01. Half-Blood Read online

  “You know what you said about your parents not wanting you to have this kind of life?”

  Aiden nodded, a curious look on his face. He probably wondered where the hel I was going with this.

  “I think—no, I know they would be proud of you, anyways.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Do you think that because I offered to train you?”

  “No. I think that because I remember you.”

  My words seemed to catch him off guard. “How? We didn’t share any classes or schedules.”

  “I saw you around a few times. I always knew when you were around,” I blurted out.

  Aiden’s lips tipped at the corners as he stared down at me. “What?”

  I took a step back, flushing. “I mean, you had this reputation for being so kickass. Even though you were stil in school, everyone knew you were going to be an awesome Sentinel.”

  “Oh.” He laughed again, relaxing a little bit. “I suppose I should be flattered.”

  I nodded vigorously. “You should be. The halfs look up to you. Wel , the ones who want to be Sentinels. Just the other day, they were tel ing me about how many kil s you’ve made. It’s legendary. Especial y for a pure—I’m sorry. I don’t mean kil ing a lot of daimons is necessarily a good thing or something to be proud of, but… I need to shut up now.”

  “No. I understand what you’re saying. Kil ing is a necessity of our world. Each one takes its tol , because the daimon used to be a good person. Someone you may have known. It’s never easy to take someone’s life, but to stare down at someone you once considered a friend is… much harder.”

  I made a face. “I don’t know if I could do it… ” I saw the amusement fade from his face. That must not have been the right response. “I mean, when we see the daimon, we halfs see them for what they truly look like. At least, at first and then we see them for who they used to be. The elemental magic changes them back so they look like they used to. You already know that, of course, even if you don’t see through the dark magic like we do. I could do it. I’m sure I could kil someone I once knew.”

  Aiden’s lips pursed and he looked away. “It’s hard when it’s someone you knew.”

  “Have you ever fought one you knew before they went al dark side?”

  “Yes.”

  I swal owed. “Did you… ?”

  “Yes. It wasn’t easy.” He faced me. “It’s getting late, wel past your curfew, and you aren’t getting off easy for tonight.

  I expect to see you in the gym tomorrow by eight.”

  “What?” I’d assumed I had the weekend to myself.

  He simply raised his brows. “Do I need to list the rules you’ve broken?”

  I wanted to point out I wasn’t the only one who’d broken rules tonight—and that some people who weren’t me were stil currently breaking rules—but I managed to keep my mouth shut. Even I could acknowledge my punishment could be far worse. Nodding, I started to walk up to my dorm.

  “Alex?”

  I turned around, figuring he’d changed his mind and was going to order me to see Marcus in the morning and fess up to my bad behavior. “Yeah?”

  He brushed a lock of dark hair off his forehead and flashed that lopsided smile. “I remember you.”

  I scrunched up my face. “What?”

  The grin increased to a ful smile. And… oh, man. He had dimples. The air in my lungs died. “I remember you, too.”

  CHAPTER 8

  I WAS BEING PUNISHED.

  It seemed that the part from last night’s conversation about not being al owed off the Covenant-control ed island wasn’t an assumption. Okay. I total y knew that, but honestly, was it real y that big of a deal?

  It was a big deal to Aiden.

  He carted my butt to the gym first thing in the morning and we spent the better part of the day there. He showed me a few exercises he wanted me to do, a couple of weight reps, and then a whole slew of cardio.

  I hated cardio.

  While I ran around from one exercise machine to the next, Aiden sat down, stretched out those long legs of his, and cracked open a book that probably weighed as much as I did.

  I stared at the leg press machine. “What are you reading?”

  He didn’t look up. “If you’re able to talk while working out then you aren’t working out hard enough.”

  I made a face at his bent head and climbed into the machine. After doing my reps, I realized there was no graceful way of getting out of the thing. Concerned I’d look like an idiot, I stole a quick glance at him before rol ing out of the machine.

