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Considering I’d just pulled a gun on Aiden, I wouldn’t say there was a "happily" in that equation right now, but his comment took me aback I inched to the side and knelt down out of his reach "Let’s be real with one another You never loved ht?"

Seth didn’t respond for a long ainst the bars and let out a weary sigh "You’re right, but I never had the chance"

Again, I was knocked off-guard by his candidness Seth was like the king of vague and unhelpful responses, worse than a god , tense minute; the words sort of just burst fro under pressure

"I loved you It’s not the same way I feel about Aiden, but I loved you, and you betrayed e so that I would be forced to connect with you! And I still had hope for you I still defended you And then you turned side Ares! People have died, Seth" My voice rose and cracked as s weakened I sat down, h the bars "And not just recently How far does all of this go back? To my mom? To the daimons that were at Deity Island and killed Caleb? To all of those who died at the Catskills? Were you and Lucian using daimons then? You were, weren’t you?"

There was another pause, and then his eyes opened The bright ahtened with pressure "People are dead People I loved People I’ve never e it all, I would I’d never take that post guarding Lucian," he said quietly "I would’ve gone AWOL if I’d known this was hoas going to play out, Alex"

My retful, apologetic creature--was not the Seth I knew "Your personality disorder is starting to show"

His lips tipped up in a wry grin "Look who’s talking"

"You have no idea," I , Seth?"

"When I was born"

My shoulders tensed "That’s not true, Seth"

"Actually, it is You were supposed to be the First, Alex All the Apollyons came from Apollo I was created for this--for what Ares wanted It was the sa rong at that hs after Ares There was no waro when Ares decided he wanted to rule the world"

"No," I said, sing "You’ve always done what you wanted, Seth And you didn’t know about any of this e met You made these decisions You went--"

"Have you ever tasted aether, Alex?" He flipped around so quickly that ripped the bars until his knuckles bleached "Not like how a daimon feeds, but to have soyou wanted and feel everything you never could before? Did you know that it feels like lightning in your blood? Have you experienced the taste of supreme and ultimate power? Have you?"

I shook my head slowly

"Sure, Lucian pros, and so did Ares when Iin comparison to what it felt like once you had Awakened It was like tapping into pure power" A feverish glint brightened his eyes as they latched onto mine "After that, I didn’t need their proet whatever I wanted, I had the power to do so And that power…" He let go of the bars and rocked back "There’s nothing like it, Alex I beca else It was my weakness It isto that, because a part of th

"You have no idea how hard it is to even be near you right now The connection calls tohis fingers around the bars once e to transfer your power to me, I don’t think even Ares could control aze "You’re better than that"

"I’hed that cold laugh again "But you are"

"I’m not better than you"

"You are," he insisted quietly He shifted, and I looked up His forehead was resting against the bars A haunted look crept into his face "You are"

The back of my eyes burned "In case you don’t remember, I shot a man in the head earlier just because I wanted to"

"He deserved it"

I flinched "I didn’t feel a da That’s…that’s not right"

"He deserved it, Alex You have no idea what he was doing, what he abused with his power" Our gazes locked, and he took a deep breath "But I never wanted to see you do so like that Maybe I did before, but after what Ares did to you? After seeing what I’ve done to you? I don’t want any of this I want it to be over, and the only e can finish this is if you take on the power of the First You need to becoaped at him There was no way he knew our plans

"It’s the only way to stop Ares, Alex" His throat worked as he sed heavily "And I can’t do it If I take on that power, I can’t promise what I’d do It has to be you, and I know it can be done You have to--"

"I know," I cut him off as I scooted forward "I kno to do it, Seth, but…"

His lips parted "But you can’t do it until it’s damn close to time--until we are face-to-face with that son of a bitch, because the longer the power is in you, the crazier you get Trust me"

"I’m already crazy," I whispered

"What?"