Goddess Legacy: Goddess Series Book 1 (Young Adult / New Adult Series)

by M. W. Muse

  "Then what happens…when I turn eighteen?"

  "You haven’t chosen the path you wish to take in your life, Legacy. You may know what you want now, but other circumstances haven’t come into play. Until they do and you and the others decide on those circumstances, your destiny, your legacy is unclear."

  Legacy was grateful for Lissa’s help, and she realized her guardian had been helping her all along by letting her discover these truths with River and Adin. She must have known Legacy needed to embrace the bond she had with the two of them on her own terms. If Lissa had told her this in the beginning, Legacy wouldn’t have believed her. She was so disbelieving that she hadn’t even listened to herself, her old soul.

  The roar of Adin’s engine blaring down the road and the squeal of tires as he slammed on the brakes jolted her from the couch. He was running through the door before she reached it.

  "Oh, sweetheart." He grabbed her face, gaping at her injuries. "Come here." He pulled her into his arms, dragging her into the bathroom.

  He retrieved a wash cloth and gently wiped her face once he’d wet it, without speaking. He looked all over her face, making sure he inspected and treated every abrasion. He looked everywhere…except her eyes. They had fought about Adin not telling her everything he knew, and now he seemed to be walking on eggshells. This was not how she’d pictured their reunion.

  "Why did Yale attack you?" he murmured while brushing her hair aside, looking at her busted lip.

  "It was Medusa’s doing. She turned into snakes after working me over. I heard the name Euryale, so she was either Medusa or some manifestation of her or her sister."

  Adin sighed, resting his forehead against hers, shaking his head, the sound of a tortured animal escaping his lips, and she knew it was the guilt—that he hadn’t believed River’s mother was capable of harming her like that—causing it. "I’m sorry," he barely said.

  He finally took a deep breath, squatting in front of her and making eye contact for the first time since they’d entered this room. "I love you so much, Legacy," he whispered.

  "I love you- too." She did not want to cry, but his sincerity tore her up.

  "I’m so sorry about everything. I have felt horrible ever since we fought. It feels like I’ve failed you, and I never wanted to do that."

  Legacy didn’t want to rehash their discussion from last night because she knew she couldn’t take the emotional drain, but Adin was in so much pain that she wanted to make him feel better. "I understand why you kept quiet. I honestly do."

  "I promise you I will try to tell you everything from here on out. No matter how hard it may be for me to talk about things that could hurt you."

  Legacy didn’t want him making that kind of promise. She wasn’t sure he could keep it. "I’m going to trust your judgment," she said as she stroked his cheek, hoping he understood she meant that.

  He put his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap as he sat fully on the floor. He buried his face in her hair, holding her to him. "Can I finish telling you what I know?" he whispered. Legacy nodded and he squeezed her tighter. "My dad explained to me that after I was created like Adonis, then Demeter decided to recreate Persephone."

  "Me?"

  "Yes, sweetheart. When Demeter was successful, she needed to hide you from Hades. She left you here in Lissa’s care, so you could live your life in peace and have a chance to make your own decisions. That’s what I know. Now, what I think is that our families decided to have us grow up together to see if we’d have more control over our destinies. I don’t know for sure, but that’s my guess."

  "They wanted us to be together?"

  "I don’t think they planned it like that—hoped is a better word. I think they wanted to give us the free will to choose, but I’m sure my grandma lives next door to you for a reason." He chuckled.

  "But then the Gorgos family moved here."

  He pulled back, clasping his hands on her cheek to stare into her eyes. "My theory is that Medusa wants revenge against your mother, so she wants to destroy you. If she destroys you, then she gains your powers in the process—if you have any. Plus, it’ll keep River from being with you. The possibility of you and River forming a relationship is a chance she’s willing to take. I’m sure she thinks if that happens, she’ll use it against you. I’m also certain she thinks she can control River. I’m worried he’ll end up doing her dirty work for her. Your accident is proof that’s possible, sweetheart."

  But he didn’t know what she’d just learned. She told him about her conversation with Lissa, telling him the truth about everything. He was shocked to hear about her weather abilities, but he believed her.

  "You know I love you. I’ll love you no matter what happens to you when you turn eighteen. But you have to know I’ll protect you from Hades and Medusa, which in my mind, means River too."

  She knew Adin would protect her at all costs. As for the River battle, well, they’d save that for another day.

  Adin continued to rock Legacy, caressing her side, her hair, touching her and kissing her while she thought back over everything that’d happened. Over the last few months, she’d found out about her mom, fell in love, found a new best friend, and believed in the mythically impossible. It was amazing to her how different her life was now. She had changed. There was no doubt about that. Whether these changes were the ones that Lissa had told her about on her birthday or a byproduct of experience, Legacy didn’t have a clue. But she liked these changes just the same.

  After realizing this, she now understood consciously what her subconscious self had been trying to tell her all along. She could control the weather and possibly other things. But more importantly, she was a powerful goddess.

  Well, at least she was going to be.

