"You know I love to treat you like a princess."
"I know, but I don't work. I like cooking while you watch me." She swats him on the butt and pulls the apron over his head. She ties it around her neck and then tends to the stove, stirring whatever is in the black pot.
"Tell me how I got to be so lucky." Ollie moves around and sits at the dark wood table in the corner of the room. He leans his head on his hand and stares at my dream self as if she was the most beautiful woman on the face of the planet.
"Well, I guess you're charming." She winks over her shoulder. "And you're pretty handsome, too. Plus, you have a nice car."
"Ah. I see now. Using me for my body and car, huh, little lady?" Ollie darts up from the table and wraps his arms around my dream self's tiny waist. He lifts her into the air, and they both giggle as if they're having the time of their lives.
"Ollie, dear. Quit it!" She laughs into him, her words completely playful.
"I just love to have you in my arms," Ollie says as he places her back on the cheap linoleum floor. He presses a kiss to the top of her nose and she wrinkles it up, pursing her lips.
He turns to head back to the table, but she grabs his arm and spins him towards her. She catches him with her lips, kissing him right on the mouth.
Ollie reaches backwards and squeezes her butt and she jumps from the pinch. "I love you, sugar butt."
"I love you, too. Now, sit back and watch me cook."
I smile as the dream fades away. They loved each other with their entire hearts. That kind of love is pure and beautiful and touching. That reincarnation of myself shows me exactly what I need to see. I need to see that Ollie can be carefree, that he's only stressed because of the drama. I love seeing him in love with me.
The second I am dropped into the vision, Prince seduces me. Not literally, of course. His voice vibrates through the tiny place, wrapping everyone up into a music-induced orgasm.
I sway to the song "Let's Go Crazy" involuntarily. Before I fully submit to the sounds, I see my dream self sauntering past the bar. I've never seen myself like this before.
I'm confident in my steps, each with the sole purpose of being seen. I'm in a short pink and black shirt that flares out in ruffles. My top is skimpy, with one of the sleeves hanging off my shoulder and showing my black lacy bra.
To say that my hair is teased would be an understatement. My dark locks are frizzed two inches above my head in a halo and put into a half-up, half-down pony tail.
Huge purple heart earrings hang from my ears down to my shoulders. I walk over to where my dream self pauses and directly in front of her is Ari. He actually doesn't look much different.
He has on black skinny jeans that hug his thighs and calves, a red t-shirt that squeezes his chest muscles, and a black leather jacket over it. His near-black hair is down to his shoulders in the back, but short in the front. Ari has a mullet. I laugh at him from where I watch.
"Kiss me, baby, like you've never kissed before!" My dream self lunges at Ari and wraps her entire body around him, giving herself completely to him. He lifts her up from under her butt and she closes her legs around him, crossing them behind his back. They kiss, right there in the club, in front of everyone.
It's not just a peck. It's a gut wrenching, I-love-you kiss. His tongue slides into her mouth. She runs her hands through his hair and tugs his neck back, sucking right where the vein throbs.
"Want to go to the club that plays house music down the block?" my dream self asks as Ari holds her in his arms and she peppers kisses from his ear to his collarbone. He looks up at her, his eyes never straying from her despite the fact that beautiful woman are everywhere. Love radiates off him in thick and tumultuous bolts that only flow into her.
"I'd rather take you home…" He pauses, looking down at her with a knowing look, and she grins at him. "And watch the Olympics!" She slaps his shoulder as he puts her down on the ground, refusing to let her hand go.
"Come on." Ari reaches for my dream self and lets her lead him out of the club. They funnel through the crowds, saying goodbye to random people they pass. I follow, and the closer to the door I get, the cooler the air becomes.
When I step out the metal door, an unfamiliar landscape faces me. It's a large city, with skyscrapers and busy streets. But it's not anywhere I've been before. It smells like old, dirty laundry and swamp fumes. Sirens wail in the distance menacingly.
