Sentinel

“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.

CHAPTER 20

The skies were gray and overcast. Clouds were thick. A fine drizzle coated the ground and our vehicles. The slight chill in the air warned that autumn was well on its way. Perses had wanted to travel with the rest of the army, but none of us trusted him enough to let that happen. Gods only knew what he’d get himself into between here and the Catskills.

Luke and Olivia also were traveling with us, mainly because Deacon and I demanded that they did.

“Do you think Deacon will talk the entire trip?” Olivia asked, hoisting a small bag of weapons and tucking several small coins into a pocket on her leg. It was a depressing necessity after what had happened to Lea, and we all carried them now. Just in case. “I’m betting at least fifty bucks that he does until he passes out.”

I laughed. “I’m not betting against that. On the way here, I thought Marcus was going to strangle him.”

“I would’ve if he hadn’t fallen asleep,” Marcus said, coming out from behind us. “Or at the very least, I would’ve knocked him out.”

Olivia giggled. “Want me to get that?” She gestured at my own bag of things made to stab and dismember.

“Nah,” I said. “I got it.”

Smiling at Marcus, she headed toward where Luke and Deacon stood behind a black Expedition. Deacon spun around and pulled Olivia into a dance you’d see in a ballroom while Luke took the bag of weapons from her. A laugh escaped my lips as I watched him dip Olivia over his arm.

“He’s something else, isn’t he?” Marcus folded his arms. “In spite of everything, he’s…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “He’s just Deacon.”

“That’s what I love about him.”

Marcus glanced at me, his expression unreadable. Several seconds passed. “Are you ready for this, Alexandria?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I admitted, wiping the fine sheen of rain off my forehead. Seth appeared with Perses. They headed toward another vehicle. My stomach tipped over. I hadn’t seen Seth since he’d left me in the cemetery last night.

Seth glanced over to where Marcus and I stood. Our eyes met for a second and then he looked away, saying something to Perses.

“You haven’t transferred the power yet,” Marcus said.

My lips pursed. “No. We’re going to do it when we get to New York.” I hope, but I didn’t add that last part. Taking a deep breath, I forced my gaze away from Seth and turned to my uncle.

The lines around his eyes appeared deeper than they had been yesterday. Gray hairs liberally sprinkled his chestnut-colored hair. I hadn’t noticed them before, but they had to have been there. His eyes were sharp with keen intelligence and clear with foresight, as usual.

In a second, I saw him as he’d been the first day I’d returned to the Covenant. He’d sat behind that shiny desk of his, full of stiff, unyielding authority, and his displeased stare had made me dislike him immediately. A lot had changed since the day he’d almost kicked me out of the Covenant. He’d changed. So had I. Somewhere in the last year, he’d gone from being the Dean to becoming my uncle. And I never would’ve believed that last year. I honestly hadn’t believed that he cared one bit about me, but I knew now he always had. He may’ve had a hard time showing it, and I’d just made it even harder for him to do so. I’d been such a brat.

His lips tipped up at the corners. When he spoke, it was as if he knew what I was thinking. “I’m not sure I’ve ever told you this, Alexandria, but I am proud of you.”

My eyes misted over, but I blamed the rain. “You never thought you’d say that, huh?”

“No, I always knew that one day I would say that,” he replied, his slight smile softening his features. “I’d just hoped it would’ve been when you graduated from the Covenant.”

“Same here,” I sighed.

“You make sure you come back here.” His voice thickened. “After all, you haven’t technically graduated yet, and there are a few courses you need to finish up before you can.”

I laughed, but the sound caught in my throat. “Okay. Deal.”

Marcus nodded and unfolded his arms. He started to turn, but he stopped. An emotion I couldn’t quite pick out flickered across his face, and a second later he hugged me. My uncle gave the most awkward hugs in history. But in a way, they were the best.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled the faint scent of his cologne and hugged him back.

“I know you will look for your father when you get there,” he said, his voice low. “I know how much finding him means to you, but you need to be careful. There will be time afterward to find him.”