Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6
Page 34
I place my hands in hers, entirely comfortable with the woman who raised me and can still amaze me with her eccentricities. Now I know why she has always been so different than other moms that I knew. She isn’t even a normal human being, but a powerful “witch.”
I watch her with curiosity, nervous about what we will find out about my ancestry. What if my ancestors are evil? What if they have a path planned for me that I’m incapable of rising to? What if I’m not even a Seer at all?
I start to sweat thinking about all of the possibilities.
“Close your eyes, hon.” Aunt Mags closes her own and I obey her.
My eyes flutter closed and my hands are held a little tighter than before. No words are spoken, but as I stare at the red coming through my eyelids from the bright day, the dark color begins to morph into an entire image.
Tall trees and dewy grass surround me as I float above an image of a place I have never been. I can still feel Aunt Mags holding my hands, but I am not sitting in Gavin’s dining room anymore. I am like a spirit drifting through a memory that I can smell, but not touch.
It’s nighttime in this vision. A young woman with very dark brown hair and pearly white skin sneaks around one of the huge peeling tree trunks. She has a mischievous smile on her rose-colored lips and she looks around her for someone or something.
She takes a step out from behind the tree and I can see the long draping white gown slide along the dirt beneath her feet. Her eyes finally capture their object, and without trying, my gaze turns to a large man.
His shoulders and arms are visible, with only a red drape-like covering to wrap most of his torso in. A silver belt holds up a white knee-length skirt covering. I’m sure it’s not called a skirt in this world, but this clearly isn’t the twenty-first century, more like something BC.
The muscular man smiles and runs to the young woman. He picks her up into his arms and the kiss he places on her lips is blush-inducing at the least. I feel like I should turn away, but I’m not in control of my body.
The PDA stops and he whispers to the girl. “I love you, Aphaedra. Our journey is nearly done.”
The girl, Aphaedra, nods as she snuggles into the man’s thick chest. “Laocoon, I love you so much. It scares me.”
Her honesty amazes me. I want to be as truthful as her.
Laocoon kisses the top of his lover’s head and the picture-perfect moment begins to blur and slowly fade away. Bright, piercing lights take over the dark, and I have the urge to squint against them. With my eyes already closed and somehow still seeing, I feel an itchy and uncomfortable feeling all over.
I want to feel at one with my body again, but I don’t want to leave until I have some answers. In the bright light, a small crowd of people sit and look around, seemingly amazed with their surroundings. I don’t see anything around them but light. I wish I could see what they see.
A loud voice shouts out in the crowd. “Poseidon! We are here!”
I find the voice and see it's the same man as before, with his head tilted to the sky. Laocoon and Aphaedra sit together in front of the rest of the group. Each person turns their head toward the same direction and small gasps sound out in the bright orb.
Laocoon speaks again. I can’t see what the rest of them see, but it’s clear there is someone standing before them. “I have done what you asked of me, goddess. What shall we do now?” he asks.
First Poseidon… now a goddess? No way.
A woman’s voice rings out, almost like a lullaby floating into my ears. It’s the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. “I knew you would complete your task, Laocoon. You are a good man. Of course, this path was predestined many years ago.”
Laocoon tilts his head at the voice. “What do you mean, predestined? Does that mean nothing any of us said or did would have mattered?”
I understand his question. I felt the same way when I found out about Intendeds.
I jump when another man’s voice booms over the crowd from the same direction as the woman’s. “No, Laocoon. Your decisions were all your own. All we are saying is that we knew what would happen before you did. Even with your powers of foresight. Still, every path you chose and will choose is yours only.”
I want to see the people who speak with such powerful voices. The itchiness spreads across my skin, feeling like it’s not my own anymore.
The woman, Aphaedra, lifts her chin and takes a step toward the unseen voices. “Poseidon, I have had a question for you for weeks now. Could I ask it of you now?”
It hits me that these people are talking to actual gods and goddesses. Poseidon is one of them, which means the other must be Athena.
