The Daughter Trilogy Bundle

by C. M. Owens

  I gasp a little as I pull back, and Devin's eyes are etched with worry. He cups my face with one hand, and I can see all the horrified faces surrounding us as Persia's eyes water in disbelief.

  "What happened?" I ask quickly.

  Deidra dusts herself off and swallows her pride as she answers the question no one else will.

  "You've just shown me to never question your power again. I'm sorry, and I will serve you," she says while bowing.

  "Serve me? I don't want you serving me or anyone at all. I just want to find the damn crazy bitches and kill them so we can move on. I'm sick of the hiding, running, and fighting. I don't want an eternity of that," I babble.

  Everyone exhales in relief when they see I've fully returned, but Deidra continues her servant-like demeanor she had expected the others to show her upon arrival.

  Persia's lips are tightened to the point I can't even see them, and her face is ashen.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" I demand.

  "Adisia, you controlled the lava. You shouldn't be able to do that. You were unaffected by the attack. You forced the earth back into hiding, and Deidra has never felt that sort of resistance," Theia answers.

  Oh good grief. I just want a minute alone with my fiancé.

  "Can we please just get out of here?" I gripe.

  "Anything you wish," Deidra answers in servitude.

  "Stop that. Don't act like I'm some supreme being in charge," I growl.

  "It's the way of our world. The strong lead the weak," Lana says with a bow of her head.

  "I'm not leading anything. I just want to breathe for a minute. I was so excited to get my immortality back, so stop ruining my moment. I don't want this," I grumble.

  "Let's just head to Dallas for the night, and we'll deal with the rest tomorrow," Devin adds as he takes my hand.

  "I'm with Devin. This is all too much to digest," Kry mumbles in exasperation.

  "Adisia is the new Emperian," Ther whispers in disbelief to himself.

  "Emperian?" I question, and Devin's eyes close as he sighs out loudly.

  "Supreme power," he answers hesitantly. "It's been Deidra since the demise of Rhea and Safina. The Emperian calls the shots, and abides by no boundaries or territories."

  "No. Deidra can remain the Emperian. I want no part of shot calling, and I don't care to be anywhere other than with you," I quickly object.

  "I can't be the Emperian any longer. I elected to face you in a duel. It was my rash stupidity, and now the consequence requires my title to be handed to you," Deidra humbly explains.

  "No. I don't want your title. Let's fight again, and I'll let you win," I panic.

  Kry and Hale let out a snicker, and Deidra actually lets a small smirk appear.

  "I'm afraid that's not the way things work, but you've requested a night of peace. A night of peace you shall have," she replies with an ushering hand to motion to a car pulling up.

  I huff as I stalk over to the car, and the moment I'm inside Devin flashes in behind me.

  I turn to gripe about all the crazy Emperian bull, but his lips glue themselves to mine before I can let a word escape. The forceful hands grip me tighter as they pull me in a grinding motion against his lap.

  I feel the throbbing growing as we suddenly find ourselves in a torrid tumble that rattles the fragile car.

  Devin's breath breaks as he gasps for more air, but I can't stop myself from ripping off his shirt. His hand grips my hair, and then his lips press firmly against my neck as the near month of mounted frustration desperately tries to come to a salaciously destructive end.

  The poor driver remains quiet until he clears his throat to warn us of our arrival, but Devin doesn't release his hold on me as the door flies open.

  He flashes inside with my legs still strapped to his waist, and the wind rushes my back as he flashes up the stairs instead of using the slower elevator.

  The savagery between us is as electrifying as the currents pulsing over my body, and I never know we're entering a room until I feel a bed beneath me.

  "I love you, baby," he breathes into my mouth.

  "I love you," I almost murmur in prayer.

  His hands shred the tattered, smoking clothes from my body, and I can smell the bed beneath us starting to singe.

  It creaks as if it's begging for mercy as Devin's hands trail up my body and grip me tighter just before he forces me to thrust against him. I can taste the pure seduction staining the air, and I don't give a damn about anyone or anything but him right now.

