by C. M. Owens
He avoids all eye contact, and Jace steps between her and Devin as if he’s trying to relieve me of the loathsome reunion.
She finally turns to answer Kry when she sees the obvious conflict she’s diving into on our end of the pool.
“We came here to track the harpies. They attacked our home in Greece, and we suffered several casualties I don’t fully wish to discuss,” she says with an emotional ring.
The small girl stirs in my arms and turns her head to face Nina as she whimpers, “Nina, where’s my momma?”
This girl is one of us?
Nina tightens her lips, and then looks over to a group that is caring for an unconscious woman. I read the situation, and I only hope the woman is okay.
“She’s hurt, Nadia, but she’ll be fine. She endured several deep lacerations from those savages, and the pain has overwhelmed her. She’ll-”
“She’ll be fine. Let’s go find some flowers for her so she has something pretty in her room when she wakes up,” I interrupt.
Damn. You’re talking to a child, Nina. Act like it.
I start walking away, and Devin keeps his arm around my waist. Nina runs up to block my path.
“Nadia needs to stay with me. Her mother will be worried when she awakes,” she insists.
“No,” Nadia cries, and her hands cling tighter to me.
I pat her back to console her tiny, quivering body. She can’t be more than five, and yet she bears the burdens of our world already.
“Bring them to your house,” I whisper to Devin.
“No. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he whispers back.
His eyes deliberately avoid Nina’s direction, but I know she’s the reason for his pause. I sigh out a little, and then I lean into him.
“Nadia’s scared, and I can’t just hand her over right now. I’ll be fine. I trust you, and you only have one shadow. Believe me, I checked,” I murmur with a bit of a dramatized tone.
He purses his lips, and Kry walks over to gauge the odd standoff we’re in. Finally, Devin looks up and sighs as he speaks to Nina for the first time.
“You and your clan should come back to our house. It’s apparent the child is frightened, and she’s found refuge in Adisia. We need to discuss the organized ambush of the harpies anyways,” Devin mutters with heavy reluctance.
Nina stifles a grin, and Kry is wide-eyed at the request. He casually glances over to Devin’s solo shadow, and then to me. I roll my eyes, and then Hale joins us.
“How are the harpies organizing? It’s like the sirens did, but this time they’re not under the control of Safina. The hellhounds were right down the beach, and harpies loathe hellhounds. They don’t get within hundreds of miles of them,” Hale says, as if he’s hashing out the riddling puzzle that’s in his mind.
“We’re going back home. We’ll discuss it there,” Devin asserts, and Hale’s eyes mimic the stunned reaction of Kry’s.
“Your place?” he stammers out in disbelief.
“Mine and Adisia’s,” Devin adamantly corrects.
“Okay… Um, is that-”
“It was my idea,” I grumble.
Everyone is more apprehensive of this situation than I am. My protectiveness for a terrified child is outweighing the needless jealously I usually exude.
Devin has one shadow, and I have a deadly aim. I dare her to try something in front of me again.
Nina and Gemma share a disgusted exchange of glances, and Ther drapes his arm across Gemma’s shoulders as they pass us. Nina struts back over to her group, and one of the men scoops up the injured woman.
“Let’s go ahead and go. I don’t want Nadia to see her mother that way,” I whisper too low for the child to hear.
Devin nods, and then we flash back down the beach to the parking area.
This day has been filled with surreal, horrific events - The rainbow brigade of bright-haired harpies, fire drooling hellhounds, my unnerving new power - and yet Nina’s unannounced and unexpected arrival is the most disturbing event of the day.
Chapter 9
Not So Sweet Dreams
Nadia’s eyes teeter shut, and Devin joins me on the bed beside her while offering me a sweet kiss on the cheek. I slowly rise up, and he pulls me to his strong, embracive arms.
“How’s her mother?” I ask.
“Her wounds are closing. She should be awake in a couple of hours, and by morning she’ll be completely healed,” Devin assures.
