by M. W. Muse
She let go of his face and stood up. But she felt a gust of wind like she had last time. Her arms flew up to steady herself. Adin jumped over and grabbed her, and River stood up, grabbing her too.
“Get your hands off me!”
River let go and lifted his hands up in the air as he stepped back.
She glared at him as she turned away. Adin walked her back down the bleachers and to his car. She was fuming, but trying to keep her emotions in check. When they got back to her house, Adin walked in with her and came up to her bedroom. She grabbed some pajamas and went to the restroom to change. When she came back to her room, Adin had his shoes off and was sitting on her bed, leaning against the pillows with his hands on top of his head. He was staring at the ceiling.
She walked over to her bed and sat with her legs crossed, facing him.
Adin’s eyes slowly made their way to her. “If the earlier story was the short version, what’s the long version?”
She sighed, but understood why he wanted to know everything. If she’d forgotten a little detail like being alone in River’s room, on his bed, then what else had she skipped over? She started from the beginning. Adin nodded a few times, but never interrupted her.
“I think you’re right,” he said after she finished.
“Right about what?”
“That he’s taking advantage of your friendship.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you going to do something about it?”
She stared at Adin with a puzzled look. “I already did. Except for when I almost fell, he hasn’t touched me since he came over that day.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be enough, sweetheart. You said it yourself, he’s not thinking clearly when it comes to his feelings for you. That makes him very dangerous.”
She shook her head. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
“We don’t know that. I’m sure he doesn’t want to hurt you, but if he’s reacting first and thinking last, then we can’t be sure he wouldn’t cause you any harm.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay away from him. Not talk to him.”
“Well, right now, that sounds like an excellent idea, but I know it’s because I’m still furious with him. When I think about it logically, I know I can’t do that to him. At least not right now, Adin.”
“If not now, then when?”
“I don’t know. Maybe after he ascends. I just know that right now I need to be there for him while he adjusts to his changes. But if he’s linked to my changes, then I may not be able to do anything about him until after I ascend too. I guess I’ll just have to see how everything goes after his change.”
Adin nodded. “I love you and trust you, so I’m still going to be supportive of all your decisions, which includes your decision about him. But… I’m through with him.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means that it took more control than I realized I even had not to break his face tonight.” His whole body tensed, his jaw clenching.
“Adin, I don’t want you fighting with him.”
“Legacy, if he respects your boundaries, rather than utilizing the loopholes within them, then there won’t be a need to worry about that.”
“I can take care of myself, and I can definitely take care of River.”
He chuckled. “You proved that tonight.”
She laughed too, and then she frowned. “I’m serious.”
“I know, sweetheart, but so am I. I’ve given him more than enough opportunities to prove that he respects you and your decisions, and he has faltered time and time again.” Adin stroked her hair. “He’s not only disrespecting you, but he’s disrespecting me. I. Am. Done. There are no more chances.”
“Adin, look—”
“No, sweetheart. I won’t stand in your way if you want to be friends with him and hang out with him, but I’m not tolerating his pushy, possessive behavior anymore. One way or another, he will start showing you the respect you deserve. He’s had plenty of chances to do that the easy way, but he chose his desires over your wishes. So now I’m going to have to show him the hard way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry about that,” he whispered, and leaned over to kiss her forehead.
Yeah, right.
“You’re not going to kill him and hide his body, are you?”
Adin laughed. “That’s an intriguing thought. But no.”
She smiled and nodded.
“You know, I’m really proud of how you handled yourself tonight.”
“You don’t think I went overboard with all the details? I was bluffing. I have no intention of telling him about our intimate relationship.”
He chuckled. “I don’t mean about that. You were angry, but you controlled your reactions. You blew in his face when you wanted to without changing your tone. You looked at where you wanted the lightning to strike. You also stopped before any serious weather developed, keeping everyone safe. I didn’t think you’d be this controlled so soon.”
“I still don’t feel completely in control. But thanks.” She smiled.
Adin stayed with her until she nodded off. She felt him kiss her forehead as he finagled his way out of her arms. Then he tucked the covers around her and kissed her forehead again. “I love you, princess.”
As he stepped out of her room, her eyes popped open.
Princess? Adin had never called her that before.
Was that just another term of endearment, or was there more behind the meaning of it? She knew she would be inheriting everything from Demeter and Zeus, not just all Persephone’s abilities, and she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. Since she was going to inherit Zeus’s abilities, Lissa had told her she would be a queen in her own right.
Queens usually started out in life as princesses. By calling her princess, was Adin letting it slip that he knew of this family secret that she wasn’t supposed to share?
She shook her head. That was crazy. He was just being lovey-dovey. But why did she immediately assume he knew something about her ascension? Hadn’t she learned the hard way that there were no coincidences?
