Page 2 (1/2)

I gasped

This couldn’t be me

No way

Uh-uh, it wasn’t, and I refused to believe it, but the daed Dramatically The pressure in e of the sink

My hair hung an inch or two past er Ares had used I picked up a strand, wincing as I discovered it was a good deal shorter than the rest Did the rest ofin Hades’ war room now?

My skin was pale, as if I’d been sick for months and hadn’t seen the sun But it wasn’t even that Hell, it wasn’t even the fact that, yes, my eyes were amber-colored Identical to Seth’s in clarity and shininess, they were like two topaz ge, like you could see ot why that set Aiden on edge Great, I had glowing, honeyco deal

It was et over

I was as shallow as any other eighteen-year-old girl, so yeah, this… this was major

Across my cheekbones and nose, faint pink lines crisscrossed over my skin My forehead was the same A web-like network of scars covered my face Only one side ofme earlier, had escaped the…well, the defor, I slowly liftedwhat I suspected The lines were slightly raised, like stitching Apollo and his son had healedits mojo in my system, but I knew these scars were proof of just how badly I’d needed the gods’ help to heal

Like anything else, there always had to be an exchange

When anything was gained, so had to be sacrificed No one needed to tell ods…" I swayed

"Alex, you should sit down" He reached fora hand up between us My eyes widened My hand was also covered with scars I wasn’t even sure what I was saying "don’t" to, but"Just don’t"

Aiden pulled back, but he didn’t leave Leaning against the threshold of the door, he folded his muscular arms across his broad chest His jaw set in a hard line

The pressurelike a balloon and then exploding like a late suo all Evil Alex on you again?" I swung forward, losingto use--"

Aiden shot forward, catching ainst the wall "Dammit Alex, you need to be careful and sit down"

I wrenched free, stumbled back a step, and plopped down on the closed toilet Air punched out of ods, it felt like my tailbone had been cracked I sat there on the toilet,like someone had literally kickedlevels of hope and distrust in the eyes I loved so much I felt about seven kinds of dejected

Aiden stepped forward, crouching down so that ere at the same eye level "You don’t want to killlike hearing the man I love ask a question like that to really take the wind out of my sails "No," I whispered

There was a sharp intake of breath "You don’t hat he wants?"

"No" My gaze dropped to where his hands rested between his knees Good gods, the knuckles were bruised and the skin was torn open, as if he’d punched a…then I got it Aiden and Marcus had been banging on the titanium doors of the dean’s office with their fists

My heart ached as I watched those battered hands open, close, and then open again "I don’t even feel him I mean, the cord’s there, so I know he’s somewhere, but I don’t feel him He’s quiet"

His hands unclenched, and even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could tell that most of the tension had left him He believed me for the ainst him

"Gods, Alex, when I saw your eyes, I just… They glowed like that when you escaped the basement and…"

When I had almost killed him

If I liftedmyself to do it He shifted closer "I’m sorry I should--"

"It’s okay" I was so tired Not the physical kind Oddly enough, it was more of a…spirit-weary sort "I understand You had every reason to think that I don’t knohyto influenceunspoken between us

"And he’s not talking," I added, keeping the fact that Seth had lent me some of his own juice out of the conversation

I shifted aze back to my own hands and the scars that marred them They hadn’t been like that in Olympus, or at least I hadn’t noticed

"It doesn’t matter," he said "It’s you, and that’s all that I care about--all that matters"

I wanted to believe him I really did, but the horror in his face when he’d seen my eyes haunted me I knew Aiden had hated them from the moment they appeared after I’d Awakened, and I couldn’t blame hi I’d said and done back then, especially when they glowed like yellow light bulbs

"Alex" Hisstretch of silence "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged a shoulder, then winced "Okay"