The Struggle

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Chapter 26

  After much, much arguing and a few slammed doors, and me threatening to steal a boat so I could leave the island and then catch a plane, Seth relented and I was going with them to the University.

  I appreciated that he was concerned for my well-being, but the Covenant was warded against the Titans, and I would be safe there. And it wasn’t like we were driving there. Seth was going to do his super-special transporting thing.

  He really didn’t see the point in any of us going there, but from what Aiden had gathered from Deacon, the girl they’d brought back with them was not exactly thrilled by what was happening. According to Deacon, she had barricaded herself in one of the dorms and was refusing to come out. Of course, any number of the pures could’ve busted the door right open, but doing so wouldn’t have helped matters. Currently Gable was trying to coax the girl out by relating to what she was experiencing.

  There was also the very real chance that they had kidnapped the wrong person since they didn’t have Herc to help sniff out the demigod blood, so we all were hoping that the boys hadn’t committed a felony. I was curious to how they’d determined that this was one of the demigods.

  Plus I didn’t want to be left behind like some kind of frail damsel. I refused to allow that to happen. The last thing I needed was endless time alone to dwell over the time I’d spent with the Titans or my mom’s death. My subconscious was already doing a bang-up job at that.

  And if that wasn’t enough to worry about, I was really, really beginning to stress over the whole nauseous and tired thing I was going through. More than once over the last couple of days, I’d tried to seriously figure out the last time I’d had my period. My life had been absolutely insane since I walked into Seth in the stairwell at Radford University. Stress can affect the whole monthly cycle thing, but I was sure I had not had a period in well over a month.

  But—and it was a huge but—I’d also been virtually starved while being held by Hyperion. I knew that could affect a cycle. I also didn’t think I’d have symptoms of—oh gods—a pregnancy so soon after unprotected sex. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, even though it felt like an eternity. It had only been three weeks, give or take a couple of days. I didn’t think women had symptoms that quickly, but I also wasn’t exactly normal.

  And how in the world could a pregnancy last after what I’d been through?

  My stomach dipped and rolled every time I seriously thought about the probability of actually being impregnated. I couldn’t even process it or what that would really mean.

  So, like any normal twenty-year-old, I decided to ride the river of denial and pushed it aside for the time being.

  After pulling on a pair of jeans Basil had gotten from somewhere and tugging my hair up in a ponytail, we were ready to go. Seth did the cool god thing, taking Aiden to the Covenant first.

  “That is so bizarre,” Alex said, shaking her head. “I mean, I thought I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not. It’s just so bizarre.”

  I looked over at her. “But awesome.”

  “I’m so entirely jealous.”

  A grin tugged at my lips and then Seth reappeared in front of us, causing me to jump. He smiled as he took my hand. “I’m going to take you next. You ready?”

  “Not really.” I looked over at Alex, hoping it didn’t make me puke. My stomach felt fine today, but then again, I hadn’t been poofed anywhere. “It feels really weird.”

  “Yes, it does,” she said with wide eyes.

  Wrapping my arm around Seth’s waist, I took a deep breath and prepared myself as best I could, which was to close my eyes. “I’m ready.”

  Seth chuckled. “You look like you’re about to jump out of an airplane.”

  “Shut up,” I grumbled, keeping my eyes closed.

  He laughed again, and then I felt his breath on my cheek. A heartbeat later, his lips brushed over mine. I gasped in surprise, and he took complete advantage of that, kissing me deeply.

  “I’m glad that’s not how I got here,” I heard Aiden say.

  My eyes flew open, and at first all I saw were glowing tawny eyes, and then I stepped back, looking around. I wasn’t in Seth’s house anymore. We were standing in a large office. I immediately recognized the older man standing by the desk. Marcus—Alex’s uncle and the Dean of the University. We were at the Covenant.

  “Did you forget how I excel at distraction?” Seth murmured in my ear.

  I flushed hotly.

  Dammit.

  He was good.

  Kissing my cheek, Seth let go. “I’ll be right back.”

  Before I could say a word, he vanished and then suddenly Deacon was in front of me, all blond curls and silver eyes. “Deacon!” I barely got his name out before I was swept up in his lanky arms and hugged until I squeaked. Laughing, I held him just as tightly. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “You have no idea.” He rocked me from side to side, and I swore for a second my feet dangled. “Shit. It’s good to see you.”

  The moment Deacon let go, I was enveloped in another hug, and this time it was Luke. “We missed you,” he said, then stepped back, still clasping my upper arms. A half-smile formed on his handsome face. “Chicken tenders and fries haven’t been the same without you.”

  “Neither has been watching Supernatural,” Deacon chimed in. “Luke is all about Sam. I need my Team Dean cohort.”

