by Mindy Majors
“Well, Dacian is here, of course,” Jareth said, “and there is his brother...”
“Oh my God, Jaysien is here!” Kassie interrupted. “He has been on the Top Ten Sexiest Men Alive list, for the past eight years. Oh my God, he's headed right for us; be cool.”
“Daire, Jareth, good to see you again. I brought company, in case Vaiden rears his ugly head,” Jaysien said, with a smirk on his handsome face and a sparkle in his gorgeous brown eyes. He looked as if he were hoping for a fight.
“You're an Atlantean god?” Kassie was shocked.
“At your service, my lovely lady. And who might you be?” Jaysien said, with his usual charm, as he placed a kiss on Kassie's hand.
“Back off, surien, she's taken,” Duncan warned.
“My apologies, day walker,” the Atlantean said, taking a step back and putting his hands up in surrender.
“Who'd you piss off this time?” Dacian said, as he joined the group.
“See, now why do you always have to be such a dick, Dacian?” Jaysien asked.
“I don't know, why are you always such a little bitch?” Dacian replied, with a smart ass smirk.
“Good to see you, little brother,” Jaysien laughed, as he playfully punched Dacian's shoulder.
“Wait, you two are brothers, you never told us your brother was a famous actor,” Kassie scolded.
“You never asked,” Dacian calmly replied. He had traded his arctic camo, for a classic black tux, with a bit of an edge to it. “It's nice to see you again ladies; you both look absolutely stunning.”
The girls had gone all out for this party, and they did look amazing. Kassie was wearing a flirty, pale pink, sleeveless dress, while Symarah opted for a more sophisticated, graceful appearance, with a floor length, satin dress, in a gorgeous champagne hue.
“Leave it to you to cozy up to the two prettiest girls in the place, Jaysien.”
“Lucien, it's about time you showed up, what took you so long?” Jaysien asked, as he greeted his old friend with a hearty handshake.
Kassie turned to greet this new Atlantean, but instead she was greeted by none other than, Kyle Burke.
“You're a god too? How many famous people are actually Atlantean gods?” Kassie demanded to know.
“Well, there's Ka…,”
“You know, it would be quicker to point out the ones who are human,” Dacian chimed in, interrupting Lucien's list of celebrity gods. “Most of the celebrities here are Gods.”
“I can't believe how many celebrities are actually gods and goddesses,” Kassie said, astonished by this new information.
“I can't believe that Lucien is this Kyle Burke you've been raving about, all night,” Daire teased.
“You hush it mister,” Kassie said, as she lightly punched his arm.
“Any sign of Vaiden?” Dacian asked.
“No,” Lucien answered, “but don't worry, we've got eyes everywhere; If he steps one foot in this place, we'll know.”
“I thought you guys could sense one another, won't you feel him if he's here?” Symarah asked.
“Unfortunately, no. There are too many of us here; if he shows up, we won't know if it's him or one of us,” Jareth explained.
“But don't worry,” Dacian said, sensing her fear, “we have enough backup to take down an entire army.”
“What if he brings an entire army?” Symarah grimaced.
“There are too many people here, the risk of exposure is too great,” Lucien explained. “Even Vaiden isn't arrogant enough to take on Zeus and the others. No, if he shows it will only be to take you, forcing us to come after him, and luring Daire into a trap.”
“Your people skills could use a little work, Lucien,” Daire chided.
“What, I'm just being realistic,” Lucien defended himself.
“It's called tact, Lucien, you should look it up,” Jaysien scolded.
“I think what my brother is trying to say is that your realism, admirable as it may be, can be a bit terrifying to a mortal being,” Dacian reminded him.
“I'm sorry, Symarah, I didn't mean to scare you,” Lucien apologized.
“It's okay, I'm used to it by now.”
“Since we have all this protection, how about we pretend that Vaiden doesn't exist, and we attempt to have a good time?” Duncan said, as he extended a hand to Kassie.
