Betrayal (52 page)

“In the past it has always been that way. Every demigod set to reign had already had their memory intact. Your circumstance is a very unique one. This is the first time that an Ischero to be crowned doesn’t have their memory. The crowning fortifies your soul in a profound way. Therefore I believe that the crowning may be the missing link.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Please think positively, Delia. It will make the transition to power that much more successful.”

I nodded and said, “Ok, I’ll try.”

“I thank you on behalf of every member of the empire.” Evan said, chuckling quietly.

“I guess saving everyone is the least I can do.” I said, giggling.

“It’s the most, my love.” Evan said, smiling that mesmerizing smile that always quickened my heart rate. After a minute or two, Evan stopped massaging my feet, and looked me in the eyes and took a deep breath. “Cordelia, there are some things that I feel that you should be aware of. The empire is in dire need of your presence. When my father explained to you, a few days ago, about the peril we are in, you may have thought that he was being brash or blunt. But in actuality he explained it quite mildly.”

“What do you mean?” I said, thinking that this conversation had come to a fork in the road and that it could go one of two very different ways – either down the perilous path or continue down the enjoyable one we were about to get off of. Somehow I knew which way Evan was headed and I wanted to get up from the chaise.

“While Victor is a threat, he is a great one. He is accessing more power at an alarming rate.” Evan said, as I sighed.

“How is he able to do that?” I asked in a whisper.

“He has killed two more elders, and has forced the twenty left, including my parents, into seclusion.” Evan said gravely.

“How did he kill them?”

“It doesn’t really matter how.”

“I want to know.” I said, firmly.

“I’m sure that you don’t.”

“Tell me.” I said, reaching out to touch his arm.

Evan stared down at my hand and placed his hand over it. He stayed like that, motionless, staring at his hand over mine for a brief moment.

“The elders are demigods of lesser power if any at all since aging. Victor requires their hearts so that his strength can be magnified. The elder’s offspring guarded them because they were vulnerable, yet Victor was able to get to them, somehow.” Evan explained vaguely and skirted giving me the full details.

“How did he kill them?” I asked, impatiently, as Evan sighed.

“He tore their beating hearts out of their chests.” Evan said, staring me in the face. His voice never wavered as he spoke of the grotesque deaths of the oldest members of the empire. His eyes lingered. I gulped and pressed on. I could handle this, I thought.

“How much power does he have?” I asked, as the feeling of anxiety began to rise in me like the temperature on a hot summer day.

“Victor has surpassed my level of power.” Evan said, angrily then paused. “Yours is the only power he cannot exceed. I’m afraid that time is not on our side,” Evan added for good measure. “Without your strength, he can seize our empire by force and in numbers.”

“Do you really believe that my memory will be restored when I’m crowned?” I asked, sitting up, swinging my legs off Evan’s lap, and dropping my feet onto the ornate rug.

“I need you to believe it.” Evan said looking me straight in the eyes. Like water going down a drain I felt the color leave my cheeks. Evan was trying to get me to understand that the power was in me. That is also what Athena had meant. We sat that way, paralyzed in a gaze, for a long moment before either of us uttered a word. Since I was at a loss for words, Evan finally spoke.

“For Victor, the conquest is just that, a conquest. He just wants to win. There is no significance to his agenda. He is as greedy, if not greedier than his parents were.”

“Does he want to rule the empire?”

“He doesn’t give a damn about this family or our empire therefore, if we cede to him, ruling our empire would become a bore for him,” Evan said, sounding heated and out of breath.

“So what would happen to us?”

“We would either be fed to his newly acquired pack of werewolves, the largest and strongest pack, since he killed Donatella, the leader of the Lykaon.”

“But were stronger than werewolves, right? I mean you nearly defeated an entire pack in my dream, I mean when you and I were in the forest that night.”

“Yes, well I may be stronger, but many of our members would be slaughtered leaving us outnumbered.” Evan said, solemnly. “By then the Apolluon will have sensed our aura once we try to defend ourselves, and since the only power to stop them has been… well you understand,” Evan said, almost in a whisper. I gulped as if on cue, and noticed the goose bumps on my arm, that for once, were not a result of Winston’s presence, but from the icy chill in my spine by what Evan explained. “The Apolluon’s consumption of us would not cease with us.”

