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"Maybe stress isinto anything," I snapped He didn’t look like he agreed Exasperated with him and the conversation, I looked over the rec room Elena stil had Seth cornered, but that wasn’t what drew my attention Jackson was in the rooainst one of the pool tables beside Cody and another male half His swarthy complexion seemed unusual y pale and he looked like he hadn’t slept recently I couldn’t blame him While I didn’t know the current status of his relationship with Lea, he had to be worried about her, upset over what’d happened to her parents

My gaze shifted to Cody For a second, our eyes , but his icy stare and disgusted look stil cut through me

Confused, I watched as he bent down and said so breath "I think they’re talking about me"

"Who?" Caleb turned "Oh Jackson and Cody? You’re just being paranoid"

"Do you think they… know?"

"About your mom?" He shook his head "They know she’s a daimon, but I don’t think they know she was at Lake Lure"

"Aiden said people would find out" My voice tightened

Caleb seerow tal er as he picked up on my fear

"No one wil blaainst you They can’t, because it has nothing to do with you"

I nodded, wanting to believe hiht"

Over the next week, the whispers increased People stared People talked At first, no one had the guts to say anything to me directly, but the pures… wel , they knew I couldn’t touch the rooms after lunch, I passed Cody in the courtyard I kept my head down and barreled past him, but I heard his words anyway "You shouldn’t be here"

My head jerked up, but he was already halfway down the ay I headed back to training, his words replaying over and over again I couldn’t have averoo

"Do you think there’s a chance… my mom didn’t attack those people?"

He dropped the e e know about daimons, wouldn’t it?"

I nodded solemnly Daimons needed to drain aether to survive Mom would be no exception "But they could…

drain without kil ing, right?"

"They could, but dai a pure requires an amount of restraint most daimons don’t have"

None of the pures had been turned in Lake Lure The attacking daimons had shown no restraint

"Alex?"

I looked up, not surprised to see that he was standing in front of me Concern lined his face I forced a smile "Part of me hopes that she’s stil in there somehow That she isn’t al evil, and she’s stil Mom"

"I know" His voice was soft

"That part in me, it’s so lame, because I know--I really know she’s bad and she needs to be stopped"

Aiden stepped forward, his eyes were so bright and so war and fal into those eyes Careful y, he reached out and with those fingers, he tucked back the strand of hair that always ended up in my face I shivered, unable to help it

"There is nothing wrong with hope, Alex"

"But?"

"But you have to knohen to let hope go" He brought the tips of his fingers across my cheek His hand dropped and he stepped back, the connection broken "Do you remember why you said you needed to be in the Covenant?"

The question knocked ht daimons I have to"

Aiden nodded "And do you stil need that? Even after knowing that your ht about that for aThey… have to be stopped I stil need that even though Mom’s one of them"

A smal smile played over his lips "Then there is hope"

"Hope for what?"

He brushed pastlook "Hope for you"

I watched him leave, confused by his words Hope for et htered a classht, I felt the stares in the coe

Eventual y, word did reach me Some of them--pures and halfs--didn’t think I could be trusted Not with Moot worse Now people questioned e’d left three years ago, and why I’d never returned to the Covenant during that time Ru before that terrible night in Miami

And some people believed it