Maybe she felt guilty for keeping this from him.
Or maybe he did actually know something.
The only thing she was sure of right now was that this was going to be a long night.
A very long night.
Chapter Nine
The next week dragged by.
Legacy still had the same two dreams she’d been having. One was always about Adin telling her to be careful with 1887 and lightning glittering down from the sky. In the other one, she and Adin were in Florida with red warning flags and hurricane River coming out of the Gulf. Adin wanted them to evacuate, but as they started to run, Medusa appeared, but this time, Venus was with her.
“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!” And River turned back into a hurricane, charging for Adin.
Legacy usually woke up at this point, but the dream went a little further. As soon as River came for Adin, Adin turned to her, wrapping his arms around her. “I will always love you, princess.”
The first time she dreamed the new additions was the night she’d heard Adin call her princess. She’d seen him every day since then, but she’d never found the right words to ask him why he’d said it. Since she couldn’t tell him about her true abilities, how could she ask him if he meant anything by calling her that?
And even if she did find the right words, she wasn’t sure if she should bring it up anyway. Part of her felt happy thinking Adin might already know this about her. If she asked him about this and it turned out that he didn’t know, then she’d have to f
igure out a way to tell him. She had no idea when the right time would be or how to even go about it.
Besides her internal conflicts about keeping this facet of her life a secret from Adin, everything else was wonderful with him. Well, everything else except for Venus.
On several occasions, Adin had come over after school irritated with the disease festering in their lives. He’d vented to Legacy about encounters he’d had with Venus, and Legacy had tried staying objective, clinical. She didn’t want her emotions to get the best of her, but she privately wished for another brief encounter with Venus. A little jolt might do her some good. Okay, so she wouldn’t strike her down, sending her to the fiery pits of Hell where she belonged, but Legacy relished the thought.
With each new conversation she’d had with Adin about Venus, Legacy became more and more understanding of Adin wanting to put River in his place. The few times Adin had told her about Venus stroking his arm, Legacy was able to truly embrace Adin’s hatred for River.
And River was another matter entirely. After his little stunt, she’d barely talked to him, but unlike the last time he’d pissed her off, he hadn’t even tried to apologize. Not only that, but he also hadn’t walked her to any of her classes this week, and he’d never said anything to her unless she said something to him first. He hadn’t been cold when he did talk to her, but it felt as if he wasn’t going to press his luck either.
Tonight’s game was halfway across the state, so Calli had left early with the rest of the cheerleaders and football players. By the time last period rolled around, most of the students had checked out to go to the game, so neither River’s teacher nor hers made them dress out for class.
Since it had been a week since Legacy and River had said more than a sentence or two at any given time, and they had a whole a class period without anything to do, she figured she should make the first move. If she didn’t walk over and talk to him, he would keep avoiding her. Not because he wanted to avoid her, but because he didn’t want to take any chances on making her even madder at him. She wasn’t stupid.
So she headed toward him. He was sitting with a group of guys talking when she walked up behind him.
“Hey,” she said, barely a whisper.
River twisted around as quickly as he could manage. “Hi.”
“Umm…can I talk to you?”
“Sure.” River got up and followed her over to a section of the gym bleachers where no one else sat.
After they were seated, she stared at him and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for how I acted the other night.”
River shook his head. “You had every right to be mad at me. I was way out of line.”
“You’re right. I should’ve been mad at you,” she said, looking down. “But I didn’t have to stoop to the same level. That was shitty of me.”
River barked a surprised laugh at her language, but then shut his eyes. “I’m so sorry for how I acted too. I wish I could say I had no idea what came over me, but I can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told you after you got out of the hospital that I felt like I was turning into a monster. Maybe I’m not one in the literal sense, but I’d have to be to act like I did the other night.”
“You don’t have to be a monster to act the way you did. You just have to be a jerk.” Her lips twitched, fighting a smile.
River chuckled and looked up at her. Neither one of them said anything for awhile. They just stared at each other. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she knew what she was thinking. She wondered why this had to be so hard for him. If only he could love her in a way that was healthy for him, he could move on to someone else.
As he stared at her, his eyes moved back and forth looking at each of her eyes. She couldn’t read the expression on his face, but she wanted to understand.
“What are you thinking about?”
River sighed and shut his eyes briefly before looking back at her. “Umm, I’ve never seen your eyes so blue.”
Legacy knew what he meant by this. Her eyes always changed colors from blue to green, but River had mentioned before that he liked her eyes being green because then they matched his. Since he didn’t see any green in her eyes at this moment, he wasn’t seeing her connection to him.
“If you need a reason to be sad, there are more vital ones to focus on than my eye color.” She snickered.
