Blurb:Fate isn’t something to mess with… and now, neither is Alex.
Alex has always feared two things: losing herself in the Awakening and being placed on the Elixir. But love has always been stronger than Fate, and Aiden St. Delphi is willing to make war on the gods—and Alex herself—to bring her back.
The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed” theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.
Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer… or she might become the God Killer herself.
Apollyon is due for release April 9, 2013
As Elixir has to be read in order to understand Apollyon Elixir will be included in the beginning of Apollyon.
COVENANT SERIES- ALEX AND AIDEN CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Alex and Aiden Christmas Special
Pures and halfs didn’t celebrate Christmas like the mortals do. We had our own super special holiday in February— Anthesterion. Pretty much everyone partied it up like Dionysus on spring break in Cancun. It was that… wild. But no Christmas tree, Yule log, cookies or mistletoe. No cheesy but fun songs.
Since I’d spent so many years in the mortal world, I’d grown to love Christmas and all that holiday cheer. So much so that for two straight weeks it was all I talked about when I was around Aiden or Seth. And as Christmas Eve arrived and everyone at the Covenant could care less, I was entering Downersville, population Alex.
Sigh.
I shuffled into my dorm room, dropping my bag on the floor. There was a truckload of Myths and Legends homework to be done, but I went to my computer on my little desk and booted up the beast. Bringing up YouTube, I started watching clips from National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. Several hours of Griswold family fun later, there was a knock on my door.
Smoothing my hands over my hair, I went to the door.
Aiden stood there, hands folded behind his back, his striking features expressionless. Those eyes, they were a gunmetal gray. Cool. Focused.
“Busy?” he asked, his deep, smooth voice doing funny things to my stomach.
I glanced around my room and arched a brow. “Not really.”
“Good. Come.”
Normally, I would’ve been all like hell to the no when it came to an order of “Come” with no explanation, but this was Aiden and yeah, he got a little more leeway than most. And I was also curious to why Aiden was searching me out. Curious. Hopeful. Warm and fuzzy…
Shutting the door behind me, I followed him down the silent hall. It was later than I realized. Cold, wet wind blew off the ocean, and I huddled down in my sweater. Back in the mortal world, everything would be covered in dazzling lights and people would be caroling.
Here, we had Guards and Sentinels patrolling the dunes. None of them were surprised to see us. Considering everything, they were used to seeing me with Aiden or another babysitter.
“So, what’s up?”
Aiden glanced down at me. “You’ll see.”
My brows lowered. “I’ll see what?”
“It’s just a few more minutes, Alex.”
Patience was a virtue I constantly struggled with. My mouth burned with questions I could barely hold back as we rounded the courtyard and headed toward the training facilities. My shoulders slumped.
“We’re training?” Geez, I got the fact that they didn’t celebrate the holidays, but it was Christmas Eve for crying out loud.
He said nothing, but there was a look to his gray eyes. Secretive with a touch of mischievousness mixed in. As he pushed opened the doors, my curiosity knew no limits. What in the world was Aiden up to? And would it involve something up the fun kind?
If so, there truly was a Santa Claus.
Now I was blushing like a goober.
Instead of swinging a left to the large rooms where all the training stuff was, he kept going down the hall dimly lit by recess lightning.
“Aiden, what’s going on?”
He brushed a lock of dark, wavy hair out of his eyes and sighed. “We really need to work on your patience.”
“Ha.”
His lips slid into a half grin. “Have you ever heard of the saying good things come to those who wait?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Come on.” He dropped a heavy hand on my back, between my shoulder blades, and my breath stalled.
I was effectively silenced by his touch. Perhaps that was why he did it. Not many people would blame him and probably wished they wielded that kind of power over me.
Aiden stopped in front of door that had no windows, and my imagination jumped out of PG-13 territory into NC-17. He dug a ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
Stepping aside, he motioned me into the dark room. I inched in, looking over my shoulder. “Uh, you aren’t going to lock me in a dark room or something? Right?”
Aiden chuckled as he stepped in, closing the door and plunging the room into utter darkness. My eyes bugged and I stood perfectly still. I knew this room held one of the sensory deprivation chambers.