“Ask your question, Aphaedra. I will answer it to the best of my ability,” says Poseidon. Freakin’ Poseidon!
Aphaedra talks again, her long dark hair almost floating on a small breeze. “I have had the feeling that fate was involved in the meetings between our men and women in this group. I believe that to be true now, but what I need to know is, why am I different from the rest? Do I have a purpose that I’m unaware of completely?”
Aphaedra is different like me. Maybe she is the ancestor I’m supposed to learn something from.
Athena, I’m guessing, speaks again with her melodic voice. “You are each special. Your descendants will come to do miraculous things on Earth for more years than you can imagine.” Me? Am I one of them?
“Every one of your descendants has a path and a destiny. As you have seen with your meetings of fate, within each of you is a bond to only one other. All of you know who that other person is by now. That person was your path, and because of that predestined path, the chain will continue on and on for all of time.”
A hand lays on Aphaedra’s shoulder and I want so badly to see who is attached to it.
Athena continues. “You, Aphaedra, are indeed different from the rest. I know that scares you, but know this, the extra gifts you have in you are not for this lifetime, but for many, many generations from now.”
Laocoon asks the goddess what she means by her words. I want to know the answer as much as him. Another hand lays on his shoulder and the couple looks at one another.
The beautiful voice speaks to them both. “One day, so many years from now, a child will need the power that you two create together. Your extra strength, Laocoon, and Aphaedra’s extra abilities. I can not say why this child will need that extra power, but they will. And with the power, they will change the world for the betterment of humanity.”
The hands leave Laocoon and Aphaedra, and it’s as if they release me from my vision as well. I jolt away from Aunt Mags, back in the dining room with much dimmer sunshine coming through the window beside us. My whole body itches and I want to scratch it all, but I just shiver and the feeling begins to fade.
Aunt Mags watches me with wide eyes, her hands still out in front of her without mine to hold onto.
“Sweetheart, you are a savior,” she says to me, eyes still wide as she runs shaking hands through her already neat hair.
I shake my head, not understanding. “But, I can’t be…” I can’t find the words to fully deny what she says. I just saw what were supposed to be my ancestors, listening to gods and goddesses talk about their descendant with extra power and extra abilities. I stutter, trying to find my words, but Gavin’s voice stops my wordless sounds.
“I knew it.”
Chapter 9
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it,” Gavin says for the millionth time.
We are walking into the training gym after saying goodbye to Aunt Mags. I want to punch my Intended and we haven’t even started sparring yet. Gavin shuts the heavy security door behind us and turns to me with the dumbest grin on his perfect face.
I knew it,” he says again.
“Stop, Gavin!” I shout at him, not at all causing his grin to fall. “There’s no way you could know that I’m descended from an extra powerful Seer man and a magical woman who has more powers than her magical counterparts.” I gather my lon
g hair into a ponytail and pull a hair tie from my wrist and around the thick bunch. “It’s impossible,” I add.
Gavin crosses his arms and grips the bottom of his red t-shirt. With one swift motion, he pulls the shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the side.
The muscles that make up Gavin’s torso are so defined that I feel like he would be an ideal anatomy model. I could pinpoint every single muscle on him and where they overlap.
Gavin rolls his shoulders, preparing to spar with me but I can’t possibly think of hitting him when all I want to do is stare and drool.
Will this feeling ever go away? Gosh, I hope not.
I take a steadying breath, attempting to calm the hormonal army that fights to conquer my entire being. I am able to focus on Gavin’s face and I can see right away that he has noticed my ogling. The cocky grin on his face is a dead giveaway.
I immediately grimace and want to go find my usual hole where I go in my mind to crawl away and die of embarrassment. I tuck an abandoned strand of hair behind my ear and groan.
Gavin chuckles and steps in front of me. “Why do you always do that?” He watches me with a sort of curiosity.