  There were a few more machines he wanted me to work with and I was quiet for next five minutes or so. “Who reads books that big for fun?”

  Aiden lifted his head, pinning me with a bored look. “Who talks to hear themselves speak?”

  My eyes widened. “You’re in a lovely mood today.”

  With the obscenely large book balanced on one knee, he turned a page. “You need to work on your upper body strength, Alex. Not your motor speech skil s.”

  I glanced down at the dumbbel and pictured it flying across the room—at his face. But it was such a nice face, and I’d hate to ruin it. Hours went by like this. He’d read his book; I’d annoy him; he’d yel at me, and then I would hop on another machine.

  Sad as it was, I was kind of having fun messing with him and I think he was, too. Every so often, a smal —and I mean really smal —smile would grace his lips whenever I’d ask him an irritating question. I wasn’t even sure he was paying attention to the book of—

  “Alex, stop staring at me and do some cardio.” He flipped another page.

  I blinked. “I hope that book of yours is on charm and personality skil s.”

  Aha! There was that ghost of a smile. “Cardio—do cardio. You’re fast, Alex. Daimons are fast, too, and hungry daimons wil be even faster.”

  My head fel back and I groaned as I dragged myself over to the treadmil he’d pointed to earlier. “How long?”

  “Sixty minutes.”

  Sweet baby in Hades! Was he insane? When I asked that, he didn’t find it funny. It took me several tries to get the treadmil working at a speed I could jog to.

  Five minutes later, Aiden glanced up and saw how fast I was going. Exasperated with me, he stood and walked over to where I was jogging. Without a word, he increased the speed above four—I’d been at two—and then went back to his wal and his book.

  Damn him.

  Out of breath and stil completely out of shape, I nearly fel off the treadmil when the time hit sixty minutes and slowed to cool-down mode. I glanced over to where Aiden leaned against the wal , engrossed in his mammoth size book.

  “What… are you reading?”

  He glanced up and sighed. “Greek Fables and Legends.”

  “Oh!” I’d always loved reading what the mortal world wrote about our gods. Some of it was kind of correct while the rest was just bonkers.

  “I got it in the library. You know, it’s the place you should be hanging out in your spare time instead of drinking.”

  I shuddered and shook my arms out. “I hate the library.

  Everyone hates the library here.”

  Shaking his head, he closed the book. “Why is it that halfs believe there are hel hounds, harpies and furies living in the library? I don’t get it.”

  “Have you not been in the library, seriously? Ugh. It’s creepy and you hear stuff al the time. When I was a kid, I heard something growling in there once.” I stepped off the treadmil and stopped in front of him. “Caleb heard wings flapping in there, near the bottom level. I’m not kidding.”

  Aiden laughed deeply. “You guys are ridiculous. There’s nothing in the library. And al those creatures have long since been removed from the mortal world. Anyway,” he lifted the book and shook it, “It’s one of your textbooks.”

  I dropped down beside him. “Oh. Boring. I can’t believe you read textbooks for fun.” I paused, considering that.

  “Never mind. On secon
d thought, I can believe you read textbooks for fun.”

  He turned his head toward me. “Cool-down stretches.”

  “Yes, sir!” I saluted him, then stretched out my legs and grabbed my toes. “So what legend are you reading about?

  How Zeus was the most promiscuous god of them al ?”

  That was a legend the mortals actual y got right. He was responsible for most of the original demigods al those years ago.

  “No.” He handed me the book. “Here. Why don’t you take it and do some reading? I have a feeling after today you’re going to spend some long evenings in your room.”

  I rol ed my eyes, but I took the book. After practice, I met with Caleb and bitched for the next hour about how Aiden was being total y uncool. Then I bitched about how he’d disappeared on me last night, leaving me with Jackson.

  Friends don’t let friends act like ho-bags.

  Shortly afterwards, I did go back to my room instead of sneaking off with Caleb. I had a sinking suspicion if I did, I’d get caught, and I real y didn’t want to spend another day in the gym. It was bad enough I had to spend a good hour or two in it every night.

