by M. W. Muse
“I’ll think of a way to change your mind,” he whispered as he caressed her face.
“Then I’ll have to figure out a way to make you stay away.” Maybe she should use River after all.
Adin pulled her face to his and kissed her softly.
She groaned into his mouth, so he gently pushed her face away from his. “We love each other, Legacy.”
She sighed. “Adin—”
“No, sweetheart. You can’t tell me you don’t love me. I know better.”
She sat up, staying on top of him, and Adin sat up, wrapping his arms around her. She shook her head as she looked away from him.
“Look at me,” he murmured, and she did. He removed one hand from her back and rubbed it against her heart while she looked into his eyes. “Tell me what you feel.”
“I feel you,” she whispered as tears leaked over. “You know I love you. That will never change.”
Adin slid his hand from her heart to her cheek. “Tell me what you want.”
“You,” she whispered as she shut her eyes. “But—”
“But nothing.”
She sighed, looking down at Adin. He put his other hand on her other cheek and caressed her face, trying to bring it down to his again. When she resisted, he tried leaning his head closer to hers, but she leaned back.
“Kiss me, Legacy,” he breathed.
Ugh. How oh how could she make him realize how dangerous this was? And where was her willpower? For someone who was going to be a powerful goddess, she had absolutely no control when it came to this man.
She leaned down and kissed him softly, and Adin wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her on top of him as he eased back down onto the bed. She kissed him for several seconds, but then pulled away.
When she did, Adin smiled up at her. It was the first time she’d seen him really smile since before they broke up. His smile was just one of the many beautiful things about him, so she couldn’t help herself. She smiled too.
But she also used this moment as her opportunity to get away from the temptation Adin was presenting. And she didn’t just mean physically. She got up and walked to the door, opening it.
He nodded as he stood. Then he walked over to her and stroked her arm.
“I think this will only make us stronger,” he whispered.
“If I don’t kill you first.”
“You’re changing, sweetheart, and it’s only for the better. You’re halfway through your change, and I will be there for you every step of the way. If this is the sacrifice we have to make, then we’ll do it. Together.”
It was obvious she wouldn’t be able to keep Adin away from her, so she’d have to think of a compromise. “Maybe we can find some middle ground,” she said, shrugging. “I don’t want you out of my life. Maybe if we just stayed friends for awhile, we can avoid your untimely death.”
“Friends,” Adin muttered and groaned. Then he stepped closer to her. “I still plan on spending the rest of my life with you, Legacy,” he whispered. “I just have to figure out a way to help you realize you won’t be the death of me.”
“Well, when you figure it out, please let me know,” she murmured. “Because it seems to me that it won’t work out like that.”
Adin reached up and stroked her cheek. “I’ve told you, sweetheart, everything isn’t always as it seems.”
Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Adin. She remembered him telling her this before, but he wasn’t the only one. Lissa told her this, too, and Medusa had been telling her this all autumn long in her dream. She just didn’t understand what they meant by that, and she still didn’t.
As she stared at Adin with a confused look on her face, he just smiled at her and kissed her forehead.
“I love you, my princess.”
And then he left.
Adin was going to do everything in his power to get them back together. She knew it.
The thought of that made her smile, but her smile slowly faded as she wondered how he’d be able to accomplish it. She knew that Adin was fast, and she knew he was strong. But she didn’t know just how powerful he truly was.
If everything wasn’t as it seemed, then she needed to find a way to discover all the answers.
And with winter almost here, it didn’t leave her with much time to figure out everything before she ascended.
For in six months, she would be the goddess that she was already turning into.
Chapter Seventeen
Legacy spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about Adin, River, and her change.
It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t be with Adin the way she wanted, but since he was adamant about being there for her, she’d have to be really careful how she spent her time with him. Kissing him would be off limits, and allowing them to be alone in either of their bedrooms would be madness.
