Indignation

  Dev shakes his head with sad eyes. “Don’t call me that. You could call me Dad. I will always see you as a daughter even if you’re not in reality.” He smiles at her with love in his hazel eyes. Love a father only has for his daughter. How could she take those hazel eyes for granted?

  Alyssa smiles back and hugs him hard. “I love you, Dad.” She says with tears threatening to come out. She’s been a mess of emotions for the past few weeks. How she is not breaking down with an ice cream bucket in her hand is beyond her.

  “I love you too, Aly-hap.” He tries not to laugh.

  “I hate that nickname.” She scrunches her nose at him.

  “I started you that ever since I first laid my eyes on you as a child. You were always so happy. I remember the day that I was assigned to you. The Royal family of Keepers personally picked me and Emily out of all the experienced Keepers. At first we were joyed with the honor, but then we found out that we were to pose as your parents. You could imagine what it was like for us. We are experienced fighters, but this assignment was beyond our knowledge. Emily was never a mother, and I was never a father. Things just got complicated after that.”

  She pulls away to get a cup of coffee. “Sounds complicated.” She rolls her eyes playfully.

  ”You’ll always be my Ally-hap.” He teases.

  Alyssa’s smile slowly disappears. “Yeah.” She mutters with sadness linking in her word.

  He takes a deep breath. “Are you feeling well?”

  ”Yes, everything is fine.”

  ”Something is wrong. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  Alyssa has a strong grip on her coffee. “Now that I know about who I am and who you really are to me. Are you going to move out?” She wants to think that they would treat her like parents would forever, but they probably didn’t want it in the first place. Why would they want it now?

  Dev nods. “I have to move back with my people, my wife.”

  He doesn’t need to say more. She will be selfish if she asks him to stay with her. That would mean him leaving his own family for her. She will never do that to someone. “It’s okay. I’m fine.” She lies. “You need to go to your wife. Maybe have kids on of your own? I’ve caused you guys enough trouble. Plus, I can handle myself. I can cook, clean, and do laundry.” She smiles at him warningly.

  “You can cook only a few dishes, we always had a cleaner lady that comes whenever no one is home, and the same lady does our laundry.”

  “Really?” She laughs at her lame reasoning.

  “Yes, really.”

  She takes a sip of her coffee. “You got me there Dad.” She rolls her eyes.

  “You’ll be fine. You have Julian, Gabriel, Miranda, and now Dias as well.”

  She hugs him, making sure that her coffee doesn’t spill on him. “It’s not the same as having you.” She whispers.

  ”Julian will protect you. You are not alone as much as you thought you were. Emily and I were always watching you, but we couldn’t get attached to you.”

  Her heart sinks a little. “I get it, seriously. I will be fine.”

  ”I know you will be. You’re strong. I have to leave to find Mila. You can always call me. I will be checking up on you weekly if I have to.” She smiles at him knowingly. “Don’t burn the house down with your cooking, Aly-hap” She laughs.

  “I’m not a bad cook.”

  “You’re as bad as Emily when she tried to cook that turkey for thanksgiving.”

  “I remember that. We had to remodel the entire kitchen. Mom was-I mean Emily was bad at cooking.”

  “Emily really did care about you, but she always detaches herself from others to avoid getting hurt.”

  “Either way. I’ll miss you both.”

  “We will too.”

  She looks past her Dad to see Julian patiently waiting for her to notice him. Dev nods in acknowledgement at Julian. “Julian.” He greets him.

  “Keeper.” Alyssa coughs loudly. The fallen king rolls his eyes. “Dev.” He corrects for her benefit.

  Dev threateningly points at him. “You take care of my girl for me.” She blushes at the way her Dad’s attempt to threaten Julian.

  “I will.” Those black eyes connect with her bright purple ones. She just smiles, but Julian is not one to show his emotions, especially when there’s someone else present. He moves to her side, wrapping his arm around her waist, and kissing the top of her head lightly. She leans onto him.

