Divine Encounter

by JoAnna Grace

  “It’s more complicated than tha—”

  “Ashton Avondale is here, in my Haven. I’m convinced he’s about as innocent as his sister. Trust me, Evander. You’ll want to keep this teleporter close and hidden. We’ll deal with it when I return,” Ryse commanded with clipped tone, offering no room for arguments.

  “Yes, sir.”

  His cousin sighed on the other end of the phone, his voice much softer when he spoke again. “Cousin, take care of yourself.”

  “I’m not the one passing into the land of the dead, Ryse. You don’t worry about me.” It touched his heart to hear his cousin chuckle, Ryse didn’t do it much.

  Their world was changing, and not in a good way. First his Uncle Troy was murdered, and that had rocked the foundation of existence. Deities, especially the Grand Deity, were not supposed to be assassinated, and they damn sure weren’t supposed to be killed by another member of a royal house.

  Salina Avondale, the European Princess, had never been right in the head. Evander noticed that when she was a youth. The princess was beautiful and there was no denying Aphrodite had anointed her. However, once he had seen inside her brain, saw the black of her thoughts, he’d put a lot of distance between them. Speaking out against her would’ve been treason, but now he wondered if he should’ve risked it decades ago. Would his uncle still be alive if he had?

  Imagining what Ryse and Hayden were going through had his stomach churning. Troy had been the model Deity. He was devout in his faith, patient yet authoritative, kind but not weak, strong but not an overbearing tyrant. Zeus had chosen the Grand Deity well. Surely he would appoint the next ruler with the same consideration.

  Now Hermes had come to earth and was collecting the Deities to go to the Heavens. He blew out a loud breath. Talk about unprecedented.

  He stood and looked out the window of his estate. Ryse’s call had made it clear he should be on alert. More Thracians would be here by morning. If the gods were summoning Deities, it no doubt left the world in a state of shock. What was it like, he wondered, to see Hermes? To be in the presence of the very gods he prayed to? He shook his head. Yes, these were strange times, dangerous times.

  What was the Olympian world coming to when a civilian was safer out in the human population than in a Haven?

  If he could convince Keona to bring her sister to his estate, they would be secured. Gods, but he had to see her again. He had to know she was safe and protected. Then, and only then, would he worry about her last name and the implications thereof.

  Keona paced the floor and popped her knuckles. Piper sat silently on the couch, watching her movements. Her sister’s face revealed all the concern and fear that Keona mirrored. All day long she’d gone back and forth about what to do with Evander. Around lunch time, Keona was paged to the front desk where a bouquet of flowers sat. The lady behind the desk gave her a cold stare, but Keona’s heart constricted when she read the attached note.

  Please meet me where you left. I have to see you again. My thoughts are with you.

  –Paul E. Smith

  Now she was truly conflicted. Was she really going to do this? Was she really going to going to see Evander again after everything he’d told her last night? He was royalty, a nephew to the Grand Deity. His uncle might have been tragically killed only a short while ago, but Evander was still part of that family. Royal blood ran through his veins, and she was nothing more than a street rat.

  “I’m not going.” She planted her feet, firm in her decision, but her heart hammered in her chest.

  “Why not?” Piper asked calmly. This was what they did, how they worked things out. Keona was the talker, the pacer, the pull-your-hair-out type. Piper asked questions to help her verbally work things out.

  “He’s royalty. I’m an urchin.” Keona paced once more.

  “Not true. You’re a powerful Olympian that simply lacks funding.” Piper grinned when Keona shot her a dirty look.

  “What if he knows about about mom? What if they realize who she was and we’re imprisoned or something?”

  Piper tilted her head and softened her expression. “Why would they imprison us for her crimes? They don’t know the whole story, Keona. As far as the world is concerned, Marlaina’s daughters were killed.”

  “Evander would never want to be with the daughter of the woman who betrayed the race.”

