Аполлион

Seeing Aiden lose his control was something I always found nothing short of awe-inducing, mainly because he neverlost control, but sometimes I forgot that he was far from perfect or saintly. He had a temper—nothing as crazy as Seth’s or mine, but fire hummed in his blood.

I crossed my arms, suddenly feeling chilled. “But there has to be a reason why he was only able to do this now. And— and—he heard you calling my name.” Hope sparked inside me. “His hold on me wasn’t that strong.”

“I bet he was thrilled about that.”

Recalling the way Seth had appeared when he heard Aiden’s voice, I was sure he’d been damn near murderous. “There has to be something, Aiden. We just need to figure it out.”

Aiden cut me a dark look as he stalked across the room, stopping before the window.

I bit my lip. “We will. We always do.”

He said nothing, his back unnaturally stiff. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

“Yes,” I said, exasperated. “Can you stop asking me that? I’m fine. I’m okay. Tonight was a small setback, but—”

“I know.” He looked over his shoulder, his voice measurably lower and even. “I know, Alex. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

He let out a short laugh. “I have a lot to apologize for, Alex.”

I stared at him. This was about something more than what had just happened with Seth. Yeah, he was ticked off, mostly for my benefit and I appreciated that, but this was more. I thought of the weird gap between us in the last few days.

Irritation pricked my skin. “What is your deal?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t?” I stalked up to him and reached up to place my hand on his face. He flinched away, and I felt that in the pang in my chest. “That! That’s what I’m talking about.”

He scowled.

Like with any other situation in my life, when I was annoyed or frightened by one thing, I pretty much turned all that energy on something else. “You’ve been acting weird for days and practically hiding from me.”

“I haven’t been hiding from you, Alex.” A muscle worked in his jaw as he stared out the window. “Do you really think this is the time to be talking about this?”

I took a deep breath and felt my famous temper rise to the occasion. “Is there a better time?”

“Maybe when you haven’t just been sucked into gods-know-where by Seth and we’re not planning on going out there and coming face-to-face with gods-know-what.” He glanced over his shoulder, eyes a cool gray. “Maybe then.”

Oh, I was two seconds from jumping on his back and strangling him from behind… with love, of course.

“Do you think we’re going to get a better time to talk about this? That sometime in the near future everything is just going to pause for us to have a heart-to-heart?” Aiden had turned back to the window, but I didn’t need to see his face to know he wasn’t a happy camper. “Okay. I don’t get this. You were fine when we came back. We—”

“We shouldn’t have done that.”

Pain sliced into my chest like he’d socked me. At once, I felt the marks respond, bleeding across my skin.

Aiden’s head tipped down and he cursed. “I didn’t mean it like that. That night—it was the best night of my life. I don’t regret it, but I should’ve waited until you’d had time to come to grips with everything. I lost… I lost control.”

I stepped forward. “I like when you lose control.”

He shook his head mutely.

“I was okay, Aiden. I wasn’t damaged. I’m not damaged now. So why are you hiding from me?”

“I’m not hiding from you.”

“Bull! You avoid spending any time alone with me, except at night.”

Aiden faced me, thrusting his fingers through his hair. “At night, when I’m sleeping, is the only time I don’t think about it—what I did. You… don’t understand. What I did to you—putting you on the Elixir? I don’t deserve anything else.”

“You—”

“I didn’t have to, Alex. It was weak of me. I didn’t trust that eventually you’d break the bond. And seeing what it did to you? I can’t forgive myself for that.”

My mouth dropped open. “You can’t blame yourself for that! You did what was right.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “It wasn’t right.”

“Aiden—”

“The Elixir was one of your greatest fears, Alex! And I did that to you!”

Surprised, I took a step back. Rarely did Aiden ever raise his voice, but I knew his anger and frustration weren’t directed at me. It was his own guilt—guilt he shouldn’t be carrying around with him.

“How…” He came forward, lowering his voice as his eyes locked with mine. “How is what I did any different than what Seth did to you—is still doing to you?”

I gaped. “Putting me on the Elixir isn’t the same thing as Seth twisting me into a psychotic Apollyon!”

“But I stripped you of whoyou are, Alex. It’s the same.” Heat rolled off him in waves, intensifying as the seconds passed. Most people would’ve been terrified of him like this.

I was mostly annoyed—and saddened.