by Debbie Behan
Calyx looked over at the breakfast tray, a meal for one, but even so saw his distrust was still evident in his expression, so she continued to talk.
‘How’s Zuri? Is she here with you?’ She peered around him.
He looked down at her happy face, his softening with the mention of his wife, Hera.
Caitlin had been careful to use the alias Hera had used on Dolphin Island and noted it pleased him.
‘No, Zuri couldn’t make it but will be disappointed she missed you. She took a real liking to you.’
She sat and patted the cushion on the couch beside her. ‘Sit and tell me how everyone is.’
His weight caused Caitlin to lean into him as they chatted and her charm gradually cooled his uncertainty about her. Jett sat on the edge of her bed with a watchful eye as he waited for his brother to go. His only hope was that they got through this without incident.
‘Honey and Ted Bear, are they well?’
Jett noticed how Calyx answered at first cautiously, as if he was under a spell, and noticeably relaxed the longer he sat next to her. Although she would have known it to be mostly fabricated, Caitlin looked delighted in his tales of the family and was pleased Calyx laughed with her when she chuckled uncontrollably at his humour. After some time he watched Calyx take her hand in his.
‘It was a pleasure to see you again, Glow Girl. I hope you enjoy your stay and if my brother dares treat you poorly just let me know and I’ll sort him out for you.’ Calyx looked genuine.
‘Jett has been a perfect gentleman and teacher, very tolerant of my ignorance towards snow and skiing.’ She smiled brightly.
‘That’s a shock to hear. I think you must be talking of someone other than my brother. He has zero tolerance for anyone that shows even the slightest fear.’ He rolled his eyes and glanced at Jett, baiting him. ‘Brother, I can’t believe that! I think she must be the one with the patience.’ He stood up. A strange expression flitted across his face. ‘Sorry guys, I’ve just been summoned. Congress waits for no man.’
‘You are a legal man?’ Caitlin asked, acting dumb.
‘Something like that.’ He casually eyed Jett. If she hadn’t picked up on it, he would have thought her mindless. Yet acknowledging it made him slightly suspicious. Whichever way, she had to earn respect and show she was no fool.
The surprised tone gone, he had accepted her curiosity as that of any woman’s and spoke kindly. ‘Well, I must be going. No doubt, Glow Girl, we shall meet again.’ He inclined his head, kissed her hand, and turned and followed Jett. His voice still had an uncertain tone as they conversed on the way out.
Caitlin paced with worry while she waited for Jett to come back.
The door flung open on his return, and he stomped in and sat heavily beside her. ‘Phew, that was close. He heard one of the servants talk about the young lady upstairs and demanded to know who it was. He immediately thought you were who you really are. He was taken back when it was Glow Girl he found and not the Cosmic’s explosives expert.’
‘Is that what I’m labelled as?’ Caitlin sat beside him and crossed her legs. ‘That is so cool.’
‘You’re a mighty warrior, and the entire family was staggered with your abilities. We discussed brainwashing you, to turn you to our side.’
‘And?’ She was interested in the plots against her. His other side, Hades, answered her. His voice was depleted, almost exhausted. He had something more on his mind, and she hoped it wasn’t what she thought.
‘With your unique magic we were unsure it would work on you, so the vote was to terminate the threat.’
‘Just like that!’
‘Just like that!’ he repeated, ‘and if we had not used an alias when we first met, it would have been on, right there in that restaurant.’
‘I’d be dead without question.’
‘Fate works in mysterious ways.’ He had a slight shake as he moved his hand through his hair. Hades’ eyes softened as Jett’s kinder side returned. ‘Yes Glow, you’d be dead now, and I would never have had this time with you. What are we doing? Calyx knows you’re here now and once he tells the others, I know them, they will put two and two together. They dissect everything and every day I keep you here now will endanger your life, again.’ He put his head in his hands. ‘Believe me when I say that my brothers will kill you if they find out who you are. They didn’t connect with you the way I did.’
