by Kristen Day
"What do you want to do with that?" he asked carefully.
I crossed my arms defiantly. "You deserve to have your ass kicked. You knew this entire time that you were going to have to leave, but you decided to throw paint all over me and kiss me anyway!"
"I had to," he admitted softly, trying to cup my cheek. I pulled away from him with a warning look.
"Actually you didn't." I glared at him. I watched with a hundred different emotions waging a seven year war with each other in my heart as he stood with resolve and walked over to the glass.
"Come here. I want to show you something."
"What?" I met him at the glass with skepticism.
"What do you see?"
I looked out the window at the vast sea I knew was beyond the glass, but the light of the room and the ocean's darkness reflected my own angry expression. I cut my eyes at Sebastian's reflection with irritation.
"Nothing. Except us."
He faced me with hooded eyes and placed my hands in his. "That's exactly how I feel. I know there's an entire world out there, but I don't see any of it. All I see is you. All I want is you."
"Why do you say things like that?" I pouted stubbornly. "It's only going to make it harder."
"We have two choices." He pulled me into his arms and the strong hold I felt myself captured in melted away my faulty defenses and I felt my heart crumble right into his hands. "We can either stop things now and pretend we're just friends or spend the next three weeks with each other and have no regrets and no 'what ifs'," he proposed.
"You just had to come back from the dead and screw up my life, didn't you?" I tried to be mad. The corners of my mouth were itching to pull up from the raw vulnerability I found in his eyes and the desperate way he clung to me.
"You're welcome." He grinned sensually.
"I hate you," I muttered and narrowed my eyes at him. My resolve completely disappeared and I found myself wanting to pretend he would be mine forever. That he wouldn't be leaving.
"I'm falling in love with you, Olivia," he whispered and my world froze mid-breath. "I can't turn it off. I can't control it." He cupped a hand behind my head. "Please spend the next three weeks with me. Let me love you."
"Okay," I consented in a voice barely above a whisper. The ghost of a smile fluttered across his lips before his arm encircled my waist and pressed me to him. My heart broke into a million happy pieces and shattered around us on the floor as he bent down and kissed me with urgency. I knew I would never be able to put the pieces back together, but at that moment, I didn't care. At that moment, I was with Sebastian. In his arms. Wrapped in his essence. Wrapped in his love.
"I think I love you," I gasped between kisses, searching his eyes and finding everything I'd ever dreamed of swirling amongst those blue hues. They softened even more and I thought my entire body would explode from the intensity racing through every vein. Every thought, every movement, careening out of control towards a place I never knew existed.
"And I know I love you," he said slowly, ensuring I felt every word down to my core. His soft lips met mine once more in a dance of warmth and passion, intoxicating the rest of my body with reckless abandon. Every fiber of my being ached for him, and I decided in that moment that I wanted all the things he had just said. No regrets. No 'what ifs'. I wanted to give him my heart fully, if only for a short time. I wanted to surrender. I wanted to be loved.
I pulled away and took his hands, meeting his gaze with seductive intention. I stepped backwards, leading him to the bed but stopping short as the back of my knees touched the mattress. His sideways grin disappeared and his eyes widened ever so slightly with understanding. In one quick motion he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a torso so sculpted I was almost afraid to touch it. Almost. With quiet wonder I ran a finger over the intricacies of his armored trace. I ran both hands over his broad shoulders and down his arms.
His hands found the hem of my shirt and he paused, asking my permission with his eyes. I answered him with a slight smile and watched hunger tense his jaw and fill his now wild, enraptured eyes. He pulled the shirt over my head with ease and I pulled myself to him, needing to feel his skin on mine. He kissed me with renewed urgency as he grasped my waist and pushed me back onto the bed. With deliberate slowness he pressed his weight down on me, fanning the flames that already precipitated along my body. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him against me, feeling his emblazoned heat in earnest. At some point the rest of our clothes were stripped away and he urged me under the covers, never breaking our kiss.
