Jennifer Armentrout: Half-Blood

I didn’t need to be told twice. Like a pro, I hit the floor.

The pulse of heat shot above me, crashing into the intended target. The floor shook with the daimon’s wild thrashing and her wounded screams fil ed the air. Only titanium would kil a daimon, but I felt confident that being burnt alive didn’t feel too good.

Rising up on my elbows, I peered through my dirty hair as Aiden lowered his hand. A popping sound fol owed the movement, and the flames vanished as fast as they appeared. Within seconds, only the smel s of burnt wood, flesh, and smoke remained.

Two more Sentinels rushed the room. I recognized one of them. Kain Poros: a half-blood a year or so older than me.

Once upon a time we had trained together. Kain moved with a grace he’d never had before. He went for the female, and with one quick swoop, he thrust a long, slender dagger into the burnt flesh of her skin. She too became nothing but dust.

The other Sentinel had the air of a pure-blood to him, but I’d never seen him before. He was big—steroids big—and he zeroed in on the daimon I knew was somewhere in this factory but hadn’t seen yet. Watching how he moved such a large body around so graceful y made me feel sorely inadequate, especial y considering I was stil lying sprawled on the floor. I dragged myself to my feet, feeling the terror-fueled adrenaline rush fade.

Without warning, my head exploded in pain as the side of my face hit the floor hard . Stunned and confused, it took me a moment to realize the Wannabe Adonis had gotten ahold of my legs. I twisted, but the creep sank his hands deep into my hair and yanked my head back. I dug my fingers into his skin, but it did nothing to al eviate the pressure bearing down on my neck. For a startled moment, I thought he intended to rip my head right off, but he sank razor sharp teeth into my shoulder, tearing through fabric and flesh. I screamed— really screamed.

I was on fire—I had to be. The draining burned through my skin; sharp pricks radiated out through every cel in my body. And even though I was only a half-blood, not chock-ful of aether like a pure-blood, the daimon continued to drink my essence as though I were. It wasn’t my blood he was after; he’d swal ow pints of it just to get at the aether.

My very spirit shifted as he dragged it into him. Pain became everything.

Suddenly, the daimon lifted his mouth. “What are you?”

His whispered voice slurred the words.

There was no time to even think about that question. He was ripped off me and my body slumped forward. I rol ed into a messy, bloody bal , sounding more like a wounded animal than anything remotely human. It was the first time I’d ever gotten tagged—drained by a daimon.

Over the smal sounds I made, I heard a sickening crunch, and then wild shrieks, but the pain had taken over my senses. It started to pul back from my fingers, sliding its way back to my core where it stil blazed. I tried to breathe through it, but damn…

Gentle hands rol ed me onto my back, prying my fingers away from my shoulder. I stared up at Aiden.

“Are you okay? Alexandria? Please say something.”

“Alex,” I choked out. “Everyone cal s me Alex.”

He gave a short, relieved laugh. “Okay. Good. Alex, can you stand?”

I think I nodded. Every few seconds a stabbing flash of heat rocked through me, but the hurt had faded into a dul ache. “That real y… sucked something bad.”

Aiden managed to get one arm around me, lifting me to my feet. I swayed as he brushed back my hair and took a look at the damage. “Give it a few minutes. The pain wil wear off.”

Lifting my head, I looked around. Kain and the other Sentinel were frowning at nearly identical piles of blue dust.

The pure-blood faced us. “That should be al of them.”

Aiden nodded. “Alex, we need to go. Now. Back to the Covenant.”

The Covenant? Not entirely in control of my emotions, I turned to Aiden. He wore al black—the uniform Sentinels wore. For a hot second, that girly crush resurfaced from three years ago. Aiden looked sublime, but fury stomped down that stupid crush.

The Covenant was involved in this—coming to my rescue? Where the hel had they been when one of the daimons had snuck into our house?

He took a step forward, but I didn’t see him—I saw my mother’s lifeless body again. The last thing she ever saw on this earth was some god-awful daimon’s face and the last thing she’d ever felt… I shuddered, remembering the body-ripping pain of the daimon’s tag.

Aiden took another step toward me. I reacted, a response born out of anger and pain. I launched myself at him, using moves I hadn’t practiced in years. Simple things like kicks and punches were one thing, but an offensive attack was something I’d barely learned.

He caught my hand and swung me around so I faced the other direction. In a matter of seconds, he had my arms pinned, but al the pain and the sorrow rose in me, overriding any common sense. I bent forward, intent on getting enough space between us to deliver a vicious back kick.

“Don’t,” Aiden warned, his voice deceptively soft. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

My breath came out harsh and ragged. I could feel the warm blood trickling down my neck, mixing with sweat. I kept fighting even though my head swam, and the fact that Aiden held me off so easily only made my world turn red with rage.

“Whoa!” Kain yel ed from the sidelines, “Alex, you know us! Don’t you remember me? We aren’t going to hurt you.”

“Shut up!” I broke free of Aiden’s grasp, dodging Kain and Mister Steroids. None of them expected me to run from them, but that’s what I did.

I made it to the door leading out of the factory, dodged the broken wood and rushed outside. My feet carried me toward the field across the street. My thoughts were a complete mess. Why was I running? Hadn’t I been trying to get back to the Covenant since the daimon attack in Miami?

My body didn’t want to do this, but I kept running through the tal weeds and prickly bushes. Heavy footsteps sounded behind me, growing closer and closer. My vision blurred a bit, my heart thundered in my chest. I was so confused, so—

A hard body crashed into me, knocking the air right out of my lungs. I went down in a spiraling mess of legs and arms.

Somehow, Aiden twisted around and took the brunt of the fal . I landed on top of him, and I stayed there for a moment before he rol ed me over, pinning me down into the itchy field grass.

Panic and rage burst through me. “Now? Where were you a week ago? Where was the Covenant when my mother was being kil ed? Where were you?”

Aiden jerked back, eyes wide. “I’m sorry. We didn’t—”

His apology only angered me further. I wanted to hurt him.

I wanted to make him let me go. I wanted… I wanted… I didn’t know what the hel I wanted, but I couldn’t stop myself from screaming, clawing, and kicking him. Only when Aiden pressed his long, lean body against mine did I stop. His weight, the close proximity, held me immobile.

There wasn’t an inch of space between us. I could feel the hard ripple of his abdominal muscles pressing against my stomach, could feel his lips only inches from mine.

Suddenly I entertained a wild idea. I wondered if his lips felt as good as they looked… because they looked awesome.

That was a wrong thought to have. I had to be crazy—the only plausible excuse for what I was doing and thinking. The way I stared at his lips or the fact I desperately wanted to be kissed—al wrong for a multitude of reasons. Besides the fact I’d just tried to knock his head off, I looked like a mess.

Grime dirtied my face beyond recognition; I hadn’t showered in a week and I was pretty sure I smel ed. I was that gross.