Caitlin knelt down and removed his hands from his forehead. They’d left prints, making his concern for her evident. ‘If you send me home they’ll snatch me as easily as you did and kill me anyway. I’m afraid I’m doomed whichever way.’ The fear for her future was in overdrive. ‘I’ve spent most of my life hidden underground and the rest of it I hid from humans in case my gift was uncovered. I feel a freak that doesn’t belong anywhere. Only when I became a Cosmic Rider did I finally feel worthy.’ She stood up in a panic. ‘If you send me back I will have to hide again, change my name and give up my job… my friends.’
‘Sorry, Glow, you are no longer safe here.’
With a spin, she turned back to face him. ‘Then send me to your Underworld, because without my job, my friends and Axon, I have nothing.’ Her eyes were wide and angry.
‘You cannot be serious,’ he bellowed at her, as Hades’ temper surfaced.
He felt her fear beg him for a solution. He shook his head, his only idea ludicrous, but he had to try. ‘There is a way. Let me turn you evil. This is the only way you can stay. Renounce your position with the Cosmic Riders and give up your useless pledge to save humans. Why protect that which has hurt you so terribly? It seems to me, those mortals have never loved or cared for you, yet you work so relentlessly to save them. For me, Glow, turn from all that keeps you pure and stay.’ Jett’s tone grew soft and caring. ‘I’d treat you like a princess for the rest of your time. My family already loves you, and there would be nothing you would ever need or want again. We would give you the world. Please think about it.’ His broken emotions made his voice quiver.
She stood strong, rigid, yet her own voice was soft and full of compassion. ‘Why don’t you turn good for me? Come and live with us, and protect me so they can’t remove my powers and get rid of me.’
‘Now that’s just panicked discord. You know how much I adore you, but I could never leave Melita or my family for you.’
She grinned through tears. ‘And there lies our dilemma because I feel exactly the same.’ She turned and walked over to the bed and sat on her own.
‘The only choice is to let your family try to protect you now Glow.’ His kind words finally broke the silence. ‘It’s the right thing to do. I must take you back and let you live your life out, however it might end up. You told me I would know when it was time and I believe it is now.’
He stood up, strode over and put his hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ll never forget you Glow. Please forgive me for not helping you, but I’m not willing to change for you either.’
The room before her disappeared and the sight of Axon’s castle welcomed her. ‘Goodbye, Glow Girl, and thanks for the memories. I’ll cherish them always.’
She touched his face, barely able to see through her own tears as an emotionless Hades stared back. The faded image burned into her mind and he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
All Hope is Gone
Her stomach in knots, she was utterly shattered at how her time with Jett ended. Though elated to be home, Caitlin felt torn not to be with a man she had grown to adore, a friend she might never get the opportunity to talk with again. He had given up on her, sent her packing at the first sign of trouble, and wiped his hands of their friendship. He didn’t even try. She let out a sob.
The alarm rang loudly and muffled the sound as she cried out to him, but it did no good. She was home, and he would never come back. Nor would she be allowed to ever see him again. We are enemies again. He
r heart sank.
Nathen and Zeke appeared, and both waved madly as they ran towards her with a manic spring in their step to make it to her before she vanished again. She wiped her eyes and made an effort to cheer up while holding her stomach that stabbed with gut-wrenching pain. This was all wrong. She’d solved nothing and had not only let herself down but her friends too. She was a peacekeeper now, and her job had been compromised because she had become too attached. They had become more than friends, spiritually connected, and it had frightened him that she would come to harm. Idiot, she cursed herself. She knew the Riders’ number one rule; never get that close, or they might do something stupid. Like, save me.
The strain to thinking of how to solve the war now gave her a massive headache. Jett knew her, and now she knew him. Could they take up arms against each other or would Hades take over the soft side again and destroy the charming man she knew him to be?
Nathen snatched her up in his arms in a rush to have her back inside the house. It left her head spinning, and once inside, he stood her on unsteady feet.
