Aiden walked up to me, and for a couple of moments, we just stood there, nearly toe to toe, neither of us speaking. How many times in the past had we ended up in this stance? More times than I could count. Usually we’d be seconds away from going at each other’s throats. We did not have the greatest past together, but the last time I’d seen him . . . I saw a man who was broken.

Now I saw a man who was whole.

“There’s a couple of things I need to tell you, and then there’s something I need to ask you.” Aiden lowered his chin as he spoke. “I know you aren’t exactly thrilled that we’re here, but Alex has been waiting to see you since she found out what you did. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’m going to say it, and the next time Alex goes to say it, you’re going to let her do just that.”

I opened my mouth, but he went on. “We owe you everything and we know that. And I know you don’t want to hear this, but thank you. Thank you for what you did for us.”

Mouth clamped shut, I fixed my gaze on the wall.

“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

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.