My dream self and Ari catch my gaze again. They start to walk down the block, the sidewalk in very bad shape. Cracks raise random parts of the cement, and chunks near the road are missing, crumbling and creating rubble. My dream self stumbles a few times on the ends of the squares, and I'm not sure if it's the darkness, her drunkenness, or if she's just clumsy. But Ari never lets go of her hand.
"Honey, I changed my mind. Let's go home." My dream self stops in the middle of the street and stares up at him. He turns and faces her, constantly looking up and down the street to make sure no cars are going to hit them. People bustle around them, pushing and shoving, running and laughing.
"Why'd you switch your mind on me?"
"My mind thinks a lot of things!" She smiles up at him, her eyes twinkling in the street lamps. A car whizzes by on their right, and the wind blows both their hair in a tornado of darkness.
"You have a beautiful mind."
"And you have a beautiful face."
"Yours is the prettiest."
"What do you say we head home, play some Nintendo, and lie together all night long, laughing and playing? Maybe we can play into tomorrow if you let me win enough times."
"I knew I shouldn't get you one of those." Ari kisses her cheek and then lifts her into his arms, her face ending up facing his back. Instantly, I'm hit with a bout of deja-vu.
I remember the time I got into a fight with Becca at school, and she gave me a bloody lip. I remember how Ari came in and saved me. He pulled me away and brought me outside. I was in the same exact position as my dream self, and it looks like I liked it just as much in this life as I did before.
The blackness comes as I remember Ari from just months ago—how different things are now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
a new relative
It's Friday. The realization that days have gone by and the deadline is looming makes my heart stutter in my chest. If Cece says we have to go, we'll go. And she comes back today.
While I'm excited to see her, I'm also anxious to hear what she has to say. If she's found help, we'll have a leg up on Hades. If she hasn't, we're screwed. My cellphone pings, and I see Junior's name on the ID.
Come over!
"Where's your boyfriend?" I ask Kara across the room.
"I'm not his keeper."
I glare at her, and she tilts her head to the side and sighs. "He's over at Professor Onassis's with your dad."
"Oh, she must be back."
"Do you think we're going to have to go now?" Lisa asks as she taps away on Kara's computer. The group has the afternoon off. Everyone is napping and relaxing in their rooms. We're supposed to all meet for dinner later.
"I'm honestly not sure." I jump down from my bed and shut the book I was reading on war techniques. Since I haven't been able to train with the groups and practice teamwork, Lex gave me a book about different strategies.
"Are you heading over?" Kara asks as she brushes her hair while leaning against the wall. It's almost like she can't hold her body up it's so exhausted.
"Yeah. I want to see what Cece found out. You want to come?" I ask her as I throw my hair into a loose bun and finish tying my sneakers.
"Nah. I think we'll hang here. Right, Lisa?"
"Yeah. I'm tired." I've never heard Lisa so mopey. Her voice doesn't have its usual pep, and it's almost droopy and drawn out. I hope that these people can get some sleep.
"Try to nap," I say and then zip out the door. I sprint over to Cece's house, across the quad and towards the large front gates. I hope that she's there already, but I don't really know wha
t's going on. I just pray that her sisters helped her and she hasn't overdone it.
"Dad?" I say as I enter Cece's house. "Junior?"
Nobody answers, but I hear clanking coming from in the living room, so I walk there first. I'm a little taken aback when I see my dad with Junior and Ollie, playing a round of cards and eating candy from a pile in the center of the coffee table.
"Ryder, hey!" Junior jumps up and gives me a big hug. I return it, looking beyond him at Ollie, and sit between Junior and Ollie on the couch when he lets me go.
"What's going on here?" I ask as I snuggle into my place.
"Just biding time. Everyone's a bit nervous, so I figured I'd cut some tension with a good old card tournament. I'm winning." My dad winks at me, smiling. I'm so thankful that he's here. I just wish I wasn't internally freaking out so I could enjoy being close to him again.
