“Ero—”
“No need to be so formal,” he interrupted, his eyes darting to the mirror on the wall. “You can call me Jaxon.”
Right, someone was watching. I wouldn’t give away his secret double life, but why would they let a cover model in to see me? “Thank you for coming, Jaxon. Do you know what’s happened to Dia?”
“Ms. King is fine. She was taken to the county hospital for examination, which she submitted to quite reluctantly. She sobered up enough to give a statement.” He laughed and I smile weakly thinking of the police trying to get a straight answer from her. “After which she checked herself out of the hospital and started a one-woman picket line to free you from jail. Her boyfriend was called in to take her home and keep her there. Do you know that she threatened to ‘bedazzle the inside of my underwear’ if I didn’t get you out of here? Fascinating friend you have there.”
The twinkle of amusement and interest in his eyes could only spell trouble. Those two together would be entertaining to watch. After I got these charges taken care of.
“Please have a seat.” He motioned to the chair on the opposite side of the metal table. I slumped into the seat and watched with mild amusement as Eros—er, Jaxon—made a production out of sitting down. He slowly unbuttoned his suit jacket, then draped it meticulously over the back of the seat, making several adjustments before he was satisfied with the way it was hanging. Then opened his briefcase on the table and laid out all of the contents in a neat row. I fought back a grin as I imagined the steam pouring from Officer Landish’s ears. Jaxon had clearly taken to playing his role with glee.
“I have reviewed your file, Ms. Davies,” he said as he finally lowered himself into the metal chair. He retrieved a gold pen and legal pad from his briefcase. “I have to say that the evidence looks quite damning. Photos of individuals allegedly being held against their will at your work or your home. Piles of money in a duffel bag and more found in a box of inventory at your gallery. Testimony from one of the alleged victims, who also picked you out of a lineup. Need I go on?”
“I didn’t do any of those things! Please. I know I sound like every bad guy cliché, but none of that is mine.” Panic beat in my chest. My hands turned clammy where they gripped the edge of the chair. “I’ve never seen that duffel bag, and I certainly don’t have money to spare. If I had all those piles of money, why wouldn’t I have paid my loan off? Th-those disgusting pictures weren’t me. I’ve never done those . . . things in my entire life. Ask my exes. My sex life is boring as hell—why else would they have cheated?”
“Very good questions, Ms. Davies.” Jaxon adjusted his glasses and took a few notes. “A couple of the many questions that I also have. It seems the overeager detective skipped a few steps in his investigation. Don’t worry, I’ll be addressing those lapses on your behalf soon enough.”
Oh, he was good at this. But where was my real lawyer?
“In the meantime, let’s talk about you. The date stamp on some of those photos goes back a few years. But I would like to go back even further. Let’s start with when you were born.”
I stared at him in confusion. “What on earth does my birth have to do with these charges?”
“Maybe nothing. Maybe everything,” Jaxon said, clicking the pen. “Please begin.”
Time passed slowly as I talked him through my life. What this would accomplish, I had no idea but I wasn’t in a hurry to go back to my cell. Sometimes I rambled, analyzing my own actions now with the distance of adulthood. We laughed together at the stunts Dia and I had gotten into. When it came to the day of the boating accident, it wasn’t as hard as I expected. Having talked about it once already seemed to make it easier. It didn’t stop the tears that beaded the table when I laid my head down and sobbed. To my surprise, the guilt had been absent, and all I felt was grief at their loss. Jaxon hadn’t done anything visible that would have made prying eyes suspicious, but I felt arms wrapped around me in comfort more than once.
Sometimes Jaxon barked rapid-fire questions, and other times he stared through me as if he was somewhere else. Throughout the whole interview, he had taken copious amounts of notes but had never flipped the page. Once I had stopped talking, curious to see what he was writing. The words he scribbled across the page were written in another language, possibly Greek. The fascinating part though was that as soon as he finished a line, it disappeared from the paper. More Paldimori magic.
