“Doesn’t matter what you agree with, Seth.” Marcus paused. “I remember what happened to Jackson after he took training too far. This is my call.”

My lips thinned as the blast from the past slammed into me. I hadn’t thought about Jackson for a long time. Had no idea if that overconfident jackass was even still alive. He had not been a fan of Alex, and during training one day he literally stomped her in the ribs. I’d paid him back for that. Ten-fold.

“Jackson?” murmured Josie.

I shook my head. That wasn’t something she needed to know about me. Hell, she already knew enough bad shit about me.

My gaze met Colin’s. He held it for a moment and then lowered his. He knew who the two punks were, and I had a feeling he’d be more than happy to tell me. I was going to have a little chat with him later. “So, they know you’re a demigod then?”

She nodded. “Sorry?”

“You don’t need to apologize.” I curled my hand around the nape of her neck and squeezed gently. “You defended yourself. You did the right thing.”

“Agreed,” Marcus stated. “No one was injured. If anything, she scared the two boys.”

Her lips twitched at that.

“It’s going to get out, probably very fast.” Marcus shifted his weight as he lifted his chin. “This was bound to happen, and I don’t think it’s going to cause many problems. If anything, it will keep the foolish ones away from her.”

That much was true, but that did mean she would be treated like some kind of prized pony, where everyone would be staring at her. I didn’t want that for her.

“Well, it really isn’t a big deal then?” Solos ran a hand over his head, straightening the knot of hair he’d pulled back from his face. “Here I was thinking she set someone on fire.”

Josie’s lips pursed. “I only almost did that once.”

Behind the bench, Colin’s eyes widened. Good. Josie was hot. Literally. After a few moments, with promises from Colin that he wasn’t going to say anything, everyone split off. Solos went with Marcus to inform him of our scouting, which wasn’t much of anything. There’d been no daimons nearby, but the strangest damn thing was the absolute absence of any animal or bird. That wasn’t exactly normal and we didn’t really know what the hell that meant.

I walked Josie back into her room, and once inside I stripped off the Covenant daggers and the titanium-loaded Glock, placing them on her coffee table.

“Are you really okay?” I asked her, tugging my shirt out of the tactical pants. “And not pretending like something else didn’t happen?”

“I wouldn’t pretend that something didn’t happen.”