My world was a blur of impulse and adrenaline, wrapping us in a cocoon of fevered exhilaration. I closed my eyes in a cloud of euphoria as his lips trailed down my neck, his tongue leaving a cool trail as he went. He gently sucked and raked his teeth against my skin while moving on top of me once more, spreading my legs with his knees.
My vulnerable position left me craving to be taken; yearning to feel the raw power I knew he kept tamed within. But he held back, leaving us both desperate and panting. He moaned softly as he cupped my chin and returned his search to my wanting mouth. He gathered my wrists in one hand and pulled them above my head, leaving me blissfully powerless. His other hand found its way all over my body in a tantalizing pre-emptive promise. His breathing became hitched and the blue of his eyes turned wild with passion as he bent his head down and whispered in my ear in Greek.
"I'll always be yours."
Without hesitation, he filled me with a power that sent me reeling, racking my body with a pleasure I'd never felt. The raw masculinity he encompassed, coupled with the tender way he continued to kiss my neck, mouth, and collarbone was mesmerizing. He was the embodiment of strength, bravery, and sheer will. He'd led entire armies of men, ravaged lands, and waged countless wars. Yet, in this brief moment of time he rendered himself completely vulnerable, giving himself to me in every way a man could.
He released my wrists and I clung to him in unrivaled ecstasy, gripping his back, his shoulders, and his arms. I rolled us over so I was on top of him, my eyes drinking in the muscular machine lying beneath me. He grabbed my hips as a tidal wave of power exploded around us and we clung to one another once more. I buried my face in his shoulder as a wave of emotion elicited my voice to call out with pleasure and I felt a groan erupt from his throat.
We didn't notice when the light above us began to flicker. We didn't notice when the lamp on the other side of the room began doing the same. We didn't notice the electricity building beneath my skin. And we didn't notice the arcs of light connecting me to my surroundings. As a roar that I was sure my body couldn't contain rushed over me and I felt my essence erupt in a display of sparks, the light bulbs flickered once more before exploding with a loud pop, blanketing us in darkness.
I collapsed on top of him and we were left breathing hard and glistening with sweat. I pushed his hair out of his face and was about to lay my head down on his chest when I saw it. We were glowing, or electrified. All across my skin lay a sheen of my electric essence flickering and buzzing with energy. As I inspected my arms, Sebastian noticed the same thing.
"Whoa," he whispered. My essence stretched past my body and blanketed Sebastian's skin as well.
"That's new," I mused. I bent down slowly and kissed him lightly on his lips. I rolled off of him, taking my blanket of essence with me. He snuggled in behind me and ran his fingers through my hair. As my pulse slowed and the numbness of pleasure began to settle, the glowing essence seeped back into my skin and began to fade.
"I think you're going to need to replace the light bulbs," he whispered with a chuckle.
"Gladly," I sighed happily. "Although...we'd probably just break them again."
"We?" he chuckled again. "I'm not the one with an internal power plant running through me."
"True, but it's entirely your fault,"
"I know," he whispered before I drifted off to sleep in his arms.
STASIA
When in doubt, always send your soul where your physical b
ody doesn't want to go. Instead of putting ourselves in danger to research what was happening on the island, I decided to find out as much as I could in a much quicker and safer way; via a reverie. The rugged cliffs were no obstacle for me as I urged my soul up and over the mountain of rock. I'd left my body back on the monolith under Finn and Sebastian's supervision. The early morning sun was peeking up from beneath the calm horizon as I knelt behind a scraggly bush and scanned my surroundings.
The odd glass building we'd spotted last night was now about one hundred yards to my right and looked more like a watch tower than anything else. The glass room was perched precariously on the side of the cliff, facing the crux and supported by thick metal beams anchored to the rocky mountainside. I peered over the side and into the mouth of the miracle I'd seen under the light of the moon only twelve hours prior. It pulsed with an undeniable power that allowed my essence to surge at its close proximity.