Warm air brushed over my cheek, stirring the hair around my temple. A shiver danced over my skin and I closed my eyes. There was a sound of a switch being thrown.
“Open your eyes, Alex.” Aiden’s voice was tantalizing close to my ear.
I did and my mouth dropped open.
It looked like… like Christmas threw up in the room.
And I loved it.
“Oh…” Words failed me.
Christmas lights were strung across the walls, blanketing the sensory chamber to the right. A six foot Christmas tree was in the center of the room, draped in silvery tinsel that matched Aiden’s eyes. Shiny bulbs covered the tree.
I went to it slowly, as if in a daze.
Garland was everywhere—red and green. There were huge red stockings hanging from a cabinet. On top was a lamppost with a face.
“See the red button?” Aiden said from behind me. “Push it.”
I did with one shaky finger. Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer played. I started to laugh, but it got stuck in my throat.
“It plays a bunch of songs.” Aiden’s lashes hid his eyes. “I wasn’t sure if you had a favorite.”
“It’s perfect.” I turned around. A dozen candle canes were piled under the tree, along with what looked like milk and cookies. My breath caught. “Aiden…”
There was even a Charlie Brown tree in the corner. The branches were skinny and bare, drooping under the weight of the glassy red and green bulbs. I managed to laugh past the lump in my throat. I had no idea how he managed to get all of this in here without a million questions being asked. It was amazing—he was amazing.
“Oh, my gods, Aiden…” I went to the little tree, blinking back tears. Gods, I was about to break down like a girlie girl watching The Notebook or something.
“Seth and Deacon helped too,” Aiden said, hands in his pockets.
My gaze shot to the sexy elf in a red bikini lined in white fur photo. I grinned. “I bet they did.”
Aiden swooped down and as he stood, he handed me a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. I grinned as I took them. “Did… did you make these?”
Aiden tipped his head back and laughed. “No. Deacon did. He broke out the red and green sprinkles just for you.”
I blinked again as I bit down into the sugary goodness. Happy tears burned my eyes. “Thank you so much, Aiden. Honestly, you… you have no idea.”
He shrugged. “Don’t need to thank me for this.”
It seemed I was never supposed to thank him, but what he’d done for me—what the other guys had helped with—had my chest swelling. Any moment I would float right up to the ceiling. I finished off the cookies and milk, trying to keep it together.
“Anyway,” he said. “You can spend as much time in here as you want—are you crying?” Aiden moved to my side. His hand curved over my shoulder.
“No—not at all.” I forced a laugh and sat the plate and cup aside. “I just can’t believe you guys did this.” I took in the room again and then looked up, meeting his eyes. “I love Christmas. I love this…”
His smile turned tender. “I know. That’s why we did this. You deserve a little holiday cheer.”
I wasn’t so sure I deserved all of this. “It was your idea, wasn’t it?”
Aiden gaze drifted over my face. No answer. Of course, he had. This was Aiden—the kind of guy who listened to my senseless babble about a holiday he never celebrated and caught on to how much it meant to me. And then not take any real credit for it. Part of me melted.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He glanced up. “Huh, look here.”
My gaze followed his and my heart flipped flopped. A leafy green plant hung from the ceiling. Two red berries glistened in the twinkling light.
Yep, now my heart stopped.
“I do believe there is some kind of custom associated with this plant,” Aiden said, turning his gaze back to my own wide-eyed stare. “What do they call it?”
“Mistletoe.”
His lips spread into a slow, bone-melting smile. “Hmm…”
I had nothing to say. Nada.
Aiden lowered his head. Thick lashes swept down, shielding his eyes, but I saw them flash silver before they were hidden from me. My own eyes fluttered shut as my heart raced, my legs weakened. I felt his warm breath first, over my lips and then the soft as a breath kiss.
He took my hand, brought it to his mouth and placed a kiss against the center of my palm. “Merry Christmas, Alex.”
I sighed, happier than I could remember. “Merry Christmas, Aiden.”
No comments:
Post a Comment