Destined_The Immortal Defenses Series

by E. L. Davis

  ∞ CHAPTER THIRTEEN ∞

  Alexia heard the water before she saw it, slapping against rocks and cliffs. When she stood up to take in her surroundings, she almost collapsed to the ground, but Demetri caught her. “You okay?” She regained her balance, but he was still holding her. She looked up into his face to thank him and for the first time since she found out that she was Immortal was caught in his gaze. His green eyes were lit up in a way that told her he was ecstatic that she was obviously still interested in him, even though he had lied to her.

  “You don’t know how much it means to me that I’m back here with you.” Demetri let a small smile sneak across his face and he pulled her in closer to him and she held her breath, half hoping he would kiss her before the others came through the portal, and half hoping that she would just turn away from his beautiful… everything. “I wish you remembered,” he whispered to her.

  “Me too.” Before the words had fully left her mouth, she heard Cheri, Roman, and Ellie hit the ground behind them. She quickly pushed his hands off her and faced her friends, who looked very pale.

  “That was so messed.” Ellie made to stand but Roman held her down.

  “Wait a second or you might faint. Regain your balance first.”

  Alexia went over to her friends to help them up slowly. Then she took their hands and turned them toward the beautiful beach in front of them. The sun was starting to come up but just barely. The water was clear and beautiful. Soon the sky would be bursting with color from the sunrise, and she wanted to stand there and watch the sky become alive.

  “This is gorgeous,” she said. “It’s just like I remembered.” Somehow, they had landed right on the very stretch of beach that her grandparents’ beach house was on. She knew if they walked down the shoreline for only five short minutes, they would reach the house. “How did you know to go here? How did you know that my beach house was right by here?”

  “I let you decide where we came out, and this is the place you chose.” Demetri smiled down at her. He was standing very close and it was making Alexia’s heart beat faster and faster. “Lead the way,” he told her.

  Within five minutes, they were all standing in front of the most beautiful house they had seen so far. It was modern and clean looking, with big front windows that let in the sunlight. There was a balcony off what had been her grandparents’ room, and Alexia had always loved watching the waves from it. Her grandfather’s friend had taken very good care of the outside of the house and Alexia hoped not too much had changed on the inside.

  “Didn’t you say it gets rented out to people when you’re not here?” Roman questioned.

  “I don’t think anyone is renting it now, and besides, technically it’s mine.” She marched forward and swung open the gate. The path up to the door was lined with rocks and shells collected from the beach. It was great to be back to this place. She knew the extra key was hidden in the shell that sat on the corner of the step. The only problem was that the shell was gone. She looked around for it briefly before turning to face the small crowd behind her. “Uh, there is usually a spare key in a shell on the step, but it’s gone.”

  “Maybe it’s unlocked,” Cheri suggested. “It doesn’t look like there are too many neighbors around here, so why lock it up?” She motioned for Alexia to give it a try.

  Alexia reached for the brass door handle, which felt smaller than she remembered, and turned. To her surprise, the door popped open and she stepped inside. The inside was just like she remembered. The open layout made the place look huge. To the right was a sitting room, with casual wicker furniture that you would usually see outside. To the left was a dining room and kitchen, all very modern and updated. Straight ahead was a sliding screen door that led to a small backyard. A small winding staircase was stationed in front of the patio door that led to the bedrooms and two bathrooms.

  “This is it. Make yourselves at home.” Alexia smiled and turned to flick on the light switch behind her. The whole main floor lit up and everyone stepped inside. Just before Roman closed the door behind him, Alexia swore she saw somebody standing at the front gate. “Did you see that?” She looked at Roman with a scared look on her face that made him tense up and get into protector mode.

  “See what? What did you see, Alexia?”

  “I thought I saw somebody standing at the gate,” she said, “but you would have seen them when you closed the door. I must just be paranoid.”

  Of course, being the cautious person, he was, Roman wrenched the door open to look outside. Nobody was there.

  “Told you I was just being paranoid.” Truthfully, she was trying to convince herself more than him. “There are three rooms upstairs. Us girls can share and you two can have your own.” She looked down at her clothes and remembered that they had nothing to change into. “Uh, what are we going to do about clothes?”

  “We can handle that after we eat,” Roman responded. “I don’t think any of us really want to go to bed right now anyways. Demetri and I still need to track down your father.” Until he had mentioned her father, Alexia had completely forgotten that they were not there for a vacation, but that they were here on business, which would possibly give Alexia the upper hand on Amarantos. Roman broke her from her thoughts. “Do you think the fridge would be stocked if nobody is here, or do I have to go spear some fish?”

  “No, there should be something in the cupboard or something we can eat for now.” She led the party into the large kitchen and started searching through cupboards. The best she found were two cans of vegetable soup and a loaf of bread in the freezer. “Looks like this is all we have to work with. We can go get some groceries when the market opens and then…” she looked at Demetri and Roman, “I don’t want to take charge on anything that costs money, considering it’s not mine to spend.”

  “It’s fine,” Demetri assured her, “we’re not going to starve while we’re here. You guys can go to the market while we track down your dad. It won’t take too long. I am sure he isn’t far away from home.”