We took a short break. The squat guard waddled into the room and slammed down our requested glasses of water. I stretched my legs, keeping my distance from the scowling man who huffed at me on his way back out. Then it was back to my life story. There was only one part I left out. If Eros was concerned that I’d skipped over the year when I had run away, he didn’t show it. My words dried up when I came to the part about going to Sotirìa and I glanced at the mirror, but Jaxon motioned for me to keep going. His expression grew grim when I talked about everything that had happened to me there. He smirked at the blush heating my body as I glazed over my time with Bennett. He didn’t push me on that, thankfully, but asked a lot of questions about my reactions to him.
Exhaustion weighed me down as I finally finished. This is what I should have done with Dia all those years ago. As soon as I got out of here, I was going to talk to her. Really talk to her. Taking a sip of the tepid water, I watched Jaxon continue to write for several more minutes before he laid his pen down and folded his arms on the table.
The lights suddenly flickered, and then it was as if we were in a vacuum. All of the muted background noises—the air coming through the vents and the murmur of voices beyond the door—were gone. “I’ve placed us in something like a bubble so that we can speak freely,” Jaxon said. “I’ve been doing that off and on for the last few hours, in case you were wondering. Prying ears will only have the information I allowed them to hear. Thank you for telling me everything. Now it’s my turn to share with you. Do you know what I found when I had my people dig into your background?”
I shook my head, bracing myself for what he might say.
“You, my little lioness, are Paldimori,” he said very matter-of-fact.
I shook my head. “Molly thought that too. But it can’t be. I would have known if I was one of your people. I mean, I would have had a birthmark, right?”
“I have verified the information several times. There is no mistake.” Jaxon watched me closely. “Your father was born Hector Acesius in the City of Aegletes in Sicily. His parents were high-ranking members of the House of Light. He was being groomed to take over his grandfather’s position as Kafàli, but he disappeared days before the ceremony to appoint him to his position.”“
“What? That can’t be. You’re wrong.” A strangled breath escaped. “My dad was a shipbuilder from Seattle. He was an only child. His parents passed away when he was twenty. He worked at a local shipyard where the owner saw his skill and took him under his wing. He eventually went out on his own and built a successful business” I recited the story my parents had told me many times. “He met my mom when she was on spring break from college. They fell head over heels and were married within a week.”
Jaxon examined me as if I were a fascinating new species to be picked apart so he could understand how I worked. “Your father was an only child. And yes, he worked for Jack Lawson—whom I believe you know—and several people claim they became good friends. From what I can tell, he must have met your mother during the Madonna della Luce celebration at Cefalù Harbor. Then he went underground for several years before re-emerging as Henry Davies of Washington accompanied by a wife and their six-month-old daughter.”
Could it be true? My parents had told me the story of how they met dozens of times. However, thinking about it now, they had never talked about the details. The story had always been about how they had locked eyes and knew right away they had found someone special. They had talked about their love and happiness in finding each other. There had never been any pictures of their families or stories ab
out them. The only pictures I had ever seen in our house were of our family after I was born.
“Lia, your father was a descendant of Apollo. As are you. That is why you survived the arrow. You healed yourself.”
That can’t be right, could it? My parents would have told me if they had powers—if I had powers. Some part of me said this was all true, but after everything that had happened, I couldn’t take one more betrayal. Violently, I pushed away from the table and rounded on him in fury. “No, take it back, you’re wrong.”
Jaxon stood slowly from his chair. His midnight blue eyes assessed me for a moment before he let his gaze drop. My guard dropped, hoping that he was going to claim it was all a joke. But he continued to stare down at some spot. If he was staring at my breasts . . . All the air escaped from my lungs as I saw what held his attention. There, hanging in the air between us, was his gold pen, the pointy end only an inch from his heart.