‘You right, Cait?’ He held her elbow and with the other hand tapped his earpiece. ‘She’s safe, let Rory know.’
The alarm ceased its noise, and the quiet gave Caitlin time to gather her wits. Zeke bent, concerned with the amount of stress she seemed to be in and rubbed her back briskly. His worried features and soft words were welcoming. ‘You’re okay now kiddo, it’s okay, you’re home.’ He gradually calmed her just as Axon and Rory shimmered into view in front of her. Rory pushed him aside to get to her. Not being aware of how messed up she was feeling, he wrapped his arms around her. ‘Thank goodness you’re alive. What happened? How come he let you go?’ His eyes reddened with unshed tears. ‘I was right, you were okay. God Caitlin, we never thought we’d see you again.’
Now in Rory’s embrace, Caitlin didn’t just cry, but sobbed sadly, confused and unable to pull herself together to answer him. Her eyes opened at one stage and saw Axon. Missing him, her arms went out to him. She blubbered and wept for him, the heartache real that he might not understand why she had decided not to come home. Would he forgive her? Had he trusted her? All this sadness she had created and yet it was for nothing. She had lost a dear friend, maybe ruined the relationship with these two men and hadn’t managed to stop the war. She wept without words, utterly heartbroken.
Rory poured shots of vodka that they took eagerly while they looked for an ounce of humour to settle the emotional rollercoaster. After the third, she calmed, and Axon pulled her down onto the sofa to talk. He held her so tightly Caitlin was breathless and got Rory to give Axon another one.
‘I’m not going anywhere. They can’t get me in here.’ She kissed his lips.
That set him off, and he disappeared with her, taking her to their room and kissing her back, with fear and urgency. The reality he still loved her lessened her sadness.
‘Sorry.’ He released her. He sensed she was elsewhere in her thoughts.
For Caitlin, the room was still warm, and embers glowed in the hearth which took her back to winter on Pluto. It reminded her of the nights she spent with Jett. Memories of the frozen planet flooded her thoughts for only a moment, yet long enough to cause Axon to give her a questioning stare. Caitlin attempted to cover her idle foolishness by giving him a cheerful smile. ‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ she kidded him.
‘Come, you must be exhausted, sit with me for a while.’ He shook off the unresponsive kiss he got from her. ‘We were beginning to give up; thought he might have turned you evil and had decided to keep you.’
‘Jett would never do that.’
His arm dropped from her. The defensive straightening of her body and something more he saw in her eyes, had warning bells go off. ‘You slept with him, didn’t you? He has won.’
‘Don’t, Axon!’ She looked indignant.
‘I deserve to know. We had something before you left and you can’t blame me for wondering if…’
She put her fingers to his lips.’ ‘Hush now, that’s ridiculous. Yes, he stole me from you but hell, only to kill me! He was angry and to be feared. I don’t mind telling you I thought my life was over, but somehow I won him over, and he became Jett again.’
‘You got sucked in by the sounds of it. What did he want in return for letting you live then?’ His tone was nasty, but she ignored it and continued to explain why she had stayed with him.
‘It was when he opened up to me about Melita that everything changed. I went from his captive to his guest.’
‘Cry on your shoulder did he?’ Axon threw in a sarcastic comment, and again, she had expected it. She hoped by telling him everything he would see it was innocent and ease the jealous innuendos.
‘No, it was in a conversation. I asked where Melita was and he said how she spends the winter months with her mother. I suggested a dome for the castle grounds which would keep out the cold and savage windstorms they get. He thought it a good idea and asked me to stay to help him with design and ideas. I agreed, and it was then while working on the project that we became close friends.’
Axon straightened, not taking the news well. ‘So if you didn’t stay to help he would have brought you home?’
‘No, that bit is complicated.’
‘Please enlighten me.’
‘He couldn’t let his family know I was still alive. He was working on how to fix that. Sorry Axon, but some things I still need to get my head around before discussing them.’