I thought about what my Mom would have thought the first time she saw it. I pictured her standing on the empty beach far below, facing the crux with wonder. She knew of its power. She knew it must be kept secret. She knew something like this was going to happen, and now the time was near. The prophecy was closing in and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I gazed past the glass building, over the ridgeline, and down the beach; the only movement the bending of grass in the breeze and the churning of the crux below. Then I heard a voice to my left. I crouched instinctively before remembering I was invisible. Inwardly snickering at myself, I stood and searched for the source of the voice. I strode to my left and rounded a boulder, running a hand along its bumpy, cool surface. I stopped short when I came upon the scene that its size had blocked from my previous perch.
"Again!" a male voice instructed curtly.
About twenty figures surrounded a much larger boulder, receiving direction from a guy with blond hair that was circling them with purpose and an obvious overflowing annoyance. The cool essence wafting off of the figures quickly told me they were Auras, all with dark hair and those tell-tale silvery eyes. I zeroed in on their leader and gasped when he turned around, revealing his face. Liam.
"Concentrate!" he yelled at them. "This should be easy for you! Now focus and do it right this time!"
His commands prompted them to clasp hands with renewed vigor and face the boulder in unison. Their stern expressions individually peered back at their leader for the sign to begin. I crept closer and tried to understand what was happening. Liam was leading Auras? And moreover, they were listening to him?
The Auras quieted down as Liam continued his militant march around their makeshift circle with impatience. What happened to him? His square jaw was firmly set and his normally carefree blue eyes tensed with anger. The once lighthearted Triton had turned jaded and vengeful. His body language was tense with stress and his slow, deliberate stride appeared weary.
I felt their essences pulse individually before collecting as one and humming throughout the circle. As they concentrated, their essences began riding along their physical touch, swirling around the circle clockwise. They closed their eyes and several clenched their teeth, straining from the exhaustion. Curious, I inched forward and watched Liam carefully as I entered his peripheral vision. He continued his walk of scrutiny, completely oblivious to my presence.
The Auras ramped up their efforts and I noticed a shift in their energy as it spun faster and pulled inward towards the unmoving boulder. I peeked over the shoulder of one particularly small Aura who appeared to be struggling the most. Her legs began to shake as she glanced around at the others with anxiety. Several of the others glared at her with resentment and I assumed she was seen as the weak link. Despite her shortcomings, the ground began to tremble beneath us and a creaking noise coming from the boulder stole everyone's attention.
"More!" Liam shouted. "You're almost there!"
Several grunts and strained shouts filtered up from the circle as they struggled to keep their energy around the boulder. One by one, each of the Auras' eyes began to shine silver, giving them an otherworldly look. Their skin began to take on the same sheen as a couple of them began to smile wickedly. The boulder displaced a wide circle of dirt as it spun faster and faster amidst the Auras. In an eruption of cheers and high fives, the Auras broke their circle and celebrated, causing the boulder to stop spinning abruptly.
"I don't know what you're celebrating!" Liam shook his head in disgust. "So you made a boulder spin with your hands touching. When you can pull that off without holding hands like a classroom of pee-soaked preschoolers, let me know."
I frowned at his insidious attitude and wanted to smack him back into the Liam I once knew. His words of sub-par encouragement were like a blade across my skin. My heart sank as I realized how Willow would react to seeing him act like this. Somehow, when he internalized all of his pain, he also suppressed the very man Willow loved to begin with. The Triton who was to be his Order's Leader was no more. And now he was leading a small group of Auras? Teaching them how to move a boulder?
I walked up to him and tried to find a trace of the guy I used to know in his sunken eyes and defeated posture. His once strong Triton essence was heavier. Darker.
"Liam, what happened to you?" I mumbled.
His eyes widened with alarm and he glanced around in confusion. His eyes blinked quickly with bewilderment before they hardened once more and he turned his attention back to the Auras. I sighed with disappointment as I stepped over a patch of wildflowers and shuffled down a small embankment to get a better view of the beach below. A swift wind blew up from the crux and I recalled the visions the blue woman showed me the night before. A circle of witches, Selene, and Liam. Pain. And now it appeared there would be a group of Auras in the mix as well.
