Lea said is true? That I was the reason why Mom died?”

“Let’s go, Alex. You’re right.” Caleb took a step back.

“She’s freaking crazy.”

Piperi sighed. “Always ears around these parts, but ears don’t always hear correctly.”

“Alex, let’s go.”

I blinked and—I’m not exaggerating—in the time it took me to open my eyes, Grandma Piperi stood in front of me.

The old lady moved that fast. Her clawed hand grabbed my shoulder hard enough to make me wince.

She stared up at me with eyes as sharp as blades, and when she spoke, her voice lost its raspy edge. And she didn’t sound al that crazy. Oh no, her words were clear and to the point.

“You wil kil the ones you love. It is in your blood, in your fate. So the gods have spoken it and so the gods have come to foresee it.”

CHAPTER 9

“ALEX! WATCH HIS HANDS. YOU’RE LETTING TOO

MANY blocks get through!”

I nodded at Aiden’s harsh words and squared off with Kain again. Aiden was right. Kain was tearing me apart. My movements were too slow, jerky and distracted—mainly due to staying up half the night, replaying the bizarro conversation with Grandma Piperi.

This was a real y bad time to be preoccupied. Today was the first practice that included Kain, and I was fighting like a baby. Kain wasn’t going easy on me either. Not that I would’ve wanted that, but I also didn’t want to look like a total turd in front of another Sentinel.

Another one of his brutal kicks got through my block and I dodged with only a split second to spare. Dodging was not the point of this exercise. If it were, I’d be excel ing at it.

Aiden stalked over to me then, repositioning my arms in a way that would’ve successful y knocked Kain’s leg down.

“Watch him. Even the slightest muscle tremor wil give away his attack. You have to pay attention, Alex.”

“I know.” I took a step back and ran my arm over my forehead. “I know. I can do this.”

Kain shook his head and walked off to grab his bottle of water while Aiden led me to the other side of the room, his hand wrapped around my upper arm. He bent so we were eye level. “What is your deal today? I know you can do better than this.”

I bent to pick up my water, but the bottle was empty.

Aiden handed me his. “I’m just… out of it today.” I took a drink and handed it back to him.

“I can tel .”

I bit my lip, flushing. I was better than this, and gods, I wanted to prove to Aiden I was. If I couldn’t get past this then I couldn’t move onto anything else—to al those damn cool things I wanted to learn.

“Alex, you’ve been distracted al day.” His eyes met mine and held them. “This better have nothing to do with the party Jackson held on the beach last night.”

Good grief, was there nothing this man didn’t know? I shook my head. “No.”

Aiden gave me a knowing look and took a drink from the bottle before he shoved it back into my hands. “Drink up.”

I sighed, turning away from him. “Let’s go again, okay?”

Aiden motioned Kain back and then clapped me on the shoulder. “You can do this, Alex.”

After col ecting myself and taking another gulp of water, I dropped the bottle on the floor. I went back to the center of the mats and nodded at Kain.

Kain watched me wearily. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” I clenched my teeth. Kain raised his eyebrows, like he doubted I was going to do anything different this time around.

“Al right.” He shook his head and we squared off again.

“Remember to anticipate my moves.”

I blocked his first kick, then his punch. We circled each other for a few rounds while I wondered what the hel Grandma Piperi meant by saying I would kil the ones I loved. That didn’t make any sense, because the one person I’d loved was already dead and I sure as hel hadn’t kil ed her. You can’t kil someone who’s already dead, and it wasn’t like I loved—

Kain’s boot slammed past my defenses and connected with my stomach. Pain exploded through me, so intense and overwhelming I dropped to my knees. The way I landed put a strain on my battered back. Wincing, I reached around and held my back with one hand and my stomach with another.

I was a total mess.

Kain dropped down in front of me. “Dammit, Alex! What were you doing? You should have never been that close to me!”

“Yeah,” I groaned. Breathe through it. Just breathe through it. Easier said than done, but I kept tel ing myself that. I expected Aiden to launch into a major tirade, but he didn’t say a word to me. Instead he walked up and jerked Kain up by the scruff of his neck, nearly holding him off the ground.

“Practice is over.”

Kain’s mouth dropped open and his normal y tanned skin paled. “But—”

“Apparently you don’t understand.” His voice sounded low and dangerous.

I stumbled to my feet. “Aiden, it’s my fault. I leaned in.” I didn’t have to elaborate; it was obvious what I’d done wrong.

Aiden looked over his shoulder at me. A few terse seconds later, he released Kain. “Go.”

Kain straightened his shirt while he backed up. When he turned to me, his sea-green eyes were wide. “Alex, I’m sorry.”

I waved one hand at him. “No biggie.”

