I smiled.

Seth chuckled, and then his mouth was making its way to mine, and I opened for him. The edges of his hair tickled my cheeks as the kiss deepened. His fingers drifted down the front of my blouse and then they were sliding over the bare skin of my stomach. I wrapped my leg around his, and we were moving together on the bed. His lips were dancing all over my flushed skin as his hands slid down, fingers finding the button on my jeans.

A second later, there was a knock on my door and a booming voice. “Alexandria?”

Seth stilled above me, panting. “You have got to be freaking kidding me.”

Leon knocked again. “Alexandria, I know you’re in there.”

Dazed, I blinked several times. The room slowly came back into focus, as did Seth’s disgruntled expression. I almost laughed, except I felt… off.

“You better answer him, angel, before he barges in here.”

I tried, but failed. I took a deep breath. “Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I’m in here.”

There was a pause. “Lucian is requesting your presence immediately.” Another gap of silence followed. “He is also requesting to see you, Seth.”

Seth frowned as the gleam in his eyes faded. “How in the world does he know I’m in here?”

“Leon… just knows.” I pushed at him weakly. “Get off.”

“I was trying to.” Seth rolled over, running his hands down his face.

I scowled at him and sat up. A wave of dizziness swept over me. My gaze moved from Seth to my curled hand. Slowly, I opened it. Glowing in iridescent blue was a glyph that was shaped like a staple. Both of my hands were marked.

He leaned over my shoulder. “Hey, you got another one.”

I swung at him and missed by a mile. “You did that on purpose.”

Seth shrugged as he straightened his shirt. “You didn’t mind, now did you?”

“That’s not the point, you douchenozzle. I shouldn’t have these.”

He glanced up, brows arched. “Look, I didn’t do it on purpose. I have no idea how or why it happens. Maybe it’s happening because it’s supposed to.”

“People are waiting,” Leon called from the hallway. “Time is of the essence.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “They couldn’t have waited another thirty or sixty minutes?”

“I don’t know what you think you were going to get accomplished in that extra time.”

Still feeling a little dizzy, I swayed when I stood and looked down at my unbuttoned shirt and bra. Now how did that happen?

Seth grinned at me.

I fumbled with the buttons, turning a thousand shades of red. My anger with Seth smoldered inside me, but I was too tired to get into a verbal smackdown. And then there was Lucian. What the hell could he want?

“You missed one.” Seth sprung to his feet and clasped the button above my navel. “And stop blushing. Everyone is going to think we weren’t training.”

“We were?”

His grin spread, and I wanted to smack him upside the head. But I took the time to smooth my hair and tug out the wrinkles in my shirt. By the time we met Leon in the hall, I felt like I looked pretty decent.

Leon eyed me like he knew exactly what had been going on in the dorm. “Nice of you two to finally join me.”

Seth shoved his hands into his pockets. “We take training really seriously. Sometimes we get so caught up in it, it takes a few minutes for us to come down.”

My mouth dropped open. Now I really wanted to hit him.

Leon’s eyes narrowed on Seth then he turned stiffly, gesturing for us to follow him. I trailed behind the two, wondering why Leon would care what I was doing in the room. Everyone wanted us to embrace our Apollyon goodness. Then I thought of Aiden and my heart seized.

Well, probably not everyone.

A weird, twisty feeling took over my stomach. What’d just happened in there? We’d gone from talking to full-on making out when nothing like that had occurred since the Catskills. I glanced down at my hands.

The super-special cord had happened.

I felt sort of sick when I looked up and watched Seth swagger down the hall. Cheeks glowing, he looked like he could barely contain the energy rushing through him. Confusion swept through me. The whole energy transfer thing had actually felt good, and so had the stuff afterward, but Aiden’s face haunted me.

Seth glanced over his shoulder at me as Leon opened the door. Darkness had already started to fall, but the shadow that crept over Seth’s face was no product of the night.

I tried to build up the wall around me.

And I failed.

CHAPTER 4

I WAS EXHAUSTED BY THE TIME I DROPPED INTO THE seat furthest from Marcus’ desk. Those stairs had been a bitch, but I was grateful that I hadn’t been expected to walk to the adjoining island where Lucian lived. I didn’t believe I’d have made it. All I wanted to do was curl up and go to bed—go anywhere other than this brightly-lit room.

“Where is everyone?” Seth asked, standing behind me. His hands rested on the back of the chair, but his fingers, shielded by my hair, were pressed into my back. “I thought time was of the essence.”

Leon looked smug. “I must have mistaken the time.”

A tired smile tugged at my lips as I pulled my legs up, tucking them under me. Like I said, Leon was the King of Impeccable Timing. Maybe I’d get a nap before everyone showed up. I closed my eyes, scarcely paying attention to Leon and Seth trying to outsnark one another.

“Most training doesn’t occur in a dorm room,” Leon said. “Or have they drastically changed methods?”

Snark point two to Leon.

“The kind of training that we have to do is unconventional.” Seth paused and I knew he had that horrible smile on his face. The one I’d wanted to drop-kick off so many times. “Not that a Sentinel would fully understand the amount of effort that goes into preparing an Apollyon.”

Snark point three to Seth.

I yawned as I scooted down in the chair, resting my cheek on the back of the chair.

“Is something wrong, Alexandria?” Leon asked. “You look awfully pale.”

“She’s fine,” Seth answered. “Our training was rather… exhausting. You know, there’s a lot of moving around. Sweating, thrus—”

“Seth,” I snapped, reluctantly handing over snark points four, five, and six to him.

Thankfully, the doors to Marcus’ office opened and an entourage of people entered. First was my pure-blood uncle, the Dean of the Covenant in North Carolina. Behind him was my pure-blood stepfather Lucian, the Minister of the North Carolina Covenant. He was in his ridiculous white robes, his stark black hair hanging down his back, secured in a leather thong. He was a handsome man, but there was always a level of coldness and fakeness to him no matter how warm his words might be. He was flanked by four of his Guards, as if he expected a fleet of daimons to jump on him and suck out all his aether. I suppose, given the recent events, he couldn’t be too careful. And behind them were Guard Linard and Aiden.

I averted my eyes and prayed Seth actually kept his mouth shut.

Marcus glanced at me as he sat behind his desk, brows rising curiously. “Are we keeping you from a nap, Alexandria?”

No, how are you?or good to see you alive. Yeah, he loved me lots.

Leon retreated to the corner, folding his arms. “They were training,”he paused, “in her room.”

I wanted to die.

Marcus frowned, but Lucian—oh, dear Lucian—had a typical response. Sitting down in one of the chairs across from Marcus, he spread out his robes and laughed. “It is expected. They are young and drawn to one another. You cannot fault them for seeking privacy.”

I couldn’t help it. My eyes found Aiden. He stood beside Leon and Linard, his gaze flitting over the room, stopping and lingering on me before passing on. I let go of the breath I’d been holding and focused on my uncle.