by M. W. Muse
The three women at the table talked amongst themselves, shooting a question at Adin or at her when they could, but he and she didn’t talk to each other. She wasn’t eating, and although she didn’t look at him, she did notice that he wasn’t eating either. She had never been this uncomfortable around him, even when she had her obsessive crush before they had started dating.
She picked up her fork and played with her food, psyching herself up to eat because she was pretty sure what would happen when she started. She was in the middle of her mental pep talk when Rose addressed the table.
“I think we all should say something that we are thankful for.”
Legacy’s head shot up. Ugh, this could not be happening! What did she have to be thankful for right now? A broken heart? Powers so unruly that she’d kill the man she loved? A best friend that was probably planning his future with her right now? No, thanks!
She dropped her fork and looked over at Lissa, but she wasn’t the one who came to her rescue.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Grandma.”
Legacy sighed, shutting her eyes at the sound of Adin’s voice. She’d ripped their lives apart, and he still wanted to protect her.
“Er, okay. Maybe later,” Rose murmured.
Legacy picked up her fork again and tried to eat her food, not because she wanted to, but because it gave her something to focus on. But whenever her fork hit her plate and came up to her mouth, she could see how badly she was shaking.
She’d only had a few bites of mashed potatoes when she put her fork down, so she hadn’t eaten much when the nausea kicked in. She rubbed her forehead as she stared at her food. She felt the need to vomit, but she was trying to stay calm.
“Is everything all right, dear?” Rose asked. She knew Adin’s head shot in her direction because now she could feel his breath hitting her. It was the first time since he sat down that he looked directly at her.
She knew that Rose had asked her a question, but she couldn’t answer her. She didn’t want to open her mouth. When she didn’t answer, Lissa rubbed her leg again and answered for her. “Legacy has had a hard time keeping food down these last few days.”
She leaned back in her chair and covered her face, taking deep breaths. It didn’t work, she started to gag.
She jumped up and ran for the bathroom, but she wasn’t alone. She heard someone running right behind her, and she knew it was Adin.
She dropped to floor in front of the toilet and threw up violently as Adin fell beside her, holding up her hair. When she finished, she clung to the toilet as she cried. Even though she hated the thought of Adin seeing her like this, she loved the feel of his hands, and that he was comforting her.
But she wasn’t the only one crying. Adin cried as she cried, and he continued crying while he got up and grabbed a washcloth. Then he started cleaning her up while he tried controlling his emotions. As he worked, she could tell that he was trying very hard not to look into her eyes.
After he finished, she tried to stand up, and Adin helped her.
“You’re trembling,” he whispered.
She shrugged. “I-I’m weak.” She knew that wasn’t the only reason. She was already nervous being at his grandma’s house with him, but she was extremely nervous being this close to him with him touching her.
She bent over the sink and washed her face and rinsed out her mouth.
“I, um, still have your toothbrush in my bathroom if you want to brush your teeth.”
She glanced up at him, and he looked at her with his sad eyes. She nodded, looking away from him.
Adin walked out of the bathroom, and she followed him to his bedroom and into his bathroom while she watched her feet. He opened the cabinet and pulled out the toothbrush and toothpaste. Then he walked back out without looking at her, and she cried again while brushing her teeth.
When she finished, she walked into his bedroom without looking up. She couldn’t look at his room. It was bad enough looking at her own room every day and reliving all the memories of him in there. She continued walking over to his door, but it was shut with Adin standing in front of it. She stopped a few feet in front of him, but continued to look at the floor.
“When’s the last time you kept any food down?” he asked softly.
“It was before that day,” she said without looking at him. He knew what day she was talking about.
“That’s too long to go without eating, Legacy.”
“I’ve tried to eat.” She shrugged.
She glanced up at him, and he was looking at the floor too, but when her head came up, he looked into her eyes.
“Umm, what have you tried eating?”
“Everything, I guess.”
“You should try to eat again,” he whispered.
Her breathing hitched, so she covered her face before she started crying. She didn’t want to cry in front of him again, but she couldn’t help it. Here she was in front of the man she loved, the man whose heart she had ripped apart, and he was trying to help her.
“S-sweetheart,” Adin whispered as his voice hitched. “I’m worried about you.”
She took a deep breath and slid her hands from her face. “I’ll be f-fine.”
Adin sighed, wiping his tears. “Let’s go to the kitchen and find you something that you can keep down.” He didn’t wait for her to respond. He turned around and opened the door, leading the way to the kitchen, and she was a little relieved that he hadn’t led her back in the dining room with everybody else.
When she walked in, she sat at the table, trying not to watch him rummage around, but she watched anyway. He pulled out some saltine crackers and clear juice and walked over to the table.
He handed her the items he’d picked out as he sat down beside her, and she looked down as she started eating.
“How soon do you feel like you’re going to throw up before it actually happens?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged.
