I playfully hit him on the arm, “Let’s go asshole.”
“I’m just saying, offer is always open,” he said laughing.
I walked over to Tristan, “Are you going to be okay with the babies while I’m gone?”
“Of course. They are in perfect hands. Besides, I have Gunner looking over my shoulder in case I need help.”
“Damn right. You don’t have to worry Lilith. I’ll make sure they are well taken care of,” Gunner said walking into the room.
I kissed Tristan before turning myself invisible. “Let’s get this over with Odin.” Odin walked toward me, “Ouch. Watch where you’re going.”
“Sorry. It’s not like I can see you.”
I placed my hands on his shoulders and placed him in front of me. “I’ll hold onto the back of your shirt. Remember, I’ll be sliding in on your side of the car. It will look mighty funny for your passenger door to open and shut by itself.”
Odin led the way to the car and when we were about to get in a short brown-haired guy walked up to us. “Are you leaving the property Mr. Odin?”
“Yes. I will be out for a while,” Odin said. I went ahead and slid in while the guy was distracted.
“I’ll call down to the gate and let Justin know you are heading out.”
“Thanks Michael,” Odin said as he got in the car. I watched Michael speak into a walkie talkie as we drove off. I assumed he was letting Justin know we were on our way. When we got to the gate Odin rolled down his window and spoke to another guy. I couldn’t see his face, but I assumed it was Justin. When they were done speaking the gate opened.
When his window was rolled back up, I said, “Your dad really does have this place on lock down.”
“Just a precaution so you can’t escape.”
“If he only knew that his very own son was driving me right out the front gate.”
“Very funny. He would kill us both if he found out.”
“Yeah, lucky for you, you have gotten on my good side lately. I guess I won’t tell on you,” I said teasing him.
“You keep teasing me and I’ll start to think you are flirting.”
“I am a married woman Odin,” I said pretending to be offended.
“That didn’t stop you from hooking up with Tristan.” I could tell he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Ouch,” I said and turned to look out the window.
“I’m sorry Lilith. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You know Odin there comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book.” We rode the rest of the way in silence. His words hurt me even though I didn’t feel bad about being with Tristan. Life doesn’t give you the people you want, it gives you the people you need. The people that will help you, love you and make you the person you were meant to be. Tristan is my person.
I didn’t feel bad for being with Tristan, but I did feel bad for Odin. I know he truly loved me. I guess he couldn’t stand the silence and awkwardness between us because he said again, “I really am sorry.”
“Odin, I hope you know I really did care about you. I loved you without reason.”
“Are you still mad at me?”
“I was never mad at you.”
“Then what were you?”
“Hurt.” I watched his shoulders fall from disappointment in himself. “The worst feeling in the world is being hurt by someone you love.” The tears started to fall. I think my heart was finally ready to bleed. “Stop the car Odin.” He didn’t hesitate. He pulled over and let me cry. The pain I locked away was finally surfacing. It felt like I was crying with my whole body. My heart ached so much I couldn’t take a breath, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t move. My mind was set on my pain.
I had locked my feelings away for so long, not facing them when I should have. It consumed me now. I had lost my parents to the guy I loved more than life itself. I loved him with every single heartbeat in my body. Odin was my world and my world crumbled and fell to pieces. It felt like I had found out the truth all over again.
When I finally collected myself, I looked over at Odin. He was staring out the driver side window. “Odin,” I called his name to let him know we could go now. When he looked over at me my heart fell again. His eyes were red and swollen. He was crying as well. “Odin,” I whispered his name heartbroken for the both of us.
“Lilith, I can’t tell you how truly sorry I am. I never meant to hurt you. I love you so much and when you left you took my heart with you. Seeing you hurt makes me hurt. You were my everything and I lost you. I lost the only good thing in my life. I miss the time when I actually meant something to you. It’s sad how you were such a big part of my life and now you’re just gone.”
“I’m not gone Odin. Sometimes people fall in love but aren’t meant to be together and that’s okay. We can be friends and doing so shows how mature we are. We can get over the fact that we weren’t meant to be together. And I will never forget you were my first love Odin. You will always have a special place in my heart. I have forgiven you for what you did. And I think it is time we move on and raise our babies as a family, an unconventional one, but all the same we are a family. And I will always love you, it’s just a different kind of love now.”
“I will always love you too just in the same way I always have. If being friends with you is the only way to have you in my life, then that is what I am willing to do. I will quietly watch you love someone else. I will silently watch you go on with your life while I love you secretly. And I will wait patiently for the only girl I have ever loved to come back to me.”
“You honestly believe that I’m coming back to you, don’t you?”
“Mark my words Lilith Rose, one day you will be mine again.”
I rolled my eyes at his confidence, “Come on, let’s get back to the mission at hand.” With that Odin pulled back onto the road.
