“I didn’t miss.” Another voice floated out of the darkness. A spark of red light formed, casting the holder in an eerie red glow. “That was just a warning.”
Then I saw the second guy, and my stomach dropped all the way to my toes. It was him—the guy Seth had knocked the hell out. Even in the poor light, I could see that his jaw was a brutal shade of purple and swollen. And there was no mistaking the fury and promise of retribution in his expression.
I could only think of two words.
Oh. Crap.
CHAPTER 6
My heart pounded in my chest, and a sliver of fear mingled with unease as I stared at the two pure-bloods. The one Seth had punched into next week tossed around the ball of abnormally bright flames like a mortal would play with a baseball.
Keeping an eye on him, I took a small step back and to the side, out from behind Colin. Deep down, I knew reasoning with them was going to be pointless, but I had to try. “We don’t want any problems. We’re just getting something to eat.”
“Does it look like we care what you want to do?” Icy Blond asked.
“You should,” Colin challenged. At his sides, his hands curled into hefty fists. There was no missing them. “I don’t think you want to piss off the Apollyon again. Messing with her will do that.”
“Fuck the Apollyon,” Icy Blond shot back, and the ball of flames hovering above his palm pulsed. “He’s still just a fucking half-blood when it’s all said and done. He isn’t worth shit.”
The other pure-blood shot a nervous glance in Icy Blond’s direction. It didn’t look like he was that on board with what was going down.
“You’re a bigoted idiot,” Colin spat. “And you’re—”
Everything happened so fast, and I just reacted without thinking. Icy Blond cocked his arm back, and I knew he was about to let the ball of fire go. There was a chance that Colin wouldn’t be able to move out of its way as fast as he had the last time. I just really didn’t think.
I threw out my arm, tapping into the power coursing through my veins. Figuring that putting the flames out would render the least amount of damage, I summoned the water element. The immediate buzz of energy was magnificent. It lit up every cell in my body as if they had been starving for it. Tapping into the aether, well, it was like coming home at the end of the day and finally being able to take a bra off.
It was that good.
Energy burst out of me, lifting the strands of my hair. There was a second where I saw the shock flickering over Icy Blond’s face, his response wholly comical. Mouth dropped open. Eyes widened. I sort of wished I had a camera to capture the moment. The ball of flames disappeared.
Of course, I blew all of them in different directions.
Icy Blond and his friend flew up in the air, knocked off their feet by a hurricane-force gust. Colin slammed back into the building. I’d meant to use water and that was not what had come out of me. Wind worked too, I guessed.
I winced when the two pures hit the ground a good distance away, their impact rattling the nearby trees. The wind settled around us. A handful of seconds later, the two pures were up on their feet and they were . . . they were running.
I felt like a total badass.
Colin stumbled to his feet, eyeing me as he gasped, “Holy shit.”
Grinning, I bounced a little as I lowered my arm and turned to Colin. I watched him straighten, relieved to see that he didn’t appear to be injured.
“How did you do that?” he asked, shaking his head.
“I told you I would be fine without Seth,” I said.
He blinked once and then twice. “You are so not a mortal. What . . . what are you?”
I wasn’t sure what I could say at this point. Colin knew I wasn’t a pure or a half, and he’d just seen me use the element of air. There was only the truth at this point. I drew in a shallow breath and met his gaze. “I’m a demigod.”
Seth
The moment Solos and I walked back through the inner walls, I knew something was up. Marcus was standing near the first set of tall statues. For a moment, I wondered if there were more nymphs appearing, spouting random crap, but that wasn’t it.
Behind him, sitting on a bench lit by one of the lampposts, was Josie, along with the half from yesterday. What was his name? Cole? Ben? Hell if I knew.
I frowned as we neared them. Josie looked way too innocent sitting there with her hands folded primly in her lap and her knees pressed together. I don’t think I’d ever seen her so . . . still. Or her face so perfectly blank.
Something was definitely up.
And why was she with Cole-Ben-whatever-the-fuck his name was?
“What’s going on?” Solos asked, slowing down.
I eyed them as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear.” I paused, letting my gaze slide to the half next to Josie. “Sitting a little close to her, aren’t you, bud?” The guy immediately scooted to the right while Josie frowned. He moved so far I thought he was going to slide right off the damn thing.
Marcus arched a brow as he glanced back at the two on the bench. “There was an altercation between them and two pure-bloods.”
I didn’t care what it looked like or what anyone thought. One second I was standing near Solos, and then I was in front of Josie, kneeling down so we were eye level. “Are you okay?”
She glanced toward Marcus and then slowly nodded. “I’m fine.”
Scanning every inch of visible skin, I wasn’t sure I entirely believed her. Yes, she was training and she could fight, but there was this illogical fear brewing deep in my gut.