  The bulbs break and thunder crackles outside the open window, and then a mist surrounds us as the sudden downpour drops freely.

  I smile against the smoldering kiss as his mouth continues to control mine. Everything throbs for satisfaction as the fire blazes freely from me. I hear water drizzling in to calm the flames while our dance of desire spirals into a maddening force.

  "That was hot," I pant.

  "I believe that's an understatement," Devin chuckles as he pulls me tighter to him.

  I smile as proudly assess the room we've thoroughly destroyed, and my eyes rest on the remnants charred fabric lining the fabric and furniture that used to be white.

  The gallant glass doors lead to a balcony. The wind had forced them open during our incredibly rough and long awaited moment.

  The shattered fragments of furniture that once stood effortlessly now shiver in fear. I'm used to all the broken, but I'm not so accustomed to the excessively burned pieces.

  "How did everything get so fried?" I ask quizzically.

  "I have no idea," Devin laughs. "I smelled smoke, so I whirled your rain in. It's not like I was looking at anything other than you," he seduces.

  "Wow. We could have burned down the entire place," I gasp.

  "We? No fire in these bones, baby. That's all you embodying Aphrodite's passion," he chuckles.

  I blush a little as I hide my bashful face.

  "First of all, it's my passion, and secondly, it's never been this extreme before," I giggle.

  He continues laughing as he flips up on his side to stare me in the eyes. His soft fingertips trace the edge of my face until he draws my chin up for his lips to reach mine.

  "Now, let's get married. We can leave tonight if you want," he urges.

  "What?" I snicker at his amusing demand.

  "You said we could get married the moment you turned immortal. Here you are; green, white, and blue eyed," he murmurs sincerely.

  "Why are you in such a hurry?"

  "Because I've been dying to be married to you since before I even asked you to marry me. I want to introduce you as my wife, and I want the world to know I'm your husband. The bond between us will strengthen, and-"

  "What do you mean by that?" I pop out quickly.

  He shrugs a little before answering with a hint of hesitance. "With immortals, a sanctioned marriage offers a strong sense of unity, and it binds your strength together. You'll be stronger for marrying me."

  "And you'll be stronger for marrying me?" I ask suspiciously.

  "Yes, but…" He stops as his eyes gauge mine for where I'm going with this, and then his eyes narrow angrily. “You don't think that's why I want to get married, do you?" he asks with an insulted tone.

  "No, but I also don't know why you're in such a rush. It's usually the other way around," I retort.

  "So you really are entertaining the thought that I'm trying to be stronger. Unbelievable. If anything, I'd love for you to be stronger so I don't worry so much, but I can swear to you I could give a damn about myself being stronger," he admonishes before throwing on his pants and flashing into the main room.

  I grab some clothes from the bag beside the bed and swiftly dress before leaving the privacy of the padded bedroom and following him with a guilty burden.

  The others are sitting around the television, deliberately ensuring their eyes never meet mine. Everyone's acting so different now.

  "Devin, please talk to me," I whisper.


  "I think there's been enough said," he growls.

  "Devin, I'm sorry. I'm just a little-"

  "Don't say it," he interrupts. "You've done nothing but make excuses, and now… Now, you've crossed a line," he adds, and I can see the pain I've caused with my stupidity.

  He flashes out of the room, and I follow him again. When I reach the bedroom, he's nowhere to be found.

  I frown when I realize he must have taken the fire escape, and I screech in anger as I whirl around. Fire explodes from me and crashes into the wall, setting it ablaze.

  I scream louder as I feel the rain rushing in on the arms of my wind to extinguish it. The cracked door has allowed the others to hear, and Kry is the first to burst through, alarm tainting his face.

  "What the fuck?" he panics.

  "I… there was… I…. fire," I stammer wildly while pointing to the scorched and crumbling wall.

  "Holy smoking bedroom," Deacon gasps. "The whole place looks as though it's been torched."

  "That's not what I'm talking about," I yelp while motioning to the rest of the tattered room. "There was fire that flew out of me," I blare.

