The Struggle(41)

Alex nodded. “Unless they’ve been grabbing pures from multiple locations, then we’re back at the starting line, but we can hope they aren’t smart enough or they’ve grabbed more than the normal losses from one location.”

“I’ve already made a few calls to some of the Guards I know who protect pure communities,” Aiden said. “I hope to hear something soon.”

I should’ve been relieved that at least we’d have something to go off of, but every muscle in my body was tense, because what if . . . what if we were too late?

What if I was too late?

~

Night had fallen. I had no idea where Alex and Aiden were. The last I’d seen, they’d been transfixed by the priests and priestesses that they’d seen out by the temple after dinner. Now the house was quiet, as was the ocean. All I had were my thoughts, and they were full of Josie.

I’d tried sensing her out like I’d been doing all day, over and over. It had only been a day since I’d realized Josie had been taken, but it felt like a damn eternity of not knowing what was happening to her, what she was going through.

Smoothing a hand over my face, I squeezed my eyes shut. If we didn’t hear back from the Guards Aiden had contacted . . .

“Seth?”

Lowering my hand, I turned. Alex stepped out onto the balcony. She’d changed in to jeans and a loose T-shirt. For a minute, she looked like any normal mortal out there.

“It’s beautiful here,” she said, her gaze bouncing from me to the dark ocean. “And you actually grew up in this?”

I didn’t respond as she walked to the railing and turned her face up, closing her eyes to the sweetly scented breeze.

“How are you hanging in there?” she asked.

Smiling wryly, I leaned back against the warm sandstone wall. “I want to blow shit up.”

She gave a soft laugh. “Understandable.” There was a pause and then she lowered her chin and opened her eyes. “You’re a god, Seth—and don’t say something stupid—but you’re an actual god.”

“Bizarre, right?”

Her eyes widened. “Really freaking bizarre. We were talking to, um, Basil—is that his name? Yeah. Basil. He seems really nice.”

“He’s all right.”

Glancing over her shoulder to the open archway, only a moment passed before she found my gaze again. “Can I just point out something to you?”

“If I tell you no, is that going to make a difference?”

A quick grin flashed across her face, and for a moment, I saw our past stretched out—I saw all the good and all the bad. I had been there for Alex when Caleb died, but I’d also tricked her many times. I’d used her to power up before she’d awakened. Yeah, my head had been a bit brainwashed, but that wasn’t an excuse. In the end, I’d come through for Alex—for Alex and Aiden, but that didn’t wash my hands clean.

Sometimes I had a hard time believing that Alex was actually standing in front of me and not trying to throat-punch me.

Alex’s gaze met mine. “You said you want to blow stuff up, but you’re not.”

“I took out a tree earlier.”

Her brows rose. “But the Seth I knew would be all over the place, blowing up more than a tree,” she said. “You look the same, but you’re a hell of a lot calmer.”

I didn’t feel calm.

“Being a god must have a weird . . . zen effect on you.” She paused. “So I’m going to ask you another question. Why did you leave?”

My shoulders tensed.

“I have to ask.” She reached up, twisting her hair into a rope, reminding me so much of what Josie did when she was nervous that I had to look away for a moment. “I mean, obviously, you’re not out of control. You’re not running around, doing evil deeds.” Her nose wrinkled. “Like I’ve said, you’re actually calmer than I’ve ever seen you.”

My jaw locked down.

“And when you left, you didn’t hurt anyone. Yeah, you knocked out Gable and Luke, but you and I both know you could’ve done worse. We expected you to do worse.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

She ignored that. “But you left after you saw Josie. That right there is a sign that you’re okay. Well . . .” Her lips pursed. “Okay by your standards.”

I shot her a droll look.

“And I’m going to be honest. We had sent Herc to get Apollo to find a way to keep you caged. Josie was all about finding you and being there for you, and she fought for you. I mean—”

“You don’t understand, Alex.” I pushed off the wall. “Or maybe if you think about it, you would understand. You of all people should understand.”