Giggles erupted across the room, drawing my attention. Young pure girls surrounded a good-looking male, clamoring over each other to be the closest to him. Several Guards stood behind the happy little group, looking equally bored and aloof. Among them stood the pure-blood Guard whom Telly had called on during the first session. I shuddered, holding the glass tighter. Then my eyes flitted further into the hall and settled on Aiden.
Dawn stood by his side, looking stunningly beautiful and staring at him with large eyes the color of amethyst. Seeing them together didn’t bring the warm and fuzzies. He’d never showed her an ounce of interest outside of being friendly, but she was the kind of girl Aiden would be allowed to date—should date.
Maybe he’d marry her one day—or another pure like Dawn. He’d settle down and commit. Stop, I ordered myself. That didn’t matter—not even if he had a dozen pure-blooded babies. I’d accepted I couldn’t be with him. Besides, I’d kind of chosen Seth. But hurt climbed deep inside my chest, taking root around my heart. I deserved a swift kick in the butt for standing here, staring at him like some kind of obsessive stalker chick.
“Your drink, dear, are you not going to try it?”
“Oh.” I glanced down. It still felt wonderfully warm in my hand. The drink burned my lips and the tip of my tongue, but went down surprisingly smooth. It actually tasted minty—a warm wintergreen. “It tastes…”
Laadan was gone.
Surprised by her vanishing act, I looked around the hall, finding Aiden instead of Laadan. He’d moved, standing at the end of the hall now. Minus Dawn, he spoke to another pure, but he appeared focused on me.
His disapproval stretched beyond where he stood and slammed into me. Was it because I was outside my room? If so, that irked me. What also irked me was the fluttering in my chest.
Aiden broke away from the pure, stepping forward and looking very, very angry. My heart leapt in my chest. He was coming to me—not Dawn, not some other pure, but me. The fluttering in my chest increased.
Any attention was good attention.
Suddenly, I hated that idea. Hated the fact I would be satisfied with that. I tipped the glass back and took a long swallow. It was either that or throw myself on the floor, sobbing and flailing.
I took another sip, expecting the burning this time. It did taste good, really good. I looked up again and found that a tall, blond pure partially blocked Aiden, but his furious gaze still found me. I quirked a brow at him and brought the glass to my lips again, taking another draft.
Aiden cut around the pure and made a beeline straight for me.
Out of nowhere, and I mean freaking nowhere, Seth appeared and whipped the drink out of my hand, splashing red drops all over my sweater.
“Jeez!” I ran my hand over my mouth. “Was that necessary?”
Seth brought the glass to his face and sniffed it. Swearing under his breath, he shoved it at Aiden. “Who gave you this?” Seth demanded.
“Why do you care? It’s just a drink.”
“Alex, who gave you this drink?” Aiden’s quiet voice left no room for me to push his buttons.
“Laadan gave it to me. What’s the big deal?”
Seth’s mouth dropped open, but Aiden’s reaction was far stronger. “Shit. Unbelievable.”
“What?” I looked between the two. “What’s going on?”
“Freaking pures,” Seth spat. “I can only begin to imagine what they hoped to achieve with this.”
The glass looked like it would shatter in Aiden’s hand. Fury radiated off him in waves and his eyes burned, but he wouldn’t look at me now. Not at all. “Dammit. Was this your first glass?”
“Yes.” I stepped forward. “Aiden, what’s going on?”
Seth exhaled harshly. “Half a glass is more than enough.”
“There is no way Laadan would have given her this.” Aiden scowled. “She knows what this drink will do.”
“Laadan did give it to me. I wouldn’t lie about that. Tell me what the hell is going on.”
Seth ran a hand over his head. “I think I’m going to hit someone.”
I shot a look at Seth. He wouldn’t look at me either. Was there something wrong with my face? I put my hand to my cheeks and the only thing I noticed was my skin felt warm.
“I can’t leave now.” Aiden spoke in crisp, short words. “Telly and the other Ministers want us here. She can’t be left alone, Seth.”
Seth nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Aiden barked a short laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Seth demanded. “Let her roam free?”
My temper snapped. I reached out and grabbed Aiden’s arm—a bad thing to do to a pure in public, but they were acting like I wasn’t even standing here. “What is going on?”
Aiden whirled around and grasped my hand, pulling me between the two of them. “There is no way Laadan would have given you this drink freely. Did she seem strange to you? Acting different in any way?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “She seemed buzzed.”
His eyes snapped fire. “She was compelled to give you this drink.”
“No way, that’s impossible. It’s completely illegal to compel another pure. You have to—”
“Someone set you up, Alex, and they wanted to badly enough to break the rules themselves. All pures know what that drink is just by looking at it. You were given Aphrodesian Brew, Alex.”
“Brew? Oh. Oh. Oh, my gods.” I felt cold and hot all at once. I’d just drunk the equivalent of an Olympian roofie. Disbelief set in. “You have to be wrong. A pure wouldn’t compel another pure and Laadan would never give me something like that. I don’t care what you say.”
“Alex,” Aiden said gently. “There are pures who know you’re close with Laadan.”