“I can only guess your powers were locked away for your safety. As you grew, so would they. They may have occasionally slipped through the block during times when you were upset or exerting a lot of energy. Like working out—or sex.” He smirked at this before continuing. “I suspect Grace’s power was mingling with your own to amp up the attacks on you. Certainly, you can now call them without conscious thought.” He nodded toward the pen. “You are very powerful, but you need training. And as interesting as it has been to be held at pen point, I do not wish to be stabbed.” He took a hesitant step back and the pen followed him threateningly “Please focus on moving the pen back to the table.”
How was I supposed to control it when I had no idea how I had even made it do what it was doing? I gulped. “Uh, stop that, pen? Bad pen?”
“That isn’t going to help.” Jaxon gritted his teeth. “Your will controls it, Lia. You have to make it return to the table.”
“Hey, I’m new to this magic crap. Give me a break,” I snapped. Ok, deep breath. You can do this. Focus! Be the pen or something. “Pen, go to the table.”
Instead, it stood upright and tipped back and forth like it was shaking its head no. “Why you little . . .! Get back on that table right now before I pull out your ink cartridge.”
The pen flew over to the table and dropped with a metallic clang. Then a snick sounded as the pen clicked itself and the ballpoint disappeared. I smiled triumphantly at Jaxon, but his expression had the smile slipping from my lips.
“I need to dig deeper into your background,” he whispered in awe. “Only the originals had creation powers. You are imbuing a bit of yourself into whatever you give life to. My gods, try not to use your powers or we’ll be overrun by sassy office supplies.”
Holy shit, was he saying I had brought a pen to life?
I wasn’t sure whether I should feel freaked out or fascinated. But I had more pressing things to worry about. “So, it’s true?” My heart ached with the knowledge that my parents had lied to me. “I really am one of you. How could my parents have kept that from me? You know what, it doesn’t matter right now. We have to figure out who’s framing me and how we get these charges dropped. Any ideas?”
“A few. I don’t think getting you out on bail will be much of a problem. It’s keeping you out of here and safe that are my top priorities. In the meantime, try to remain calm and keep those powers in check.” He paused, his expression troubled as his gaze swept over me. “Is there anything you need at the moment?”
“I can’t recommend the accommodations, but no one has tried to make me their bitch.” I gave him a half-hearted smile, but what I wanted to do was beg him to take me with him. “I’m fine for now.”
He carefully dropped the pen into his briefcase and gave me a wink. “The real crime here is that jumpsuit. How am I supposed to ogle your ass in that thing?”
30
True to his word, Jaxon had me out of jail the next morning. How he did it I wasn’t questioning. He greeted me at the door of the jail, amused by my bewilderment that he was actually able to get me out. Then ushered me to a car where he handed me off to Captain Jack who was ordered to stick to me like glue. When we arrived at my condo it was to find nearly every single inch covered in fingerprint dust and my things trashed. Thankfully, the captain had sent someone to the store to pick up bedding, clothes, and toiletries for both of us.
I spent an hour scrubbing myself down before I exited my guest bathroom. Unfortunately, I couldn’t scrub the last two days from my mind as well. My gut clenched as I walked down the hall to my bedroom, torturing myself, but I needed to face the scene of the crime. I should have taken the captain up on his offer to find a hotel, but I was determined not to let anyone force me from my home. Not the smartest decision. My skin crawled being here. The heavy weight of wrongness now tainted everything about the home I had loved.
I paused in the doorway to my bedroom, taking in the sight of my stripped-down bed. The picture of Natalie being abused right here popped into my head. Disgust and regret slithered through me. Had she been trying to get my attention all this time? To let me know that she was being abused by someone who knew me and had access to my home?
