“You should give him a call,” Marie stated.
Darcie floundered, completely taken aback. “Oh… yeah? Why?”
“Because I think he would enjoy hearing from you.”
Darcie’s eyes grew wide and her heart continued to flutter in her chest. “Really?”
Marie sighed causing a burst of static in the earpiece. “Look, I’m not going to say anything else. Just… call him. Okay?”
“Okay,” Darcie whispered.
Her head spun with potential reasons behind Marie’s encouragement. Despite how hard she tried to convince herself it wasn’t the case, Darcie could not help but hope it was something she secretly desired for years.
“Good,” Marie replied, pleased. “I have to go meet Josh right now, but call me back later?”
“You got it.”
The friends said goodbye and Darcie was back to being cooped up in the room. Now, though, she found herself wrapped up in analyzing the phone conversation and the fact it was able to happen in the first place.
Darcie didn’t know who returned her phone to her, but she was sure it came with certain expectations.
For instance, Darcie was sure whoever gave her the gift of communicating with loved ones would insist she not relay the truth behind her absence or where she was staying.
Darcie fell back on the bed, bouncing against the mattress before lying still and stared at the ceiling. How could she keep speaking with Marie without revealing what was really going on? Even if she intended to keep the truth hidden, Darcie would slip up eventually.
Then again, Darcie remembered, the brothers could take care of any breaches of information.
She shut her eyes against the thought. Darcie hated the memory of the attack in the club parking lot, but she hated the fact the brothers stole it from her even more. It was unsettling to be living with people who could choose what someone knew or remembered. It made it impossible to completely trust them.
She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, willing the sting of tears to disappear. It would not help to wallow in hopelessness. Darcie just needed to bide her time, play the game and, eventually, things would go back to normal.
At least, that is what she told herself about one hundred times a day.
An unfamiliar sound met her ears. Darcie sat up and looked at her phone, realizing the unusual ring was coming from the internet app she used to call Marie.
Kevin’s name flashed on the screen.
Darcie sucked in a breath. How did he know how to reach her?
The realization came quickly –Marie.
Darcie rolled her eyes as she imagined her friend immediately telling her brother of their conversation. Marie just instructed Darcie to call Kevin, couldn’t she give her ten minutes to follow through?
Darcie played with the idea of ignoring the call. There was so much going on in her head at the moment, Darcie didn’t know if she could make it through a conversation with her crush without coming off as an emotional lunatic. But if Marie told him of their conversation, he would expect her to be reachable.
With a fortifying breath, Darcie answered his call. “Hello?”
“Hey, Stranger,” Kevin’s lighthearted voice met her ears, sending butterflies flying as usual. “I was worried you might not answer.”
“Of course I’d answer,” Darcie replied sheepishly. He didn’t need to know she almost didn’t.
“I’m glad you did. How are you?”
“Good, how about you? How’s your break going?” The questions fell out of her mouth.
“Pretty good. You know, same old same old. Except…” Kevin trailed off. Darcie pressed her head into the earpiece and waited for him to continue.
The phone remained silent.
“Kevin?” Darcie pulled the phone away from her ear. The screen showed the call was still connected. She brought it back to her. “You there?”
She heard him clear his throat. “Yeah. I’m here.”
“What were you saying? I think I lost you for a second.”
His hesitation was audible. He released a heavy breath. “I was saying things are good. The break from school is nice. Except… I wish you were here.”
Darcie’s stomach flipped. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“Oh,” Darcie struggled for words. “I wish I was too.” She wasn’t brave enough to ask what he meant.
Lucky for her, Kevin offered the explanation willingly. “I was looking forward to spending time with you since I heard you were back in Maine. The break was supposed to be my chance to finally ask you on a date.”
“A date?” Darcie couldn’t hide her shock. Was she dreaming?
Kevin gave a nervous chuckle. “I know. Crazy right? Forget I mentioned it. It was worth a shot.”
No! You’re blowing it, idiot.
“Wait,” Darcie quickly said, trying to salvage the situation she hoped for all of her adolescent life. “That’s not what I meant. I’m just… surprised. I had no idea you liked me.”
“Of course I like you.”
Darcie blushed. “I meant I had no idea you liked me like that.”
“I had no idea either,” Kevin revealed. “Until you and your dad left Brunswick.”
Darcie’s heart pounded. Two years? Kevin had feelings for her for two years? She bit her lip. Maybe the pain would pull her out of this torturous dream.
“Darcie?”
Nope… This is real.
“I’m here,” she breathed. Emboldened by his admission, Darcie finally told her crush the truth she never believed she would be able to say. “I… like you too, Kevin.”
Whatever Kevin’s response was, Darcie did not hear it.
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, an unimaginable pain struck her in the chest. The sensation stole the breath from her lungs. She slipped from the bed, dropping the phone as she landed on her hands and knees.
Darcie could hear Kevin talking, but she couldn’t make out the words. She struggled for breath, squeezing her eyes closed and willing the sharp pain away.