  Bored out of my mind, I picked up the musty smel ing book and thumbed through the ancient thing. Half of the book was written in ancient Greek and out of my ability to decipher. It looked like a bunch of squiggly lines to me.

  After finding the part in English, I discovered it wasn’t about legends or fables. It was actual y a detailed account of each of the gods, what they represented, and their rise to power.

  There was even a section on pure-bloods and their lesser halfs—us. Literal y, it was how we were listed in this book.

  No joke:

  The Pure-Blood and their lesser half—the Half-Blood.

  I skimmed through those pages, coming to a stop on a smal block of text under the name “Ethos Krian.” Even I remembered that name. Al of us half-bloods did. He was the first of a very select group of half-bloods who could control the elements. But… oh, he was more than that. He was the first Apollyon—the only half-blood with the ability to control the elements and use the same kind of compulsion the pures could use on mortals.

  In other words, the Apol yon was one big, badass of a half-blood.

  Ethos Krian, born of a pure-blood and mortal in Naples, year 2848 ED

  (1256 AD), was the first recorded half-blood to display the abilities of a true Hematoi. As foreseen by the oracle of Rome, at the age of eighteen, the palingenesis awakened Ethos’ power.

  There are conflicting schools of thought on the origination of the Apollyon and his purpose. Popular belief states the gods who hold court in Olympia bestowed the gift of the four elements and the power of akasha, the fifth and final element, upon Ethos as a measure to ensure no pure-blood’s power superseded that of their masters. The Apollyon has a direct linkage to the gods and acts as the Destroyer. The Apollyon is known as

  “The one who walks among the gods.”

  Since the birth of Ethos, one Apollyon has been born every generation as dictated by the oracle…

  The section then proceeded to list the names of the other Apol yons, stopping in the year 3517 in the Hematoi calendar—1925 AD.

  We so needed updated textbooks.

  I skimmed past that part and turned the page. There was another part describing the characteristics of the Apol yon and another passage I was unfamiliar with.

  My breath caught as I read it once, then twice. “No way.”

  Throughout time, only one Apollyon has been born to each generation with exception of what came to be known as “The Tragedy of Solaris.” In the year 3203 ED (1611 AD), a second Apollyon was discovered in the New World. The palingenesis awakened Solaris (last name and parentage unknown) into power on her eighteenth birthday, setting in place a chain of startling and dramatic events. To this date, there has never been an explanation of how two Apollyons existed within the same generation or why.

  I read the section again. There were never two Apol yons. Ever. I’d heard legends when I was a kid about the possibility of two, but I’d chalked them up as… wel , legends. Continuing on, I quickly ascertained I didn’t know jack.

  It is believed the First sensed the marking of another Apollyon upon her eighteenth birthday and, unaware of the consequences, joined her in the New World. The effects of their union were chronicled as vast and damaging to both pure-bloods and their masters, the gods. Upon meeting, as if they were two halves meant to be one, the powers of Solaris shifted to the First Apollyon, therefore the First became what has always been feared: The God Killer. The power of the First became unstable and destructive.

  The reaction from the gods, particularly the Order of Thanatos, was swift and righteous. Both Apollyons were executed without trial.

  “Whoa… ” I slammed the book shut and sat back. The gods, when threatened, didn’t mess around. One Apol yon acted as a check and balance system, able to fight anything, but if there were two of them at once?

  There was an Apol yon now, but I’d never met him. He was kind of like a celebrity. We knew he was out there somewhere, but we never actual y saw him in person. I knew the Apol yon focused on daimons instead carrying out justice against pure-bloods now. Since the creation of the Council, pures no longer thought they could take on the gods—or, at least, they didn’t say so openly.

  I sat the book aside and turned off the lamp.

  Poor Solaris.

  Somewhere, the gods had goofed up and created two. It wasn’t like it was her fault. She probably hadn’t even seen it coming.