Turning away, I walked down the hall to the guest room. To my surprise, the room had been cleaned and the bed pushed against the far wall. A comfy-looking air mattress covered in purple bedding took up the middle of the room. A breakfast tray sat beside it with a wrapped sandwich and chips. On the other side of the mattress sat a beautiful wooden trunk with carvings of various scenes. The lid was raised, revealing new clothes in my exact brands and sizes. My fingers ran over the delicate scene on the front of the trunk that depicted a beautiful floral garden. I would have to ask the captain where it came from.
I slipped on the comfy pj’s and sat down to devour my meal, then stretched out on the air mattress with a sigh, barely able to keep my eyes open. I drifted into that in-between state of awake and asleep. Bennett’s voice whispering to me to rest was all I remembered before dropping off to sleep.
Rough fingers trailed along my outer thigh, making me arch toward that touch. “I have missed you, asteràki.” Tender kisses traced my spine. “The glimpses I have had through Jaxon are not enough. The touch through our bond is not enough.”
Those fingers grazed my stomach and traveled up to cup my breast. I whimpered but held still, afraid this dream would end too soon. “Asteràki, you are temptation itself. I vow that when the Games are over, I will tie you to my bed and devote days to pleasuring your body.” Teeth scraped against my neck and made me shiver. “I will hear you scream my name as I make you cum upon my tongue and fingers. When you become so sensitive that even breathing is torture, only then will I slide into your tight depths and ride you to oblivion. This I promise you, but tonight I am here for another purpose.”
I groaned and tried to pull his hands back to the parts of my body that ached for him. He chuckled as he pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “We will have many years to explore each other, but, even then, I doubt it will be enough. Come, asteràki. We have work to do.”
The bedroom faded away, and we were standing on top of a mountain peak under the night sky. The wind whipped through my thin pj’s, and I wrapped my arms around myself. Hundreds of feet below us a walled city circled the mountaintop like a crown. Spaced along the wall were turrets that spiked into the sky, their tops lit with glowing balls of fire. In the center of the fire rotated the black star-like symbol for the House of Chaos. Like the one on Bennett’s back. A luminescent street circled up the mountain, terminating at a giant archway that led directly into the mountain peak upon which we stood.
“This is the seat of the House of Chaos,” Bennett said as he wrapped his arms around me and pressed himself against my back. “One day soon I will bring you here for real to meet our people. First, you must learn to control your powers. Now we begin.”
Then we were in the middle of a desert under the bright sun. Bennett let me go. I stumbled forward, the sand shifting beneath my bare feet. Blech—my stomach did not agree with this form o
f travel. Drawing in deep breaths to settle it down, I paced along the sand.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I did not sign up for a dream about zipping around the world and having to take lessons from you. I should be dreaming about sexy guys bringing me margaritas and giving me foot massages.”
He scowled at me. “Who are these other men?”
“Nope, no sidetracking. This is my dream. Shoo! Be gone, nightmare.” I closed my eyes and wiggled my nose. Then peeked one eye open. Damn, that had worked for Tabitha.
He gritted his teeth. “Lia—”
“Why isn’t this working? Maybe I need to go more traditional. Abracadabra.” I swished my hands about. “Why are you still here?”
“Dream-walking is not like a normal dream. Although our physical bodies are still asleep, our consciousness is projected anywhere we choose. We started out in your dream, but I brought you into mine,” Bennett explained. “Just as you brought me into your dream of the throne room that first time. In time, you will be able to master this to create the dreamscape and pull in whoever you like.”
Right, because I was a magical Paldimori like him. “Can you at least warn me next time before the poofing?” I glared at him.
“My apologies, asteràki. This form of travel is natural to me. I will tell you next time before the ‘poofing’, as you say.”
I nodded when I saw his contrite expression. “What does that mean? As-asky, something?”
“I will make you a deal. If you agree to dream-walk with me nightly and allow me to guide you in learning to control your powers, I will tell you.”
“I don’t know how it works,” I confessed. “It just kinda happened before.”
He stepped forward, and I stepped back. “Lia, you must trust me. Promise me, and I will show you what you need to know.”
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 25