Pure

He glanced away as a strange, almost sad look crept across his face. Pushing off the bumper of the car, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “You and Seth seem to be getting along a lot better.”

I frowned at the change in subject. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Aiden stopped in front of me. “That’s a vast improvement from wanting to stab him in the eye.”

Even though I stood on the curb, Aiden was still taller than me. I tipped my head back, meeting his pale gaze. “Why do you even care?”

His brows rose slightly. “It’s just a statement, Alex. Has nothing to do with me caring or not.”

I felt my cheeks burn as I nodded stiffly. “Yeah, I think I grasped the whole caring and not caring topic.” I hopped off the curb and inched around the gas pumps.

Aiden followed behind me. “I saw you two at the funeral. He was there for you. I think that’s good. Not just for you, but for him. I think you’re the only person Seth cares about besides himself.”

I stopped, wanting to laugh, but I felt… embarrassed. Like I’d been caught doing something wrong, but I hadn’t. Confused by what Aiden was getting at, I started walking again. “Seth cares about himself. That’s about it.”

“No.” Aiden followed my movements, meeting up with me at the edge of the pumps. “He rarely left your side. Seth wouldn’t allow anyone—not even me—near you.”

I whipped around, surprised. “You stopped by to see me?”

Aiden nodded. “Several times, actually, but Seth was determined that you needed time to come to grips with everything. That doesn’t sound like someone who cares only about himself.”

“Why would you come see me?” I stepped toward him, hope and excitement building inside me. “You told me you didn’t care about me.”

He fell back a step, clenching his jaw. “I never said I didn’t care about you, Alex. I said I couldn’t love you.”

I flinched, cursing myself for the stupid window of hope I’d allowed to open. Smiling tightly, I headed back to the Hummer and slammed the door shut behind me. Unfortunately, Aiden followed me.

He got in the seat in front of me and turned around. “I’m not trying to fight with you, Alex.”

My temper and hurt feelings took over. “Then maybe you should try not talking to me. Especially when you sound like you’re trying to pawn me off on another guy.”

Aiden’s eyes snapped alive, flaring in the darkness. “I’m not trying to pawn you off on someone. You were never mine to do so.”

I leaned forward, my fingers digging into my thighs as I spoke in a whisper thick with pain. “I was never yours? You should’ve thought about that before you stripped me naked in your room!”

He sucked in air sharply, then his eyes shuttered to a dull gray. “It was a temporary loss of sanity.”

“Oh.” I gave a harsh laugh. “Did your temporary loss of sanity last several months? Did it make you say all those things to me at the zoo? Did it—”

“What do you want me to say, Alex? That I’m sorry… for leading you on?” He paused, visibly trying to rein in his anger and frustration. “I am. Okay? I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t want you to say that,” I whispered, stomach tumbling over.

Aiden closed his eyes and shook his head. “Look, you don’t need this right now. Not after everything with Caleb and with us going to the Council. So, just stop.”

“But—”

“I’m not going to do this with you, Alex. Not now. Not ever.”

Before I could respond, Leon and the Guard returned, putting an end to this. I flung myself against the seat and glared at the back of Aiden’s head. I knew he could feel me staring holes into him, because he sat stiffly with his eyes forced front.

Eventually I got bored with that and climbed over the back of my seat to dig out my music player. I tried going back to sleep, but my mind was too busy thinking about Caleb, the argument with Aiden, and whether or not Seth was as self-centered as I’d always thought he was.

After nine more hours of hell, we turned onto a winding road lined with towering pines and spruce trees so thick it reminded me of a Christmas tree farm. We were deep in the Catskills—no man’s land. About a mile in, a nondescript fence poked out, surrounding what I assumed was the perimeter of the New York Covenant.

I snorted. “Nice security.”

Aiden turned halfway around. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

I ignored him and leaned forward, seeing nothing more than a wire fence and trees. Maybe it was one of those fences that electrocuted people, because I’d really expected more than this.

Then I saw the Guards standing in front of the pitiful-looking fence, armed with what looked like semiautomatic weapons. My eyes widened as they leveled the guns at our vehicle. Leon slowed down as the four Guards approached us cautiously.

“Alex, take your hair down,” Aiden said quietly.

I didn’t understand why, but the seriousness in his tone told me not to fool around. I unraveled the messy bun, letting it fall around my face. Leon rolled down all the windows, and at once, the Guards peered inside the vehicle, searching each of us… for visibletags.

I shrank back, but met the dark-ski

Not quickly enough, they gestured at the one Guard who remained back. The tall gate shuddered and creaked opened. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Am I supposed to keep my hair down the entire time I’m here?”

Aiden glanced back at me, his lips forming a hard, tight line. “No. But I’d rather you not provoke a trigger-happy Guard.”

I could understand that, I guessed.

We rolled through the gate and went another half a mile down the road before the trees started thi

Well, the twenty-plus-foot wall made out of white marble came into view.

After passing another set of gun-toting Guards, we finally entered the grounds. It didn’t look much different than our Carolina branch. There were statues of gods everywhere, except where ours stood among the sand, theirs rose up from the greenest grass I’d ever seen.

The first building I got to see was a mansion—the kind I didn’t expect to see in the middle of the Catskills. I’d once heard the Rockefellers had a house around these parts, but nothing compared to this monstrous thing. I counted six stories, several all-glass rooms, and possibly a ballroom with a skylight dome by the time the car stopped in front of the sandstone manor. I started to follow them, but Aiden stopped me.

“Alex, hold on a second.”

My fingers froze on the handle. “What?”

Aiden had turned around completely and those eyes… gods, those eyes always drew me in, always filled me with such warmth that I could almost taste his lips on mine. Too bad his words kind of ruined the moment.

“Don’t do anything here to draw unwanted attention.”

My fingers tightened on the door handle. “I don’t plan on it.”

“I’m being serious, Alex.” His eyes bored into mine. “No one here will be as forgiving as your uncle or stepfather. I can imagine that they won’t go easy on you when you have your session. Some of the Council… well, they’re not fans of yours.”

An ache throbbed in my chest in response to his clipped, professional tone. I had no idea where the tender Aiden had gone, the one who’d sworn to always be there for me, the one who’d gently brought me back from the brink when I’d freaked out in training. Gods, there were so many more moments, but all of them were gone.

Aiden was gone. Like Caleb, but in a different way. I’d lost both of them. A lot of the anger leaked out of me then. I faced the window, sighing. “I didn’t expect them to. I’ll behave. You don’t have to worry about me.” I started to open the door again.