I sigh as I stare at the innocent child dreaming about monsters as her face distorts in her sleep. I cast a light breeze against her as if I’m trying to drag away the fear from her mind.
“I understand it a little better now. I should thank Persia and Kahl for everything they gave up to keep me safe. Nadia could have been killed today, and there really are monsters under the bed in her eyes,” I say with tears starting to stream.
Devin’s arms close around me, and I sniffle into his chest. His soft lips call to mine as he tries to draw out my anxiety through the kiss.
“I love you,” he murmurs gently across my lips.
“I love you.”
“Let’s go join the discussion downstairs. We have to get a handle on the harpie epidemic. They keep forming at an alarming rate, and the energy dispelled from our fight with Safina should be drained by now,” he lightly instructs.
He takes my hand when I nod, and I turn back to check on the twisting bundle on the bed before he flashes with me downstairs.
Nina is propped against the bar sipping on my vodka. I can’t drink it right now, and it’s pissing me off to see it on her lips.”
“Adisia, how’s the kid?” Camara asks when she sees me fuming over Nina’s comfortable placement.
“She seems to be having nightmares. Jace, could you help her with it?” I ask hopefully while cutting my eyes to him.
“I should be able to,” he offers kindly, and he flashes by me to fill the request.
“Gloria will be awake soon, and we’ll be out of your hair,” a butch woman inserts.
Gloria must be Nadia’s mother. I smile at her, and Devin pulls me to be in his lap when he sits on the couch.
“You’re not in our hair,” I murmur.
“The harpies are posing a problem for everyone. I think it’s time we join forces,” Nina chimes in. “It would make the most sense.”
It would make the most sense, but I doubt her motives for suggesting such really lie in the moral realm. She does well to not glance in my husband’s direction though. She’s different from Gemma and Stasia.
Devin’s arms tighten around me, and it’s as if everyone is waiting on me to be the one to reply.
“Oh,” I startle out. “Yeah. It would be the best solution, but you can’t leave the water for too long. How are you going to travel?”
“We don’t live in the water; we just have to be near it. We travel by boat, and the harpies don’t move inland. They love the ocean even though it can kill them.”
Deacon shifts awkwardly in his seat before sighing, “Well, I guess I’ll be the one to state the obvious ripple in this alliance. Nina’s very presence could provoke Aphrodite, and we all know how dangerous that could be. I love conflict, but I dare not stir the goddess within that goddess.”
His eyes point to me very obviously, making me feel a little too on-the-spot. Everyone mimics the uncomfortable shifting, and Devin’s arms tighten around me while he continues to remain quiet.
“Aphrodite won’t be provoked. Devin didn’t give Nina a second thought while holding his freewill. I’m not the least bit concerned by her being here. I deal with Gemma just fine,” I counter, and Gemma snuggles into Ther’s arms as if she’s completely immune to her old feelings for Devin.
I’m surprised she doesn’t even take a stab at me after my sardonic remark, but I’m also glad to see the smile on Ther’s face. Devin smirks slightly at my pronouncing my trust in him, but Nina seems a little taken aback.
“So it was all the shadow of doubt?” she as
ks quietly.
“Every bit of it,” Devin adds curtly.
“On his end,” I snark.
She looks away shamefully pained, and another one of the water nymphs stands to her feet when Jace returns to the room.
“She’s sleeping better now. She won’t remember seeing her mother’s attack,” he says softly.
His hand squeezes my shoulder as he passes by, and he joins Faith at her side on the other couch. I see her smiling, almost glowing, and I realize Jace has a real chance to be with someone. I hope she’s sincere. I’d hate to use my goddess on her.
A dizzy spout hits me suddenly, and Devin pulls me to his chest when he feels my wavering body.
“We should all get some rest. The battle took a lot out of us,” Devin insists.
“I agree,” Kry groans, and then he pulls his blond bombshell from her resting place to join him.
I smile when she giggles at his silent request for her company, and then he gives me a wink when they pass by.
