“We’re not just talking about training. I’m talking about everything,” he said, and I flinched as that one word echoed throughout me. He looked away again, shaking his head. “Is that what you want me to say, Josie? Did that make you feel better hearing that?”

“No,” I admitted, drawing in a shaky breath. “Why? Why—”

“I don’t want to do this with you,” he interrupted, his voice cool but his words slicing right into me. “I don’t want to do any of this with you. Dammit, Josie, don’t make this hard. That’s enough of a reason.”

The burning sensation spread to my throat and chest, and I took another step back. I didn’t know what to say as I stared at him and only two words came out.

Hot tears welled up in my eyes. “Fuck you.”

I didn’t wait for his response, and this time, when I turned around, Seth didn’t stop me. I made it to my dorm and inside my room before my tenuous hold stretched too thin and then broke. The burn intensified, climbing back up my throat as I closed the door behind me and slid down, plopping onto the floor right in front of it. I smacked my hands over my face, pressing my palms into my eyes, but that did nothing to stop the tears.

There was so much to be worried about—training, finding demigods and the librarian, my mom and Erin, the Titans, and so much more, but right then, I didn’t care about any of that. My chest was split right open and my heart was torn out, left on a marble walkway by a group of olive trees. The pain was intense and consuming.

“Oh God,” I whispered into the silent room.

My shoulders shook as my fingers curled against my forehead. I clamped my mouth shut, stifling the sobs that were trying to break free, but the tears came. There was no stopping them. Hot wetness slipped down my cheeks. I thought I felt the floor move under me, a tremor that rattled the furniture, but I didn’t care about that either.

I didn’t understand. I had no idea what had happened, but the way he looked at me, the way he talked to me, that wasn’t even the Seth I knew in the beginning. This was a whole different Seth I’d never seen before.

Like the day he’d punched that pure and looked at me afterward, this Seth was a stranger to me.

The worst part—oh, God—the worst part was I knew what I was feeling. The very real pain, the bitter swelling of emotions, and the deepness of hurt were signals of something powerful and pure. Something that no longer mattered.

I was in love with Seth.

And he’d just broken my heart.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Seth

I was an asshole.

A huge asshole.