Lucian, who had grown quiet and docile, nodded.

The discussion ended and I got a momentary reprieve. I wouldn’t be leaving the Covenant now, but I couldn’t shake the dread gnawing at my stomach that, eventually, the decision wouldn’t be mine to make.

CHAPTER 5

I OVERSLEPT THE FOLLOWING MORNING AND MISSED my first two classes. It kind of worked out, since I didn’t have to face Olivia after trying to choke her the day before, but the exhaustion from the previous night continued to drag at me. I spent the break before my afternoon classes arguing with Seth.

“What is your deal?” He pushed his chair back.

“I’ve already told you.” I glanced around the sparsely populated common room. It was better than eating in the cafeteria where everyone stared at us. “I know you knew about Lucian’s plan to put me in the Apollyon Relocation Program.”

Seth groaned. “Okay. Fine. He may have mentioned it. So what? It’s a smart idea.”

“It’s not a smart idea, Seth. I need to graduate, not go into hiding.” I looked down at my barely touched cold-cut sub. My stomach turned over. “I’m not going to run.”

He leaned back in the chair, lacing his hands behind his head. “Lucian does have your best interests in mind.”

“Oh, gods. Do not start with the Lucian crap. You don’t know him like I do.”

“People change, Alex. He may have been a giant douche before, but he’s changed.”

I leveled a look at him, and suddenly, I didn’t even know why I was arguing. My shoulders slumped. “What is the point, anyway?”

Seth frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” I toyed with my straw.

He leaned forward, nudging my plate. “You should eat more.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I snapped.

He held up his hands, sitting back. “Simmer down, cuddle-bunny.”

“All of this is your fault, anyway.”

Seth snorted. “How is this my fault?”

I scowled. “No one wants to kill you, but you’re the one who’ll have the potential to wipe out the entire Olympian Court. But everyone is like, ‘Let’s kill the one who isn’t doing anything!’ And you canjust skip off into the sunset while I’m dead.”

His lips twitched again. “I wouldn’t skip off if you were dead. I’d be sad.”

“You’d be sad because you wouldn’t be the God Killer.” I picked up my sub, turning it over slowly. “Olivia hates me.”

“Alex…”

“What?” I looked up. “She does, because I let Caleb die.”

His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t let Caleb die, Alex.”

I sighed, suddenly wanting to cry. It was official: I was certifiably whacked out today. “I know. I miss her.”

“Have you tried talking to her?” His eyes widened at my look. He motioned at the sub. “Eat.”

Grudgingly, I took a huge, sloppy bite.

Seth arched a brow as he watched me. “Hungry?”

I swallowed. The food formed a heavy lump in my stomach. “No.”

We didn’t talk for a few minutes. Without wanting to, I turned over my left hand and looked at where the staple-shaped rune glowed softly. “Did… did you do this on purpose?”

“What? The rune?” He took my hand, holding it so my palm faced up. “No, I didn’t do it on purpose. I’ve already told you that.”

“I don’t know. You looked like you were concentrating really hard when it happened.”

“I was concentrating on your emotions.” Seth ran his thumb around the glyph, coming close to touching it. “You don’t like this, do you?”

“No,” I whispered. Another mark meant one more step toward becoming someone—something else.

“It’s natural, Alex.”

“It doesn’t feel natural.” My eyes flicked to his. “What does this one mean?”

“Strength of the gods,” he answered, surprising me. “The other one means courage of the soul.”

“Courage of the soul?” I laughed. “That doesn’t make sense.”

His hand slid to my wrist, resting his thumb over my pulse. “They are the first marks the Apollyons receive.”

My wrist seemed so small in his hand, fragile even. “Did yours come early?”

“No.”

I sighed. “What happened… between us last night?”

A wicked grin played over his lips. “Well, most kids call it making out.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I pulled my hand free and rubbed my palm over the edge of the table. “I felt it—the energy or whatever you want to call it—leaving me and going into you.”

“Did it hurt you?”

I shook my head. “It kind of felt good.”

His nostrils flared as if he smelled something he liked. Then, without any warning, he leaned over the table between us, clasped my cheeks and brought his mouth to mine. The kiss was soft, teasing, and felt really weird. Kissing last night really hadn’t counted—or at least I’d convinced myself of that. So this was the first real kiss since the Catskills, and it was a totally public display. And I was still holding the sub in my right hand. So yeah, it felt bizarre.

Seth pulled back, smiling. “I think we should do that more often, then.”

My cheeks were burning, because I knew people were staring. “Kissing?”

He laughed. “I’m all about kissing more, but I meant what happened last night.”

Out of nowhere, anger crept over me. “Why? Did you feel anything?”

One brow arched. “Oh, I felt something.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I meant when you were holding my hand and the mark appeared. Did you feel anything?”

“Nothing you apparently want me to talk about.”

“Gods.” I squeezed the sub. Globs of mayo splattered off the plastic plate. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”

Seth slowly exhaled. “Are you PMSing or something? Because your mood swings are killing me.”

I stared a moment, thinking wow, did he really just go there? And then I cocked back my arm and launched the sub across the table. It hit his chest with a somewhat satisfying plop, but it was the look on his face as he jumped out of his seat that almost had me smiling. A cross between disbelief and horror marked his features as he knocked pieces of lettuce and ham off his shirt and pants.

There were only a handful of people in the common room, mostly younger pure-bloods. All of them stared, eyes wide.

Throwing a sub at the Apollyon probably wasn’t something that should be done in public. But I couldn’t help it; I laughed.

Seth’s head jerked up. His eyes were a heated, angry ocher. “Did that make you feel better?”

My eyes watered from laughing so hard. “Yeah, it kind of did.”

“You know, let’s cancel training after class for today.” His jaw flexed, cheeks flushed. “Get some rest.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

Seth opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped. Brushing off the last of the ham and cheese, he pivoted around and left. I couldn’t believe I’d just thrown my lunch at Seth. That seemed a little extreme even for me.

But it was funny.

I giggled to myself.

“Are you going to clean that up?”

Jumping a little in my seat, I looked up. Linard stepped out from behind one of the columns, eyeing the mess on the floor. “Are you, like, watching me?”

He smiled tightly. “I’m here to make sure you are safe.”

“And thatis kind of creepy.” I pushed out of my seat, grabbing a napkin off my plate. I picked up what I could, but the mayo was stuck to the carpet. “Is this Lucian’s idea?”

“No.” He folded his hands behind his back. “It was Dean Andros’ request.”

I stilled. “For real?”

“For real,” he replied. “You should get going. Your next class will begin soon.”

I nodded absently, tossed my trash, and grabbed my bag. Marcus’ order surprised me. I expected Lucian to sic his Guards on me. He wouldn’t want anything to happen to his precious Apollyon. Maybe Marcus didn’t find me as distasteful as I thought he did.