“Do you feel any different right before it happens?”
“Um, yeah. I get really hot.”
Adin nodded while she continued eating the crackers.
After a few more bites, she started to feel hot again. She put the crackers down and put her hands on her face, taking deep breaths. Adin immediately scooted over to her and pulled her hands down, staring into her eyes. Then he leaned in closer and blew his cold breath on her face. She shut her eyes and gasped. Adin kept blowing on her face until she started to relax. She wasn’t sure if it was the cold air that was countering the hot, nauseated feeling or if it was the sweet smell of his breath washing over her face that did the trick, but something worked.
“I think that’s good,” she whispered.
He leaned away from her and got up. He walked over to the refrigerator and put some ice in a towel, and then he walked back over to her and sat down, waiting for her to continue eating.
She picked up the crackers and started eating again. After about two bites, the whirl of nausea hit her much faster and she gagged. Adin immediately put one hand on the side of her throat and the other hand holding the towel of ice on her forehead.
His quick action startled her, so her eyes flashed to his, but he was watching his hand rub the ice on her face. His other hand holding onto her neck felt heavenly, but she tried not to think about his touch.
After several seconds, the spell passed again without her vomiting.
“Let’s try something more nutritious,” Adin whispered as he put the ice down and stood up. He walked into the dining room and brought back two plates. He put one in front of her and one in front of his seat as he sat down.
He watched her as she took a bite of her vegetables, then he took bite of his food. She got a few more bites in when she felt the heat wave hit her again, and when she quickly dropped her fork, Adin instantly had the ice on her face, holding her neck.
After she took several deep breaths, Adin sighed. “You got more down that time before it started,” he murmured.
; She felt her breathing catch, and he continued to rub the ice on her face, but her jagged breathing wasn’t because of the sick feeling.
“W-why are you being so nice to me?” she whispered as she started to cry.
Adin took the ice off her face, but kept his other hand on her neck and gently caressed it. “Because I love you, sweetheart.”
“I don’t deserve it.”
Adin’s breathing became uneven. “Y-you weren’t the one that, that did something w-wrong,” he said as tears started streaming down his face.
“Y-you didn’t do anything w-wrong,” she cried.
“I-I must have done something wrong for you to not want to be with me anymore. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to figure out what I did to h-hurt you.” Adin put his forehead against hers. “It has to be me. You haven’t done anything w-wrong.”
“Not yet,” she whispered.
“What do you mean?” Adin asked softly as he slowly inched the rest of himself closer to her. It seemed like whenever they were close to each other, they couldn’t get close enough. She shouldn’t be surprised that the magnetism was still strongly evident.
“I-I can’t talk about that.” She turned her head to the side as she sobbed.
He reached up and put his other hand onto her cheek to coax her face back toward his. “Please, sweetheart. Not understanding what’s happening between us is killing me. I have to know what I did, or what’s going on.”
“It w-won’t change anything,” she whispered.
“Please just tell me.”
She sighed and pulled away from him. She looked into his pleading eyes as she wiped away her tears.
“Okay,” she whispered, defeated. “Y-you got hurt be-because of me.” She cried, covering her face.
He scooted even closer and wrapped his arms around her. “What are you talking about?” he whispered in her ear.
“I-I was upset about Venus kissing you, and I cried so much that there was standing water. The next morning it froze over, so you and that other guy hit each other because you both skidded on ice patches. It-it was all my fault.” She sniffled.
“And the snakes?”
“Just an insurance policy to make sure the accident happened.”
“If it was anybody’s fault, it was mine for upsetting you like that,” Adin whispered as he stroked her back. “I know you’re still learning to deal with your change. I need to be there for you, not cause you any added stress.”
She leaned her head against his chest and cried. “It’s not just that.”
Adin stroked her hair. “You can tell me,” he whispered.
“You’re going to die.”
“I know that, sweetheart.”
“No, I mean, umm, you could die soon.”
“Why do you think so?”
“My mother sent us a message. I had a hard time understanding it, so Lissa had to explain it. You’ll die because of me.”
“So my dad was right. I’ll die protecting you?” Adin sighed, stroking her hair. “Legacy, I’m okay with that. I’ve already told you that I’d die for you anyway. You pushing me away will never change that.”
She shook her head against his chest. “No, your dad wasn’t r-right. We don’t h-have to worry about you dying while p-protecting me—I mean that could happen anyway, but that’s not why I pushed you away.” She hesitated, pulling away and looking up into his confused eyes. “Apparently, my attackers aren’t your biggest concern.”
Adin stroked her cheek. “Then who, sweetheart?”
“Me,” she barely whispered.
His eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not sure. I’m changing, but my progress is off. Mom said if I stayed with you, then I’ll kill you. I-I can’t be the reason you die, Adin.”
“Legacy, you’d never hurt me.”