"I'm beginning to think I made the wrong choice, Triton." Her voice radiated mockery and her obvious avoidance of his name let me know she didn't see him as an equal; just another pawn on her chessboard. Knowing she could sometimes sense my presence in reveries, I knelt down and reined in my essence. Hopefully it was weak enough so she wasn't able to detect it. Above the lip of the embankment I hid beneath, I watched her walk up to Liam with her arms crossed. She wore a light flowing dress that could double as a nightgown, and the silky material blew in the wind as she maliciously circled him.
"The fact that your Aura army can't get their shit together isn't a reflection on my skills as a leader," he spit at her. Apparently there was no love lost between them. A pale arm shot out and grabbed his neck, pulling him to her abruptly. He didn't flinch.
"Succeed or burn in Tartarus," she hissed. "Those are your options. Choose wisely."
She released him and turned her attention to the Auras, who were trying to mask the fear in their eyes. I wasn't sure 'army' was the right way to describe the group of young, distracted Auras standing before them. I worried for their safety if they failed to deliver what it was she wanted. I had no doubts she would eradicate all of them if it benefitted her to do so. Loyalty was not something Selene practiced.
"You have until sunset," she warned them. The lack of spoken consequence was purposeful as she paused to allow their imaginations to conjure up the worst thing imaginable. She glanced down at the crux and directly above my head, suddenly distracted. I stopped breathing and sat perfectly still. I didn't need to blow my cover just yet; not until I understood what exactly was going on. Her strict gaze became trained upon Liam once more. "Keep your eyes open. I expect her soon."
With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared in a haze of silver essence. I knew the 'her' she referred to was me. I had no idea what she was planning or how to counteract it, but I needed to get more information.
I left Liam to his Aura army and began making my way downward to the thin ring of beach surrounding the roar of water below. The silent creature I watched swirl and writhe underwater was something entirely different above water. Its thunderous power dominated the crater and caused a dizzying sensation if you tried to focu
s on any given point. The viewpoint the blue woman had shown me the night before was much farther away, from the safety of the sky above. Gliding down the cliff at close proximity was extremely intimidating.
I landed softly on the beach's soft sand and instantly felt a rush of energy. The sand shivered violently at my presence and I noticed that the speed of the whirlpool surged, kicking up a wind that almost knocked me over with its ferocity. I had the distinct realization that I was tempting fate with each step, yet I kept walking, searching for anything that could help us.
My essence was constantly being pulled toward the whirlpool; its mouth getting a taste of my Tyde essence and demanding I surrender it. My vision blurred in and out as it pulled and stretched my very soul. I felt as if I were on a tilt-a-whirl, not knowing if the whirlpool or the beach was spinning. My equilibrium was thrown off and my eyes couldn't be trusted. Everything tilted and the beach rushed up to my right side, slamming into my ribs. I squeezed my eyes shut and fought to still the spinning.
"Stasia!"
A voice. Could the whirlpool call out to me? Could it replicate voices to lure me in? When it called out to me again, I recognized it. Fallon. I clawed at the sand permanently pressed against my body in an effort to steady myself. I couldn't figure out how I could be standing with the world pressed up against my right side. It didn't make sense. I opened my eyes and found a figure up the beach to my right. A wave of nausea forced its way into my stomach and I heaved uselessly. While nothing spilled from my stomach, the pull on my essence doubled.
The figure up the beach didn't move and seemed to be leaning against the cliff at an odd angle. I squeezed my eyes once more as I lost my grip on the sand and rolled farther away from the figure and closer to the crux. When I stopped rolling, I glanced up at her again and met her violet eyes, wide with fear. My fingers drug across the sand as I was pulled inward into the crux.
STASIA
I rolled over once more, expecting the crux to take me into itself and destroy me instantly, but to my utter surprise, I rolled onto a hard surface; stable hands supporting my neck.