She still didn’t understand her reaction when River kissed her, but she figured it would be best not to dwell on it. If she dwelled, she knew she’d obsess about it. After all, she had been on an emotional rollercoaster over the last week, so she was entitled to an error in judgment.
As she thought about her change, she knew she wasn’t much more controlled than she had been at the end of summer. She could make certain things happen some of the time. She made the wind blow and lightning strike when she wanted. At times, she was able to control the rain, but her efforts were really hit-and-miss. She hoped as time went on, she’d get more controlled. If she could control herself completely, then there’d be no reason to avoid Adin.
As she thought about these things, she drifted off to sleep. Tonight was the first night since she’d broken up with Adin that she didn’t find the darkness with the help of tears. She figured it was the hope that maybe he’d be able to figure out a way to fix the mess she had made of their relationship that allowed her to fall asleep emotionless.
As she slept, she dreamed. Not only was it the same dream she’d been having of late, but parts of her summer dreams returned. This was the longest her dream had ever been.
Legacy dreamed she was running. She was being chased by a tornado from one side and snakes from the other. She found a storm cellar for her to take cover in, but as she ran down the steps, she saw the little girl, herself, already inside.
“What took you so long?” the girl asked with narrowed eyes, but Legacy mouthed the words with her as she said them.
“I didn’t know what I was looking for,” Legacy said, and the girl mouthed the words with her.
The roar of the tornado disappeared, so they ran out of the shelter. When they ran into the field, they were standing in the middle of three snake holes. Adin stood at one hole, River stood at another hole, and a faceless man stood at the other hole. Her little self stared at the faceless man. Then she looked at Legacy.
“Hades,” they both muttered.
Legacy looked up to the sky and saw the storm was still brewing, and she knew the tornado was coming back. She wasn’t going to run from it again. She was standing under the storm clouds waiting for the tornado to form.
Her little self watched Legacy in horror as she stood under the storm clouds. The girl started to walk toward her, and Legacy turned to face her. She extended her arm in her direction with her palm out.
“No,” they both said calmly, but with finality.
Legacy looked back at the clouds, waiting for the tornado to form, and both she and the girl screamed in unison.
The girl looked over at her. “You have to run! It’s coming for you!” they screamed to each other.
“No!” They both answered each other so forcefully that the ground shook below their feet. Legacy’s eyes shot up to the sky, and she yelled, “No!” again. She heard her little self yell it too.
The black storms clouds faded to a light gray color and parted, forming a circle of beautiful blue sky. A voice, a male voice this time, spoke.
“You have no choice.” It was so soothing that it felt like a trap.
“Who are you?” Legacy
demanded.
“I’m everything. I’m everywhere. You can’t stop me. You have no choice.”
When the storm clouds went furiously black again, the snake holes disappeared, and the girl and Legacy screamed. Then the sky turned a vivid pink color, and it was so pink that it was blinding. Without the warning of thunder, lightning fell from the sky, but this was no ordinary lightning. Instead of flashing forcefully with an electrical fervor, it glittered and fell like confetti, disappearing before it reached them.
As they took cover from the peculiar lightning, Adin was sitting at a patio table at his house. He watched them approach him without getting up. Once they were at the table, he looked at her and handed her a broach. It was old and very ornate with the numbers 1887 painted in the center on the enamel.
“Be careful,” Adin whispered with a protective look in his eyes.
Her mind went black, and when the light reappeared, Adin and Legacy—and her little self—were in Florida with red warning flags out. A hurricane was making landfall. Adin wanted them to evacuate, but as they started to run, Medusa and Venus appeared in front of them. Medusa was holding the red herring again.
“Everything isn’t always as it seems,” Medusa said, and then her wavy hair turned into snakes, falling all around her. When the snakes came for them, the hurricane morphed into River, and he threw himself in front of the snakes.
“No, Mom!” he yelled, and the woman screamed so loudly that the ground trembled.
River turned to Adin and yelled, “I will tear you apart!” Then he turned to Legacy. “She didn’t have to be so harsh.” Legacy gaped at him as her mind prickled. He’d told her this before…but not in a dream.