  “Mom didn’t betray the race.” Piper looked down at her hands. “They tortured her, they kidnapped us and forced her to do their bidding. If he’s half the man you think he is, don’t you think Evander would take the circumstances into account?”

  Keona threw up her hands in defeat. “Of course he would. Because he’s amazing and caring and wonderful and unlike any other man I’ve ever met.” She flopped down on the couch and Piper pulled her feet across her lap so she could rub them. The tiny shoes from last night had caused all kinds of aches and pains.

  “Then why don’t you lay your cards on the table and he can take it or leave it?” Piper suggested.

  Keona met her sister’s eyes. “Because I really don’t want him to leave it. I finally found a guy that I don’t have to hide my gifts from.”

  “Then don’t hide, Keona.” Piper smiled and it brought peace to her sister’s heart. She had to be the gentlest person on the planet, and Keona loved that about her.

  Keona sighed. She knew what she had to do. “Want to go back to Italy for a while?”

  Piper checked her watch. “I’d kind of like to sleep.” She blushed. Sleep meant finding her mystery man.

  “Have you learned anything new?” Keona sat up. “Name? Location? What had him so upset the other night?”

  “I know we’re in the same time zone. We both sleep about the same hours. I know he’s very upset about losing someone in his family.” Piper sighed, her eyes gathered moisture. “I know that I want to find him more than anything.”

  “And you’re one hundred percent sure he’s real?” It would be horrible if her sister longed for a man that existed only in her subconscious.

  Piper nodded, and turned her head away to wipe her tears. “I’m hoping, maybe naively, that Evander can help. He has connections.” She had a far off look in her eyes, like she was already in a dream. “I’m scared, Keona. He told me last night he had to leave for a while and he didn’t know when he would return. What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know, sis. I just don’t know.” If for no other reason, Keona needed to get to know Evander so that they could find Piper’s mystery man.

  Thirty minutes later Keona transported herself to the park where they’d agreed to meet. This time there was no fancy dress, no high-heeled shoes or makeup. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore her best jeans and her fairly new Chicago Cubs sweatshirt. Her sneakers were the most expensive things she wore. Being on their feet all day at the hospital, both sisters had invested in decent shoes.

  To her great surprise, Evander sat on a bench a few yards away. He was leaned over with his elbows on his knees. He, too, was casual compared to the fine suit he wore the night before. Unlike her, his jeans were pressed and he wore a leather jacket over his polo. He still looked like a million bucks.

  “Keona.” He stood and rushed to her. “Hear me out, please.”

  Keona had taken two steps backward and her apprehension must have shown on her face. Usually, her façade was flawless. Evander cut through her defenses in a way that frightened her all the way to her bones. How could she care so much about a man she’d just met?

  “Look, thanks for the flowers. They’re beautiful, but this isn’t a good idea, Evander.”

  “Why not?”

  She shook her head, sending her long hair over her shoulder. “I’ve spent my entire adult life keeping out of the spotlight and away from other Olympians. I should’ve walked out of that restaurant as soon as I saw your aura last night.”

  “Listen.” He took her arms in his hands. “I don’t want to frighten you, but things are unstable right now. I spoke with
Ryse this morning and he told me that all the Deities have been summoned to the Heavens. He’s going to Olympus.”

  Keona’s jaw dropped. “You…spoke…to the Master Thracian…this morning?”

  “He’s my cousin.” He shrugged the connection off. “You’re missing the point.”

  Evander didn’t understand the magnitude of what he’d said. The Master Thracian was legend, the monster under the bed that Olympian mothers used to threaten their misbehaving children. Many Olympians didn’t dare to speak his name in case it somehow conjured him. Ryse Castille was the sword of the gods, the executioner of the Olympian race…and Evander was his kin. If he ever found out about their mother, Ryse would kill them for sure.

  “Keona, right now is a dangerous time for a woman with your powers to be out in the open. Ryse said the Rogue’s teleporter was killed and they’re on the hunt for another one.”

  Ice hardened in her veins, and fear strangled her. Rogues were hunting teleporters and they knew Marlaina Nadal had a teleporting daughter. Oh gods.