"How goes the dream hopping?" Ollie looks up from his hand and right at me. His light eyes clash with mine and suck me into their orbit.
"Tiring. I'm done, I guess. It didn't help."
"Why not?"
"Want to go talk upstairs?" I don't want to talk about this in front of my dad. Even though he's cool and all, the idea of bringing up my two boyfriends in front of him makes me uncomfortable.
"Just leave us. Get on," Dad says, shaking his head as he takes a card from the top of the face-down deck.
I climb up from the couch and reach back to take Ollie's hand. I pull him up, and we step through the living room, making sure not to disturb the card game.
Ollie follows behind me to the guest bedroom just to the left at the top of the stairs. He pauses next to the doorway and lets me walk in first. Behind us, he shuts the door.
"All I keep seeing is different dreams. Like I saw us in a house and in love. That's it. And then I saw Ari in the next life, or what I'm guessing was, and in love. I already know I love you both. I just don't know who my soul mate is."
"Maybe it's just a gut thing?" Ollie shrugs. "If I was a completely neutral third party, and I asked who's your soul mate is, what would you say?"
"I wouldn't say a thing since I have no freaking idea." I drop my head in my hands as I sit on the bed. Ollie quickly comes to sit next to me and slings his arm over my shoulder. He pulls me against his chest and kisses my temple.
"Well, I think Cece may have something to help you. She went to bring someone back who knows your situation. I don't think she'd leave right before the war if it wasn't something big."
"You're right. But I just can't help but feel like I'm still going to be just guessing in the end. If I guess right, I veto both curses. Guess wrong, we're screwed, and most likely everyone will die."
"Come here." Ollie's opens his arms wider, and I cling to him, letting him comfort me. I crawl onto his lap and let him cradle me, needing the safety I get from him.
He kisses my forehead, and I turn my head up, offering him my lips. He leans back, questioning me, but I nod and shut my eyes, waiting to feel his overflowing love fill me to the brim.
His lips cover mine in a flash. He's soft and slow, his fingers diving into my dark hair and tugging me back.
"I love it when your eyes are blue."
"Why?"
"I like to think it means that today is my day. When they're blue, you've only got eyes for me." I smile up at him and cover his mouth with mine, opening myself up to him. I'm fully vulnerable to him as he controls my body with his slow movements. As he pulls my hair, he deepens our kiss, claiming my lips as only his forever.
Ollie lifts me up and flips me over. He presses himself between my legs and scoops one arm behind my back, the other behind my head. My hands clasp behind his back, and I cling to his blond hair, running my hands through his silky tresses. He presses down against me as his tongue assaults my mouth.
"I hate to break this up, but Professor Onassis is back." Junior pokes his head into the room, knocking on the door very lightly, his voice almost background white noise. But my mentor's name sends me into high gear.
She's back.
"It's okay," Ollie says as he pushes himself off of me. I reach down and fix my top, which rose up too much during our make out session, before getting up from the bed.
"I'm sorry," I mutter to Ollie and then sprint down the stairs. I jump the last two, bending my knees in my descent and slam right into a hard body. I put my hands up to catch myself, and they land right on Ari's hard chest.
"Oops." He grabs my shoulders and pushes me back, stabilizing me. His green eyes meet mine, but they flash with sorrow and hurt. I run my hand through my hair and pray it doesn't look like I just had sex. I didn't, but—
"Eurydice," Cece says, saving me from utter humiliation.
"I missed you." I run to her and hug her, not too hard because her body feels like it could be crushed with my strength. I look past her into the foyer and see Mimi and Lee with black suitcases by their feet. Mimi smiles at me, and Lee waves before they pick up the bags and walk up the stairs I just jumped down.
"I have something for you." She looks up at me, her head more tilted than normal, glee in her gaze. I know she has something big going on. "Actually, I have two things that will immensely help you. First, well, come on. He's in the living room." She takes my hand in hers and leads me to the living room, almost skipping through the house.