  Blinking back sudden tears, I laughed again. These two—I’d only just met them a few months ago, but they were my friends, and I’d missed them. “Well, we need to get some tenders and fries and watch Supernatural—oh, and bacon.”

  The university had amazing bacon. I don’t know how they made it differently, but they did.

  Deacon nodded empathetically. “We cannot forget about the bacon.”

  I barely pulled it together as Marcus smiled in my direction. “It’s good to see you again, Ms. Bethel.”

  “Thank you.” I swallowed hard as Seth reappeared, this time with a dazed-looking Alex.

  She stumbled a step and then shook her head. “Holy crapola, I will never get used to that. Never.”

  “Try having him randomly pop into your office,” Marcus commented dryly.

  Seth walked over to where I stood. “But what fun would it be if I announced my arrival first?”

  “Indeed.” Marcus lifted his brows as he leaned back against the desk. “Now that we are all here—”

  “The Army of Awesome reunited at last.” Deacon grinned while his brother sighed heavily. “It’s been a long time coming.”

  “We do have a small issue to contend with,” Marcus continued.

  “Just a tiny one,” Deacon added as Alex dropped into one of the chairs placed in front of Marcus’s desk. “Our little Canadian demigod refuses to believe that she is what we’re saying she is and we are what we’re saying we are.”

  “That’s not exactly surprising.” Aiden folded his arms. “Most mortals don’t even know we exist.”

  “Yeah, but she’s not like most mortals,” Luke chimed in.

  Feeling a little nauseous all of a sudden, I sat in the chair next to Alex. “How so? Wait a sec. How are we sure she’s who we’re looking for?”

  “That’s a good question,” Alex said, rising a brow. “Kidnapping is a felony.”

  “Well, technically, even if she’s a demigod, they still kidnapped her.” Seth shrugged when we all looked at him. “Hey, I’m just pointing out the obvious here.”

  Luke turned to Deacon. “You want to do the honors?”

  “Of course.” Deacon would never turn down being the center of the attention. “Once we got back here with Gable, we had no idea how we were going to find the last two demigods. So I had this idea. Why don’t I try to find the librarian?”

  Aiden’s mouth dropped open. “You went to Medusa? Please tell me you did not attempt to talk to Medusa.”

  “I just want to add at this moment that she is not an official employee of the university,” Marcus stated, and I
smothered an absurd-sounding giggle.

  Deacon shrugged. “It was a risk I was willing to take. What’s the worst that could’ve happened?”

  “She could’ve, you know, turned you into stone?” Alex suggested, voice pitching high.

  “Obviously she didn’t see me as threat, because I’m standing here and I’m not made out of stone.”

  “I would like to go on record and say I had no idea he planned on doing that.” Luke slid his narrowed gaze to his boyfriend. “He just went and did it without telling me.”

  “And it worked!” Deacon reached into his pocket. “All it took was one trip to the library. It’s like she was waiting for me—like she knew I was coming. Super freaky if you think about it.”

  “Seriously? It took me so many times to get her to appear,” I muttered, trying not to pout.

  “Well, I’m just that special. Anyway, I told her that we were going to find the other demigods and she gave me this.” Uncurling his fist, he revealed a necklace that dangled from his fingers. Hanging from an ordinary chain appeared to be some kind of clear quartz crystal.

  I leaned forward, squinting. “What is that?”

  “It’s a scrying stone.” He grinned as he cupped the stone in his other hand. “If you’re looking for someone and you know what city they’re in, all you have to do is hold it over a map and bam! Tells you the exact location. We found our little Canadian demigod working at a bookstore in Thunder Bay.”

  Hope sparked in my chest. If they used it to find this demigod, then we could use it to find where Mitchell was being held. As soon as the thought finished, I realized the stone would not be able to help us there. We didn’t know the city he was in.

  I pushed aside that frustration as I eyed the stone. “That’s pretty amazing.”

  “Right?” Deacon slipped it back into his pocket as Marcus pushed off the desk and walked behind it.

  “Let’s back up for a second. What do you mean she’s not like other mortals?” Seth placed his hands on the back of my chair. “What does that mean?”

  “I think I know who her godly parent is, which has to do with why she’s not exactly normal,” Luke said. “She’s Demeter’s daughter.”

  Marcus sat in the chair behind the desk as Deacon nodded. “We kind of did the whole stalking her thing for a bit, trying to figure out what was the best way to approach this, when we caught her doing something very interesting after work.”

  Seth opened his mouth, and I just knew it was going to be something wildly inappropriate. “Don’t,” I warned.

  He smirked.

  “She was walking by some old, dried-out bushes. No idea what kind they were.” Deacon hopped up and sat on the desk. Marcus sighed. “She stopped and looked around. There wasn’t anyone else outside. She didn’t see us hiding in the car like complete stalkers.”