  ”Alyssa this house is yours, do what you want with it. And all your cards are fully stocked.”

  “I feel like you spoil me too much.”

  “I always have. Well, I have to get back to the hospital before I leave.”

  Alyssa places her mug on the counter. She quickly hugs him tight as if it is her last time. “Bye Dad. Have a safe flight.”

  “Be safe you too.”

  “I will.” Dev walks away, but she stops him. “Dad?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me. I love you Daddy.” She says lowly, fearing that her voice could betray her at any Moment.

  “I love you Aly-hap.” He turns around to finally leave. She knows how much her calling him ‘Daddy’ has touched him because his unshed tears were visible to her before he turned around. It’s hard for her to see a life without the parents she has known her whole life. At least when they posed as her parents she was able to call them and call them her parents. Now is different. She has to forget that her mortal life was real because it never was. She will just have to move on her own. She would have feel better if she has her real mother by her side, but that will never be possible. Selene is dead. She will never meet the mother who is supposed to love her unconditionally, protect her, and advise her. She will not be able to have those talks Moms and daughters have when high school ends. Alyssa will not have a real family to go to when a holiday comes up.

  “It will be okay.” Julian wraps his arm around her again.

  “It always is.” Alyssa pulls away. She then turns her attention to Julian. She reaches up to him and gives him a small peck on the lips. “Good morning.” She says with a bright smile.

  ”It is now that we have the house to ourselves.” He remarks.

  She rolls her eyes. “You would say something like that at a time like this. You’re a jerk sometimes you know that?”

  “I have been called many things in my life, but ‘jerk’ is not one of them.” He turns her around. Her index finger traces the line of his strong jaw and then up to the outline of his lips. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.

  His response is instantaneously. His tongue slides against her bottom lip asking for entrance. She happily grants it. He deepens the kiss. Before she knows it, she is gently sat on the hard counter. He moves between her legs to get closer to her. He slides his hand up her thigh that her purple robe barley covers.

  Alyssa breaks away sooner than she really wanted to. She presses her forehead to his to level her breathing.

  His brows furrow together in thought. “I need you to pack everything that’s necessary. I’ll have someone else bring everything else later on today.” He orders her as he swipes her off the counter to place her firmly on her feet.

  She confusingly gazes up at him in. “Pack? What are you talking about?”

  ”You’re moving in with me. Now go, we don’t have much time.”

  Her mouth gaps open. “Are you serious?”

  ”Yes.”

  “I can’t move in with you. Have you lost your mind?”

  “I didn’t ask you. Go pack.”

  She backs away from him and crosses her arms in defiance. Her frown is firmly placed on her face. Her bright violet eyes narrow at him. “I’m not moving in with you.”

  His black eyes show no patience. She can’t believe that he really is trying to make her move in with. “Again, I didn’t ask you.”

  “I don’t care if you asked me or not. I’m not moving in anywhere with you and that’s final.”


  “Nothing is final until you go pack and get in my car.”

  “Get it through your thick ass skull! I’m not moving in with you!” She yells at him. She’s annoyed that he thinks he can just make decisions for her. She’s his girlfriend not one of his men that he can push around. It’s about time he realizes that.He glares at her. At this point she doesn’t care that his eyes are slowly turning all black. “You move in with me willingly or not. Either way you are coming with me.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not your puppet. You can’t just pull my strings and make me do whatever you want. You can’t make decisions that affect me on your own.”

  “You’re not living here.”

  “Yes, I am. Whether you like it or not, I will. This is my house. I can stay here if I want. You’re no one to tell me otherwise.” She turns around to leave him with his thoughts, but he pulls her hard by her arm. The motion will bruise her she knows it, but her anger rises above the pain. “Let me go!”

  “Go upstairs and pack or I’ll just take you the way you are.”

  “Considering how possessive you get, I hardly doubt you will let me out of the house in this robe let alone around your men.”

