Sentinel [Covenant #5] by Jennifer L. Armentrout

safe if he succeeds. I also know that we’re not alone. We have Apollo, and Artemis, and other gods behind us, and we…we have…” A strange feeling unfurled within me, sending a series of shivers like icy fingers all over my skin. I shook my head, causing a sharp pain to crack down my neck. I suddenly found it hard to breathe. It was like waking up unexpectedly and realizing I was already late for something. “Alex?” Aiden stepped up beside me, his brows knitting. His eyes searched over my face. He placed a hand on my arm. “What’s wrong?” I saw him and Marcus, but every fiber of being was focused on someone else, outside this building and so very close. The crowd shifted nervously. A tremor coursed through my body. Deep inside my core, the cord snapped alive, thrumming frantically. The marks of the Apollyon bled to the surface, swirlingover my skin. My heart hammered as tiny hairs rose all over my body. “He’s here,” I said to Aiden, my voice a thready whisper. “Seth’s here.”CHAPTER 7There were no sirens, and I knew there’d be none. Seth was too cool for that. “Alex, hold up.” Aiden grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop just outside the Council building. Marcus was behind him, as was Val. “What are you doing? You just left in the middle of your speech.” “He’s here. I know he is. I can feel him.” Seth wasn’t talking to me, but I could feel him in every cell. The cord was buzzing along happily, in a way it only did when he was near. “Tell Val to make sure everyone is safe, but I have to go.” “Something is happening at the gate,” Val said, placing his hand over an earpiece. “I can’t get a definite response from them, but something’s going on.” “You don’t have to go.” Aiden’s eyes turned a thunderous shade of gray. “We need to take a minute —” “And what? Give him more time? No.” “He’s right.” Marcus stood at our shoulders. “What is our plan? Go out there and shake Seth’s hand?” My eyes narrowed on my uncle. “Actually, my plan was more to stab him in the eyeball and then decide what to do.” Marcus’s jaw locked down. “I think you’re missing the point. If he transfers your power or gains control over you, it is all over. We must think about this.” “He can’t get control over me.” My eyes flicked to Aiden’s, and I willed him to understand what I didn’t even really understand myself. I didn’t want to face Seth, but I had to see him. I had to know that my instincts were right, that he was here and I wasn’t going crazy. “We are so beyond that phase.” Aiden shook his head. “There have been no sirens, and Val can’t get the Guards at the gate to respond. Think about that. We could be walking into a trap. You could be walking into a trap.” Seth could keep dozens of Guards quiet with a compulsion. That fact didn’t change anything. I pulled my arm free, done with this conversation. Spinning around, I cut through the campus, heading for the gates. I didn’t even look to see if Val was doing anything. Each step made the cord tighten. My skin felt stretched to the point of ripping by the time I passed the courtyard and inhaled the sweet scent of peonies. “I swear to the gods, Alex, I will pick you up and throw you over my shoulder. You cannot go out there. Think for a second.” Aiden was right by my side, head down low and his voice a low warning. “Remember what we talked about last night. If you’re—” “I remember,” I shot back, picking up my pace. “And that has nothing to do with this.” “That has everything to do with this!” I blinked, sort of stunned that he would yell at me, but how could I be surprised? Aiden would do anything to keep me—and the baby, if there was one—safe, but if Seth was here, there was no hiding. Nothing was safe. Marcus appeared on my other side. “What did you two talk about last night? And yes, I know this isn’t the appropriate moment for this discussion, but you two