Chapter Twenty-One
When we got close to Odin’s father's house, I made myself go invisible again. The closer we got the more active my nerves were. My fear was in overdrive. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if Draven was home. Odin pulled into the driveway and we both took a deep breath before he got out of the car. He acted like he dropped something on the ground to give me time to crawl out of his side of the car.
I grabbed the back of his shirt again as he led the way into the house. “Stay here. I’ll go check the house for my father,” he whispered to me. While he was gone, I stood as still as I possibly could. I was almost too afraid to breath. “He’s not here,” Odin said coming down the hallway.
“Who’s not here?” Draven said coming down from the stairs. All of my fears were coming to reality. I was so scared I didn’t even blink.
“You. I thought you were gone,” Odin said.
“No. I am here in the flesh. What are you doing here?”
“I just came in to catch up on some of the paperwork I’m behind on.”
“Well, I’m heading out. You will have to work on it alone.”
“I think I can handle it. Where are you off too?”
“I have a couple meetings in New York. I won’t be back for a few days. Tell me Odin, do you think you can handle Lilith while I am away?”
“Of course, I can.”
“Good. I knew I could count on you. I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Be safe.”
“Always.”
When Draven walked out the door, I finally started to relax a little. I watched through the window as he left. I didn’t want to take any chances of him returning. “That was close,” I said to Odin who was standing right behind me watching too.
“Too close. Let’s get this over with. I’m ready to get out of here.”
Odin walked over and knocked on the same door that was in the living room. No one answered, but he pushed the door open anyways. “Mom,” he called out for her, but she didn’t see
m to notice he had even entered the room. She was sitting in the same place she was sitting the last time I saw her, in a chair in front of a TV that wasn’t on.
I walked around Odin and made myself visible. I sat on the floor in front of her. When she finally noticed me, she smiled. “My precious Lilith. How have you been?”
“I have been just fine. What about you?”
“Why have you waited so long to come see me?”
“I know it has been a while. I’m sorry for that. But I am here now.”
“How has my boy been treating you?”
“He’s been just fine.”
“Adreana, I need a favor. Can you do something for me?”
“Sure dear. What do you need?”
“I am going to kill Draven, but I need your help to do it.”
Her eyes lit up. “I’ll help you. What do I need to do?”
“I will need to know when he is alone. He can’t have any bodyguards around. It needs to be just him. Can you do that for me? Can you call Odin when he is alone?”
“Yes. I can do that.”
“Thank you.”
“No sweetie. Thank you. I can’t wait to get out of this hell I’m in.”
“Okay. You understand the plan, right?”
“Yes. I will call when he is alone.”
“Okay. Great. Since Draven is out of town would you like for Odin and me to spend some time with you?”
“Oh, that would be lovely.”
Odin sat on the floor next to me and we spent the next two hours watching a TV that wasn’t on.
When we left, Odin was smiling so big. “What has you smiling like that?”
“You.”
“Why me?”
“Because, no one can get to her the way you do. It’s amazing to watch the effect you have on her. She doesn’t even talk to me when I visit her, but you just got her to let me watch TV with her. It may have been a blank screen, but it was the best two hours of my life. If you weren’t married, I would kiss you right now.”
“I’m glad you’re happy. It’s nice to see you smile again.”
“It’s all because of you.”
“Get us home. I’m ready to see my babies.”
When we walked into the house everyone was yelling and frantic. We ran to where their voices were coming from. Everyone was downstairs where the cells were. “Oh no. Ambi,” I said running down the stairs. When we reached the bottom and noticed what the commotion was, my heart fell. Ambi had Tristan with one arm wrapped around his neck.
“There that bitch is,” Ambi said when her eyes landed on me. “You made it just in time to watch me rip his fucking head off.”
“Let him go Ambi. You don’t want to do this,” Odin said.
“No. I think I do.”
“Let him go. I’m the one you want,” I said trying to convince her to let him go.
“I’ll kill him first while you watch. Then I will slowly take my time killing you.”
“You’re not going to hurt him, Ambi. Let. Him. Go.”
“Fuck you,” she said as she dug her fingernails into Tristan’s chest. I panicked as I watched blood drip to the floor. “A little harder and it’s bye-bye to lover boy here Lilith.”
“What do I have to do for you to let him go?”
“I’m not letting him go. I’m just having fun watching the fear build up in you.”
I couldn’t let her hurt Tristan anymore, but I knew I couldn’t get to him before she killed him. A chant formed on my lips before I knew what I was doing.
Time stand still- I order you,
No minutes’ pass until I’m through doing what I must do,
Time stand still- I order you.
When the chant was finished, everyone in the room was frozen in place. I walked carefully over to Ambi and released Tristan from her grasp. I shut the cell door locking her inside and as the lock clicked into place everyone unfroze.
