Pure (40 page)

When it calmed down a bit, Telly addressed the Council. His voice rang loud through the coliseum. “I fear that we have a greater concern than daimons pulling together and attacking us in droves. What you see sitting before us may look like an ordinary half-blood, but we all know that is not the case. In a matter of a few months, she will become the second Apollyon. If she is even half as uncontrollable as she is now, what do you think will occur when she Awakens?”

My heart stuttered, missing a beat.

“As the Head Minister, it pains me deeply to suggest this, but I fear we have no other choice. We must protect the future of our true Masters. I petition that we remove Alexandria Andros from the Covenant and place her under the supervision of the Masters.”

I jerked forward blindly. I couldn’t even move as the rush of fear coated my mouth and churned my stomach into raw knots. This was what Telly wanted—the whole reason for me being here. It had nothing to do with what the daimons planned.

From above, I felt a tempest building. It drifted over my skin, raising the tiny hairs on my body. Seth was a storm about to explode.

“Minister Telly, my
stepdaughter
has committed no crime that warrants servitude,” Lucian objected. “She has to be found guilty before you can expel her from the Covenant and place her into servitude.”

“As the Head Minister—”

“You have a lot of power as the Head Minister. You can expel her from the Covenant, but you cannot sentence her to servitude without due cause or by vote of the Council,” Lucian said. “Those are the rules.”

I looked up, my eyes meeting Aiden’s. This was one of those rare moments in my life that I knew
exactly
what Aiden was thinking.

I twisted around in the chair. Telly glared at Lucian, but I saw that Lucian was right. Telly could expel me, but he couldn’t send me into servitude on a whim. He would need the Council to do so, and I had a feeling if the Council agreed it would be the last thing they ever did.

“Then I call for a vote.” Telly’s voice was like ice.

I calculated the distance from where I sat and the door to my right. My muscles tensed as I let go of the chair and twisted sideways. My sweater fell from my lap. I didn’t want to hurt the half-blood Guards, but I was going to get past them.

Then what?

Run like hell.

“How do you vote?” asked Telly.

The first “yes” sent a shiver through me; the second caused the air to ripple with electricity. The audience shifted as the third “yes” skyrocketed the tension. I wanted to look at Aiden one last time, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the door. It would be my only chance.

Three of the Ministers said “no,” and Telly stalked toward the end of the dais. The next said “yes,” and my stomach dropped. I wanted to cry out, but fear clamped my throat shut. Facing down daimons was one thing, but a lifetime of servitude was my worst fear.

“Head Minister Elders, you are the last vote.” I could hear the smile in Telly’s voice.

Silence filled the room, holding the pures transfixed and stretching my nerves into taut lines.
This was it… This was it…
I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath.

“She has proven to be… a problem,” Diana said, her voice as clear as Telly’s. “There are many areas which concern me greatly, but I have to vote ‘no.’ She has to break the Breed Order to be placed in servitude, and she has not, Minister Telly. Everything that has been provided has been circumstantial.”

Sagging against the chair, the air expelled from my lungs. Violent energy pulled back, slithering from my skin as it made its way back to its host.

Telly didn’t take that well, but there was nothing he could do. He returned to my side, glaring. I wanted nothing more than to karate chop him in the neck.

“Then Miss Andros, you shall continue as you are, for now.” Telly smiled tightly. “One more mistake, Alexandria, one more time and that will be it. You will be placed into servitude.”

CHAPTER 23

AFTER COUNCIL, MARCUS ESCORTED ME TO MY ROOM WITH explicit instructions. “Do not leave this room unless someone is with you.”

Had he seen this room? Spending the rest of however long it took for Seth to show up or Laadan to take pity on me felt like punishment. I hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t my fault Telly was a lunatic, hell-bent on sending me into servitude.

But I spent the rest of the day and the better part of the evening in my room, picturing the look on Telly’s face after I Awakened and lit him up with enough Apollyon juice to obliterate him into nothing. And all those pures who’d looked at my scars with such disgust? I’d give them something to freak out about. Okay. Maybe I was overreacting a tad bit. But Telly’s antagonistic attitude chafed at me. I needed to get out, needed to do something.

What I really needed was to hit something.

Just when I was about to go crazy, there was a soft knock on my door. Rushing toward it, I threw it open. Laadan stood in the doorway, two crystal glasses in her hands. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright.

Please be here to let me out of this room
.

Her eyes weren’t really focused on me as she smiled. “I figured you could stretch your legs.” She stepped back. “Coming?”

Thank you, gods.
I followed her graceful form down the hall and the steps. Downstairs, the pures were in full celebratory mode. From the sounds coming out of the ballroom and reception hall, they sounded trashed already. No one would be paying attention to me. They were too busy partying it up. Their blasé attitude toward everything was infuriating and frustrating.

“I thought you could use the company,” she said slowly, speaking for the first time since she’d appeared outside my door.

We stopped outside the crowded reception hall. Laadan stood beneath a painting of the Goddess Hera. The resemblance between the two was striking. She offered me a glass of the luminous red liquid. “Here, you deserve this after the day you had.”

The glass felt warm in my hand. “What is it?”

She smiled as her gaze drifted away. “It’s something special for a special girl. You’ll love it.”

“Are you buzzing?” I giggled.

Laadan sighed dreamily. “It’s a beautiful night, Alex. How is your drink?”

I lifted the glass and took a cautious sniff. It smelled magnificent—like wild orchids, and a hint of honey and sesame. Looking up, I saw Laadan float into the entrance of the reception hall. I trailed behind her, my gaze gliding across the crowd as I brought the glass to my lips. I saw Marcus and Diana standing super close. Once again, the smile on Marcus’s face confused me. He never smiled like that, especially not when I was around.

