Her eyes closed. “Want to hear something funny?”

I blinked. “Yeah.”

Turning to me, she grinned even though her eyes glistened with tears. “After the day you and Jackson had that fight, everyone was talking about it in the cafeteria. Cody was walking by and said something ignorant. I don’t remember what—probably something about how great being a pure-blood is.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, Lea got up all casually and dumped her entire plate of food on his head.” A giggle broke free. “I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I wished you’d seen that. It was hilarious.”

My mouth dropped open. “Seriously? What did Cody do? Did Lea get in trouble?”

“Cody threw a fit, calling us a bunch of heathens or something lame like that. I think Lea got written up and her sister wasn’t too happy with her.”

“Wow. That doesn’t sound like Lea.”

“She’s kind of changed.” Olivia sobered up. “You know, after everything? She’s not the same. Anyway, I have some stuff I need to do, but I’m… I’m glad we talked.”

I met her gaze and felt some of the tension leak away. It wouldn’t be like before, not for awhile. “Me, too.”

She looked relieved as she smiled. “See you in the cafeteria for lunch tomorrow?”

“Sure. I’ll be there.”

“I’m leaving for winter break next week with my mom. Some kind of Council business she has to attend to and she wants me to go with her, but when I get back, can we do something? Like maybe watch a movie or hang out?”

While mortals had winter break over the Christmas holiday, we had ours the entire month of February, in celebration of Anthesterion. Back in the old days, the festival was only three days and everyone pretty much got drunk in honor of Dionysus. It was like All Souls Night and Carnival rolled into one giant, drunken orgy. At some point the pures had extended the festival to an entire month, calmed it down, and filled it with Council sessions. Slaves and servants used to be able to participate, but that had also changed. “Yeah, that would be great. I’d love to.”

“Good. I’ll keep you to that.” Olivia got up to leave, but stopped at the door. Turning around, she gave me a small wave and a tentative smile before dipping out.

I glanced at my notebook. Some of the hurt and guilt that had lingered after Caleb’s death had lifted. I took a deep breath and scribbled a quick note to Laadan, telling her not to worry about the drink incident and thanking her for telling me about my father. Then I wrote two sentences under the brief paragraph.

Later that night, I sealed the letter and handed it over to Leon, who was hovering outside my dorm, with explicit instructions to give it to Aiden.

“May I ask why you’re passing notes to Aiden?” He eyed the letter like it was a bomb.

“It’s a love note. I’m asking him to circle ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if he likes me.”

Leon pinned me with a bland look, but shoved the letter in his back pocket. I gave him a cheeky grin before shutting the door. It felt like a semi-truck was lifted from my shoulders now that I’d written the letter. Spinning away from the door, I darted toward the computer desk. My bare toes smacked against something thick and heavy.

“Ouch!” Hopping on one leg, I looked down. “Oh, my gods, I am so stupid.”

The Myths and Legends book stared up at me. I bent quickly and grabbed it. Somehow, during all the craziness, I’d forgotten about it. Sitting down, I cracked open the dusty thing and began searching for the section Aiden had mentioned in New York.

I had no luck in the part written in English. Sighing, I flipped to the front of the book and started skimming the pages covered in what looked like gibberish to me. My fingers stilled about a hundred pages in, not because I recognized any of the writing, but because I recognized the symbol at the top of the page.

It was a torch turned down.

There were several pages written in ancient Greek, completely useless to me. They should be teaching that instead of trig at the Covenant, but what did I know? Then again, the pures were taught the old language.

Aiden knew the old language—kind of nerdy, in a totally hot way.

If I could find out more about the Order, then maybe we could get the evidence needed to prove that something crazy was up with Telly and Romvi. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that it had anything to do with what had happened, but it was much better than Seth’s suggestion.

The last thing we needed was an uprising… or one of us killing anotherpure-blood.

CHAPTER 8

LATER THAT NIGHT, WHEN I WAS HALF ASLEEP, I HEARD the familiar click of my door unlocking. I rose onto my elbow, pushing the mess of hair out of my face. The fine shiver tiptoeing down my spine told me it was Seth. Locks didn’t stand a chance against him. He either melted them or used the element of air to unlatch them from the other side.

He stopped just inside the doorway. His eyes were a soft, tawny glow in the dark.

Surprised to see him, it took me a few moments to say anything. “You’re not supposed to be in my dorm this late, Seth.”

“Has that ever stopped me before?” He sat on the edge of my bed and I could feel his gaze on me. “You’ve been in a much better mood this evening.”

“And here I thought I was getting better at blocking you.”

“You are. You did really well at practice today.”

“Is that why you’re here?” I heard him kick off his shoes. “Because I’m less likely to throw food at you right now?”

“Maybe.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I was beginning to think you found your own bed more appealing.”

“You missed me.”

I shrugged. “Seth, about Jackson—”

“I’ve already told you. I didn’t have anything to do with that. And why would I do such a bad, bad thing?”

“I don’t know why. Maybe because you’re psychotic?”

Seth laughed. “‘Psychotic’ is such an extreme term. That would suggest I don’t feel guilty about my actions.”

I arched a brow. “My point exactly.”

When he pulled back the covers, I scooted over and watched him slide his legs under them. He eased onto his side, facing me. “You do realize I have a guard detail. They’ll know you’re in here.”

“I passed Linard on my way in.” He brushed back a stand of hair that had fallen across my cheek, tucking it behind my ear. His hand lingered. “He told me I was breaking the rules. I told him to bite me.”

“And what did he say to that?”

Seth’s hand dropped to my shoulder, covering the thin strap of my tank top. The cord inside me started to hum softly. “He didn’t look too happy. Said he was going to report me to Marcus.”

My heart dropped a little. There was no doubt in my mind that meant Aiden would hear about this; Aiden had to be aware of Seth’s sleeping habits. Knots formed in my stomach as I stared at Seth. I’m not with Aiden. I’m not with Aiden. I’m not doing anything wrong. Tension still dug into my muscles.

“Not that Marcus can really do anything about it.” He leaned over, gently guiding me down so that I was lying on my back. His fingers glided under the strap, and I shivered as his rough knuckles brushed over my collarbone. “He’s just the Dean.”

“And my uncle,” I pointed out. “I doubt he likes the idea of boys sleeping in my bed.”

“Hmm, but I’m not just any boy.” He tipped his head down. His hair fell forward, shielding his face. “I’m the Apollyon.”

My chest rose sharply. “The rules… still apply to you and me.”

“Ah, I remember this girl who couldn’t follow a simple rule even if her life depended on it.” He angled his head, which caused his nose to brush mine. “And I think what we’re doing, right now, is the least shocking rule you’ve broken.”