“Vaiden who?” Kassie replied, as she took his hand, and led him to the dance floor.
The party was amazing, and eventually, even Daire and Symarah managed to loosen up enough to enjoy themselves. Jaysien, and several other celebrity/Atlantean gods, mingled with the crowd, all the while keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble. Kassie and Duncan danced the night away, in between checking on Symarah every half hour. Lucien sat with his wife, at a table near the back where he had a perfect view of the entire room. There were Atlantean gods stationed everywhere. Every inch of the place was covered, from the roof to the basement and everything in between. There were suriens at every door, no one got in without being checked. No one knew where Dacian had gone, but they knew he had their backs, it was like he was everywhere and nowhere, all at once. Symarah and Daire sat alone at a small table near the dance floor, talking.
“It's been a crazy couple of months, hasn't it?” Symarah smiled.
“Yes it has, even for me,” Daire chuckled. “I'm sorry you've had to go through all of this Symarah, I truly am.”
“Are you ever sorry you met me?” She asked.
Daire looked deep into her beautiful blue eyes. “I'm sorry for a lot of things caria, but not that, never that.”
He was so sincere, so sweet, and loving. He really was the perfect guy, strong and masculine, yet gentle and kind. He was a good, honorable man, and a bad boy, all rolled into one. He took her breath away, she couldn't imagine her life without him in it. It was then that she realized she was in love with this man, a man that she was going to have to let go of. She couldn't think about that right now, because if she did, she would break into a million pieces.
“What does that mean, caria?” she asked, trying to distract herself from thoughts, too painful to bear.
“It means, my love,” Daire told her, as he placed a soft kiss on her delicate hand. “I have something for you.”
Daire placed a small blue box on the table in front of her.
“What is it?” Symarah asked, pleasantly surprised by his gift.
“Open it and see,” Daire chuckled.
She opened the box, and couldn’t believe her eyes, inside was a bracelet, with three rows of the most perfect diamonds she had ever seen.
“Daire, it’s beautiful. It must have cost a fortune, you didn’t have to do this.”
Daire reached across the table and placed the bracelet around her wrist. “Do you like it?”
“Are you kidding? I love it.”
“Then it was worth it. “Daire smiled as he kissed her hand. “Shall we dance?”
“I'd rather go someplace where we can be alone,” she replied, as she led him out onto the empty balcony.
“I don't think this is the best place for us to be right now.”
“Nonsense, it's the perfect place to be,” Symarah smiled at him lovingly, “in our own little world, the sound of soft music, floating in on the night breeze, surrounded by the twinkling lights of the slumbering city, a blanket of stars above us, and I have you all to myself.”
He put his arms around her waist, and they began to dance. He loved the way she looked at him, loved seeing himself through her eyes. She was more precious to him than anything he had ever known. He kissed her gently, as they swayed to the music.
“Mind if I cut in?” a sinister voice said from the doorway. Daire and Symarah turned to see Farkas standing there, a twisted grin spread across his hideous face … and then all hell broke loose.
Several demmic appeared, simultaneously, out of thin air. Screams erupted from the crowd, as the battle began. Gods and demmic fought fiercely as the innocent bystanders scrambled
to get out of their way. The doors were blocked by an unseen force, no one was getting out alive. Only one door remained unblocked, except by Farkas, who was now taunting Daire.
“You didn't really think you would win, did you?” Farkas sneered in disgust. “He's been toying with you all along. Everything that's happened so far, has gone exactly according to his plan. You never had a chance.”
“Save it Farkas, there are more than enough gods here to take you all on,” Daire warned, as he slowly backed Farkas off of the balcony and back into the ballroom, closing the double doors behind him.
“The only thing standing between me and your little girlfriend is a flimsy set of frosted glass doors,” Farkas laughed.
“Wrong, the only thing standing between you and my love is a highly pissed off, deadly Atlantean god,” Daire growled, as he lunged at Farkas.