Giggles erupted across the room, drawing my attention. Young pure girls surrounded a good-looking male, clamoring over each other to be the closest to him. Several Guards stood behind the happy little group, looking equally bored and aloof. Among them stood the pure-blood Guard whom Telly had called on during the first session. I shuddered, holding the glass tighter. Then my eyes flitted further into the hall and settled on Aiden.

Dawn stood by his side, looking stunningly beautiful and staring at him with large eyes the color of amethyst. Seeing them together didn’t bring the warm and fuzzies. He’d never showed her an ounce of interest outside of being friendly, but she was the kind of girl Aiden would be allowed to date—should date.

Maybe he’d marry her one day—or another pure like Dawn. He’d settle down and commit.
Stop
, I ordered myself. That didn’t matter—not even if he had a dozen pure-blooded babies. I’d accepted I couldn’t be with him. Besides, I’d kind of chosen Seth. But hurt climbed deep inside my chest, taking root around my heart. I deserved a swift kick in the butt for standing here, staring at him like some kind of obsessive stalker chick.

“Your drink, dear, are you not going to try it?”

“Oh.” I glanced down. It still felt wonderfully warm in my hand. The drink burned my lips and the tip of my tongue, but went down surprisingly smooth. It actually tasted minty—a warm wintergreen. “It tastes…”

Laadan was gone.

Surprised by her vanishing act, I looked around the hall, finding Aiden instead of Laadan. He’d moved, standing at the end of the hall now. Minus Dawn, he spoke to another pure, but he appeared focused on me.

His disapproval stretched beyond where he stood and slammed into me. Was it because I was outside my room? If so, that irked me. What also irked me was the fluttering in my chest.

Aiden broke away from the pure, stepping forward and looking very, very angry. My heart leapt in my chest. He was coming to me—not Dawn, not some other pure, but
me
. The fluttering in my chest increased.

Any attention was good attention.

Suddenly, I hated that idea. Hated the fact I would be
satisfied
with that. I tipped the glass back and took a long swallow. It was either that or throw myself on the floor, sobbing and flailing.

I took another sip, expecting the burning this time. It did taste good, really good. I looked up again and found that a tall, blond pure partially blocked Aiden, but his furious gaze still found me. I quirked a brow at him and brought the glass to my lips again, taking another draft.

Aiden cut around the pure and made a beeline straight for me.

Out of nowhere, and I mean freaking nowhere, Seth appeared and whipped the drink out of my hand, splashing red drops all over my sweater.

“Jeez!” I ran my hand over my mouth. “Was that necessary?”

Seth brought the glass to his face and sniffed it. Swearing under his breath, he shoved it at Aiden. “Who gave you this?” Seth demanded.

“Why do you care? It’s just a drink.”

“Alex, who gave you this drink?” Aiden’s quiet voice left no room for me to push his buttons.

“Laadan gave it to me. What’s the big deal?”

Seth’s mouth dropped open, but Aiden’s reaction was far stronger. “Shit. Unbelievable.”

“What?” I looked between the two. “What’s going on?”

“Freaking pures,” Seth spat. “I can only begin to imagine what they hoped to achieve with this.”

The glass looked like it would shatter in Aiden’s hand. Fury radiated off him in waves and his eyes burned, but he wouldn’t look at me now. Not at all. “Dammit. Was this your first glass?”

“Yes.” I stepped forward. “Aiden, what’s going on?”

Seth exhaled harshly. “Half a glass is more than enough.”

“There is no way Laadan would have given her this.” Aiden scowled. “She knows what this drink will do.”

“Laadan did give it to me. I wouldn’t lie about that. Tell me what the hell is going on.”

Seth ran a hand over his head. “I think I’m going to hit someone.”

I shot a look at Seth. He wouldn’t look at me either. Was there something wrong with my face? I put my hand to my cheeks and the only thing I noticed was my skin felt warm.

“I can’t leave now.” Aiden spoke in crisp, short words. “Telly and the other Ministers want us here. She can’t be left alone, Seth.”

Seth nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

Aiden barked a short laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Seth demanded. “Let her roam free?”

My temper snapped. I reached out and grabbed Aiden’s arm—a bad thing to do to a pure in public, but they were acting like I wasn’t even standing here. “What is going on?”

Aiden whirled around and grasped my hand, pulling me between the two of them. “There is no way Laadan would have given you this drink freely. Did she seem strange to you? Acting different in any way?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “She seemed buzzed.”

His eyes snapped fire. “She was compelled to give you this drink.”

“No way, that’s impossible. It’s completely illegal to compel another pure. You have to—”

“Someone set you up, Alex, and they wanted to badly enough to break the rules themselves. All pures know what that drink is just by looking at it. You were given Aphrodesian Brew, Alex.”

“Brew? Oh.
Oh
. Oh, my gods.” I felt cold and hot all at once. I’d just drunk the equivalent of an Olympian roofie. Disbelief set in. “You have to be wrong. A pure wouldn’t compel another pure and Laadan would never give me something like that. I don’t care what you say.”

“Alex,” Aiden said gently. “There are pures who know you’re close with Laadan.”

“Aiden, we need to get her out of here. Soon,” Seth interjected.

I glanced at him. “I feel fine. I must not have had enough.”

Seth laughed dryly. “Yeah.”

Aiden let go of my hand, staring at Seth. “I don’t like you—let alone trust you.”

A muscle feathered along Seth’s jaw. “You don’t have any other options at this point. I won’t let anything happen to her, Aiden. And I wouldn’t… take advantage of her.”

I shot Seth a dirty look. “No one is taking advantage of me unless I want to be taken advantage of.”