I might hate the connection that fed my emotions to Seth more than I hated anything in my life. “Don’t push me, Seth. Leave, or I’ll make you leave.”

He was in my face in a heartbeat. Grasping my arms, he lowered his head so that we were eye level. “Look, I can leave this room. Fine. You’re still going to feel like hell, which means I’m still going to feel like hell.”

I inhaled roughly, unable to escape him. Tears burned my eyes and clogged the back of my throat, threatening to choke me.

He took a deep breath. “I knew you’d lied to me when you said you didn’t… love him. Why are you doing this to yourself? Aiden is like every other pure, Alex. Sure, he may have moments where it doesn’t seem that way, but he isa pure-blood.”

I turned my head away from Seth, biting down on my lip until I tasted blood. An hour ago I would never have agreed with that, but Aiden had just said the very same thing.

“And what if he did love you, Alex? What then? Would you be satisfied with being something he had to hide? Satisfied with lying to everyone and watching him pretend like he didn’t care for you? Then, when you did get caught, would you be satisfied giving your life up for him?”

All very good questions, ones that I’d asked myself time and time again.

“You’re too important, too special to throw everything away for a pure.” Seth sighed, dropping his hands to mine. “Now, I brought us a movie to watch, the one that has sparkly vampires in it. I thought you’d be down for that.”

I studied him silently. He looked like he always did—a living, breathing statue. Perfection without any humanity, and yet he was here. “I can’t figure you out.”

He didn’t answer as he deposited me on the couch. He put the movie in and then returned to the couch, remote in hand. “I’m moody,” he said finally, fiddling with the controls.

I stared at him and a strangled sort of laugh escaped me. Moody? More like borderline personality disorder or something. But who was I to judge? I had to be crazy, didn’t I? I’d fallen for a pure-blood. That topped the list of symptoms for possible mental illness.

Thinking about Aiden brought a sharp pang to my chest. And here I’d thought my heart was somewhere in the gym, bleeding on the floor. I tried focusing on the movie, but my brain wasn’t into it. Immediately, I rewound my conversation with Aiden—all my conversations with him, actually. How could he go from the guy I could spill my guts to—could trust and rely on, who could make my heart swell with the tiniest of smiles or compliment—to someone just as cold as I believed Seth to be?

Yet Seth sat next to me.

Maybe he wasn’t as cold as he appeared, and Aiden wasn’t as perfect as I’d believed him to be. Maybe my judgment was just as screwed up as my taste in guys.

Seth sighed again, this time much louder than before. Quietly and rather casually, he reached over and tugged me across the couch. I ended up with the side of my face smooshed against his thigh and his heavy arm draped over my side. “What are you—?”

“Shh,” he murmured. “I’m watching the movie.”

I tried to sit up, but didn’t make it very far. His arm weighed a ton. Several unsuccessful attempts later, I gave up. “So… uh, you’re a Team Edward kind of guy?”

He snorted. “No. I’m Team James or Team Tyler’s Van, but apparently neither of them won by the look of it. She’s still alive.”

“Yeah, seems that way.”

Seth didn’t say anything after that, and eventually, my body relaxed and some of the hurt eased off. It was still there, but muted by Seth’s nearly overwhelming presence—the Apollyon connection doing its thing. Perhaps that was why Seth had made himself available. Or maybe he’d just wanted to witness my stupidity.

CHAPTER 11

THE NEXT WEEK OF MY LIFE SUCKED.

It sucked in a way I wasn’t entirely accustomed to. I’d had crushes before, even a few cases of mad lusting. But I’d never loved someone other than my Mom and Caleb, and that was a different kind of love.

This kind of love hurt like hell.

Not seeing Aiden after class felt wrong, like something was missing or I’d forgotten something terribly important. On the days I should’ve practiced with him, I tried spending time with Caleb and Olivia, but I usually retreated to my room and sulked until Seth showed up.

I missed Aiden, missed him so badly. Hurt consumed every waking second, turning me into one of those girls whose world ended when a guy rejected them. I lived in this miserable state of existence—miserable and obnoxious.

“Are you going to get out of this bed at some point today?” Caleb sat with his back against the headboard of my bed. A classics textbook lay unopened in his lap. He’d gotten the humiliating story out of me a few days ago. Just like Seth, he hadn’t been surprised by the outcome. However, he’d been pretty pissed that I’d been entertaining the idea of a relationship with Aiden this entire time. And I just felt more stupid.

He nudged me with his knee when I didn’t respond. “Alex, it’s almost seven and you haven’t budged.”

“I don’t have anything to do.”

“Have you even showered?” Caleb asked.

I rolled over, shoving my face into my pillow. “No.”

“That’s kind of gross.”

“Uh-huh,” was my muffled response. A second later his cell made this annoyingly shrill sound from the table next to my bed, and the textbook smacked the floor. I didn’t move. Caleb climbed over me, shoving his elbow into my back.

“Gods!” I yelled into the pillow. “Ouch.”

“Shush,” Caleb said, still sprawled over me, his bony elbows digging into my back as he flipped his phone around and checked his messages.

I could turn my head to the side, but that was all. “Jeez, you weigh a ton. Who is it? Olivia?”

Caleb rolled onto his side, cracking my lower back in the process. Kind of felt good. “Yeah, she wants to know what the smell is radiating up to her room.”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously, she wants to know if you’ve showered.” He shifted onto his stomach. “You know, you’re kind of comfortable. You’re getting some extra cushion, Alex.”

“Am not, you douche.”

He laughed. “Olivia wants to know if we want to watch a movie.”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? It’s a simple question.”

I managed to wiggle out a shrug.

Caleb snorted. “Look, I just sat here for the entire day while you stared up at the ceiling like an idiot. You’re getting out of this bed, taking a shower, and we’re going to have a movie night in yourdorm. Then Olivia and I are going to leave and engage in wild animal sex. End of discussion.”

“Ew, that’s an image I never wanted imbedded in my memory. Thanks.”

“Whatever. So what do you think? You game?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s almost curfew time.”

“What the hell?” He dropped the phone next to my head, and the next thing I knew, he was sitting on my back with both his hands planted on my shoulders. “We haven’t done anything fun in ages, Alex. And you need fun—STAT.”

“You’re killing me,” I squeaked. “Can’t… breathe.”

“It’s not like I’m suggesting we have a threesome. I’m suggesting we sneak over to the cafeteria, grab some drinks and food, and then watch a movie.”

I lifted my head off the pillow. “Darn, you’re not suggesting a threesome? My life is over.”

“Pay attention to the finer points of what I’m saying. With all the rules crap and you being grounded,” Caleb continued while his phone buzzed in my ear. “Besides, you’re leaving next week for the Council and you’re going to be gone for weeks. We need to do this. You need to do this. It’s our last hoorah.”

“Can you check your phone? It’s annoying.”

He leaned forward, pressing his head against the back of mine. “Where’s the old Alex I know and love, my wild and crazy friend?”