The Power
Page 45

“We won’t forget that,” he added, and then after a pause, “even if there are days—months, and probably years—where I wish I could forget that.”
I huffed out a laugh as I looked back at him. “I really don’t like you, Aiden.”
His lips twitched. “Good. Because I still don’t like you either.”
“Perfect.” I started to back up. “Anything else, Saint?”
“Yeah. Just one more thing.” Aiden’s eyes turned gunmetal gray. “Are you still connected to Alex?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“I’m asking you.”
I drew in a deep breath. There was no point in lying. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
CHAPTER 15
Josie
“This is kind of weird,” Colin stated as he stared out over the nearly empty cafeteria. “It’s like a ghost ship. Well, maybe a ghost cafeteria.”
Holding my plate of bacon and bottle of apple juice, I had to agree that this was weird. Normally there were a lot more students in the cafeteria on Sunday morning. Right now, I could count on both hands how many were actually in the room, and they were pures.
Pures who watched us warily as we sat at a small round table near the windowed wall overlooking the statues of the eleven remaining Olympian gods. I could feel their stares as I screwed the lid off my juice.
What was also weird was that Luke and Deacon were normally waiting for us in the lobby of the dorm or, if one of us was late, they were already in the cafeteria. Luke was an earlier riser, meaning he’d drag Deacon out of bed even if the boy was half-asleep.
They weren’t here.
Of course, it sort of made sense. Deacon was probably spending time with his brother. They might even end up here. And from what I gathered, Luke was super close with Alex. The whole gang might walk in at any moment. So it made sense, but it was also just weird, because we were missing people.
And Seth?
Seth had stopped coming to breakfast the day he’d stopped training me. I was still getting used to it.
“You think everyone is in hiding?” Colin asked, scooping up his egg whites. Ew. Who just ate eggs without the yolk? The yolk was the best part. “Or was there a massive party last night and we weren’t invited?”
“And everyone is hungover now?” I smiled as I picked up a slice of bacon. “It’s possible.”
He snorted as he rested his elbow on the table. “We’re just that uncool.”
I was feeling pretty uncool and in desperate need of a pity party, but I didn’t know Colin well enough to be comfortable with me turning into a whale-sized baby in front of him. “Probably has to do with the fight yesterday. Maybe people don’t feel entirely safe right now.”
“True. I like the idea of there being a big party, though.” He chewed his eggs. “Or it could be the fact we now have two more demigods roaming around campus.”
The yummy-tasting bacon turned a little sour in my stomach.
“You guys are like mogwais fed after midnight,” he continued.
I cracked a smile at that. Though none of us were as cute as a mogwai.
Colin finished off his eggs and then moved on to his whole-wheat toast. All the butter in the world dumped on that bread wouldn’t make it taste like anything besides cardboard. “So, do you know those two? Aiden and Alex?”
Shaking my head, I put my bacon down, no longer hungry, which was a crime when it came to bacon. “No. Yesterday was the first time I’d even seen them.”
“Man, they are like legends.” He shook his head, and there was no mistaking the awe creeping into his tone. “They actually are legends among our kind.”
“Really?” I murmured, staring at my pile of bacon.
Colin munched on his toast. “I never actually formally met them, but I was here when they first came, before they left to fight Ares. The fact that they did that willingly is freaking beyond amazing. I mean, who would want to fight the God of War?”
Not me, but that was no big surprise.
“They’re pretty badass,” he went on, and I swallowed a sigh. “I might have a crush on Alex.”
I slowly lifted my gaze to his. Seriously?
He flushed. “I mean, not in that way. I’m smart enough to realize Aiden would kill me. I have a respect crush on her. She’s badass. She left to fight Ares knowing she wasn’t going to walk out of the battle.”
How fast could I haul butt out of that cafeteria?
“That took major balls.” He paused, frowning at his half-eaten toast. “Well, it took major ovaries. She had no idea that Apollo, your father, had given her ambrosia. Or at least that’s the legend and she . . .”
Colin’s praise party faded in a dull hum that matched the ache behind my eyes. I knew my irritation was unreasonable, and I also knew exactly what the source of my anger was.
Jealousy.
My skin should have been green by then. Seeing Alex yesterday had totally confirmed what I always believed about her. She was literally everything I wasn’t.
How in the world could Seth have ever been interested in me after sort of being involved with someone like her?
It wasn’t her fault. Hell, the girl didn’t even know I existed. She was batting in the major leagues and I was still trying to get into the minors. My irritation and frustration were all on me.
I was woman enough to admit that.
After breakfast, I parted ways with Colin even though he was all about us going for a run or something—and who in the hell did he think I was, that I was going to voluntarily do that? Ha. I went to the library, trolled around in there for hours with no luck, and then finally moped back to my dorm.