  “Alright, well, let’s get this food going. I am starving.” Cheri rubbed her stomach and went to stretch out in the living room. Alexia started bustling around the kitchen searching for a pot for the soup and a knife to cut the bread. “Alexia,” Cheri called from the living room.

  “What’s up?”

  “Can you come here?” A little nervous, Alexia put down the spoon she was using to stir the soup and asked Ellie to take over.

  “What is it?”

  When she reached the living room, she found Cheri staring at a shelf full of framed pictures, and she was pointing at one in particular. It was of Alexia when she was here the last time, and she was wearing a bathing suit and standing on the beach. In the background of the photo were two men. One she recognized as Ahaz and the other she had seen before, but didn’t know from where. She took the picture from the shelf and brought it to Demetri.

  “Who is that?” she shoved it under his nose and pointed at the man beside Ahaz.

  “Damn, you look good in a bathing suit.” She blushed and smacked his arm and repeated her question. “That’s Ahaz and…” he paused, his mouth hanging open. “That’s Amarantos.”

  “I remember him. I remember his face. Did I know him in my first life?”

  “We all knew him, Alexia. He was the leader of The Union and any Tera or Immortal knew who he was.”

  “No, I don’t mean did I know who he was, I mean did I know him, was I close to him? I feel like I have many memories with him that I obviously can’t remember.” It was frustrating knowing there was something she knew, but could not access.

  “No child was close to him,” Demetri explained, “but he was close to both of our families. Our parents, Amar, and his wife would get together for dinners all the time. As for why he is in the background of your photo is beyond me. Somebody must have recognized you on your last visit here and he wanted to see for himself that you were really here.”

  When he saw that she wasn’t convinc
ed, he spoke again. “Alexia, don’t overthink this photo. This was taken before The Union had even thought of ending The Punishment Games. Don’t let your mind run wild with this, please.”

  “Whatever, Alexia,” Cheri said. “Forget I even pointed it out. It just freaked me out a little bit.” Cheri ripped the photo from her hands and went to put it back on the shelf. Alexia knew she shouldn’t let her mind run wild with what she had seen in the photo, so, as hard as it was, she shrugged it off.

  “How’s that soup coming, Ellie?” Roman walked over and took a small taste. “Well, about as good as vegetable soup can taste, I suppose. I think it’s good enough to eat now.”

  Alexia opened the cupboard closest to the fridge and pulled out five dusty bowls and ran them under some hot water. As she did this, she imagined what her grandfather would have said about the house being dusty, and she couldn’t help shedding a tear.

  “You know this isn’t too bad,” Roman said as they all sat around the table eating their soup and bread. The sun was starting to come up, and the way it hit the water was beautiful. Nobody spoke as they watched the sun come up, turning the dark sky pink and then blue. Everyone finished eating but they continued to watch. Whether they liked it or not, they were in the face of danger, and the sunrise let them forget it for a moment. Finally, the sky was blue, and birds could be heard cawing on the beach, and they all moved at once, as if they had been in a trance.

  “We should probably head to the village,” Demetri said, breaking the silence. “To get to the market you just have to…”

  Alexia rolled her eyes and interrupted. “Excuse me, are you forgetting whose beach house we are in? I know my way to the market. I’ve been there a billion times. Let’s go get changed and then…” she paused. “Oh yeah, we didn’t bring anything.”

  “When you’re at the market,” Roman said as he handed her a stack of foreign money, “buy yourselves some clothes too.”

  “Seriously, dude?” Demetri reached into the duffle bag and pulled out another stack almost the same size and thrust it into Alexia’s other hand. “Get yourselves anything you need; clothes, food and you know all those girly things I know you’re going to hate not having while you’re here. Oh, and one more thing.”

  “What?” Alexia asked, curious as to what else she would need.

  “Bathing suits.”

  “Bathing suits?”

  “Yeah, we may be here on serious business, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have some fun while we are here too.”

  “Demetri, I don’t know if I like where you’re going with this,” Alexia said with a small grin.

  “Don’t go there. I expect to see three hot girls sporting new bathing suits when we meet back here, and then tonight we’re going to have a party.”

  Alexia waited for Roman to revoke the idea but surprisingly he didn’t. “A party, with who?”

  “You think we don’t know people here?” Roman said, sounding slightly offended. “This will be a good way to find your father, Alexia.”

  “I thought you said he wouldn’t leave here in case I came back?”

  It was Ellie who answered her question, which shocked them all. “He didn’t mean he would for sure be at the same house. I mean, could you live in the same place for three hundred and fifty years? People would notice, duh.”

  “I knew you were smart deep down!” Cheri hugged her friend and Ellie punched her arm playfully.

  “Anyways, food, clothes, girly things, and bathing suits. That is your shopping list. Don’t forget anything.” Demetri winked at her, and pushed Roman out the door, following closely behind.

  “Alright Alexia,” Ellie jumped down from her stool and stretched up like a cat, “lead the way to this market. I wonder if they have sexy bathing suits here!”

  “Can you believe that super-sexy Demetri wants to have a party tonight?” Cheri asked.

