Understanding seeped in as a brawling half and pure got close to the newcomers. Throwing a punch, the half knocked the pure back several feet. He bumped into the new girl and turned, flames flickering over his busted knuckles.

Her reaction was wicked fast.

The girl’s arm shot out and her hand landed on his shoulder. She spun him around as she dipped low, kicking out with her leg. She caught the pure just below the knees, taking his legs out from underneath him. As the now-dazed pure fell forward, she slammed her palm into his back. Static burst and crackled into the air, and the pure flew forward, landing in a moaning, twitching heap facedown several yards away.

Damn.

In complete control of every muscle in her body, the girl straightened fluidly. The whitish light faded from her right hand. Her lips curved into a half-smile that was vaguely familiar as she knocked a strand of long brown hair out of her face. “Hey, Seth.”

Seth was nearly immobile as he stared at the twosome. Glyphs bled to the surface of his golden skin, piecing together and changing so fast I had no idea what the runes were saying, but the taut set of his features said it all.

“Alex,” he breathed.

CHAPTER 14

Seth

My skin buzzed. Blood pounded. Pulse accelerated. Energy poured into me as if I’d taken a jolt of caffeine straight to the heart. The glyphs, the mark of the Apollyon, were doing a fucking happy dance on my skin in response to Alex.

In response to the Apollyon.

Shit.

Oh shit.

The connection was snapping to life, waking up like a sleeping cobra, and it was there, between us, preparing to strike. The entire world zeroed in on this girl. The thing inside me, that felt like a part of me but something else entirely, was roaring like a freight train.

Without warning, a piece of knowledge floated among my thoughts. I can use her. I can use them. The moment those thoughts hit me they almost faded from my grasp. Like a word you couldn’t place, but waited on the tip of the tongue. Ever since I Awakened, that had happened on and off. For the longest time I didn’t understand why, just thought I was spacing out, but I realized it was from when I Awakened and what had happened. It was the same thing that happened to Alex. Thousands of years of information downloaded, passed down from every Apollyon from before. There was tons of crap I knew, but didn’t always realize since the knowledge existed in the back of my subconscious.

But now those odd thoughts, even as concerning as they were, faded away like leaves in the fall.

Alexandria Andros stood in front of me. It was really her. Flesh and bone, but she looked nothing like the last time I’d seen her. Her hair was longer, like it had been when we were first introduced at Deity Island. The hairline scars that had covered every inch of her skin were gone. Scars from when Ares had literally broken every bone in her body. Because she wore a sleeveless shirt, I could see that the tags on her arm and neck were also gone.

It was more than the physical. The emotional weight she had carried was gone, lifted from her shoulders. Those whiskey-colored eyes were happy and full of laughter. Years of pain washed away, as if none of it had ever happened, but it had happened.

I had happened.

Seeing her like this, though, carried some measure of relief. I had planned on never seeing her again. That had been ideal, because . . . well, who wanted to come face to face with the person they’d gotten killed? Because that was what had happened, and knowing what I did helped me ignore what was going on inside me.

Alex had died a mortal death, because of me.

But she looked good. She looked great, actually. And she appeared happy.

She wasn’t the only one who was overjoyed.

Deacon had launched himself at Aiden—Aiden saintly St. Delphi—nearly knocking him backward, over a fallen pure. The brothers hugged, oblivious to those fighting around them. Other than their eyes, they absolutely had nothing in common.

Which was why I liked Deacon.

Aiden pulled back, clasping the sides of his younger brother’s face. “Look at you,” he said, voice thick. “Are you actually growing a beard?”

Deacon’s laugh was hoarse. “Yeah, right. Hair doesn’t grow on this pretty face.”

“More like baby face. Gods,” Aiden said, wrapping an arm around his brother’s neck, dragging him back. “I’ve missed you.”

“Same,” Deacon muttered as his shoulders trembled.

I tensed when Alex started walking toward me. She halted when I shook my head. Her lips pursed, and for a moment I thought she would do what she wanted, because that was the Alex I knew, but she surprised me. Alex turned back to the brothers. She joined them, and they opened up, pulling her into a group hug. A second later Luke was with them, and even over the angry shouts, I could hear Alex’s happy squeal. Reunited at last.

I turned from the happy reunion and searched for Josie, finding her immediately. She was standing off to the side, staring at Alex with wide eyes, apparently unaware of the smoke billowing from the burning olive tree behind her. I couldn’t even imagine what she was thinking, but good sense told me she knew exactly who the newcomers were. Alex squirmed her way out of the group hug and scanned the quad. “What in the hell is going on, guys?”

I followed her gaze, spying Colin taking down another pure. I smirked. “Everyone is just getting close to one another. You know, love taps and all.”

She arched a brow. “Uh-huh.”

“Things aren’t good between us right now,” Luke explained as he stepped back, draping his arm over her shoulders. “I’ll explain later.”

Alex squinted and started to frown as she stared at someone. “Is that . . . Boobs?”