As she thought about growing up with Adin, their free will, and the gods’ hopeful thoughts that the two of them would choose to be together, she began to cry again. It seemed as if there were so many forces that wanted them to be together, but then there was the prophecy about River and now Venus. These two factors felt monumentally unfair.
She was able to pull herself together long enough to get ready for bed when she heard Adin walking into the house and up the stairs. He stepped into her bedroom and looked at her sitting on the bed. He was already wearing a pair of plaid pajama pants and a loose v-neck t-shirt. She got up and turned down the covers, and they both climbed in the bed, but she kept her back to him. She didn’t know if he wanted to try and talk tonight, but she knew she was in no mood for that. They’d have to save this conversation for the morning.
Adin put his arm around her and snuggled up against her back. She cried while he ran his fingers through her hair, but she tried to take deep breaths to stop the waterworks.
“I love you,” she whispered. And she did. She loved him more than she ever thought was possible. She wanted to love him forever, and it felt as if she didn’t have a choice about that—because she knew she
would
love him forever.
Adin squeezed her tightly. “I love you too, sweetheart,” he breathed into her ear.
She knew Adin loved her, but now with Venus in the picture, she didn’t understand what this could mean for them. She didn’t want to understand because she didn’t want to think about her. Not right now at least.
Adin continued to stroke Legacy’s hair until she cried herself to sleep.
And then the dream started. No solace for her tonight. It was a familiar one about weather, not that that helped her sleep any easier. She dreamed that a tornado was coming, but as soon as she realized that she needed to take cover, the sky turned a vivid pink color. Without the warning of thunder, lightning fell from the sky, but this was the strange lightning from before. It glittered and fell like confetti, disappearing before it reached her. As she took cover from the peculiar lightning, Adin was sitting at a patio table under a side porch of a traditional house—a house she’d later discovered was his mom’s house. Adin watched her approach him without getting up. Once she was at the table, he looked at her and handed her a broach with the numbers 1887 painted in the center on the enamel.
“Be careful,” he whispered with a protective look in his eyes.
Then it was over, just like when she had dreamed it several times before. But she knew she had talked to Lissa before the banquet about this very dream. She asked her about the lightning, and she realized that it represented her father’s love. Her father was Zeus and the lightning bolt was his symbol. Why she had this dream again, she did not know.
She spent the night tossing and turning, but at least she didn’t cry anymore. Every time she shifted positions, Adin moved too, making sure he always had his arms secured around her.
When she awoke again, she was lying on Adin’s chest with his arms around her. Since he was still asleep and she knew that she had kept him up most of the night, she slipped out of his embrace without disturbing him. It was still early, and she hoped he would get more sleep without her here.
After quietly leaving her bedroom, she went downstairs and contemplated her dream. She wondered why she had it again since she had discovered the hidden meanings in it already. She’d discovered the house in her dream was Adin’s mother’s house. The numbers 1887 identified the street address to Medusa’s store where she’d worked. And the lightning represented her father showering her with his love.
She was still sitting in silence thinking about this when she heard Adin coming down the stairs. She looked over at him as he walked around the couch to sit beside her.
“Hi,” she murmured.
He bent down and kissed her forehead before sitting. “Hi.” He yawned. “You should’ve woken me up.”
“I hoped you’d be able to get better sleep without me there.”
“Not possible.” He stroked her hair and looked into her eyes. “How are you?”
“Well, I’m not crying, but I don’t know if I’m any better.”
“I hated seeing you like that,” Adin mumbled.
“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t take the surprise as well as I should have. I know better than to let my emotions get the best of me.”
“Legacy, just because you’re going through changes, it doesn’t mean you have to ignore your feelings.”
She nodded, but she didn’t think he was entirely accurate. Lissa had said she needed to learn to deal with her emotions or the earth would suffer, she would suffer, and her loved ones would suffer. Last night was proof that Lissa was right because Adin had suffered.
“What are your thoughts about last night?” she asked, looking down at her hands as she nervously played with them in her lap.
Adin took a deep breath and moved his free hand to place it over hers. He kept stroking her hair while he spoke. “I think the same thing you do,” he whispered.
It wasn’t a specific response, but it was detailed enough for her to understand exactly what he meant.
She looked at Adin’s eyes, and they were sad. Why did she feel her stomach just drop? Hadn’t she been dealt enough crap over the last twenty-four hours? Try as she might, she knew. She just knew. Her thoughts drifted to their fight the night before the banquet when Adin confessed he’d been keeping secrets from her and that he’d continue to do that if he felt such information may be harmful to her. She had to ask, but she already knew the answer. “Did you already know about her?”
Adin shut his eyes. “Yes.”
Gods, she hated being right. “How much did you know before last night?”
“Umm…I heard Aphrodite created a goddess with the intent of offering her to me.” He kept his eyes closed.
“How long have you known this?”
Adin opened his eyes and stroked her hair. “My dad told me over the summer after you and I started dating. It’s one of the things we fought about on my first trip. I told you that we’d fought about Aphrodite.”
“And this is why you told me the other night that you couldn’t tell me things that would hurt me. You knew if I found out about this, it would upset me.”
“Yes.”
“What does your dad think?”
“He thinks I’m not going to be able to deny my attraction to her. He wanted me to go to school in Texas because he feared Aphrodite would send her likeness here since this is where I’ve always lived. He thought if I went to school out there, I could buy some time for my relationship with you to grow, which might help me with the temptation that she would present.”
“So your dad didn’t want you away from me because he believed in the prophecy?”
