“Because I love you, we share each other’s problems. When we fight, we fight together. I’m going to be by your side no matter what, whether you like it or not. That’s what love is, Alex. You never have to face anything alone again. And I get what you’re saying. I don’t agree with it, but I will support you in any way I can.”

“The Guards in front of the dais turned and froze. Then they scattered like roaches.Apollo moved up the aisle. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”“I will find you! We’re connected. We are one!” Seth was still screaming.His gaze fell to the god. He sneered. “You want to fight me now, in yourtrue form?”“I will fight you in any form, you little punk-ass brat.”Seth laughed. “You can’t kill me.”“But I can beat the living snot out of you.”

“Aiden… I can’t see anything.”“That’s the point.”“Well, thanks, Captain Obvious.” I reached out blindly, but only felt air. “What do you expect me to do in here?” As soon as the question left my mouth, I was assaulted with totally inappropriate images of all the things we could do in here.“We fight.”Well that blew.”

“We can't lose you," she said after a few moments of awkward as hell silence. "You have to understand that we aren't doing this because we don't care about Kat. We're doing this because we love you.""But I love her," I said without hesitation.Dee's eyes widened, probably since it was the first time she'd herd me say it out loud, well, about anyone other than my family. I wished I had said it more often, especially to Kat. Funny how that kind of shit always turns out in the end. While you're deep in something, you never say or do what you need to. It's always after the fact, when it's too late that you realize what you've should've said or done/It couldn't be too late. I knew that. The fact that I was still alive was testament to that. Like Dee said, though, there were worse things than death.”

“I can’t keep pretending that I don’t want this – that I don’t want you. I can’t. Not after what happened to you. It thought… I thought I’d lost you, Alex, forever. And I would’ve lost everything. You are my everything.”

“What are we going to do kitten?”My toes curled at the deep octave of his voice. "I don’t know."“I have a few ideas.”I cracked a grin. “I'm sure you do.”“Wanna hear about them? Although, I'm much better at the show part rather than the tell.”“Somehow, I believe you.”“If you didn’t, I could always give you a teaser.” He paused, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “You bookish people love teasers, don’t you?”

“His lips parted. "Couldn’t fool you for that long, I guess."I squeezed my eyes shut, but a tear wiggled its way free, gliding down my cheek."Don’t cry." He caught the tear with his finger as he pressed his forehead against mine. "Please. I hate when you cry because of me.""I'm sorry. I don’t want to be all weepy." I wiped at my cheeks, feeling foolish. "It’s just that...I never did know."Aiden clasped the sides of my face, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. "I wanted a piece of you with me always. No matter what."I shuddered. "But I don’t...I don’t have anything of you.""Yes, you do." Aiden brushed his lips over my damp cheek. A soft smile filled his voice. "You’ll have a piece of my heart — all of it, really. Forever. Even if your heart belongs to someone else.”