My presence has forced all the boys into the arms of women, and that’s both sweet and gross at the same time.
“I’ll collect Nadia. She can sleep with me,” Nina sighs.
“She can stay in our room. She’s already resting peacefully, and there’s no reason to stir her now,” Devin murmurs in objection.
“She’s my responsibility. This is my clan, and her mother was injured on my watch,” Nina almost chokes out.
“She’s not scared when Adisia is around,” Jace interjects. “I saw it in her dreams. Adisia is the hero slaying the dragons, so to speak. I think they formed a bit of a bond during the action, and it’s possible Aphrodite is forcing a bit of a protective touch from Adisia as well. The weird power came to life when the child was almost struck in Adisia’s arms.”
I had forgotten about the pulsating energy blast that had ripped across my side, and I look down to see it has completely healed.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on it,” Devin says softly.
“Where are the Furies?” Jace muses.
“Upstairs. They’re staying in one room. Apparently the three of them can’t be separated when frightened. I’ve never seen Furies speak, but these have evolved to be as we are,” Devin answers with a bit of bemusement.
“Have you seen it for yourself?” I ask Jace.
“No, but I can assure you I will,” he murmurs, and Faith rolls her eyes.
“They were part of a flock that fed on the lands of Egypt for over a century. They pulled the life from cheating men, and they watched as the women turned to salt when they cried too many tears. These girls weren’t like the others.
“We heard them pleading with the others, and they were turned on by their own flock. I saved them, and then I realized they were different. Talking is just part of their evolution. They feel, cry, worry, and they even eat as we do. They’re just scared women stuck in limbo. They were trying to help,” Faith explains.
“I’m still taking a look. They might be frightened women, or they might be clever bitches. Either way, I’m going to see for myself,” Jace sternly asserts, and Faith’s lips tighten in distaste.
“Fine. I’ll go get them, but you have to apologize to me when they prove you wrong,” she grumbles.
“Oh, I will,” Jace says with a seductive smirk, and Faith blushes instantly before covering her girly grin with her hand.
She flashes up the steps, and I give Jace a slight roll of my eyes. He points to me like a father scolding a child.
“I don’t want to hear any lip out of you, Mrs. Seductress. Between the club, the broken bedroom, and the piping hot innuendo you always use, every man here has been on edge. This is all your fault,” he teases, and it feels like we’ve moved past a huge hump in the road.
Devin even seems pleased - and a little turned on when reminded of all my sexy sauciness. His lips call to mine, and I can see Nina turning away from the show he doesn’t care to put on.
Jace grumbles a little and Devin smiles against the kiss until Faith returns.
“This is Ambora, Samara, and Ember. Please don’t push their memories too far. They don’t trust easily. I don’t even know everything,” Faith murmurs, and the last part is a whisper to Jace that only he was supposed to hear.
“We don’t trust easily either. That’s the point of this,” Jace explains, and his hand holds hers as he walks over to the girls.
“I’m Jace, and this isn’t going to hurt. We need to know about you, and I’ll hold Faith’s hand the whole time. She’ll stop me if I pry too deep, but it’s important we be able to trust you. If we do, then you’ll forever have a protective circle,” he promises, and his eyes look toward Devin and me before turning back to the girls and continuing. “There’s nothing these people won’t do for each other’s safety. Do you understand?”
“We do, but can you do all of us at once?” Ambora asks timidly.
“I could,” Hale says very suggestively, and his brow bounces with seductive menace.
The girls giggle and blush, and I do my best to stifle a grin when I try to scowl at his crudeness.
Devin actually covers his mouth to hide the laughing expression, and Jace adjusts his collar while refraining from giving into the humor.
Faith glares at Hale threateningly, and he shrugs while still bearing his salacious grin.
“I can look at your memories together if you prefer. Just hold the hands of Ember and Samara,” Jace murmurs to Ambora with a touch of a snickering in his tone - he had very carefully worded his phrasing to drown out any other attempts at scandalous innuendo.