  “Why do you make everything so complicated?” He mutters to himself more than her.

  “Because you treat me like the people you used to rule instead of your equal. Relationships are mutual. So leave you macho side somewhere else. I’m not going to deal with it.”

  She tries to pull her arm away from his hard grip, but his grasp only tightens around her. “I’m doing this to protect you.”

  His eyes are close to turning all black. Now her anger replaces her fear. If his eyes turn all black then he will definitely lose control. “You’re hurting me Julian.” She gulps.

  “Hades wants you for something. I know it. I can’t have you live here. I need you under my supervision at all times. I can’t trust anyone.” He ignores her.

  “Julian, you’re hurting me!” She yells but it falls on death’s ears.

  “He won’t take you. I promise that.”

  “Julian!” She screams when she feels her arm numbing from the pressure. His grasp is cutting her blood circulation.

  Next thing she knows a group of men pull Julian away from her. Julian struggles to get free, but the men have him restraint. She can tell by the way they are willing to fight him to protect her means that they are all Elim Guards.

  Julian’s heavy breathing is heard loudly. Alyssa holds her numb arm to her chest, she’s too afraid to look at it. His eyes were so close to turning all black. How is it possible that he can lose his control in the matter of seconds? What is truly going on with him? She’s never seen him so lost and out of focus. What has Dias and Hades done to him for him to be the way he is?

  An Elim Guard with sandy blonde hair steps forward with a bow. “Are you alright, goddess?” His yellow eyes seem abnormal, but her purple eyes are not the most natural color either.

  “I’m fine and don’t call me that. My name is Alyssa. You are?”

  “Nathaniel. I’m the Head Elim Guard.”

  “Hey, Nathaniel, can you relocate to Julian’s? I’m going to move in with him.”

  Her statement seems to horrify him. “We can but-”

  “Don’t question me, please.” She dismisses his worries.

  “Yes, goddess.” He steps aside.

  Alyssa walks to Julian who has his head bend down. His limbs seem weak under their hold. She brushes away the long hair that covers his face. His head tilts up to look at her. His eyes are back to normal, but he is far from it. She kneels down to face him.

  “I’m going to help you.” She presses her forehead to his and lets him see all the love she has for him through her bright violet eyes. He looks so torn. “You’re going to be okay.” She assures him, but she says it to assure herself.

  Annalisa

  Miranda has her mind set. Annalisa is the only one who can locate the lost transcript. She might also be the only one who can stop the war that has been predicted by the Oracle of Delphi. The prediction of Julian’s true death. If only Annalisa appears out of thin air it would make everything so much easier. What if Annalisa is not even living? No, that can’t be possible because Julian has come back from the land of the dead as an immortal. Annalisa is connected to Julian so that would mean that she alive as well.

  There’s a whole in everything though. Gabriel had given Alyssa to the Keepers whole she was a child, but Alyssa only remembers her mortal life and the Keepers only has had her for eighteen years. How is it possible for Alyssa to be over four centuries old and be a child for so long, and then age like a mortal when given to the Keepers? It doesn’t make sense. Can it be some kind of spell or enchanted created by Selene? No, that can’t be it as well because that would mean that Selene is alive when that’s not the case. But it could mean that maybe there’s another descent alive that is hidden from everyone.

  She paces back and forth in the cheap hotel room. The heat is killer. She has been sweating like a pig since her arrival. She’s waiting for a call from her informant. Before she can go and discuss her findings with Alyssa she needs to at least find the Dagger of Selene, the same dagger that Alyssa once used to kill Julian. If she finds that dagger, it could awaken the old Annalisa if she proves to not be correct. Miranda can feel that she is correct though. He suspicions have validity. That would be a great fear and relief. If she finds that Alyssa is not Annalisa, then Julian will be free to love without any resentment, but it will also mean that Annalisa is alive and in hiding.