“That’s not what I meant. He believes in the prophecy, too. Since he believed in the prophecy, he tried to save me the heartache of your bond forming with River. When he realized I wasn’t budging, he told me about Aphrodite. It was just another angle he argued to get me to go to school out there.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked, looking down.
“I already told you that too,” Adin murmured. “I couldn’t stand the idea of being away from you. I already put my life on hold for stories about my change that never came to fruition. Since those stories never came true, why would I believe Venus actually existed? I didn’t know what to believe, so I didn’t know what to tell you. And I wasn’t going to move away from you for any reason.”
There was that. She stifled a sigh. “When did you meet her?” He knew who she was asking about by the way his back stiffened.
“Last week at one of the orientation seminars.”
“Was it a quick introduction with lots of people around?” Legacy didn’t know why the thought of this made her feel better, but it did.
“Yes. But then the next day, she came over to my table and ate lunch with me.”
She nodded, staring at Adin. That feeling of relief just went bye-bye.
“Umm, there were other people there too.” He shrugged, trying to make light of their encounter.
“When did you figure out she’s Aphrodite’s likeness?”
“Well, we don’t know that for
sure
…” Legacy’s eyes narrowed, and Adin modified his response. “Last night. When you did.”
She took a deep breath, preparing herself for this next question. She had been doing so well this morning. She hadn’t cried once, but she wasn’t sure if that trend would continue once she found the strength to ask him what she needed to. She exhaled slowly. “How do you feel about her?”
He looked at her with gentle eyes. “I don’t feel anything for her. Nothing at all.” He shook his head.
“Are you just saying that because you don’t want to say something that’ll hurt me?” She felt her eyes moisten, but she tried to keep the tears away. She wanted Adin to be honest, not tell her what she wanted to hear.
“No. Absolutely not. I may not want to tell you things that would ever hurt you, but I would never lie to you.”
“Was this the only thing you’ve kept from me for my protection?”
“No,” Adin whispered as he shook his head and shut his eyes again.
She was already in too much pain to hear anything else that might only cause her a fraction of the pain she was currently in. “Don’t tell me.”
“I’m not going to. Not right now.” Adin opened his eyes. “I may have to later, but I’d rather wait until it becomes necessary—if it ever does.”
“This is so unfair. First River and now Venus. It feels like external forces are trying to pull us apart.”
As she thought about the words she just spoke, she gasped. She already knew that River was a factor that had to be dealt with, but Lissa told her she hadn’t decided about her future because not all circumstances had come into play. She told her that once they did, her destiny would become clear. She realized now Venus was one of those circumstances. Her subconscious self knew this already because she had been so upset since leaving the banquet. But she had been so focused on her sadness that she hadn’t really considered the gravity of her appearance in her life.
“What are you thinking?”
She told him her thoughts, unable not be snarky when she said, “One of those factors presented
herself
last night.”
“I will
not
let her come between us!”
“Are you trying to convince me…or yourself?” she whispered, looking down.
Adin took his hand off hers and lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Legacy, I love you. I want to love you. You are all that will ever matter to me.”
“But River is proof that we can’t control our bonds. What we want now may not matter later.”
“But what we want now matters to us now. And what I want is you. What I need is you.” He leaned over and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him, and when they finished kissing, they held each other. “We will get through this, Legacy. I promise you, we will.”
“I hope you’re right because I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“You won’t have to imagine that, sweetheart. That’ll never happen. I will always be a part of your life. We are meant to be together. I know it. I can feel it.”
She had always felt that way about Adin too. But now, she didn’t trust that feeling. Not because she didn’t want to believe in that, but because she was scared to hope.
She loved him, but she still knew the reality of the situation. She was going through changes, and she truly hoped those changes did not include her losing the man she loved.
Chapter Two
“Why don’t you see if Calli and Zach want to go out with us tonight?” Adin asked, stroking her hair.
They’d spent the rest of Sunday and Monday together watching funny movies and playing games. Lissa had returned from her trip on schedule, but Legacy had stayed focused on Adin, trying to stay positive because she knew what his motive was for keeping her busy doing fun things. She was depressed, not stupid. She did enjoy his undivided attention, but in the back of her mind, she still thought about Venus. She did catch looks in his eyes a few times that she knew he didn’t want her to see. He was worried, too, but he was doing his best not to show it.
And damn it, she was tired of being a crybaby.
“That sounds awesome. I’ll go call her now.”
Calli was her best friend and the one she’d turned to when she needed to talk about River in the beginning because she hadn’t felt comfortable talking to Adin about him. Honestly, she didn’t feel completely comfortable talking to Calli about River either because Legacy knew her BFF had had a crush on him. But now Calli had Zach. They’d met over the summer, and they all hung out from time to time. Adin and Zach got along great. Legacy remembered wishing Adin and River got along just as well, but now she felt guilty for even thinking that. She knew she’d never be friends with Venus. Just thinking about being forced to be around her made her want to rip that stringy, dark hair of hers out from the roots!
Legacy called Calli, and she was up for it. Zach was already with her, so they were able to make the impromptu plans with ease.
The four of them met up at the neighborhood pizza place. They sat in a corner booth, and all laughed and talked. The atmosphere helped Legacy’s mood, but Calli’s questioning gaze flashed to her several times. It was obvious Calli knew something was up with her. They hadn’t talked since the banquet, but BFFs had that chick connection going on. She needed to clue her in on the latest development. She started to suggest a bathroom run, but her bitch radar went off and she looked up.
Freakin’ Ellen
.
With it being the night before school started, several people from Oak Grove were out enjoying their last night of freedom. Legacy shouldn’t be shocked Ellen had come out too. Along with Kate and their boyfriends, Thad and Eli.
Shocked? No. