The Daughter Trilogy Bundle

by C. M. Owens

  A limousine is sitting outside the apartment like a horse-drawn carriage awaiting Cinderella. Greer opens the door with a blushing smile, and I giggle a little as I step in.

  Devin gracefully dips in and sits beside me. He pulls me into his arms the moment he gets seated, and I rest my head on his firm, comfortable shoulder.

  “You really went all out," I sigh happily.

  "This is just the ride. Don't be impressed yet," he murmurs with a daring tease.

  I smile uncontrollably with my stinging cheeks. This is so amazing.

  We drive a short distance, and I feel the car slowing to a halt. I glance around to see nothing but the bay in front of us.

  "What are we doing here?"

  Oh no. I thought we were eating. My neglected stomach is about to start growling because I haven't eaten a thing in a couple of days.

  "We're having dinner," he says with a secretive smirk.

  I look around curiously.

  "Here?" I squeak.

  He laughs a little, and Greer opens the door for us.

  "I'll be back in a couple of hours as you requested, sir."

  Devin nods, and then Greer hands him a picnic basket and a blanket. I'm confused. The sun is almost lowering in front of us, there's not really a romantic picnic area, and I'm in a flashy dress. I'm so baffled.

  Devin takes my hand and pulls me to the edge of the water as Greer drives away.

  "You ready?" he asks softly.

  We're completely alone, and I'm still stumped as to what he's up to.

  "What are we doing?" I ask impatiently.

  He smirks, and then the water starts to separate in front of us. Even the ground beneath the river begins to dry up as the moisture is sucked out of it.

  I watch in amazement as the ground firms enough for me to take a step onto. He pulls me through the spreading water, and the cycle continues with each step. Once we've descended low enough that the water starts to close over us, allowing only our bubble to remain within it.

  "Oh wow. This is so… I don't even know what to say," I babble.

  "Good," he says with a tone of pride.

  Every step takes us deeper, and the bubble around us allows us to see the beauty of the river without disruption. There are fish ranging from all sizes, and they're swirling curiously around our bubble. Devin smiles as he gauges my wide-eyed reaction.

  The blurred water above us begins to lighten, and it separates from all the dilutions corrupting the clear view of the setting sun.

  Devin spreads the blanket on the floor of the riverbed, and I stare up in amazement.

  "I knew it would be hard to take you somewhere full of people, but I got one of the best chefs in New York to prepare our dinner to-go. I brought wine, champagne, and desert. I hope this will do for now," he utters so gently.

  "Oh, it'll do. This is so unbelievable. I'm watching the sunset from under the water."

  He smiles a little bigger and starts setting up our gourmet dinner for two. He even brought a candle to set up.

  I smile at his attention to detail. He planned this very thoroughly… for me.

  "Am I allowed to be impressed now?" I say with adoration for his incredible thoughtfulness.

  He smiles with a twinge of excitement beaming from his eyes for my appreciation.

  "Yes. Now you can be impressed," he says with his cocky, seductive tone.

  I giggle slightly as I slide my finger along the side of the bubble. The cool water strokes against as it wiggles around my touch. Devin smiles as I study the underwater picnic area in complete fascination.

  "I love this," I say softly as he pours the wine.

  "I'm glad. I had to think of a way to stand out from your other first dates," he says proudly.

  "You excelled in your attempt."

  The plate is filled with food so fancy I'm scared to eat it. Devin scoops up a perky mushroom stuffed with some delicious looking toppings and spoons it into my mouth. I feel like heaven has just erupted against my taste buds.

  "Oh, that's amazing," I moan.

  He smirks a little as he begins to indulge in his artwork plate. He's so accustomed to all of this. Everything is so new to me. I'm eating a culinary masterpiece on the river floor while sitting in our protective bubble, and now the moon is starting to take the place of the sun.

  The blurred, glistening streaks strike across the water and wrinkle down to us.

  I stare at this perfect man who has done all this for me, and I'm dumbfounded. What is so special about me?

  I sit back, completely full, and smile at him as he pops the cork on the champagne. It pops through the bubble, and the river's current swallows it up. The fizzy bubbles of the champagne intrigue the curious fish that are still confused by our aquatic intrusion.

  I take a deep breath to steady the storm growing inside of me. It's too soon. I can't tell him. I'll scare him off.

  "Adisia, what's wrong?" he asks when he notices my torn gaze.

  I sigh out loudly. Don't tell him you love him.

  "Devin, I need to tell you something, and I don't think you're going to like it," I mumble with dismay.

  His eyes dance with fear, and I can see a pained gaze protruding from them.

  “You don't want to be with me?" he asks pitifully.

  That couldn't be further from the truth.

  "It's the opposite actually. Devin, I know you're not going to be in the same place as I am, but you need to know what I'm feeling. You can't keep being so wonderful. I'm… I'm falling in love with you," I almost whisper as a slight crackle interrupts my words.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  He pulls my hand in his, and his eyes give me nothing as they stare at the ground. His low tone matches my near whisper when he finally speaks.

  "You're right. We're not in the same place," he says as his eyes look back up to meet mine.

  I can feel my heart slapping me in the face for my foolish spur of the moment spout.

  "Adisia, I'm not falling in love with you, I've been in love with you. It's possible that I've loved you since the first night you stayed with me, but I've never been in love before. I didn't know how or when to say it. I do though, love you."

  His eyes dart around nervously as he tries to read mine and gauge my reaction. Holy crap. He loves me!

  It's almost impossible to deny my inner-girl the right to squeal. It's all I can do to not do cartwheels at this moment.

  I lunge up from my sitting position and throw my arms around him. His lips find mine, and the trailing tear from my eye finds its way into our mouths as our kiss erupts into a powerful, engulfing, and mind-blowing contact.

  His hands slowly ease my dress up, and my hands begin carefully undoing the buttons on his shirt. With each undone button, I slowly trail my fingers down to the next one.

  His hands gently nestle in my hair as he slightly cups my head, and his lips move with a gentler pace than normal. Each slow, drawn out moment is almost painful to my overly stimulated senses.

  He pulls me against his body and the water around us starts to quiver and then slowly simmers to a near rolling boil before I remind myself to control it. Devin smiles from behind the kiss as I continue to fall into him.

  He loves me.

  We're lying on the bed of the river and staring up at the gallant moon that is outshining the stars. Devin pulls my hand to his lips, and I shiver slightly at his touch. My body is much too sensitive right now. We have just taken our bedroom activities to a remote bubbled picnic area, and the slow seduction led to the most incredible sex I've ever had in my life.

  Devin snickers slightly. "Ticklish all of the sudden?"

  I giggle a little as he kisses the back of my hand again.

  "Just a little… overly sensitive right now. That was surreal. This whole night has been a fantasy,” I breathe.

  He rolls over and the side of his glorious abdomen presses against me as he stares into my eyes, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand.

  "I meant it. I
love you," he says softly.

  I can feel the tears trying to fall.

  "I lied when I said I was falling in love. I just didn't want to push you too soon. I've been in love with you since that first night too. I just didn't think it was possible. I only ever thought I knew what it was like to be in love before I met you," I gush out, possibly sounding to rushed.

  His eyes swirl with a provocative dare, and then they settle back down as his lips gently thank mine for their words. I can feel him smiling behind the kiss.

  "Greer will be here any minute with the car. I don't need to let him see us emerging from the river completely dry and obviously ravaged, and my cell doesn't have reception under here. I checked."

  I laugh a little at his slight frustration. We've just thoroughly enjoyed the most incredible intimacy, but he's still craving more. I love that. I love him.

  "I'm glad you told me," he whispers.

  I smile a little more. "I'm glad you told me, too," I say before kissing him once again.

  He grunts slightly as he stands to his feet with a begrudged motion and extends his hand down to collect mine. I slowly climb to my feet with the same reluctant motion, and the waters around us begin to form a path for our return.

  As soon as we surface, Devin's eyes swirl with the dark tides. They begin to scour the landscape frantically as if he's searching for something. He rips his phone from his pocket.

  "Hello, sir, I'll be there in about ten more minutes. I got stuck in a bit of traffic," Greer says shakily.

  "Just turn around. We're going to walk and enjoy the night," Devin lies, his tense body contradicting his light tone.

  Why is he lying? What's going on?

  He ends the call, and I see him typing away on his phone. My phone buzzes in my purse, but I ignore it. His eyes are masking a worry he's not sharing with me.

  "Check your phone, baby," he says gently.

  "No, I'll check it later," I say while trying to read his mixed facial expressions.

  "Check it now, please. It could be important," he insists.

  I sigh as I pull out the phone and read the text from… him?

  Act natural. We've got several people watching our every move. Move fast, and be ready to move faster.

  I slowly lower the phone to my purse, and I'm praying my face doesn't show the terror I'm feeling right now. He takes my hand in his, and I start keeping up with his swift, but subtle stride.

  We make it to the street, and I breathe out when I think we're safe. Devin grimaces, and suddenly I hear the screeching tires of a hell raising car. I scream as the car jumps the sidewalk, and people begin diving out of the way. Devin races toward the car, and I scream again.

  He slams his fist into the hood of the rampaging vehicle, and the car's front smashes into the ground before flipping over Devin and sliding on its hood through the crowded streets of New York.

  "Get back, Adisia!" he yells as the driver jumps out of the car and begins charging him.

  I can hear the thunder crackling, people screaming, and the rain pelting down as I open the skies. My instinct to protect kicks into panic mode as I watch Devin throw his rippling sound wave across the chest of his attacker.

  Suddenly the man thuds against the ground, and blood starts rushing from his head. Devin's eyes grow wide, and he gasps slightly.

  "Fuck. They're mortals," he breathes.

  The fire hydrants around us begin bursting open and spraying the air with a watery veil as more of them charge us.

  Devin takes my hand. "Try not to hurt them. They're infected."

  Suddenly, we're surrounded by at least fifty people, and their eyes are drunk, mad, and power hungry. It's like they're possessed, but not by Aphrodite's stare. This is something different.

  Fire blazes beside our heads as one of them launches it at us.

  "Mortals can't do that!" I screech.

  "Infected mortals can. They mimic our strength, our powers… almost everything when they reach the point nearest to death, but they can still die easily. We can't retaliate. Defend yourself though. If it's you or them, make it them," he asserts.

  We're encircled, completely surrounded by the drunken people who are flashing around like immortals.

  Devin ripples the air, and throws them back without fatality, but it's enough to provide a gap for us. Pandemonium breaks out through the streets, and screams erupt as the infected men begin to wreak havoc all around the uninfected mortals running away.

  Devin is desperately seeking a way to save the innocent while not hurting the infected. I squeal as one man swings at me.

  I duck under his whirled arm, and a car crushes under the impact of his stray fist. His hand is bloody, broken, and I realize super-strength isn't something to be used by the fragile.

  We have to end this.

  I feel the power summoning itself as my eyes glare with their jade glow.

  "Enough!" I scream.

  All eyes turn to face me and the men surrounding us start slowly trotting toward me with the puppy-dog eyes of intoxicated, love-drunk fools. I stare around at all the eyes glued to me. They're… listening and… obeying me.

  Devin's eyes widen when he realizes what's going on. I feel something lifting in the air as the heavy shifts to light. Their eyes glimmer with helplessness, and I feel myself growing stronger from their praising stares. I step into the middle of them and throw my arms out in release of the power that has built up.

  Their eyes drain from the poisoned stare, and the natural colors begin to fade back into hue. They slowly drop to the ground as they begin passing out from the overexertion they've been forced to endure.