  "What?" Theia gasps.

  "Fire… It came out of me," I exasperate in a squealing octave as I grab my head in complete shock.

  "Whoa," Jace mutters as he pulls me into his arms. "Calm down. You're worked up, and it's been a long couple of days. Maybe your emotions have flared and been put on red alert. Perhaps your Aphrodite passion got a little carried away," he says in an explanatory tone while trying to soothe me.

  "No. The rest of it might have been, but I saw the flames shoot out of me," I whimper.

  His arms close around me tighter, and I start trying to collect myself as everyone stares at me expectantly. It's as if they're waiting for answers, and I don't have any.

  "Persia, what do you know about this?" Theia asks softly.

  "This is outside our realm, but as I told you, she's stronger than me - more so than I could have imagined."

  "What do you know about Sapphire's father?" Phillip says with a tone of mysterious intrigue.

  "Nothing. My mother told me he was irrelevant to our world. I assumed it meant he was mortal. Aphrodite did have a nasty habit of bearing children from mortals, and I never gave it anymore thought. This can't be related. I've never had this sort of incident," She answers distractedly.

  "Asteria was part of the cosmo embodiments, and we still haven't seen all of the affects from that. It's possible this is just the intro to what her power will be once it fully forms. Most of her abilities are still in the early development forms," Theia offers.

  Jace continues to hug me to his chest, and Kry frowns at the betraying contact.

  "I'll call Devin and see what he thinks about all this," he grumbles.

  Obviously he knows Devin is gone. I'm sure he's also assessed why.

  Because I'm so fucking stupid.

  "Let's get you a drink of water or something," Jace murmurs sweetly while kissing the top of my head.

  "No. Something stronger. Please tell me there's vodka."

  "I think I saw some earlier."

  "Yo. What's up?" Kry says into the phone, and I have to eavesdrop.

  "I just need a minute. I'll be back after while," Devin replies dryly.

  "I think you should take a minute some other time. Adisia swears she just blazed, and the wall she scorched is pretty convincing evidence that she might be right," Kry counters.

  "I'm sure it's her overworked emotions. I doubt it was a true blaze. I'll be back later," he argues.

  "It was a real blaze," I growl.

  "You're in the room with her?" Devin sighs in exasperation.

  "Sorry, man. I'll take it in the bedroom. Hang on a minute," Kry mumbles.

  "He's that mad?" I almost whimper.

  "Yeah, he's that mad," Devin snarks in a whisper over the phone.

  Tears fill up in my eyes as Kry disappears from the room, and Jace begins pulling me into the kitchen. He props me up on the counter and starts to pour a glass and then shakes his head before just handing me the entire bottle.

  I huff out a tragic laugh and turn it up appreciatively.

  "Let's go to my room," he murmurs kindly.

  "No. Let's go to the balcony," I say with a scolding eye.

  He laughs a little and shrugs. "Balcony it is. It's out of reach from the ears in here anyways."

  I roll my eyes, and I see the devilish smirk on Gemma's face. She's enjoying Jace's persistence.

  Right now I just need someone to talk to that isn't on team Devin. Everyone else is strongly tied and completely devoted to him.

  I get sick of not having anyone to listen to me, and it's already a thin patch for Persia. She doesn't like groups, and if she hears me struggling, she might just whisk me away.

  "So, what's going on?" Jace asks as he shuts the door behind him.

  "I fucked up," I grumble while lowering my head to my hands.

  "I doubt that. That room looked pretty tossed, so I'm not seeing any reason he would be left with sanity let alone complaints."

  I laugh a little at his envious tone. "It was after that. He's ready to get married this instant," I sigh.

  "And you're not?" he asks hopefully.

  "It's not like that. Honestly, I'm just learning about who I am. I'm not sure that right this minute is the time to be getting married. There's so much other stuff going on, and it's starting to become overwhelming."

  "Then don't get married," he says with an all too chipper tune, though he's trying to keep an expression of nonchalance.

