, come off it, Seth! All you do is whine about how ‘terrible the need’ is and—”

In a nanosecond, Seth was in my face. He moved that fast, causing my heart to jump. I jerked back. Apollyon or not, he was the First, and when he moved like that, it didn’t create a happy feeling. “All I do is whine?” Anger flushed his cheeks, and his amber eyes glowed. “You have no idea, Alex. You’re just the Apollyon. That’s all you have to deal with.”

I stepped back, trying to rein in my own anger. “I have to deal with our connection and the stupid cord inside me spazzing out all the time.”

“Oh, you poor, little thing.” He took a step forward, and the marks seeped into his skin. He was not happy. Perhaps I didn’t know when to keep my mouth shut. “You have a cord to deal with while I have to deal with the fact that, every time I’m around you, all I can even think about is transferring the power.”

The anger coursing through my veins immediately switched to the acidic burn of unease. I sidestepped him and the bench, thinking space might be good about right now.

Seth advanced, following me back up the path. “Every fucking time, Alex. I’m the First. It’s what I’m supposed to do. It’s what I was built to do. So resisting that is bad enough, but after having had a taste of that power? Oh, you have no idea.”

My eyes widened. When Seth had pulled on my power to take out the Council and kill the furie, he’d tapped into just the tiniest bit of power that existed in the God Killer, and that tiny taste had been enough.

I swallowed hard as I stopped under the wing of a marble Thanatos. Seth?

“Don’t,” he spat, drawing in a deep breath. “I fight the need every single second of the day. I’m trying here, so I’m sorry that it comes across as whining.”

Widening my stance, I prepared myself just in case Seth went completely crazy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that—”

“It doesn’t matter!”

His eyes flashed an intense shade of amber a second before sparks erupted from his bare arms. A bolt of intense light—akasha—flew out from him, smacking into the center of the statue.

Marble cracked like a whip of thunder. Stone splintered as I turned, sending chunks into the air. Throwing my arms up, I shielded my face as shards blasted through the air and dust thickened around me. Tiny chunks pelted my back and arms.

When it settled, I slowly lowered my arms. My heart pounded insanely fast as my gaze locked with his.

“Shit,” Seth muttered, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “Just stay…stay away from me.”

I didn’t have a chance to respond. He spun on his heel, leaving me standing there among the remains of the ruined statue. There was no way we could stay away from each other. Right now, we needed each other, especially to transfer the power, but it was more than that.

But I didn’t chase after him. I let him go. He won. We would wait, but we couldn’t wait forever.