He stood and went over to the fire, to prod it with the poker. ‘I kept imagining you sleeping with him, but hoped you were the girl I fell for.’ He turned to her. ‘I love you, Cait. I thought you knew that. He is your enemy, our enemy. There is no future in friendship for either of you.’
Caitlin rolled her shoulder, trying to un-stress. ‘I said friend! And as for my relationship with Jett, I think that is over now too. Calyx saw to that. Jett ran scared after his visit. Letting me go has dropped him into a world of pain with his family who could turn against him when they see me up there fighting and still alive.’ She sighed. ‘He turned against me, and I have disappointed you. I’m not sure how I can fix any of this, Axon. But I do still love you if you are willing to put this behind us.’
Caitlin’s eyes filled with tears as Axon sat and held her hand. Her commitment to love was what he needed to hear at this moment. ‘Cait, my beautiful Cait, I am so sorry I jumped to conclusions. I should know you better than that, and I do, so please accept me being a pig-headed, jealous sod.’
He wiped her sad tears with a hanky he pulled from his pocket. ‘It sounds as if you did the best you could. But see it for what it is; Hades used trickery to confuse you into thinking he was different. Jett, you related to, so why not be him around you. Only the deception didn’t last, did it? Caught out he showed his true colours. What happens from now on is out of your hands and from here on in you must wipe Hades from your thoughts.’
She nodded. ‘I will try,’ she said, and tears ran down her cheeks again.
Axon mopped them up, annoyed at her reaction every time that name was mentioned. ‘Honestly Cait, he is evil itself. You were a captive, and at the end of the day, Hades has only let you go because his sneaky, underhanded plan to have you all to himself for whatever-the-hell reason has been uncovered. He is a ruthless kidnapper and not worth these tears or the friendship you gave. If he thought about you at all, he would have brought you home once he decided to let you live or had the guts to clear it with me before just assuming it would be okay for you to stay with him.’
‘Would you have let me go with him?’
‘Hell no! Never! We now have plans in place, and the father and his sinister sons will never touch a hair on your head, ever. I can promise you that. It is the last time Jett or any one of his brothers will get anywhere near you for eternity.’
This revelation didn’t sit easily with Caitlin. Axon had said
his piece but had not convinced her. To put plans in place to make her disappear was not an option but that was an argument for another day. Neither he or the team would ever understand what she accomplished or still wished to. Yes, Hades was evil, but Jett was the real deal, kind, considerate and a good friend. She smiled politely, but on the inside didn’t give up the search for a way to mend the malicious rift between the two worlds. Her efforts to explain fell on deaf ears. She knew if Jett’s family found out about her, he would face the same distaste and hatred. She stood up, needing to be around those who appreciated the work she had put into the god, Hades.
‘Please don’t leave just yet, stay a little longer. I have missed you.’ Axon’s eyes pleaded as his hand went out for hers.
‘I know, I have missed you too, but the rest of the team will be gathered downstairs by now waiting to see I’m all right. I’m also sure you have much paperwork to fill out and file.’ She kissed him lightly on the lips and pulled away with a giggle. ‘Come on boss, there will be plenty of time for us to canoodle now I’m home.’ She tugged at his hand to get him up.
Reluctantly, Axon followed. She had rejected him and saw by his expression he was upset, but she needed to think and heal her heart that ached for – for what? Wasn’t that her wish all this time; to have Axon’s love? One thing she did know, it was unwise to give in to lust when she was so confused.
Throughout dinner, Caitlin’s nerves were on edge as the team drilled her extensively about her stay with the notorious villain, Hades. They were even less understanding than Axon. It annoyed her the way they referred to Jett as Hades which encouraged her to fill her glass more times than she could remember. And even though they were lovely in every other way and gave her accolades for the miracle of her survival, Caitlin could see no marvel. She still felt so terribly disheartened, knowing her chance to win the war peacefully was over. She talked until exhausted, but this did not change how any of them felt about Jett, or get them to acknowledge the work she had put in while there. They felt as Axon did, he had conned her and used her, and that was that.