They do as he asks, and Devin’s hand intertwines with mine as Jace closes his eyes to see the girls’ memories. Nina steps out from behind the bar while still sipping the vodka acquired for me, and Hale’s humor disappears while he joins us on the couch.
Deacon and Camara ease to the edge of their seat and wait impatiently on the verdict. I see Gemma gripping Ther’s hand, and it’s as if we’re watching a suspenseful movie.
Jace releases their hands, but he clings to Faith’s as he turns to face us.
“They’re telling the truth. The strike intended for harpies accidentally grazed Adisia’s side. They didn’t fight back out of fear of hurting you when you were attacking them,” he explains. “They could have.”
I feel a little guilty now, but they did come out of nowhere and strike me.
My protectiveness for the child still baffles me. It was the one thing that provoked my Aphrodite because Devin was never in any danger.
“That didn’t hurt at all,” Ember gasps in disbelief. “I was expecting it to be painful,” she adds.
“It’s not painful unless the memories are painful. I just needed to see the truth,” Jace murmurs indifferently.
“How far back can you see?” Samara asks.
“As far back as someone will let me,” Jace says a little smugly.
“Can you see how we got this way? It has always baffled us, and we can’t remember anything before the day we turned into real… people,” Ember adds.
“You weren’t always this way?” I ask curiously.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so,” Ambora answers.
“We knew our flock, but we didn’t have memories to tie us to them. One morning we all three woke up to a world we couldn’t remember existing in before that day,” Ember whimpers. “I want to know.”
“We all do,” Samara adds.
“I can look, but these memories might be painful if they’ve been blocked. Something could have happened to trigger such a change, and it could have been too painful for your mind to allow you access to,” Jace warns.
“We trust you. You could have pried further, but you did as you told us, and we need to see what happened,” Ambora asserts.
Faith squeezes his hand, and the girls do as before. Jace cracks his neck to the side before closing his eyes, and again we’re all waiting in suspense while glued to the scene.
Jace gasps and the girls begin sni
ffling as he pries into something deep. Faith struggles against his grip, but he clings to her as though she’s a lifeline.
“I can’t,” he breathes out in heavy exhaustion, and the girls sink down as though they’ve been drained of their energy. “Someone blocked it for them. Someone did this to them, but whoever it was didn’t want anyone to know,” he explains.
“What did you see?” Deacon prompts.
“Blurry images and a muffled voice that murmured incoherent nonsense. I can’t get a deep enough grip,” he gripes.
“Please try again. That’s the closest we’ve ever come to answers,” Ambora urges.
“Adisia can help,” Devin interjects.
I look at him quizzically, and everyone else stares with the same puzzled face.
I can?
“She has the untapped power of mind from Prometheus, and she’s stronger than any of us, even with parts of her blocked off. She can give you the strength you need if she channels her energy through Aphrodite,” he explains.
“Devin, I don’t know how,” I mumble with a bit of unworthiness for his praise.
“You don’t have to. Aphrodite does know how, and she’ll help you. These girls need to know where they came from. You know what that’s like,” he reminds, and suddenly I do feel a little empathetic for their situation.
I stand up nervously, and Faith moves from Jace’s side to allow me access. Everyone stares expectantly as I take Jace’s hand, but my eyes won’t flash green on command.
I suddenly feel impotent again, and it really sucks. There’s no miracle pill for limp goddess libido.
“I can’t get Aphrodite to-”
My rambling gripe is brought to a halt as Devin’s lips consume mine, and the fire inside me erupts to a boiling lava pit. The passion releases into my mouth and his hand grips the back of my head while tugging my hair just painfully enough to arouse my inner and outer goddess.
Suddenly, I feel the green surging forward, and Devin has to force himself to pull back.
Jace gasps as my energy surges into him, and the girls seem drunk as it travels to them. A wave of rushed images scroll past my eyes as the girls’ memories come to life inside my mind.