Symarah could hear them talking, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She understood why Daire had locked her out on the balcony, but she wished he had trusted her enough to let her fight alongside of him. She felt useless, standing out there all alone.
“Ah, but you're not alone, Symarah.”
She turned to see Vaiden standing behind her. She grabbed the handles on the doors and pulled as hard as she could, but they wouldn't budge.
“They're blocked by magic,” Vaiden explained, “and it's no use screaming, because no one will hear your cries, until I want them to.”
“What do you want with me Vaiden?”
“I want you to die; it's as simple as that.”
“I know that, what I don't understand is why,” Symarah said.
“Revenge,” Vaiden replied. “I wish I had a more noble reason, but I'm afraid it's just revenge.”
I understand that you want revenge, Daire told me everything, but why me; out of all the girls in the world, why did you choose me?”
“He didn't tell you, did he?” Vaiden was clearly amused by this new revelation. “I chose you, because you are his soul mate, his lost love.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You are his dead fiancée, Meissen,” Vaiden coldly told her. “You've been reincarnated.”
Symarah couldn't believe her ears. It was true that she had always believed in reincarnation, but it never even occurred to her that she was anything to Daire in any of her past lives. She didn't want to believe it, but why else would Vaiden choose her? It wasn't like Vaiden to do anything halfway, he was brutal and vindictive, it only made sense that he would want to use Daire's soul mate for his ultimate revenge. Symarah could barely breathe, she didn't know what to think. It certainly did explain why she was so immediately drawn to him, and why he was so willing to risk his life to protect her.
“I hate to interrupt while you are so deep in thought, but it won't be much longer before Daire figures out my plan and has your annoying little witch friend say a spell to break through the door, so I don't have much time,” Vaiden said, as he grabbed her by the wrist and dangled her over the railing. “Don't worry, it's only a 17-story drop; your heart will probably give out before you hit the ground.”
Symarah's heart was racing, she could feel the wind whipping around her as she dangled helplessly almost three hundred feet above the hard pavement. She squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could. Don't look down, Daire will figure it out any second and he will save me, so until then just stay calm, and don't look down, she told herself.
“How sweet, you think your true love will break through those doors and save you, but by then it will be too late. He will be just in time to see your broken body lying on the sidewalk in a pool of blood.”
Symarah opened her eyes and glared at Vaiden. “He will save me, and even if he doesn't, I can die in peace, knowing he avenged my death by ripping your worthless head off.”
“You are braver than most mortals, I'll give you that, but look around you human; bravery won't get you out of this.”
Symarah closed her eyes again, refusing to look down.
“You think that if you don't look down you won't see how far it is, and then you won't be scared? Let's see if this helps,” Vaiden said, as he swung her back and forth over the two hundred and ninety foot drop.
Symarah felt her right shoe fall, but it was several seconds before she just barely heard it hit the ground. She could feel the panic rising, as she felt Vaiden's grip on her wrist loosen. Finally, she heard someone banging on the balcony doors.
“HELP ME!” she screamed.
“Your time is up, princess,” Vaiden sneered, letting go of her wrist.
Symarah could see the ground coming closer, she knew that she was going to die; there was no way out of it. She could feel the sharp pain in her chest, as it began to tighten. She only hoped that Vaiden was right about her heart giving out before she hit the ground. She knew she was screaming, but all she could hear was the pounding of her heart and the wind rushing past her. She knew she would hit the ground any second, she could see the tops of the trees rising above her.
Daire came crashing through the door, just in time to see Vaiden let go of Symarah.
“DACIAN!” Daire screamed, as he tackled Vaiden.
Dacian immediately appeared on the balcony. He waved his hand over the railing, and in an instant Symarah was standing next to him, screaming.
“It's okay, you're safe now,” Dacian said, as he sat her down in a nearby chair.
“What took you so long, I was a foot from the ground,” Symarah said, as she landed a barrage of punches on his broad shoulder.