“It wouldn’t? I thought that they only hunted the Ischeros.”

“Victor is still an Ischeros in Hades’ eyes even if we don’t accept him. He is too blinded by greed to see that the end result will be his own demise, and ultimately Hades will have all of our souls.” Evan’s face was flushed with emotion.

“Would Zeus allow us all to die?”

“Zeus will not have to interfere because we will not let this escalate.” Evan declared.

The room was quiet as we both allowed Evan’s last words to hang in the air. I decided to break the silence. I decided it was a good a time as any to bring it up.

“I had a dream last night, and you were in it.” I blurted, and looked down at my hands.

“Delia,” Evan said, as he touched my cheek then gently lifting my chin so that he could look me in the eyes. “Was it that bad?”

“It was so real. I woke up feeling like I’d been where the dream took place – like a memory or something.” I rambled.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Evan said, letting go of my chin and then taking my hands in his. I trembled in his touch and then eventually calmed down.

“Yeah, I do,” I gulped, and plunged right in. “Like I said, you were in it and so were Bethany and Nikolas and several other Ischero members. I knew them by name, Olympia, Hedea, Julius, Bertrand, and I knew them well. You were all at Lucas’ and Sacha’s house. Well, you weren’t. You came later.” I said, pausing as Evan seemed to hang on my every word.

“Anyway the members abducted Lucas and Sacha by Glamouring them.” I said, as I watched Evan’s eyes twinkle as I mentioned the word Glamouring.

“Then they took them to a mine where you were waiting for them.” Evan eyes never left my face. Surprisingly, I no longer felt nervous talking to him. It was a familiar feeling, like two old friends reminiscing.

“Once the members brought them to the mine, Lucas was forced to tell you were Victor was hiding because you threatened to kill his sister. And there was blazing fire. Bertrand is a fire shifter. He almost burned Sacha alive. This is going to sound crazy but, I actually woke up choking from the smoke.”

At first Evan said nothing. He looked at me, admiringly, then shifted his eyes to a strand of hair that he moved away from my eye and away from my face.

“What you just described actually took place last night.” I was dumbfounded and began stammering.

“W…what? Did I dream it?”

“Yes and no. Yes you saw it as a dream, but somehow your mind saw it through someone’s eyes. I’m not sure whose eyes. You named everyone who was there. Obviously someone else was there and the others didn’t pick up on this beings presence.”

“A being?” It sounded creepy, especially when you didn’t know what being it was.

“Yes.”

“But how could I do that from a dream?

“I suppose you may have called upon someone in the subconscious, I’m not sure since none of us; no other Ischero has the capability to see an occurrence from their sub – conscious mind,” Evan said. “As you regain your strengths, we will learn what you are truly capable of.”

“So what happened?”

“Victor wasn’t found at any of the locations Lucas provided, but we have confirmed that they are his hideouts,” Evan stated, very matteroffactly. “But we’ve made it impossible for him to find a place to hide. He will surface soon, and we’ll be prepared for him.”

“So that’s what you meant by things being different after tomorrow night?” I asked sounding breathless.

“Yes.” Evan said, and I almost beamed that this horrible ordeal was almost over, but was it? I prayed that Evan was right about me regaining my memory once I was crowned empress. Despair began to rise up in my core again, and just like that the spark of hope had been doused like a match in the rain. I was trying my hand at being diligent. I did, for the first time, truly believe in who I once was, and that I will have my memory restored. Patience is the key. “Let's not talk about this now. Let's just rest.” Evan smiled sweetly.

“Ok, but I didn't expect to see you till this evening for dinner.”

“We won’t see each other this evening. Everyone will dine exclusively in their own chambers. It’s what my father meant by solace.” Evan let out a low sigh.

I leaned back against the back of the chaise, and enjoyed the oddly familiar touch as Evan continued to rub my feet in his large, toasty hands. He had done this for me before. I was sure of it. Knowing this, I closed my eyes and tried to place the occurrence, but nothing came. I had no control over the visions that seemed to have a mind of their own and came and went as they pleased... I wanted some control. I felt like a prisoner within myself.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know. I just wish I remembered who I was. I want some control over what’s happening to me. I feel kind of lost… still.”