  The Adviser Elim just hopes that the Oracle of Delphi is mistaken by her vision of a war approaching. Her hopes will fall too short though. The Oracle of Delphi is never wrong. She can’t let Julian die in a useless war that she still has no idea what is the cause for it.

  A loud chime interrupts her thoughts. She answers her new blackberry phone. The caller ID has unknown written across the screen. That’s him. The call she’s been waiting for.

  ”Hello?” She greets in a rush.

  “You can locate it.” He whispers too low for any mortal to hear, but she can hear him perfectly fine as an immortal.

  Her eyes widen with anticipation. “Tell me what you have found.”

  “I found someone who knows for a fact that the Dagger of Selene is hidden beneath the dirt where King Julian fell.” That would mean that she would have to go to the land where Julian once died four hundred years ago. That is her advantage. She already suspected this so she flew out from the states to across the continents to be close to the kingdom that no longer stands. She just needed the confirmation.

  ”Is your source reliable?” She asks him as she runs out of the small hotel and into her rental car that has seen better days, decades ago.

  ”Very reliable. Apparently, my source was there at the time of King Julian’s fall and has confirmed it. My informant is in hiding and is out of the eyes of King Julian. Apparently they have debts to be paid.”

  She nods to no one with understatement. “I understand. Do you exactly where the dagger is located?”

  “King Julian’s fall was in his chambers.”

  ”I think I know where it is. Well, thank you. You will receive your reward in thirty-two hours. Disappear. Throw the phone away and move out of the continent you’re in. That’s an order. Goodbye.”

  Miranda clicks her phone and disconnects the call. This warlock may be a good informant, but he is injudicious. He has a loose tongue and if he so much as speaks about his findings he will be as good as dead at Hade’s realm. That was one of the conditions she put on him. He had to swear an oath on Hades and ask for death if he so much as opens that dirty mouth of his.

  Luck is finally one her side. Now she has to see if the dagger can be found. She pulls out the international map. She doesn’t have the ability to appear and reappear wherever she wants like Gabriel so she will have to do this the old way as always. This will be a long drive.

  One hour
later, Miranda arrives at the fallen kingdom. It’s just outside of where once the Athens used to take residence. The ruins are that of other kingdoms that came after Julian. She slowly makes her way to the well-structured temple that has been built on top of the ruins of Julian’s castle. The temple is still standing even after its abandonment. There are ruins all around, but there is no form of survival for anyone here. The sand is as dry as it can be. There are not good for crops to be grown. The sky only shows the bright sun that will never fade. That means that there is no water coming in. The kingdom has turned into a deserted desert.

  According to her gathering of information, the Dagger of Selene can only be found by a bloodline which means Alyssa or Annalisa are the only ones to locate it. Miranda can’t help but give it a try. Maybe she can find the dagger and get it herself. Her information can be proven false.

  Her sneakers glide above the sand. She makes her way to the temple. The tall building seems to be glowing from power. She cautiously moves forward into the temple. The Adviser Elim can see the concrete walls screaming to collapse but the construction is too strong to let that happen. Her immortal heart remains silent, there’s no beat to it. She can feel the sting on her skin. Miranda looks down on her arms to notice red marks appear on her skin. Her senses are telling her to leave. That’s when she knows that the temple is cursed. The energy is so strong that she, as an Elim, can feel herself growing weaker with each step. She knows that she needs to save her energy in order to make it out of the temple alive. She’s too far inside now to turn back. The Elim now realizes what she’s gotten into.

  “Dias, protect me.” She whispers to herself. Her mind begins to focus on Gabriel. If she really needs it, she can channel his strength into hers. Their connection makes that possible. Miranda won’t do it until she really needs it though. She doesn’t need Gabriel to appear from thin air and find out where she really is. No one but her can know her theories on the Dagger of Selene. She needs to find that dagger so Alyssa can find the transcript of the curse. If Gabriel finds out he will stop at nothing to stop her.