  Perhaps I shouldn't take advise from someone who has such obvious ulterior motives. I roll my eyes at his plotting remark, and then I slink into the folds of the oversized chair that has been heavily doused by my storm.

  The water seeps through my clothes to dampen my body, but I don't care. It'll annoy me later, but for now I'm just ready to give up.

  "I just need a minute to wrap my head around everything. He's the first guy who has ever truly loved me. I should be leaping at this opportunity instead of cautiously tiptoeing in. Devin's perfect in so many ways, and I'm not."

  "Don't put yourself down. You have every right to feel confident, and no one is perfect - not even him," he grumbles.

  "You don't even know the things he has done for me. He saved me from the downward spiral my mortal life was taking. He has taken care of my family and friends. He has gone to extreme lengths to ensure their safety and mine. He's saved my life countless times… I'm so stupid," I scold to myself.

  "You're not stupid. You just turned immortal… again. You've barely had a chance to engage in our world, and what you have experienced is some of the worst parts. It's hard to appreciate the world we're in when you're constantly fighting for your life," he says encouragingly.

  My lips twitch in an unconvinced manner, and he stands to his feet while extending his hand for mine.

  "Come on," he demands gently.

  "Where?" I grumble.

  A devious smirk spreads over his face as his eyes dance over to the balcony's edge.

  "You're crazy," I murmur dismissively.

  "No I'm not. I'm immortal, and so are you," he dares.

  "We can still be killed," I argue.

  "Only by other immortals. It's impossible to die any other way. Trust me, I know," he says menacingly.

  "No. Everyone will worry about where I am," I gripe.

  "That's the problem. You keep worrying about what everyone else is telling you to do. You can't think for yourself long enough to make a decision about anything. Come with me and clear your head," he tempts.

  Standing up, I take a deep breath and stare down the side of the enormous drop. There's no way, and there are so many people.

  "We could kill someone, and I don't know if I trust your theory on our immortality deal," I chuckle.

  "The people will move, trust me."

  "How do you know?" I laugh.

  "Because they hate electrical bursts,
" he says playfully, and the lights on the edge of the sidewalk begin bursting in unison causing the mortals to run.

  "What are you-"

  "Come on. We've got a short window. I can't blow them twice," he chuckles as he grips my hand.

  I shriek as I feel myself dropping over the edge, and I panic as the ground nears us too fast. My stomach flies into my throat, and my eyes almost pop out of my head at the rapid descent.

  The wind slides against me, doing all it can to grab me and pull me back to safety, but I'm too heavy. I brace for impact as a girly squeal emerges as the collision nears.

  The concrete cracks under my feet, a crunching rock sound springing up to meet my ears, but I'm completely unscathed.

  "Wow," I gasp with such an adrenaline high, my eyes alight and dancing with excitement.

  "Immortality has its perks," he snickers out.

  "That was incredible," I laugh out as I grab my chest being forced to expand vigorously.

  "Life isn't always running. Sometimes it's just living," he says softly.

  He starts to lean in, and I feel his hand gripping my side to pull me to him. My eyes flicker green, and the commanding tone exits.

  "Stop," I order.

  "Why?" he asks with casual indifference.

  What? He's immune too?

  "You're not affected by me?" I gasp.

  "Very much so," he seduces, and his lips close over mine before I can give it any more thought.

  I feel the electricity surging through me as Aphrodite punishes him for his disobedience. He flips backwards through the air after my shocking wave strikes through him, and he lands on his back with a cracking thud as the concrete splits open beneath him.

  "Damn," he grumbles as he rolls over to his knees while coughing out the lingering sparks.

  "Sorry. I didn't mean to be… that rough," I say with a grimace.

  "I suppose I deserved that," he heaves as he tries to fully catch his breath.

  I rush to help him to his feet, and he trembles a little at my initial touch.

  "I really am sorry," I murmur.

  "I'm sorry too. I knew stop didn't mean go ahead, but I took a chance. Next time I'll be holding the hand of a conductor before attempting such a bold move," he jokes.

  "Let's get you back upstairs. You look like hell," I exasperate.