  She was lost in her own dread, but Evander kept talking. “He ordered me to keep you close until he returned from Olympus. Trust me, baby, if I found you with my tracker, they can find you, too. I’m worried about y—”

  “Wait.” She held up a hand to silence him, her brain snapped to attention. “What do you mean when he gets back from Olympus? He’s going to the realm of the gods and you told him about me? You told the Master Thracian that I’m a teleporter?” Her chest rose and fell with deep pulls of air. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? He can’t know about me.”

  Evander looked around as her voice rose. She had to remember they were in a public park even though this area was secluded. When he reached for her hand, she backed away.

  He closed his eyes and fisted the hand he’d lifted to her. “Please don’t act like I’m going to hurt you. That kills me.”

  “You’re reaching for me because you want to control me.” Keona took another step back.

  “I’m reaching for you because I’m scared you’re going to vanish and I’ll never see you again.” Evander ran both of his hands through his hair, messing up the perfect part. “Can you listen to what I’m saying? Let me explain.”

  “Fine, but you keep those hands to yourself.” Truth be told, she wanted to fall into his arms so bad it was eating her alive. Desire was a living and breathing beast inside her. All day she’d ached to be in his presence again, to kiss him with reckless abandon and taste him once more. But safety was her first priority.

  “The deities are assembling in Olympus, the Rogues are hunting—hear me, Keona—hunting for teleporters and young women that could possibly be a Divine Grace. We have traitors everywhere and I’m not willing to risk your life and the life of your sister just because you’re scared Ryse might find out. Of all the people in the world you should ally with, it’s him. And more importantly, I’ve been going insane with need for you since you left me last night.”

  That got her attention.

  Evander clasped his hands behind his head then dropped them to his side. He was so different than the man she met in the café who had everything under control. Tonight he was edgy, almost in a panic. And over what? Her?

  “I paced the floor all night wondering if you were all right, wondering if you needed anything, wishing I could’ve kept you with me.” He let out a ragged breath. “I’ve never reacted like this, I’m sorry. You just, damn it, you turn me inside out and I barely know you.”

  “So you’re not trying to turn me in?”

  He tilted his head to the side. “No. To who? Why?”

  Keona couldn’t stand it any longer. She stepped close and ran one hand up his chest and around his neck. Both of them sighed at the contact. Evander ran his nose over her cheek and kissed her temple. For long moments they held each other and she absorbed the comfort of his aura. Keona hadn’t let down her guard in many years. Safe in Evander’s arms, she let her emotions ripple out and mix with his. Forehead to forehead, she closed her eyes and leaned against him.

  “You feel that, right?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. Her heart rate slowed, her breathing evened out, and her nerves calmed. Being in his arms was like coming home after a long journey. Perfect.

  Keona finally put her head on his chest and prayed he didn’t freak out over her next confession. “My parents were killed by the Rogues. My father, like Piper, could see inside the body and heal. He was one of the greatest minds in the world, a genius of his day. Mom was one of the most powerful teleporters on the planet. When she would get angry, things in our house would disappear and reappear in another room.” She felt his chest move as he chuckled. His arms tightened around her and she felt safer than ever.

  “I remember one time my dad was cooking omelets and Mom was mad because I left out my roller skates and she tripped on one. We were laughing because it was such a perfect fall. One step and out went her foot. She landed on her back, feet in the air and cussing like crazy. Dad hollered. My roller skate was sitting right in the middle of his omelet. The tires started melting. We laughed even harder until even Mom broke down and joined us.

  “Our family was full of laughter, full of joy and love, such deep love.”

  Evander tilted up her chin and kissed the tear that trickled down her cheek. “Tell me more,” he whispered.