  Their exhausted bodies collapse to the ground around my feet, and I feel the green slowly fading from my eyes.

  A woman catches my gaze - her lip trembling, her mortal heartbeat in panic. Shit. She just saw me do that.

  "We need to go," Devin whispers as curious bystanders hold up their phones and try to video the scene.

  Crap.

  Devin pulls me through the crowd, and I lower my head to avoid any eye contact. He takes me down a desolate alleyway, and checks over his shoulder for anyone watching us. He ducks down a covered alley, and then we dart through an older building.

  A man nods as we pass through a spice shop, and Devin barely acknowledges him as we go to the back. Every random scent in the universe invades my nose at once, and I turn it up reflexively.

  "Where are we going?" I urge.

  "Back to the apartment. We might be getting watched though."

  I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention as my scalp begins to feel the prickling of tiny needles tap-dancing on my head.

  He pulls me through a back door, and a basement floor hatch lifts in front of me. He drops in and motions for me to follow. I remain quiet, just in case someone is close enough to hear.

  I drop into his arms, and he starts leading me through an underground tunnel passage to a ladder. The crawling bugs send an unwelcome wave of icky over me, but I brush it off as we pop up through a theater hatch.

  I can hear the sound of an orchestra practicing, drowning out any other sound with their loud strings mixed with their winded instruments. The dramatic tone quickens our steps and the beats of our pounding hearts.

  Devin grabs an oversized hat and a draping shawl from the prop room on the side and hands it to me. It smells like an old lady and floral perfume, but I put it on. He intentionally drops his jacket in the room. He's done this a time or two.

  He turns down a long, crowded street as we emerge from the front entrance with a dispersing group. He holds my hand while finding a subtle pace, keeping an even stride with the animated mortals on the bustling streets. I can't feel eyes on me, but that doesn't mean they're not there.

  We disappear into another building, and he leads me to the back of a restaurant. I can hear the laughing - happy, oblivious people talking about meaningless pieces of their lives, and then all the chatter turns to gasps as the news reports an em
ergency broadcast. I look up in time to see the muted television in the corner displaying the spewing water from the hydrants.

  It did get caught on camera. Freaking eh.

  Devin jerks me out of the doorway, and the awnings draping over the sidewalk offer us some cloaking from overhead - should anyone be up there.

  "Make it rain," he softly requests.

  I swallow hard, and beg for the power to control it without provoking the goddess. It works.

  The rain begins to drizzle at first, and then it thunders down on us with a merciless grind. Devin pulls me through the blurry mess, and then I feel us disappearing into a car.

  I sigh in relief when I see Kry's face. The music is blaring, most likely to keep away any trespassing ears.

  "Any sign of unwanted eyes?" Devin whispers.

  "Not from here. I've been sitting here since about five minutes after I got your text. I wasn't far away."

  "Let's go to my apartment. We'll call the others when I feel we're safely tucked behind the padded walls of my soundproofed room."

  He leans back, and Kry pulls out into the torrential downpour I've created.

  "You did good, baby," he whispers to my panicky self. "You did better than good. You were incredible."

  "So were you," I murmur with tears starting to fall now that I've stopped to breathe and reality crushes down on me with its heavy force.

  "Shh. It's okay. You're okay. We're going home. We'll be safe there. I've got a padded room. It's proofed against immortal hearing."

  He wraps his arms around me and kisses my head. Kry keeps the music loud as we weave slowly through the traffic. My eyes keep scouring rooftops, sidewalks, and everything else. I've never felt so paranoid in all my life. The adrenaline has left me shaky and breathy.

  The radio broadcaster interrupts the music for a special report.

  "This just in. A group of fifty or more people exhibited a display of unimaginable, unrealistic strengths and other demonstrations of supernatural power in the downtown area tonight-"

  Kry flips the station, and more music begins blaring once again.

  He looks into the rearview mirror at Devin, and whispers in disbelief, "Fifty fucking people? That's not-"