Pure

The look on both of their faces actually did make me want to hit—no, zap something. Right here, out in the open, they were doing the eye-screw thing.

And it was about to get worse. Aiden seriously waswalking toward her. Clenching my jaw until I was sure my teeth would crack, I slipped away from the group, passing Lucian and Marcus. When I made it behind Laadan, she lifted her gaze.

“She’s not for you,” she murmured over the rim of her glass. The slight, knowing smile of hers didn’t fade. I didn’t even want to know how she knew. “A pe

“And a pound shut-the-hell-up.”

Laadan arched a brow, but said nothing else, which was fine by me. Out of all the pures I knew, she freaked even me out. I moved past her toward Alex and briefly considered grabbing a napkin off the table to help with the drool, but I doubted she’d appreciate the offer.

Sighing, I slid up behind her, placing my hand on her shoulder. She didn’t even flinch, but I did. Zeus could be feeling her up right now and she wouldn’t even notice. But Aiden noticed. He did nothing to hide the flash of rage contorting his usually cool expression.

My lip curled up on one side.

Aiden looked like he was going to hit me, and I sort of hoped he did. I would love nothing more than shove my foot so far up his… but Alex—it wouldn’t end well for Alex.

Leaning into her, I inhaled the scent of peaches and something mysterious and uniquely hers. “People are starting to stare.”

And I knew she could care less, and that made me want to throttle her, but Aiden—as always—displayed some common sense. He stopped, grinding his teeth just as strongly as me.

I slid my hand down her arm, threading my fingers through hers, and then I said the most ironic thing of all. “You know he’s not for you.”

“I know,” she whispered, and her desperation and pain blew back at me so strongly I struggled not to drown in it as Aiden turned around. Part of me wanted him to come back to her, just to end what she was feeling.

A very small part that I knocked the crap out of.

“Do you want to dance?” I asked.

She tipped her chin back, her eyes a honey brown. “I don’t want to dance.”

My gaze dripped. “Do you want to stay here?”

“I don’t know.”

Ah, indecision—a man’s best friend. I smiled and as I spoke, my lips brushed her ear. “We don’t belong here, Alex. Not with them.”

Her eyes flickered away from mine and she sucked in her lower lip. She was confused, which usually brought out the less than tolerable side of Alex, but then her eyes came back to mine.

“Let’s go,” I coaxed.

Her fingers trembled as she placed her wine glass down, and we went even though I knew her head wasn’t with me. Her thoughts and her heart never were, always wrapped up in the wrong place.

Only for now, I reminded myself, only for now.

I led around the building, not really given her much of a choice but to follow. She shivered in the cool air and remained silent the entire time, which had to be a record for her. My free hand curled into a fist. Her distress ate away at me like acid, and she had no clue how much she fed through our co

“Let’s do something stupid,” I said.

She glanced at me. “You want to do something stupid right now?”

“Can you think of a better time to do something stupid?”

Her lips twitched. “Okay. I’m down with stupid.”

“Good.” Great. Yay. Yippee. I pulled her through the labyrinth, fighting the anger building in me.

“You want to train?”

Shaking my head, I picked up pace. “No. I don’t want to train.”

The double doors weren’t locked, and I gri

“You want to go swimming?” she asked, sounding doubtful.

“Sure.”

“It’s like forty degrees outside.”

I pushed open the door, greeted with a nose full of chloride. “So? It’s not forty degrees in here, is it? More like sixty.”

Alex pulled away from me and went to the edge of the pool. Of course I watched her as I kicked off my shoes. She glanced at me, and I winked.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said.

“So are you.” I dropped my jacket on the cement, watching her, always watching her. It wasn’t so much me, but what was inside me—inside her. It was just the way it was, I supposed.

“We are a lot alike, Alex.”

She looked like she wanted to argue that, but she got that look on her face that said she was thinking real hard. Brows knitted, nose scrunched a little, and lips parted. Cute.

“Was it so obvious back there?” she asked.

It took me a moment to realize what she was getting at and then I strung as many four letter words together that I could. They were creative. “I don’t know what goes on in your head, Alex. I can’t read your thoughts. I just picked up on your emotions.”

She frowned. “Good to know.”

“I second that.” I started unbuttoning my shirt. “Anyway, I don’t even need to be able to sense your emotions to know. I don’t think you want to know what it looked like.”

“No. I do.”

Famous last words, but who was I to deny her? I signed. “You were staring at him like an ugly chick stares at the last cute guy at the bar when they make the last call.”

She let out a strangled laugh. “Oh. Wow. Thanks.”

Dammit. I raised my hands. “I told you.”

“Yeah. So I looked like an idiot to everyone?”

An idiot? I wish. “No, everyone saw a beautiful half-blood. That’s all anyone saw.”

I glanced away, knowing it was time to change the subject. “Can I tell you something?”

She turned back to t he pool. “Sure.”

I moved toward her, partly because I hadto and because I knew she hated it when I moved too fast. “I prefer you without gloves.”

“Oh.” She watched me warily.

I peeled off one glove, surprised that she was even letting me, and then the other, tossing them both away from the water. Give an inch, and I’ll take a mile. I slid my fingers around the tags on her arms before stepping back.

She lowered her lashes. “Better?”

“Much.” I folded my arms, eyeing her. Alex was always a great curiosity to me. She shouldn’t be, but she was. Perhaps that was what made her such a mystery to me. Even though I knew what she was feeling half the time, I never knew what she was going to do next.

“Can you get silk wet?” she asked.

Was she seriously going to jump in with that dress? I choked at the thought. “I’d say probably not.”

She removed her shoes. “That’s a shame.”

My eyes widened. “You really are going—”

Alex dove in, and I laughed as her shock rippled through me, joining with mine. I moved to the edge of the pool, gri

“I know. Bad me.”

“Very bad,” I murmured, watching her sink under the water again. She stayed under the water so long I began to wonder if she had a little bit of Poseidon in her.

A tremble coursed through the marks, and I moved away from the edge. Lifting my arms, I closed my eyes and stretched, trying to ease the tension building inside me, lessen the way the marks tingled and burned.

I pried one eye open, finding Alex floating, watching me. “Stop staring.”

“I’m not staring.”

I chuckled. “How’s the water?”

“Nice.”

The marks were still driving me crazy. Power was building in them, zinging across my skin. Dropping my arms, I took in a deep breath of air. “Do you remember the last thing I told you in training?”

She swam toward the edge. “You tell me a lot of stuff in training. Honestly, I don’t pay attention.”

Nice. I snorted. “You do wonders for my self-esteem.”

Alex pushed off the cement wall and floated on my back. The dress streamed out around her like she was some kind of water nymph. “I feel like a mermaid.”

I felt a lot of things. “Tomorrow, when they ask you about what happened in Gatlinburg, only answer their questions.”