My dad and Junior are nowhere to be seen. They must have disappeared when Cece and her sisters came home. Cece stumbles over the wood plank between the doors, and I sprint to her side, catching her back and elbow before she can fall.
"Eurydice, I have one last person for you to meet. Then, I promise that I will never introduce you to another person for the rest of your extremely long life." I glare at her, but my glare is broken when a man steps into the room.
"Hello. I am Atee. I'm your half-brother."
"What?" I immediately step back and survey him up and down. His words hit me hard, and at first, I don't believe him. The only thing we have in common is our chocolate brown hair. He's tall and muscular, where I'm short and have an average build. He has two green eyes, but mine change by the mood. And according to Ollie, they're blue today anyway.
"Athena…she's my mother also."
"Who's your father?"
"Zeus."
"The Zeus?" I look at this man—Atee—like he's a crazy person. I have a brother? I just found out that I had a mother and now this? And his father is Zeus—the man Ari and I did a project on last year? This isn't real. My life cannot be happening like this and getting so complicated.
"I'm excited to get to know you. But I have to admit something: we've met many times." He shrugs and nods his head, but I don't believe him. He's warm and inviting, but the fact that I have a brother is so much to take in and process.
"I would've remembered meeting someone like you."
"We haven't met in this lifetime." I suppose that makes sense, but his words jumble together, the shock ricocheting through me. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he offers.
"Let's go sit on the stoop," I tell him, not wanting to wander too far, but the air will be good for me. It should cool my nerves and help me relax.
I walk out the front door, and Atee shuts the door behind us, just two steps behind me. I sit on the stoop and rest my elbows on my knees, breathing through my nose to calm my nerves.
"I don't even know where to begin," he exhales loudly, sitting next to me, but far enough away on the stoop that we don't touch. I look beside me at my supposed brother. "It's so strange, since I feel like I know you. But I assume it must be even stranger to you."
"I have to admit, it is weird. But the more I look at you, the more I feel like I should know you. It's like a sense of deja-vu."
"I'd love to get to know you more, but I'm afraid we have more important things to talk about."
"Like what?"
"I can help you in this war. I have the ability to open portals on Earth and transport you to other worlds or dimensions."
"That's great! So, w
e'd be able to leave from right here?"
"I could open a portal to the Underworld from this exact spot." He looks over at me, but his expression isn't happy. He looks withdrawn, and I don't understand why, since he just told me that he could help us in the war. "But if I open a portal, I won't be able to go with you to the Underworld. I'll have to stay behind and hold it open for you all to return the same way."
"Oh…" I say, the realization dawning on me. "Well, maybe we could find another portal nearby. Or we could figure something else out."
"I'm afraid we've come up empty handed on the location of a portal. We have a possible portal in Morocco, but it's not confirmed yet, and time is running down."
"So, then you hold the portal here. It's okay. We can handle it."
"Are you sure? I hate the idea of you going down there alone. I'm very protective of you."
"I'll be fine. Hades can't kill me until I end the curse, so at least there's that."
"And then after?" He crinkles his eyebrow, his eyes focused solely on me. He looks right through me, but into me, as if he knows when I lie. I can't help but feel like his words are true—he does know me.
"I'll figure it out."
"I know you will. Can you do me a favor?"
"I just found out you're my brother and you're already asking for favors?"
"Hey, it's what I do." He smiles and punches me lightly on the shoulder. It's oddly not strange or uncomfortable A vision flashes before my eyes of him doing something similar. I try to catch it, but it quickly fades away, and I'm left disoriented from the fleeting image.
"What do you need?"
"Sit here and I'm going to tell you what to think of. I want you to have a vision of just us. You'll see that you know me, and we can skip all the 'hello,' 'get to know you' crap and get right back to being friends again."
"Okay…" I nod and smile at him.
I lean against the railing on the front stoop and shut my eyes. The fact that I don't know a thing about Atee completely contradicts the fact that I trust him with my life.
The Broken Curse Page 14