Legacy’s mother appeared in front of her with worried eyes.
“Legacy, you must listen to me. Your previous life was not yours to make. If you ever want to be free, you must knowingly choose the path to take. Not choosing will hurt the ones you love, and everyone will be alone. The answer you seek is not above. Look within your heart, Persephone. There is no other road for you to take, no other path that will suffice. It is your legacy you must make, once you accept your sacrifice.”
Then River turned back into a hurricane, charging for Adin. Legacy tried blowing the wind against River to stop him from hurting Adin, but it didn’t help.
She turned to Adin. “What we should do and what we want to do are two different things,” both her little self and Legacy said to him.
“I will always love you, princess,” Adin whispered.
“I told you to wake up, Legacy!” her mother screamed at her.
Then the little girl walked over to Legacy. “Why is it taking you so long?” she said with narrowed eyes, and Legacy mouthed the words with her as she said them.
“I didn’t know what I was looking for,” Legacy said, and the little girl mouthed the words with her.
“It’s been right in front of you the whole time,” they said together, and then they both reached out with their index fingers extended and touched each other’s foreheads.
They both gasped as their knowledge flowed through each other.
Then the last part of the dream started over.
They were all in Florida with red warning flags out as hurricane River made landfall. Adin wanted them to evacuate, but as they started to run, Medusa and Venus appeared in front of them with Medusa holding the red herring.
“Everything isn’t always as it seems,” Medusa said, and then her wavy hair turned into snakes, falling all around her. When the snakes came for them, hurricane River threw himself in front of the snakes.
“No, Mom!” he yelled, and the woman screamed so loudly that the ground trembled.
Then River turned to Legacy.
“I’m everything. I’m everywhere. You can’t stop me. You have no choice,” he said in such an evil tone. Then his hair grew out and turned into snakes. “There are no coincidences, baby.” River turned to Adin, and Venus was standing next to him. “I told you I’d tear you apart.”
Legacy’s mother jumped in front of her. “Wake up, Legacy!” she screamed. “River is a god! Don’t let him play you! It is your hatred for the missing factor he brought forth that will cause you to harm Adin.”
Legacy woke up suddenly, grabbing the covers and panting as the realization of the dream sank in. 9R
Missing factor? Lissa words, “Not all factors have come into play…” drifted through her mind and a chill crawled down Legacy’s spine.
River was the one behind Venus showing up here, not his mother! He brought that vicious skank here to tear apart Legacy and Adin, so he could have his chance with her. And bringing her here was what threw off the course of her change, which made her have to break up with Adin.
The story about finding his mother at her house the day her tire was low and finding her spare tire in his mother’s car was probably a lie too!
And the snakes in the other car had to be River’s doing! He was the one that wanted to make sure Adin got into that accident, so she’d realize how dangerous she was to him. His mother didn’t have anything to do with that!
As she thought about everything, she felt her body heating as fury rooted in her.
“Ugggggh!” she screamed, and thunder crashed while she threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. As she screamed, the wind howled in her room, and her hair whipped around her.
Her hands balled into fists as anger from the betrayal of her best friend consumed her. Thunder roared, and as her eyes flashed to her window, lightning glared violently outside. She walked to her window, ripping it open when she saw a menacing tornado touching down in front of her house.
“You will pay for this, River!” she screamed.
And with every fiber of her being, she was positive that she would make him suffer. Like she told him that night at the football game, she would make him regret the day he ever met her.
Vengeance was not a sacrifice she would make.
The End
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading this book! If you enjoyed it, I would be very grateful for a review on Amazon. As an independent author without the backing of a large publishing house, attracting new readers is difficult and marketing is expensive. Customer reviews are extremely important on Amazon to help better position a book within search results and to help other readers select their next book.
I will have a contest starting in April where leaving a review on any book in this series will get you lots of points… it’s the least I can do to show my appreciation for you taking the time to help spread the word about me.
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