“I want to help you. What can I do to make you feel –?”

“I don’t want you to do anything. I don’t need you to rescue me. I’m just telling you how I feel.” I said, a bit harshly. I hadn’t wanted it to come out that way.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, or make you feel in anyway weak.”

“I’m not upset, well not with you anymore.” I admitted, and watched his expression of recognition. “I don’t know. I’m just frustrated and… worried about tomorrow night, I guess.”

“I know you are. I guess I would be too, If I were you, and had gone through what you’ve gone through these past few days. Everything will be fine,”

Evan said, as he took my hands in his.

His hands were warm and strong and soft, all at the same time. I nodded because I felt safe with Evan although, I didn’t totally believe everything would be fine.

“How can you be so sure?” I asked.

“What? That everything will be fine, or that I know that you’re worried?”

“About everything being fine.”

“To be honest with you, I’m not sure of everything, but I’m sure of one thing, and I promise you this, I will make sure that you are safe. I want you to trust me, my love. I don’t want you to worry. I need you to think positively for tomorrow night. Please trust me.” Evan pleaded, as he took my face in his hands.

As I gazed into the blue pools of his eyes, something was blocking me from trusting him entirely. I couldn’t help the slight feeling of apprehension at his request, although I wanted to trust him. I just wasn’t able to let my guard down although; I was exhausted with being afraid. Damn near scared of my own shadow, of any shadows, period. I was crippled with fear.

We sat quietly for a while. Evan had resumed massaging my feet. The foot rub was so comforting, that I closed my eyes, and for the first time visions of Victor, the Apolluon as smothering shadows and as blood thirsty vampires, ravenous wolves and stealthy panthers didn’t appear. Evan stroked my cheek and I rubbed my cheek into his hand as he cupped my face. I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to lose the feeling of him soothing me. It felt so good like the promise of love unconditionally.

When I opened my eyes, Evan’s beautiful face was literally an inch away from mine. I looked deeply into his eyes and I knew then that I could trust him.

I did what felt so natural to me at the time. It felt perfectly right. I leaned in, and kissed him, tasted the sweet and saltiness of his lips, and felt the warmth radiating from his body. I wove my fingers through his thick hair, which I’d been yearning to stroke since seeing him in my dream, and lost myself somewhere between Evan and the chaise lounge, never wanting to be found unless it was in his arms. Evan kissed me back, devoured me with two years’ worth of love. With the flick of his tongue he parted my lips and pushed his lips down on mine. We held each other, one not wanting to lose the other.

Evan broke for air and said, “Delia…Delia, I love you. I love you so very… much.” I kept my eyes shut and didn’t want to let go of him. It was as if we were fused together with a magnitude emotions coursing through our veins like electricity. When I opened my eyes, my room was dimly lit by the setting sun. It took only a second or two to get my vision into focus. I sat up, and realized that I was loosely covered with a rose colored chenille blanket that I clutched for dear life. Disturbingly, I was alone. I must have fallen asleep or did I dream it all again? No. It was real, as it was the day before.

I wanted nothing more but to be kissing Evan this very second, and I wondered why and when he had left my room. The last thing I remember before the kiss was Evan asking me to trust him, and closing my eyes as he rubbed my feet. The sudden crackling from the fireplace was the only sound in my sitting room. I got up from the chaise and began turning on several of the oil lamps when a low rap on the door brought in Sun Paw with my dinner. I’d forgotten that everyone would be dining alone this evening. I suddenly felt so alone that I almost asked Sun Paw to join me. Sun Paw cleared one of the small tables, and placed my dinner plate, utensils, and wine glass on it.

I ate only half of my meal braised herb chicken, roasted potatoes and squash. I wasn't feeling very hungry. The only thing on my mind was what Evan had spoken of. I hoped like my life depended on it, and I was sure that it did, that tomorrow night would be the end of living in fear. I sat back in my chair, and placed my napkin back on the table, and contemplated this. It just seemed too good to put all of my faith in it, but of course I would. I had no other choice.