“I'm sorry, I was just flashing demmic up to the 20th floor, erasing all the photographs and videos of the incident, and altering the minds of hundreds of mortals so as not to expose ourselves to the human world; I'll try to be quicker next time,” Dacian said calmly, with a sly, sarcastic smirk.
Symarah couldn't help but laugh at his laid back sarcasm.
“Thank you for saving my life Dacian.”
“It was my pleasure; besides, if I had let you die, Sybris probably would have eaten me,” he smiled, and then waved his hand in Vaiden's direction and made him disappear.
“Where did you send him?” Kassie asked, as she sat down in a chair next to Symarah.
“To the 20th floor, with the rest of the demmic,” Dacian replied.
“What's stopping them from escaping?” Kassie questioned.
“They can't escape, they're in a large, silver cage. Our powers don't work through silver,” Lucien answered.
“Then how did they get there?” Symarah asked.
“I flashed them there,” Dacian answered.
“But, if your powers don't work through silver, then how did you get them into the cage in the first place?” Kassie was confused.
“My brother, the Ph.D., pointed out that since I am not surrounded by silver, I could flash them up through the floor, into the cage, as long as the cage didn't have a silver floor.”
“So we had the floor of the cage made out of white gold,” Jaysien said, interrupting Dacian's explanation. “They think it’s silver, and luckily they are too stupid to even wonder how we got them in there.”
“Wait, you have a Ph.D. too? When did you get that?” Kassie asked.
“In another life,” Jaysien said, with a mischievous smile.
“So if they do figure out that it is not really silver, they can flash themselves out through the floor?” Symarah asked.
“Yes, and that is why we should probably get upstairs and figure out what to do with the demmic, just in case one of them does actually put two and two together,” Lucien suggested.
“How many are up there?” Symarah asked.
“Only Vaiden and Farkas are left,” Lucien said. “The rest are dead.”
“How is that possible, there were dozens of them?” Symarah was shocked.
“Well, Jaysien took out three or four of them, Duncan and I took out a few, and Kassie got two of them too,” Conner said.
“Yeah, and Jareth and Dacian took
out quite a few of them as well,” Jaysien added.
“Me and the misses took out about seven of them,” Lucien told her.
“Your wife killed demmic, is she a goddess too?” Kassie asked.
“No, Natalia is a day walker,” Lucien replied.
“I hate to interrupt this episode of celebrity stalker, but we really should get up there and figure out what to do with those two,” Conner reminded them.
“I think I'm just gonna go home and soak in a nice relaxing bubble bath,” Symarah said.
“I'll go with you,” Kassie offered.
“No, that's okay, I don't want you to miss the rest of the party; I know how much you love these things.”
“I'm not going to let you go alone,” Kassie insisted.
“I'm just going to go to bed after my bath anyway, and since all the demmic are either dead or locked in an inescapable cage, I think I'm safe,” Symarah assured her. “I'll just have my driver take me home; I saw him downstairs as we were getting on the elevator.”
“I don't like you going alone,” Daire told her.
“I'll go with her, I'm pretty tired too,” Conner said.
“Daire, we've talked about this. I'm a grown woman, I don't need a babysitter, especially now that Vaiden and his minions are no longer a threat,” Symarah scolded.
“I'm not babysitting,” Conner assured her, “I'm just tired, and I want to get out of this monkey suit.”
“You two take the limo,” Daire pointed at Symarah and Conner, “Kassie, you and Duncan go have a good time, and we will go up and deal with Vaiden and Farkas.”
“I'll be up in a few, I still have some loose ends to tie up, some memories yet to alter,” Dacian said, as he headed off toward the elevators.
“Let's go mingle,” Kassie said, as she took Duncan's hand and headed off toward the center of the ballroom.
Daire, Jareth, and Lucien started off toward the elevators.
“Are you coming?” Lucien asked, as Jaysien stopped to adjust his tie in a mirror.
“Yeah, just fixing my tie.”
“Would you like to be alone with yourself?” Daire joked.
“Just because you look like shit, doesn't mean I have to,” was Jaysien's smart ass reply.