I could see the anger radiating off Ambi. She was pissed beyond measure. “Bitch, one day I will kill you and everyone you love,” she said, and I believed her. She would try to kill me, I knew that. But that doesn’t mean she would be successful.
“How did you do that?” Odin asked.
“I’m not exactly sure, but I froze time, so I could free Tristan. It was the only thing I could think to do to save him.”
Tristan walked over to me and wrapped me into his arms. He kissed me on the top of my head before saying, “Thank you for saving me yet again.”
“What do you mean again?” Odin asked.
“Do you remember the bear shifter you sent to find her?”
“Yes. I sent him to track the two of you, but I never heard from him again.”
“Well that’s because she ripped his heart out when he tried to kill me.”
“That explains why he never returned. It seems like you will do whatever it takes to save the ones you love Lilith.”
“I’m willing to kill your father, aren’t I?”
“Indeed, you are.”
“Where are my babies?” I asked Tristan.
“In the room with Gunner. They are safe.”
I was walking into the room when Odin stopped me, “Hey Lilith.”
“Yeah.”
“Would you and Tristan like to move upstairs? You can take Tristan’s old room, or you can have ours.”
“Tristan’s room will be perfect. Thank you.” Tristan and I grabbed Ava and Elijah while everyone else started grabbing our things to move us upstairs. “Hey Odin, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure.”
“What about Parker and Bristol? They can’t stay down here.”
“We will move them upstairs too.”
“What about Fate? Before we came here Fate was supposed to come back, what happened to him?”
“My father kept him on the mission longer, so he wouldn’t know he had Bristol locked up.”
“Can you get him out of whatever mission he is on? Can you bring him here?”
“I will see what I can do.”
“We will need all the help we can get when it comes time to fight your father. I have a feeling it isn’t going to be as easy as we hope it will.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to get him here.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Now give me my little princess,” he said taking Ava from my arms.
“One more thing.”
“What’s that?” he asked between making cooing noises at Ava.
“Can we bring Tuls here also? She helped us once maybe she is willing to help us again.”
“Okay. Get Parker to give her a call but he will have to use my cell phone. It is the only phone in the house that isn’t bugged.”
“Thank you.” He nodded as he walked away. Gunner took Elijah from Tristan leaving us alone. I walked over to him “Come here. What the hell happened?” I asked pulling him into my arms.
“Gunner and I came down here to put the babies to bed when Ambi acted like she was hurt. I went in to check on her and that’s when she attacked me. Luckily, the lock locked when I went in and she wasn’t able to get free. Gunner ran up to get help, but she wouldn’t let anyone near the cell without killing me.”
“I’m just glad the witch inside me knew what to do and I was able to save you.”
“You are my own personal superhero.”
“She could have killed you. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”
“You aren’t losing me anytime soon baby.”
“I better not or I will bring you back to life just, so I can kill you again for leaving me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Within the next few days Odin kept his word on his promise. Fate and Tuls arrive tomorrow. Odin called us into the dining room for a meeting. When I got there Daveh and Razi were seated at the table. “What are they doing here Odin? They work for your father.”
He didn�
�t get a chance to answer. “We would like to help,” Daveh said.
“Help with what?” I asked confused.
“We want to help you take down Draven.”
“Why?”
“You aren’t the only prisoners here Lilith,” Razi said catching me off guard. He normally didn’t speak, to anyone.
“Draven has kept you prisoner?”
“Yes. He will not let us return to our realm. We are fairies, if we do not get back to our realm soon, we will no longer exist as such.”
“You mean you won’t be fairies any longer?”
“No. We will turn human, but we will not live for very long once we turn.”
“How long does it take you to die after turning human?”
“Longest any fairy has lived after turning is a week.”
“Why do you have to get back to your realm? I mean why do you turn human if you don’t return?”
“Our realm is called Land of Lore. The waters are clearer there. The trees, grass, flowers are brighter. The air is unpolluted. The land untouched by humans. There are fields and fields full of nature. It also grows the Huath tree. We must eat the bark of this tree in order to stay fae. The Huath tree is like your Hawthorn tree that grows in Ireland.”
“Can’t you just eat from the trees we have here?”
“No. Our tree is full of magic. The bark of the Huath is what gives us our powers, our strength.”
“What powers do you have?”
“Same as you mostly. Invisibility, telekinesis, teleportation and strength. We can also fly, and we can tell if a person has a soul or not. We are also immortal as long as we eat of the tree.”
“So, do you have weaknesses like in the books?”
“Such as?”
“Iron?”
“Iron will hurt us, but it will not kill us. Silver burns our skin. Cream is a weakness and a delicacy for fairies for the same reason, it gets us drunk. And the worst weakness of all fairies is salt or sugar. If you spill it onto the ground, we have no choice but to count every single grain. We can’t resist it.”
Beautiful Corruption (The Corruption Series Book 2) Page 14