I shrug and sigh. “I seem to always get caught checking you out and I’m sure it’s not the most flattering thing to see. Me with my jaw hanging opened and my eyes glazed over.” I close my eyes and shake my head, my ponytail smacking me on both sides of my head. “I’m thinking you may be out of my league, Gavin… no, I’m actually sure of it.”
It’s true that this man I have become tethered to is the most perfect person on planet earth. Yup, I’m obsessed.
Gavin’s eyes go wide and his chin tucks into his neck. Even the least flattering of facial expressions looks good on that boy.
He places a hand on his chest. “I’m out of your league?” He pauses and looks around the room behind him. “Me? As in Gavin Cole?”
I nod and a small giggle escapes me at his ridiculousness. “Yes, the Gavin Cole!”
He holds both of his hands up in front of him and his eyebrows raise. “It was only an hour ago that you found out you’re a mystical enigma, whom the gods foresaw doing amazing things and protecting all of the human race… right?” He tilts his head in question and I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, but…” I’m cut off by Gavin’s lips landing upon mine.
The heat within his kiss warms me to my toes and I stop breathing. Gavin’s arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me to his shirtless body with so much strength that I am forced to release my held breath.
Gavin pulls his head away from mine and his golden eyes watch my face with all seriousness. There is no smile on his face, and his breath is heavy on my cheeks. “Aella Mae Lundon. Don’t you ever think another person in this world is better than you. What you saw and heard them say about you in that vision is only a small fraction of the way I see you and have seen you since the moment we met.”
He rubs his nose against mine and places such a soft kiss on my lips that it almost feels like a kiss from the wind. “And I can guarantee that I check you out at least twice as much as you check me out.” He follows his words up with a quick glance down at our close bodies, the raising of an eyebrow, and that stupidly handsome grin on his face.
I close my eyes and shake my head. I quickly shove away from him and hold my fists up in front of me. “You better stop saying things like that and fight me, or I might not get a single productive thing done today.”
I smile at my smooth-talking Intended and have to steady my breath all over again.
Gavin chuckles and runs a hand through his mess of brown hair. “Okay, but if I win, you have to wear a fancy dress to the wedding tomorrow.” He holds his fists up, mirroring my movements and begins stepping in a circle around me.
I groan and try to think over my training, preparing to win. “I hate dresses, Gavin… but okay.” I back away from him as he advances toward me slowly. “Now if I win, you have to dance with me in front of everyone.”
I was told by Alexa that Gavin is a really good dancer but absolutely loathes it. Alexa always made him take her to school dances when they were younger because she never got asked by any boys.
I can’t lie, the thought of Gavin escorting his twin sister to dances so she didn’t have to go alone is the cutest thing ever.
Gavin falters in his stalk of me and sighs. “Deal,” he says simply and immediately dives for me.
I squeal and jump to my left, out of his reach. Gavin passes by but spins in my direction without hesitation. His fist shoots for my face with super speed and I have to pick up my own speed to narrowly avoid the hit.
I run to the opposite end of the gym and spin around, preparing to charge him. I crouch and push my inner heat throughout my limbs. I catch Gavin’s eye and run toward him at full speed.
Gavin braces himself for impact, but just as I am about to tackle him, I skid to a stop and throw a blast of air at him with a wave of my arms. The wind hits Gavin and lifts him off the ground before throwing him against the wall ten feet behind him.
The building shakes from the hit and Gavin falls to the ground. My hands fly to my mouth. “Shoot! Gavin!”
I run to him and bend down to pick him up. I meant to throw the air, but I didn’t want to really hurt him. Gavin is bent forward on his knees. Just as my hand touches the skin on his back, he leaps up from the floor and swipes one of his legs beneath me.
I fall backward, but I never hit the ground. Gavin grabs my flailing hands and pulls me upright before I land on the shiny floor.
I open my eyes, unaware that I had ever closed them, and I’m face to face with another cocky smile. Gavin bends forward at the waist and kisses the back of my hand. “I can’t wait to see you in that dress, love.”