  ***

  As the excitement of the Summer Solstice bubbled through the Covenant, I settled back into the life of a half-blood in training. The thril of my presence had worn off, and most of the students who remained at the Covenant during the summer grew used to having me around. Granted, the fact I had kil ed two daimons secured my awesomeness.

  Even Lea’s bitchy comments became less frequent.

  Lea and Jackson broke up, got back together, and as far as I knew, were broken up again.

  During the times Jackson was a free man, I developed a routine of avoiding him. Yeah, he was pure sexiness, but he was also super-fast with his hands, and on more than one occasion I’d had to remove them from my butt. Caleb was always quick to point out I had no room to complain since I’d brought it on myself.

  Another sort of odd routine developed, but this was between Aiden and me. Being that I was always crabby in the morning, we usual y started off practice with stretching and some laps—basical y anything that prevented us from talking. By late morning, I was less likely to bite off his head and more receptive to digging into the real stuff. He never mentioned the night he’d busted me at the party and we’d talked about each other’s need to become a Sentinel. He also never real y explained what he’d meant by, “I remember you.”

  Of course, I came up with a crap ton of ridiculous explanations. My talent was so amazing that everyone knew who I was. Or my antics in and out of the training rooms had made me a legend in my own right. Or I’d been so stunningly beautiful he couldn’t help but notice me. That last one was the most absurd. I’d been gawky and a total dweeb then. Not to mention someone like Aiden would never look at a half-blood in that way.

  During training, Aiden was stern and rigid in his methods. Only a few times did he seem to slip up and grin when he thought I wasn’t looking. But I was always watching.

  Who could blame me? Aiden was… hotness incarnate. I alternated between staring at those ripped arms and being envious of how he moved with such fluid grace, but it was more than just his ability to make me drool on myself. Never in my life had I met someone so patient and tolerant of me.

  Gods know I’m annoying as hel , but Aiden treated me as if I were his equal. No pure real y did that. The day I’d embarrassed myself by chal enging my uncle seemed forgotten, and Aiden did everything to make sure I was coming along as expected.

  With his guidance, I was getting used to the demands of train
ing and the tol they took on my body. I even put some weight on. The dweeb part was stil up in the air. Aiden still wouldn’t let me get within ten feet of any of the cool-looking weapons.

  On the day of the Summer Solstice, I tried approaching the wal of destruction toward the end of practice.

  “Don’t even think about it. You’d cut your hand off… or mine.”

  I froze, one hand inches from the wicked dagger.

  Dammit.

  “Alex.” Aiden sounded a bit amused. “We only have a little bit of time left. We need to work on your blocking.”

  Groaning, I pul ed myself away from what I real y wanted to learn. “Blocking again? That’s al we’ve done for weeks.”

  Aiden folded his arms across his chest. Today he wore a plain white tee. He made it look good, very good. “That’s not al we’ve done.”

  “Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts.

  Cool things.”

  “Did you just quote Harry Potter? ”

  I grinned. “Maybe I did.”

  He shook his head. “We’ve been practicing kicks and jabs, Alex. And your blocking stil needs work. How many of my kicks have you been able to block today?”

  “Wel … ” I grimaced. He already knew the answer. I’d only managed to block a handful. “A couple, but you’re fast.”

  “And daimons are faster than I am.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Nothing was as fast as Aiden.

  Half the time he moved like a blur. But I stepped into position and waited.

  Aiden walked me through the maneuvers once more, and I could’ve sworn he slowed down his kicks just a bit, because I blocked more than I ever had before. We separated, about to start another round of kicks when a whistle sounded from the hal way. The culprit—bronze-haired Luke—stood at the door to the training room. I grinned and waved.

  “You’re not paying attention,” Aiden snapped.

  My grin slipped from my face as Luke and a couple of other halfs disappeared from view. “Sorry.”

  He exhaled slowly and motioned me forward. I complied without argument. “Is he another boy of yours? You’re always with that other one.”