The Struggle(71)

Chapter 22


Once we exited the bathroom, the breakfast had sort of fallen apart. I kind of felt bad, because threatening to vomit all over the counter had probably killed their appetites. But once Seth got some water in me, I felt a hundred percent better.

The bracelets around my wrists hadn’t tightened, but they felt like they were going to cut off my circulation. The feeling was all in my head, but what if they were making me mortal—susceptible to viruses and serious injuries? I was going to keep that suspicion to myself, because Seth would wrap me up in bubble wrap if that idea occurred to him.

Then again, his hawkish gaze alluded to the fact that he probably already suspected the same.

A small army of staff had appeared out of nowhere to clean up the kitchen, so we ended up in the largest living room I’d ever seen. I curled up in a comfy, overstuffed chair, my feet tucked under me. My stomach was feeling pretty stable and no one was really looking at me like they were waiting for me to hurl again, but tension had crept into the airy room. Alex and Seth were arguing about something, but I wasn’t sure what exactly. I was tired after touring the house, eating the large breakfast, and vomiting my guts up. I wanted nothing more than a nap, and that was a wee bit concerning, because I’d been asleep more than awake recently, even when Hyperion had a hold of me.

Sighing, I looked up and saw that Seth was watching me from across the room. My stomach hollowed as I remembered the kiss from the cliffs. He probably wasn’t thinking about that since he had just been holding my hair back while I prayed to the porcelain god.

His amber eyes hooded, and I felt my cheeks flush in response. Okay, he most definitely was not thinking about what happened in that bathroom. Good to know he wasn’t repulsed.

Alex sat on the loveseat and leaned back, clapping her hands over her stomach. “Man, I think I have a food baby.”

I coughed out a tired laugh and then something occurred to me. “Can you two . . . have kids?” The moment I asked the question, I cringed, because whoa, that was a private thing to stick my nose in. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that. I—”

“It’s okay.” Alex grinned as she knocked her hair back from her face. I swore I saw a faint pink splash across the heights of Aiden’s cheekbones. “We honestly don’t know. I mean, I’m not a normal demigod. Neither of us are, so we don’t know if one day it could happen. We haven’t been trying, but we . . .” She trailed off, shrugging.

But they also probably haven’t been using protection.

“The mere idea of you having a child actually frightens me,” Seth commented dryly.

“You and me both,” Alex muttered under her breath.

Folding my arms across my waist, I snuggled into the cushions. Seth hadn’t been sure if that could happen for us, so he’d always used protection. Well, except for that one time. My nose wrinkled. Before Seth had left me, he’d found me in the library, and I was pretty positive he hadn’t used a condom.

My stomach dipped and then roiled slightly as I tried to figure out when my last period was. Not that I was seriously worried about getting pregnant, because it was seriously unlikely, and not because I sincerely believed I couldn’t get pregnant from one episode of unprotected sex. With my luck, that was a hundred percent feasible, but after everything with Hyperion . . . ? There was no way a pregnancy would’ve survived that.

Ugh. I shifted in the seat, uncomfortable with my train of thoughts. I was way too young and things were way too crazy to even entertain the idea of popping out a baby Seth.

A baby Seth?

My eyes widened.

I might puke again.

Seth walked behind my chair and placed his hands on my shoulders. “You okay?”

Tilting my head back, I smiled despite the fact my thoughts were on an extended trip through Crazy Land. “Yep,” I said. Pushing those really weird thoughts aside, something occurred to me that I hadn’t thought about. “We may be facing a really big problem—bigger than we realize. To entomb the Titans, six demigods needed to be brought together and whatever wards were binding their abilities would be removed. They still need their icons, but I know where they are,” I said, knowing they were stashed in the library and guarded by Medusa. “I was unbound because my—because Apollo did it himself and that weakened him, so I doubt the other gods will do that. There’re not six demigods anymore. Only five.”

“So that means the gods have to do what Apollo did for you,” Aiden said.

“And how likely is that?” Alex asked. “Especially if it weakens them?”

“Then we don’t worry about entombing the Titans.” Seth shrugged a shoulder. “I take care of them like I did Perses.”