I growl at him and pull my hand away. “Playing dead? That’s low, Cole.” I squint my eyes at him but I can’t help the small smile that wants to betray me.
He laughs and grips his back. “Honestly, I wasn’t playing. If you had thrown me any harder I might’ve gone through the wall completely.” He turns and studies the wall behind him. “See, it’s true,” he says when his eyes meet mine again.
I tilt my head at him. “What’s true, Gavin?” I’m not sure what he is referring to. The wall looks fine to me.
He reaches out and touches my cheek with his fingertips, sending tingles across it. “What the gods said about you, Aella… I knew it.”
He smiles wickedly again, but instead of punching him like I had wanted to earlier, I just kiss him. I kiss him a lot.
Chapter 10
The two faces looking back at me through the large computer screen cause my stress to melt away. Kassy and Liam have only been gone to England for a few days but I feel their absence constantly. They are my best friends.
“You look so good, Kass! I love your hair!” Kassy’s normally milk chocolate brown hair is a wavy blonde and my jaw is to the floor. The blonde, along with her sweet southern freckles and pink lips make her look like a real Barbie doll.
Kassy flips her long waves behind her and smiles through the camera at me. “Thanks! I thought a new setting called for a new look. I mean, who knows when I’ll get another chance at a trip like this?” She waves her hands at the setting around her, even though I can’t see any of it behind my friend’s faces pressed up against the computer screen.
Liam nods next to Kassy and his giant, cheesy white smile makes me miss him even more. “All of the English guys keep checkin’ her out. I’ll need to change my look to keep up. I’m not as cool as my beautiful girlfriend.”
Kassy nudges his shoulder and scoffs. “Oh, stop. I’m not going anywhere.” She kisses Liam on the cheek and I can’t help but roll my eyes. As usual.
I chuckle. “You guys might be even more nauseating than you were before. I have to admit that London looks good on you both.” I sigh and lean closer to my computer, feeling homesick somehow.
“ I miss you guys already! I can’t wait until this craziness is over and we can hav
e some fun again.”
Kassy studies me from her own computer in London and her eyebrows raise. “El, I think your eyes are turning gold!”
Liam squints and they both lean in farther until I am staring at two large foreheads. I can hear Liam’s grunt of agreement. “Yeah, totally! They’re gold all around the outside of the iris! That’s sick!”
Staring at their hairlines isn’t too fun so I clear my throat. “You both have beautiful foreheads, but I’d like to see your faces if possible.” I laugh as they both sit back in their seats with goofy smiles.
“That’s much better,” I say.
Kassy crosses her arms and huffs with her bottom lip poking out. “I hate that you’re changing and I’m missing it. I wanted to be there with you through all of it, you know.”
I nod. “I know. You will be back here again. You’re only missing me falling on my butt regularly and dealing with demon dreams.”
Kassy scrunches her nose up and shakes her head. “I think you’re the one who needs a vacation, El. Big time.”
I sit up straighter. “I’m going to Greece tomorrow, so I’ll have my fun.”
Even though I’ll be meeting a whole bunch of strangers and likely embarrass myself at least a dozen times, I’m still excited to see the family I never got to know. And getting to see Greece is just an amazing experience on its own.
“Oh yeah!” Liam chimes in. “That’ll be killer.” He turns to Kassy with that same goofy grin. “Can we go to Greece on our next trip, babe?”
Kassy smiles sweetly at him. “You’re gonna keep me around for a while then?” Her big brown puppy dog eyes are in full shine.
Liam raises an eyebrow and tilts his head at her. “I was kinda thinking forever if that’s cool with you.”
I smile through the computer at the adorableness. They are not at all shy with affection. Kassy shrugs and tries to hide her tiny smile. “Sure. That’d be alright,” she says simply and turns to give me a very obvious “holy crap” look, not at all hiding it from Liam.