  “And way-to-careful Roman is letting him!” Ellie chimed in.

  “Wait a second, what did you call them?” Alexia was ushering them out the door, so she could close it behind them.

  “Oh, we didn’t tell you? We gave them nicknames.” She smiled at her and Alexia couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Okay, and what are they again?”

  “Super-sexy-Demetri,” Cheri started.

  “And way-to-careful-Roman,” Ellie finished. “I think they fit pretty well.”

  Alexia thought a moment and then nodded her head. “You know what, I think those could stick.”

  She steered them to the staircase down the beach that would lead them to a street that would lead them to the market. It was early in the morning, and the sun was hot on their skin. This would have been a great time for flip flops, shorts and a light t-shirt, unfortunately they were stuck in boots, jeans, and long-sleeve shirts.

  “We look so foreign right now,” Alexia complained. Her friends looked down at themselves and burst out in laughter.

  It didn’t take long for them to get to the market. Even though the sun had just come up, it was already busy. There were stands set up with different fruits, vegetables, and meats. Some stands sold shoes, shirts, and jewelry. As she had expected, their attire was drawing a lot of attention. After the fifth mother pulled her child tight against her side muttering something about crazy people, Alexia told her friends, “Okay, first things first, we get the hell out of these clothes and into something a little more appropriate, so people stop staring at us.”

  “Well, we don’t know where the good shopping is here,” Ellie said. “Where do you suggest?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s have a look at some of those clothing stands over there.” She pointed toward a section with several clothing booths set up. From where they were, she could see some decent shorts and some sexy skirts. As they made their way through the crowd, they continued to get more stares from the locals. It was hard not to tell them to take a picture, but Alexia was always taught not to give herself a bad name in another country.

  After twenty minutes, they were laden down with shorts, shirts, several pairs of shoes, and even some nice accessories. Demetri had given them a ridiculous amount of money that Alexia wasn’t even comfortable carrying around. She felt bad for spending their money that they had no doubt worked hard for over the past three centuries, but she couldn’t help going all out on a really sexy bathing suit that she was sure would blow Demetri’s and even way-to-careful Roman’s mind.

  “I would say we should go dump this crap back at the house and come back for food, but it looks like people snatch it up pretty quickly around here.” Ellie looked around at the dwindling supplies around them. They had been so focused on what they were going to wear the next few days, they hadn’t even given a thought about what they would eat.

  “Okay, I have a plan. You two take this stuff back to the house and I will grab as much as I can in the next ten minutes.”

  “I don’t think we should split up, Alexia,” Ellie cautioned.

  “Do you want to eat or not, Ellie?” Cheri said dismissively. “She will be fine. All she has to do is get mad and she will kick anyone’s ass.”

  Ellie still didn’t look convinced. She knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave anyone alone here.

  “I’ll be fine Ellie,” Alexia assured her. “I’ve been here a billion times, so it’s not like I am going to get lost. Go, I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes.” Ellie sighed but did as she was told, and they made their way back down the same street that would lead them back to the beach.

  Alexia started bustling around like a mad woman, snatching up a ton of fruit and vegetables, several packages of meat that would need to be frozen right away, and some spices to add to them. By the time she had bought enough food to last them at least three days, the market had pretty much cleared out.

  With her groceries, she started making her way back down to the beach. It was hard not to take her time, since she loved being back here. It reminded her of so many good times with her parents and grandparents. For a m
oment she even missed her mother, whom she hoped would not be missing her too much. The sun was high in the sky now, and it must have been almost eleven o’clock when she reached the beach.

  The waves rolled up to the shore and then sucked back in, reminding her of the portal and how she had been sucked into it, spun around, and ended up on the other side of the world. Enjoying the sand in her toes a little too much, she refocused herself and started to hurry back to the house. She had almost forgotten that her friends would be waiting for her return.

  When she reached the gate, she knew something was wrong. The door was cracked open and the clothes they had just bought were lying in the entryway. Neither Ellie nor Cheri would treat brand new clothing like that if they could avoid it. As quietly as she could Alexia placed the groceries down on the ground and approached the front door. Thinking of things that made her mad turned out to be slightly harder than before, considering that she had been so happy all morning.

  “My friends could be in danger,” she whispered to herself.

  Then she felt it, like a bird of rage spreading its wings inside her. When the edges of her vision got blurry, she knew it would be enough to protect them. Silently, she stepped up to the door, hoping to sneak up on whoever was in there possibly hurting her friends. With a burst of rage, she kicked the door open, putting a hole in the wall from the door handle. She looked around to find Ellie and Cheri tied up on the wicker furniture. Behind them was Phil, her grandfather’s best friend in the whole town.

  “Phil!” She charged at him, but then remembered that he didn’t know what she was. Turning quickly away so her eyes could return to their natural color, she continued yelling at him. “Phil, it’s Alexia! Those are my friends. Why did you tie them up?”

  She turned to face him now, hoping the black had left her eyes. Phil looked as he always had, ready to go to the beach and catch a wave. His hair was black and flecked with white here and there, his swim shorts were wet, and his Hawaiian style shirt was unbuttoned in the front.