She covered her face as she cried. “I-I already did the morning after I f-found out about Venus k-kissing you.”
Adin sighed, pulling her hands away from her face. “That was my fault.”
“No, it wasn’t. And even if some other factor happened that wasn’t my fault and my emotional state caused you harm because of it, do you think it’d matter whose fault it was? I couldn’t live with myself if I were the reason you died, no matter what part I played. I can’t play any part in your death.”
“Legacy, we could both die tomorrow. Why should we live in agony because we fear death?”
She shook her head at him. “If I killed you, it would destroy me. There’d be no point in hiding from Hades anymore.”
“Don’t say that! You have to stay away from him. Please, Legacy, you have to promise me you’ll do whatever’s in your power to avoid him if I’m not around anymore. I’d rather you be with a monster than with him.”
She sighed. She knew what monster he was referring to.
“I’m sorry. I…I know River is your best friend, and he’s concerned about you too…” Adin trailed off, looking away from her.
He must have known that River visited her yesterday. “Calli told him I was sick,” she whispered.
Adin looked at her with a half-smile. “You don’t owe me an explanation,” he whispered. “You just don’t know how badly I wanted to be the one over there with you.”
“When he knocked on my door, I hoped it was you.”
“It took everything I had not to come over. I wanted to every second of every day. I’ve missed you so much. You don’t even understand.”
But she did understand—all too well. “I’ve missed you too.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her. “I love you, Legacy,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love you more.”
“That’s n-not possible.”
They were holding each other, trying to control their crying, when someone walked into the room. She pulled away and tilted her head down, but glanced up to see who it was.
“Sorry, I’m just grabbing the cheesecake. Don’t mind me,” Rose said with a smile on her face.
She glanced over at Adin, and he was giving her a half-smile.
When she left, Adin glanced at her plate. “You should eat some more.”
She nodded as she picked up her fork. They both ate several bites, and when she put her fork down again, it was because she was full, not because she felt sick. She figured the real cure was coming clean with Adin. She had made herself sick because she tortured him with this break up without explaining herself.
Now that she had, she could accept what had to happen. Hopefully, Adin could accept it too.
Chapter Fifteen
As she thought about the unfairness of it all, Legacy sighed, and Adin stood up, taking her hand into his. “Let’s go to my bedroom to talk, so we don’t get interrupted again.”
He could tell she still had a lot on her mind. After putting him through what she had without any explanation, she figured this was the least she could do. She nodded as she stood up.
Adin led her to his bedroom and shut the door behind them. She walked over to his bed, and he followed. Once he got seated, she cocked her head to the side and stared at him. “So now you understand why we can’t be together,” she whispered.
Adin sighed as he shook his head. “No, Legacy. I understand why you tried to push me away, but now we can figure out what to do…together.”
“I’m not taking that risk.”
“Sweetheart, I can help you with this. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“That’s impossible. I’d always be afraid of hurting you.”
“You not being with me is the most damage you could ever do to me,” he whispered as new tears formed in his eyes.
“It’s too dangerous right now,” she said as she reached up and wiped his tears away as a distraction from her own.
When she touched his face, Adin reached up and wiped her tears away too. They were doing it to comfort each other, but then they started caressing each other’s faces, memorizing the curves and textures
. As they molded their hands all over their faces, they gazed into each other’s eyes while their breathing accelerated.
She was getting dangerously close to kissing him, so she needed to get a hold of herself now. She dropped her hands and stood up, looking down at him. “You know I love you, which is why I have to do this.”
“I know that’s why you think you have to do this.”
She looked away from him. “Umm…if something happens between you and Venus, I’ll understand. Umm, I mean, I’ll try to understand.”
Adin stood up and walked over to her. “Don’t worry about her. You’re still my life. No matter how hard you try pushing me away, I’m not turning to her.”
She shrugged, not looking at him. “You’re bonded to her. And I’m bonded to River. If I chose to stay away from you,” she whispered, “I don’t know what that’ll mean about the prophecy. I-I can’t expect you not to move on with your life if that happens.”
“Don’t say that, sweetheart,” Adin said, leaning his forehead against hers. “I, umm, I can’t even think about a life without you. That kind of life just doesn’t exist for me. You’re my princess. You have always been my princess, and you will always be my princess.”
She started to step away from him, but he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up against him, holding her tightly.
“I have to go,” she whispered.
Adin cried as he squeezed her tighter, but then he slowly let go of her. “I’ll figure out a way to fix this.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Then he grazed his lips down her cheek and toward her lips, but she stepped away from him. She couldn’t allow him to kiss her.
“Goodbye,” she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks. “You will always have my heart.”
Adin smiled sadly as he put his fingertips up to his lips and kissed them. Then he put those fingers against his heart. “You’ve had my heart for years, princess.”
She walked out of his room, crying. She went into the dining room where Lissa, Myrha, and Rose were drinking coffee.