Aiden stepped in front of me, dismissing Kain without so much of another word. “Let me take a look at it.”

“Oh… it’s okay.” I turned away from him. My eyes burned, but not because of the throbbing pain. I wanted to sit down and cry. I’d walked right into the kick. A child wouldn’t have made such a mistake. It was that lame.

He placed a surprisingly gentle hand on my shoulder and turned me back around. The look on his face said he understood my embarrassment. “It’s okay, Alex.” When I didn’t move, he took a step back. “You grabbed your back. I need to make sure you’re okay.”

Seeing no way out of this, I fol owed Aiden to one of the smal er rooms where they kept medical supplies. It was a cold, sterile room like any doctor’s office with the exception of the painting of Aphrodite in al her naked glory, which I found odd and a little disturbing.

“Get up on the table.”

I wanted nothing more than to run back to my room and sulk in privacy, but I did what he said.

Aiden came back to me, his gaze fixed above my head.

“How does your stomach feel?”

“Okay.”

“Why did you grab your back?”

“It’s sore.” I rubbed my hands over my thighs. “I feel like a dork.”

“You’re not a dork.”

“I am. I should’ve been paying attention. I walked right into the kick. It wasn’t Kain’s fault.”

He seemed to consider that. “I’ve never seen you so distracted.”

For the last month, we’d had eight-hour training days, and I guess during that time he’d seen a lot of things from me. But I’d never been this unfocused.

“You can’t afford to be so distracted,” he continued gently. “You’re coming along remarkably wel , but you don’t have time to lose. It’s almost July and that leaves us about two months to get you caught up. Your uncle has been requesting weekly reports. Don’t think he’s forgotten about you.”

Ful of shame and disappointment, my eyes dropped down to my hands. “I know.”

Aiden placed his fingers on my chin, guiding my head up.

“Why are you so distracted, Alex? You move like you haven’t slept and you’re acting as if your mind’s a mil ion miles from here. If it’s not the party last night, is it a guy who has you distracted?”

I cringed. “Look. There are several things I’m not discussing with you. Guys are one of them.”

Aiden’s eyes widened. “Real y? If it’s interfering with your training, then it’s interfering with me.”

”Jeez.” I shifted uncomfortably under his intense stare.

“There is no guy. I have no guy.”

He fel silent, watching me curiously. Those eyes had a calming effect, and even though I knew this was dumb, so stupid, I took a deep breath. “I saw Grandma Piperi last night.”

It seemed that Aiden expected me to say anything but that. While his face was impassive as ever, his eyes seemed to deepen. “And?”

“And Lea was right—”

“Alex,” he cut me off. “Don’t go there. You’re not

“Alex,” he cut me off. “Don’t go there. You’re not responsible.”

“She was right and wrong at the same time.” I stopped, sighing at the dubious look on Aiden’s face. “Grandma Piperi wouldn’t tel me everything. Actual y, she told me a bunch of crazy stuff about love and need… and gods kissing. Anyway, she told me that I would kil the one I loved, but how is that possible? Mom is already dead.”

An odd look flickered over his face, but it was gone before I could figure out what it was. “I thought you said you didn’t believe in that kind of stuff.”

Of course, he would remember that out of the bil ion random comments I’d made. “I don’t, but it’s not every day you’re told that you’re going to kil someone you love.”

“So this is what’s been bothering you today?”

I squeezed my thighs. “Yes. No. I mean, do you think it was my fault?”

“Oh, Alex.” He shook his head. “Do you remember when you asked me why I volunteered to train you?”

“Yeah.”

He pushed away from the table I sat on. “Wel , I lied to you.”

“Yeah.” I bit my lip and looked away. “I kinda figured that out already.”

“You have?” He sounded surprised.

“You stood up for me because of what happened to your parents.” I stole a peek at him. He was quiet as he watched me. “I think I remind you of yourself when it happened.”

Aiden stared at me for an eternal second. “You’re far more observant than I give you credit for.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t share the fact I’d only figured that out recently.

That lopsided grin appeared. “You’re right, if that makes you feel any better. I remember what it was like afterward.

You always wonder if there was anything you could’ve done differently, as pointless as it is, but you get hung up on the

‘what if’ of it al .” The smile disappeared slowly and he turned his face away. “For the longest time, I used to think if I had decided to be a Sentinel earlier, I could’ve stopped the daimon.”

“But you didn’t know a daimon was going to attack. You were—are—a pure-blood. So very few of you even…

choose this life. And you were just a kid. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

Aiden faced me then, gaze curious. “Then how can you hold yourself responsible for what happened to your mom?

You may have realized there was a possibility that a daimon would find you, but you didn’t know.”