Slowly, after careful regulated breathing, the feeling became more manageable. Darcie willed her senses to return to normal.
She could hear Kevin speaking. He had not noticed her preoccupation.
“… glad we feel the same way. Now we just need you to come back so we can go on a real date.”
“Yeah,” Darcie’s speech was winded. “That would be great. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
“Perfect.” She could almost hear how big his smile was. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. You seem a little distracted.”
Darcie never felt so thankful. “Sorry,” she apologized. “There’s just a lot going on.”
If he only knew…
“No worries. I’ll let you go. Will you call me again?”
Despite her weakened state, she couldn’t resist replying, “you called me.”
“That means it is your turn next time.”
She smiled despite the lingering pain. “You’re right. Yes, I will call you.”
“Great!” Kevin’s excitement exposed itself with a single word. “Bye, Darcie.”
“Bye, Kevin.” Darcie held her breath until she heard the beep signaling the end of the call. She immediately fell onto her stomach and rolled onto her back, still trying to return her breathing to normal.
It was odd. Although the intense pain decreased, there was still a lingering sting poking Darcie in the chest. She rubbed the spot and wondered what could have happened to cause the pain. She was too young for cardiac problems, and her blood work was perfectly normal the last time she visited the doctor.
As she continued to contemplate what might have caused the unexplained feeling in her chest, Darcie heard a shuffle coming from the other side of her bedroom door. Darcie sat up and waited for the person in the hallway to knock.
No one did. Instead, Darcie heard footsteps moving away from the door. She did not notice at the time, but with each step the myster
ious visitor took away from her door, the pain in her chest lessened one more degree until it completely vanished.
Chapter 15
Light glinted off the stone as Darcie stood in front of a marble bust, examining the similarity with its subject. “This totally looks like Thane.”
“Indeed.” Bella walked over and observed the depiction of her husband. “Of course, the real version is much more handsome.”
With a playful eye roll, Darcie turned away and moved on to the next statue in the immortal family’s gallery. It was full of works of art from the centuries, many of them depicting the family, themselves.
Over the past couple of days, Darcie developed a routine with how she spent her time.
Typically, the morning would begin with Darcie talking with her dad, Marie… and Kevin.
Most of the time, her conversation with Kevin was brief, but sweet. They would banter back and forth a bit, share some of what was going on in their lives and reiterate to one another their eagerness to see each other again. Even if they spoke for only five minutes, Darcie considered the conversation with Kevin the highlight of her day. She still couldn’t believe her childhood crush returned her feelings. The existence of immortal beings was almost easier to believe. Almost.
After the morning passed, Bella never failed to show up to Darcie’s room with a tray full of lunch. The pair would eat together before Bella would ultimately convince Darcie to see some aspect of the house, which was not an easy task.
After intruding on a private meeting with the other immortals, Darcie was hesitant to continue her explorations alone. The teenager did not want to risk running into any immortals. Darcie could not shake the unease she felt when she was in the room full of nine immortals. It was almost like she could feel the power radiating off of them.
A shiver ran through Darcie’s body as she remembered Adir’s sneer after he laid eyes on her. No, Darcie did not want to explore the house on her own ever again. At least, not without an immortal she could trust…
The acknowledgement made Bella and her daily visits with Darcie a godsend. The young woman, no doubt, heard what happened in the parlor. If not from Eshe, then from Thane. Darcie believed Bella was doing her best to soothe any hurt or fear Darcie must have experienced with the accidental intrusion. The kind immortal made it a point to always be available for Darcie’s explorations, even if she put up a little bit of a fight at first.
“Your likeness looks different than the others,” Darcie commented as she recognized the bust dedicated to Bella and her youthful face.
“It was made more than a millennia later,” Bella explained. “By a different artist who used a different material.”
Darcie nodded, once again being reminded of the incredible truth behind her companion’s past.
“You look freaky without eyes.”
Bella laughed. “Did you know original Greek statues were made with eyes painted on them? They simply faded with the passage of time.”
Darcie raised an eyebrow. “I had no idea.” You’d think she would have come across that information living abroad with her dad.
“It’s true. Those who uncovered the statues originally believed them to be created with white, marble eyes. They thought it was the Greek style to have eyeless statues.”
“Does every member of the family have a statue?” Darcie glanced around. She counted more than five.
“Yes, all of ours are here. Most of the others are pieces done in the likeness of some of the lesser immortals. For a time, the brothers would commission the work as a gift for their loyalty.” Bella gestured to a back row as she spoke.
Darcie’s eyes trailed down the long line of artwork and found herself in awe of the number of immortals represented in the gallery.
Some images portrayed individuals in the prime of their life, depicting youthful expressions and features. Other works showed lines of age, making Darcie wonder if any of the immortals might appear older. She recalled the Original Nine and how each of them looked to be in their mid-twenties despite being the oldest of the immortals.
Darcie’s fingers trailed across a cool, smooth surface. She could never have imagined immortals existed, let alone she would become entangled in their lives.