  She rested her head back on his chest, unable to look at him. “We were twelve when the Rogues first attacked our home. In the middle of the night Piper and I woke to screams.” Her mother’s screams were forever burned into her brain. “Dad fought them off while Mom tried to get up the stairs to us. She burst into our room and told us to open our shields completely and let her in. If my mother could get inside your aura, inside your mind, she could take you anywhere without touching you. We ran into the hall and saw my Dad. He was holding them back but he was a man of science, not a warrior. Mom held out her hand to force her aura to him and grab his mind. Just as she blinked us out, a man put a bullet through my Dad’s head.”

  Keona remembered the blossom of red that bloomed on her father’s head and dripped between his eyes. Bile rose in her throat. “As soon as we landed in a forest across the world, my Mom tried to make Piper heal him. She was just learning the nuances of her gifts and she was so scared and freaked out that she couldn’t.”

  Piper had tried her hardest, their mother knew that, but Piper’s best hadn’t been enough to save their father. That was a guilt Piper carried with her to this day.

  “We buried my Dad in Russia in an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere. Everything changed after that. When we were seventeen they found us again. They had a man that could control our bodies. He didn’t have to touch us; he didn’t have to speak. One minute we were tending the garden on a farm in South Africa, and the next we were immobile. We had no ability to fight back. He told my Mom that if she didn’t do as he asked he would kill us. Our auras were locked up so tight some of the Rogues thought we were humans. Mom lied and said I was telekinetic and Piper was a low grade Paean. For two years we lived under lock and key while they made Mom work as their teleporter.”

  “Why didn’t you leave?”

  Keona asked herself that question every day. Why didn’t she just blink out? Why didn’t she take Piper to a safe place? There was only one answer. “I wouldn’t leave my mother. And I watched her die a little more every day. She had to witness them kill people, rape young women. If she pleased them, we would get to visit her. She always told me to leave, to run, but I was I kid, I didn’t know where to go, how to take care of Piper. I was scared.” Her entire body trembled, the fear of those days flooded her mind. Evander placed his hand on her cheek and a soothing warmth seeped into her bones, calming her shaking and relieving her fear. The devil on her shoulder feared he was persuading her to speak somehow, but she knew the signature of his powers and didn’t feel them in his touch.

  “Finally, one day she told us that when she gave the signal I was to telep
ort out with Piper, no questions asked. I refused at first because I knew she wasn’t going to be with us. But they’d done something, brought some great evil into their midst and she knew it was too dangerous for us to be their captives any longer.” Keona sniffed and looked into Evander’s eyes. “She fought them, killed dozens. The man who controlled us with his mind, he stepped in and she couldn’t fight that kind of power. That was her big distraction, getting herself killed.” For so long, Keona held on to the hope that her mother would get them out, that her mother had a plan to kill the leader and save the day. When Marlaina fell, all her hope was gone. She had no reason to stay, no reason to hide her powers. “I grabbed Piper and teleported her to Russia where we buried my Dad.”

  “And you’ve been on the run ever since,” Evander finished for her.

  Keona nodded. They were still standing in each other’s arms. The sky had faded into darkness, the wind blew tendrils of her hair around her face, but she’d never been warmer or felt safer.

  “No one will force you like that, Keona. All Olympians should have a choice if and how they use their gifts. I remember stories about your mother. She was a wanted criminal.”

  Keona stiffened and tried to pull away.

  Evander held her tight. “No one knew, baby. No one knew she was working with them to keep you alive. Even before your parents were found by Rogues, they kept your identities hidden. We knew the Nadals had children, but nothing more. Rumors circulated that you were dead, that you’d joined the rebels, but no one ever had evidence of anything. If Marlaina was blackmailed and trying to protect you, that changes everything.” He ran his fingers down her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lips. “Thank you for letting me in.”

  “Thanks for sending the really big Thracian to watch over us.” She gave him a shy smile and bit her bottom lip.

  “I really need to kiss you again.” That was his warning before he bent to claim what he needed. Evander’s lips were gentle, coaxing her to respond with a slow burning flame that settled deep in her core. He lifted his head and rubbed his nose to hers, the gentle affection claimed her heart one small piece at a time.