  Epilogue

  Adin was taking her to his freshmen banquet tonight at his new school. She started getting ready with a manicure and pedicure at the salon, and Calli tagged along. They talked about her conversation with Lissa and her life in general. She could always count on her to listen when she needed and change the subject when she was through venting. And she did just that.

  “So what are you wearing tonight?”

  “I want to look perfect for Adin, so I’m going to wear the red silk dress that Lissa gave me on my birthday. I was saving it for a special occasion, and tonight will be perfect. And it goes great with the red shoes that you gave me, of course.” She chuckled.

  “You are going to look hot!”

  “That’s the idea,” she said, and they both laughed.

  “Well, since we’re at the salon, you might as well have one of the stylists do your hair.”

  “That’s a good idea. One less thing for me to have to do when I get home.”

  When she and Calli finished with their nails, Calli had a hairdresser style Legacy’s hair into a loose side bun. Then Legacy went back home to finish getting ready. She fixed her makeup for an evening look and put on some dangly earrings that accentuated her hairdo. She put on the red silk dress and the red stilettos. She also wore the watch that Adin had given her, though she wore it every day. Lastly, she clasped the platinum necklace that her mother had sent her.

  After she put on the necklace, she lifted the pendant, the meaning finally dawning on her. It wasn’t just an abstract design of a triangle formed with platinum wire and sprinkled with diamonds like she had originally thought. It wasn’t abstract at all—it was a tornado.

  She stood in front of the mirror and saw how beautiful she was. She was never one to be vain, but she had to admit she looked like a goddess. She shrugged it off by thinking it was the professional help she’d received in her attempt to be beautiful for Adin, but at least she was beautiful.

  She waited downstairs for Adin to arrive. Even though they’d been dating all summer, she felt strangely nervous. She figured it was probably because this was the first time they’d gone out like this—they would be meeting a lot of new people, and she was naturally a shy person. Plus, so much had happene
d in the last twenty-four hours. They had fought about Adin not telling her everything he knew, and he confessed that he’d continue to make those types of judgment calls for her benefit. And she also discovered her abilities while talking to Lissa. A very eventful twenty-four hours indeed.

  When she heard the knocks on the door, she felt the butterflies in her stomach like she had felt on that first date. She smiled at herself because she knew it was silly to feel this way. She got up and took a deep breath before getting the door.

  When she opened it, there stood Adin, her own personal Adonis, literally. He was astonishingly handsome. He had his hair gelled and fixed perfectly, and his blue eyes gleamed like the sky on the clearest of days. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a red silk tie. She reached over, lifted the tie, and looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

  “I talked to Calli,” Adin said, glowing like he was looking at his own personal goddess. And she was just that—his.

  “Of course.” She smiled.

  Adin stepped closer. “You look…” He stopped and sighed. “You look so very beautiful. A vision of true beauty.” Then he pulled his right hand out from behind his back and handed her a dozen red roses. “These are for you.”

  She smiled and took them from him. “Thank you. You look very handsome yourself. I think I’m going to have to change my favorite outfit that I’ve seen you in. The swimming trunks with no shirt just dropped to second place,” she said with a laugh.

  He laughed too, and then she took his hand and led him into the house so she could put the flowers in water. When she finished with that, Adin leaned down and kissed her before leading her to his car. She used the ride to his new school as her opportunity to tell him her latest theory.

  "You know, if everything isn’t always as it seems, then maybe the prophecy isn’t real. River has helped me by telling me about Greek mythology. Maybe he wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t believe he would be with me. Plus, he’s helped me by bringing out some strong emotions. When I was happy with you, the weather was beautiful. Then as our relationship heated up, so to speak"—she blushed at the thought—"so did the weather. When you were gone, I was sad, and the weather was rainy. But these are typical characteristics of summer in the south. The anger River brought out of me ignited my fierce reaction, which triggered the lightning. I probably wanted to hit him, so my aim must be off." She laughed.

  "True." Adin chuckled.

  "So maybe there’s a reason behind the prophecy—that it was meant to bring me and River together to help us with our emotions during our changes, and it isn’t really literal."

  "That’s an interesting thought," Adin said, nodding. "I’d like that very much."

  "I’m sure you would." She stroked his leg. "I just wish I understood why Lissa said I may already know who I want, but that there were other factors to be considered. Factors that haven’t presented themselves yet, and once those elements are considered, my destiny will become clear."

  For that, Adin didn’t have an answer.

  When they pulled into the full parking lot, her butterflies from earlier reappeared. “I wonder why I’m so nervous.”

  “You’re probably just worried about making a good impression.”

  “Maybe.” He was probably right. She and Adin had gone out many times, but this was the first time he’d be showing her off.

  They walked into the hall, and everyone was dressed up. Adin introduced her to the dean and the faculty that he’d remembered from his orientation. There were sororities and fraternities present trying to recruit new freshmen. She figured even though they were not of true Greek descent, Adin might embrace their Greek god ancestry and pledge to one. Though, most who joined did it for the parties. She wasn’t an idiot.