  “Nice,” Alex murmured.

  “She ran her fingers over the bush and the thing came back to life. Completely,” Luke explained. “Went from dead and brown to looking like it was just planted there.”

  “Demeter is the goddess of agriculture, among other things.” Marcus leaned back in his chair, crossing one knee over the other. “Which begs the question of why she is so resistant to the truth considering that is not something mortals can do. It also makes me wonder how she was able to do it. I was under the impression their powers were bound.”

  I gaped. “What the hell? I didn’t have any cool abilities like that. Not at all.”

  Seth was bent at the waist, so his head was next to mine when he laughed. “Ah, but you’re still special.”

  “Shut up,” I muttered crossly. “I still don’t have any special abilities like that.”

  Seth patted my head, and I about swung at him. “So,” he said, “is she still locked in a dorm room?”

  “Yep.” Luke smiled tightly. “She’s been talking to Gable through the door, but she won’t open it, and other than the water that was in the room, she hasn’t had anything else to drink or eat. We need to get her out.”

  “Then get her out.” Seth straightened. “And force some food down her throat. She gets with the program—”

  “Or what?” Aiden’s eyes darkened to a thunderous gray.

  One side of Seth’s lips tipped up. “There are no other options, St. Delphi.”

  “Though his delivery sucks,” I reasoned, “Seth has a point. I can try to talk to her.”

  “Well, while you guys convince this girl that you all aren’t crazy and not to press charges, Aiden and I are going to head to Texas.” Seth pushed off the chair.

  “What?” I looked up at him.

  “When Aiden and Alex were in Baton Rouge, they learned about a community outside of Houston that has had some pures disappear,” Seth explained.

  “And right before we came here, I got a call from a Sentinel that they were tracking what they believed were shades,” Aiden added. “Since the Covenant is warded, we’re going to check it out.”

  I was kind of surprised that Seth was willing to leave me here, but also relieved that he trusted that the Covenant was secure.

  “So you guys are going now?” Alex asked.

  Aiden nodded. “There are a couple of abandoned warehouses about two miles from their community.”

  She lifted her chin. “So I’m going with you guys.”

  Behind me, Seth sighed.

  “That’s not necessary,” Aiden returned.

  “It’s not?” she asked, voice low.

  “Oh, man,” Deacon mumbled.

  As Alex and Aiden descended into a full-blown argument, Seth tapped me on the shoulder and widened his eyes as he nodded to the door. Pushing out of my chair, I followed him to the hallway outside the Dean’s office, closing the door behind me.

  “Do you think Aiden is going to cave and let Alex come?” I asked.

  Seth propped his hip against the wall. “She can be fairly convincing when she wants in on the action, but there really is no point. When they went to Baton Rouge, it was a bust, and even though there are a few places that fit the description of the warehouse you were held in, that doesn’t mean we’re going to find anything. She doesn’t need to go. Neither does Aiden.”

  “But he wants to help. Both of them do,” I reasoned.

  “I get that, but they’re a liability,” he pointed out with a one-shoulder shrug. “They’re demigods, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be seriously injured or killed. I, on the other hand, cannot be killed as easily.”

  My stomach dipped at the thought of Seth being in danger. “Well, we demigods aren’t that easy to kill,” I reminded him as the door opened and Marcus walked out, Deacon and Luke behind him. They moved to the other end of the hall, and I thought it was kind of funny that Aiden and Alex had chased the Dean out of his own office. Damn.

  “But only Cronus, Hera, and Zeus can kill me, and based on what you’ve said about Cronus, he’s really not a threat at this moment.”

  “And what about Zeus and Hera?”

  Seth grinned. “Pretty sure they spend the vast majority of their time watching old reruns of Happy Days and trying to kill each other. They aren’t a problem.”

  “Happy Days?” When I pictured Zeus, I saw a middle-aged man with a beard for some odd reason, and now I saw him lounging on a couch watching Fonzie on a massive big-screen while Hera sat in a recliner glaring at him. I shook those images out of my head. “I know you’re the ultimate badass right now, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful.”

  A playful grin teased at his lips. “You know me. I’m always careful.”

  “Uh-huh,” I murmured.

  “Surprised you’re not demanding to go,” Seth said after a moment.

  “Do you want me to?”

  “No. I’m glad you’re not pushing it.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “We made a deal, and I still have these bands on my wrists.” I paused, breathing through another sharp wave of nausea. “And I . . .”

  “What?” His gaze sh
arpened, all playfulness gone.

  “I’m good at the hand to hand stuff. I mean, you taught me. So did Luke and . . . and Solos.” My heart hurt thinking of the fallen half-blood. “But I’m tired—”

  “How tired?”