The Power
Page 40

A punch of unnatural power rippled through the air. My gaze locked with Seth’s. The hue of his eyes burned a bright tawny color. “Is it a god?”
He shook his head as he scanned the quad. “I don’t know what it is. I haven’t sensed . . .” He trailed off, eyes widening. “What the . . . ?”
I spun around in the direction he was staring and my mouth dropped open. No more than ten feet away, double doors appeared. Like, literally out of thin air, and it was an ancient-looking thing. The frame was a silvery material I assume was titanium, and the rest was a smooth bronze.
Those fighting near it scuttled back, staying a good distance away. There were symbols all over the doors—ancient lettering that reminded me of the letter “F” and a really weird peace sign that also looked like a stick person. I tried to decipher the meanings, but I was too distracted to give my newfound ability the time. There was a Romanesque helmet on each door, and underneath each was what looked like a crudely drawn three-headed dog. I jerked, realizing what those etchings symbolized.
The doors swung open and cool, musty air billowed out over the grass. The green blades curled into themselves, rapidly fading to a dull brown as the heavy breeze pulled back into the gaping blackness. Two faint forms appeared.
“Oh shit,” Seth muttered.
I tensed, preparing myself for a horde of Titans or shades. Maybe even rabid bears or over-excited, spitting llamas. That’s not what came through the door.
A girl did.
She looked to be close to my age, maybe a year or two younger, and pretty wasn’t a strong enough word to describe her. She wasn’t very tall, but the tight jeans and tank top showed off a body that was somehow ripped and curvy at the same time. Long chestnut hair fell in waves down her shoulders and over her chest. Her eyes were a warm brown and her full, rosy mouth perfectly complemented her heart-shaped face. The girl was gorgeous in a wild, unfettered kind of way.
She wasn’t alone.
Beside her was a tall, dark-haired man, and Good Lord Almighty, he was . . . wow. He was taller than Seth, but not as broad, with dark brown, almost black hair, and eyes that were a startling shade of gray. His face was near perfect—high cheekbones, straight nose, and an expressive mouth. He was wearing jeans and a regular shirt, but for some reason I thought he looked like he’d be more comfortable in the garb of a Sentinel.
Behind them, the door folded into itself, collapsing until nothing was left except for the astonishingly good-looking couple.
“Well . . .” The girl looked around, dark brows arching as a half was lifted into the air and tossed past them like a football. Her lips were pursed. “This is super unexpected.”
“Not entirely,” the man beside her said as his silver-eyed gaze landed on us, settling on Seth as the girl stepped forward.
Deacon shouted over the melee, his voice filled with joy, and out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him start toward them. Despite all the crazy going on around us, the beautiful man smiled in response, flashing even, white teeth.
Understanding seeped in as a brawling half and pure got close to the newcomers. Throwing a punch, the half knocked the pure back several feet. He bumped into the new girl and turned, flames flickering over his busted knuckles.
Her reaction was wicked fast.
The girl’s arm shot out and her hand landed on his shoulder. She spun him around as she dipped low, kicking out with her leg. She caught the pure just below the knees, taking his legs out from underneath him. As the now-dazed pure fell forward, she slammed her palm into his back. Static burst and crackled into the air, and the pure flew forward, landing in a moaning, twitching heap facedown several yards away.
Damn.
In complete control of every muscle in her body, the girl straightened fluidly. The whitish light faded from her right hand. Her lips curved into a half-smile that was vaguely familiar as she knocked a strand of long brown hair out of her face. “Hey, Seth.”
Seth was nearly immobile as he stared at the twosome. Glyphs bled to the surface of his golden skin, piecing together and changing so fast I had no idea what the runes were saying, but the taut set of his features said it all.
“Alex,” he breathed.
CHAPTER 14
Seth
My skin buzzed. Blood pounded. Pulse accelerated. Energy poured into me as if I’d taken a jolt of caffeine straight to the heart. The glyphs, the mark of the Apollyon, were doing a fucking happy dance on my skin in response to Alex.
In response to the Apollyon.
Shit.
Oh shit.
The connection was snapping to life, waking up like a sleeping cobra, and it was there, between us, preparing to strike. The entire world zeroed in on this girl. The thing inside me, that felt like a part of me but something else entirely, was roaring like a freight train.
Without warning, a piece of knowledge floated among my thoughts. I can use her. I can use them. The moment those thoughts hit me they almost faded from my grasp. Like a word you couldn’t place, but waited on the tip of the tongue. Ever since I Awakened, that had happened on and off. For the longest time I didn’t understand why, just thought I was spacing out, but I realized it was from when I Awakened and what had happened. It was the same thing that happened to Alex. Thousands of years of information downloaded, passed down from every Apollyon from before. There was tons of crap I knew, but didn’t always realize since the knowledge existed in the back of my subconscious.
But now those odd thoughts, even as concerning as they were, faded away like leaves in the fall.