River smiled. “I’m not sad. Your eyes are very pretty.” He leaned in toward her. “I just didn’t expect to like the blue color as much as I like the green color.”
She laughed. “You don’t.”
He chuckled too. “Well, I am still partial to green, but your eyes could be red with anger and still be the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen.”
She sighed and looked down.
“I just mean that you can pull off any color.” He shrugged, trying to make light of the comment he’d just made. “Your eyes really don’t turn red when you’re mad. Believe me, I know.”
“Ha, ha.” Legacy rolled her eyes.
They sat here for a few more seconds not saying anything. Then River shifted in his seat and looked down.
“Umm…Legacy, I, er, want to let you know I’m doing some research about my mom and Venus.” He looked back up at her. “Over the last couple of weeks, I let my focus be distracted by my own personal objectives. This past week forced me to get my shit together.”
She half-smiled at him. “Any luck?”
“Not much, but I’m trying. I plan on contacting my father this weekend to see if he can help.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“It’s the absolute least I can do. I know it doesn’t even begin to make up for my behavior, but the truth is I love you. I’ve been too focused on what I can’t have, but I need to enjoy what I do have. I know that now.”
“Well, speaking of behavior, I should probably warn you that Adin is done with you.”
River pursed his lips and nodded. “As in?”
“He feels he’s given you enough chances to respect me and my decisions and that you keep making the wrong choices.”
River looked down. “I see his point.”
“He’s still not going to interfere with my decisions regarding you, but I’m not sure how he’s going to act around you.”
“What are your decisions about me?” he asked softly.
She sighed. “I’m just going to see how everything goes. I still want to help you with your changes, but I’ll only be willing to do that if you stop making it so difficult for me to be around you.”
“I don’t want it to be difficult for you to be around me.”
“Then you need to act like you love our friendship the way it is, or the way it should be, I mean. I don’t want anything more than that.”
River nodded and shut his sad eyes.
“But I can’t stand the thought of you not being in my life at all.” River’s eyes shot up to hers. When he looked at her, she had to shut hers—it was too intense. “I think that’s why I’ve put up with your behavior. The thought of you not being around is unbearable.” She opened her eyes, and his were wide, searching her face. “So please don’t make me choose that option.”
“I won’t.”
She nodded. She felt better getting this conversation over with. Now she was ready for a less stressful topic. “How did you do on the chemistry test?”
“Aced it. You?”
“Well, I passed.” She shrugged.
“How bad?” River looked concerned. They had studied for hours that week for the test, but she had a hard time understanding the material.
“I missed one.” She snorted.
River laughed with her, and when they finished, he continued to stare into her eyes. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
“I’ve missed you too.”
The bell rang and River walked her out to her car. “I wished we could’ve made up sooner. Now, I won’t get to see you again until Monday.”
She half-smiled
at him.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I’ve just missed you. That’s all. I’m straight.” He shrugged.
Legacy knew better. “Well, if you’re not doing anything on Sunday, why don’t you come over and tell me what you found out from your dad?”
River’s eyes sparkled. “Okay.”
She jumped in her car and rushed home. She and Adin had a date tonight. As soon as she got home, she jumped into the shower.
She left her hair down and wore a thin red sweater and her red Christian Louboutin shoes. She also wore her platinum tornado necklace to accentuate the low-cut, v-neck style of her top.
When Adin picked her up, his face was glowing. Usually, he’d take his time, looking at her outfit, and then he’d hold her hands and kiss her on her forehead or cheek—sometimes he’d go right for her lips. But instead of taking in her beauty, he just grabbed her hand.
“Let’s go,” he said with a glowing smile. She jumped at his sudden reaction, but was game.
He rushed her to his car, opening the door for her, and ran to the driver’s side to get in.
He peeled out of the driveway and sped down the road.
“What’s the rush?”
“I have to get to the jewelers before they close.”
“Jewelers?” For some unknown reason, her voice cracked when she said this.
Adin glanced at her with a crooked smile on his face. “My grandma’s gift was supposed to be ready two days ago, but it finally came in this afternoon. I was worried that I wouldn’t have it in time for her party tomorrow.”
“Oh.” She laughed nervously, looking around. She couldn’t make eye contact with him.
“Why do you think I’d be rushing you to a jewelry store?” Adin smirked.
“Er, I, ummm…I just didn’t know what the rush was about.” Why was she blushing? What the hell was wrong with her?
Adin’s smile turned sincere, and he reached over to stroke her cheek. “If I was getting something for you, I wouldn’t be bringing you along. I’d hope I’d be a little more suave about it.” He chuckled.
“I didn’t think you were, er, getting something for me.” She shrugged, shaking her head and looking out the side window.