What would it be like to live through the most pivotal moments in history? To see civilizations rise and fall? To witness the artistic and intellectual revolutions throughout human existence? Her imagination ran wild with the possibilities.
It was easy for Darcie to get lost in romantic thoughts about the fascinating lives her immortal companions lead. It was almost her way of accepting the truth of their existence. After all, almost every human civilization believed in some sort of religion focused around one or more gods or goddesses.
While Darcie did not think any religion correctly described the brothers and their six siblings as the deities in their faith, those with polytheistic beliefs were not far off.
From what Darcie witnessed and overheard, though, the brothers and other immortals tended to remain distant from human groups. Their seclusion being very unlike the Greek and Roman deities.
As she often did when allowing her mind to wander down that road of thought, Darcie wondered what the information meant for her and her monotheistic father.
While the Abernathy family did not attend church every Sunday, Darcie was raised with a Christian belief system. It was confusing for her to try to reason her belief with the reality being forced on her.
The topic bothered her so much she even broached the topic with Bella one day.
“You still consider yourself Christian?” Darcie asked in disbelief. The pair were eating lunch together when Bella completely threw Darcie off-guard by revealing herself to be a practicing Catholic.
“Of course,” Bella replied, looking equally confused. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
It took all of Darcie’s self-control to not let her jaw drop.
“Wasn’t your faith shaken when you learned about Thane, Des, and Lome?”
Bella pursed her lips, thinking back hundreds of years. “At first, yes. I was raised in a very religious home. Learning about the brothers and their abilities when their existence did not appear in holy text was… difficult.” Darcie watched Bella close her eyes against the memory.
“I remember crying to Thane one night,” Bella murmured with shut eyes. “I felt so confused and alone.”
“What did Thane say?”
Bella’s expression softened. “Thane, as always, was sweet and understanding. He consoled me and told me while my faith might not know the truth regarding the existence of immortals, that did not mean it was wrong.
“After all,” Bella continued, her demeanor instantly lightened as she opened her eyes, “someone created the immortals, and someone created humans. Who is to say it wasn’t God?”
Blue eyes observed the immortal girl and her complete belief in the possibility of the Christian God creating the world and all those in it, regardless of the reality surrounding her husband’s existence.
But when Darcie thought about it, the idea made as much sense as anything else. Her own turmoil regarding the change in her beliefs eased as a result.
“Recognize any of these?”
Darcie’s thoughts returned to the present. Her eyes roamed to find Bella where she stood in front of a glass case. Interested in seeing something other than a statue, she quickly made her way over and peered into the clear box. Five small portraits were displayed on velvet fabric, each about the size of her hand.
Darcie looked at the picture Bella pointed to.
It was Adir. After asking Bella for a refresher course on her husband’s initial instruction, she knew he was the immortal who gained strength from the initiation and acts of war.
During their conversations, Darcie learned various things about each of the main immortals Thane managed to leave out.
For instance, she knew Julisanna was known to be petty and act in her self-interest when the opportunity presented itself. Not
a very motherly attribute, if Darcie said so herself.
Bella also informed her Eros held the reputation of a habitual flirt. Remembering how he spoke to her in the parlor, Darcie didn’t find the information surprising in the slightest.
They managed to avoid speaking much about Evetta. What Bella did manage to say was, the vicious beauty had no desire to see the brothers reach their full strength. The overall consensus suspected she was not the only one, but no one could prove it.
Personality traits, relationship with the brothers, and their perceived interest in Des finding his One were also revealed to Darcie. Her head whirled with all the information, and she couldn’t help but acknowledge the immortals seemed like any other people. She knew plenty of flirtatious and jealous people. It seemed eternal beings weren’t above human characteristics.
“Do you trust him?” Darcie asked Bella, speaking of the immortal in the painting. He did not appear to be a warmongering villain.
“I do,” Bella replied without hesitation. “Adir can seem rough sometimes, but I find it hard to believe he wishes the brothers out of power. After all, his strength, by nature, shares in the strength of the brothers.”
Darcie thought over the words. It made sense. War was known to cause pain, destruction, and death. All of the immortal men would benefit from the event. Then again, wouldn’t that be just as much of a reason to resent the brothers?
Having zero desire to delve into the, no doubt, complicated intricacies at play with the immortals, Darcie moved on. Her eyes traveled to the next painting and froze.
Des.
Darcie observed the handsome face; her thoughts conflicted. He looked serene in the likeness, yet she vividly recalled his fury in real-life. The attractive face might belong to the immortal, but the disposition was far from accurate.
Darcie had yet to come face to face with Des following the confrontation in the parlor. If she were being completely honest, she was perfectly okay with it. In fact, Darcie would be lying if she didn’t admit Des was part of the reason she had no desire to wander the house by herself. She dreaded running into the volatile immortal. There was no way to tell if she would meet the concerned or irritated Des.
Enlightened (Immortal Chronicles Book 1) Page 11