  As they watched the crowd, she noticed all the beautiful women. There were a lot of them, and she caught several of them eyeing the man on her arm. Seeing all these beautiful strangers reminded her of something from long ago.

  “There are a lot of beautiful people here,” she murmured. She thought it best to stay generic and not say beautiful women.

  “Hmm? I guess so.” Adin shrugged.

  “Some of them are eyeing you,” she said, looking down.

  “They are probably wondering how I ended up with the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  She chuckled. He was trying to make her feel better, and it was working. “I remembered you used to come to dances with beautiful girls, and you never brought the same girl twice.” There was no doubt he could have any woman he wanted.

  Adin laughed. “It’s not what you think.”

  She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “Those girls were family.”

  “What? You could have asked anyone you wanted. Why did you bring family?”

  “Because by the time I got to high school, I knew who I wanted to be with.” Adin smiled and slid his fingers along her cheek. “But she wasn’t ready. Since I couldn’t ask you, I didn’t want to bring the same cousin to all the dances—you’d think I was taken if I’d done that.” He laughed again.

  “You are taken,” she whispered, and leaned over to kiss him.

  “Yes, I am.”

  They spent the rest of the banquet shaking a lot of hands and meeting a lot of the entering freshmen. She couldn’t remember anyone’s name, but Adin was doing a better job at remembering some of them.

  The evening went really well, so she felt kind of silly for getting the butterflies earlier. As it drew to a close, she stepped away from Adin to use the restroom before they left. When she stood in the bathroom, she couldn’t help looking at her face. She was glowing. She was happy. She was complete as long as she was with her Adin.

  As she walked out of the restroom, she saw Adin talking to one of the women they had spoken to earlier, but she couldn’t remember her name. She was stunningly beautiful, though. She had long, thick hair and a body so curvy that it’d make even the most committed man do a double take. She guessed the woman grabbed the first opportunity to speak to him alone. Adin seemed like he was being polite, but that woman seemed a little domineering. She was laughing and touching his arm. It was obvious to Legacy that she was flirting with him, so Legacy wasn’t going to sit back and let her have her fun. She was going to walk up there and put a stop to it.

  As Legacy walked over, Adin spotted her and smiled. She smiled back, and he put his arm around her when she reached him.

  “Legacy, you remember Venus.”

  “Sure.” She was glad Adin threw her name out there.

  “Apparently, we have several classes together.”

  Venus stuck her hand out to Legacy and she shook it. “It was a pleasure meeting you tonight,” she offered.

  “Likewise. Adin is going to love this school. My parents went here, and they brag all the time about how much fun they had here with each other.”

  The woman seemed very polite, and Legacy felt silly again for the initial reaction she had to her flirting with Adin. But still, it was good for that chick to see he was not available for her to have fun with.

  She turned to face Adin. “Are you going to pledge?”

  “I haven’t decided.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “I am. My parents are legacies, so I don’t really have a choice. They’re really into the mythical stuff.”

  The way Venus stressed the word “legacies” made Legacy’s spine prickle. She made a noncommittal sound and nodded at the woman. Why did she feel very uneasy all of a sudden?

  “That’s why they named me Venus. My last name is Dionne, which means most beautiful, and Venus is the very definition of beauty, love, and sex. She is, after all, the Roman form of Aphrodite.”

  Legacy took in a quick breath, trying not to gasp. She felt weak in the knees, but she also had a sense that she needed to run. Adin flashed his eyes over to her and tightened his grip around her waist. She was sure he caught the same thing she had.

  After everything Legacy had learned this s
ummer, she knew what this meant. Adin said Aphrodite was happy and not looking for an alternative. And she believed him. She still did. Venus wasn’t Aphrodite, the goddess of love. She was Aphrodite’s likeness. Just like Adin was Adonis’s likeness. Venus came here to get Adin. Legacy knew it. She was positive.

  She was sure because she knew the one rule that seemed to be constant in her mind since the beginning of summer.

  There were no coincidences.

  The End

  Author’s Note

  This series holds a very special place in my heart. It is my intention to release these books every one to two months, so readers will not have to wait long to find out how it all ends—I mean, c’mon…who out there likes waiting? I know I don’t! At this point, four books are planned for the major storyline of this series with other possible books down the road. If you love this book, I’d be thrilled it if you’d help me spread the word by telling your friends and leaving a review on Amazon. I will have a contest starting in April where leaving a review will get you lots of points, because it’s the least I could do to show my appreciation.

  Thanks again for reading this book, and I hope you enjoy reading about Legacy’s journey as much as I did writing about it.

  About the Author

  M.W. Muse is an award-winning, best selling author…under a different name. Her alter-ego writes in adult genres for multiple publishers, but her love of young adult stories geared for the upper end of that spectrum made her seek a new outlet for those young adult characters swimming around in her head. She still spends most of her time living in her other reality, but is looking forward to spending more time focusing on the lighter side of love.

  www.mwmuse.com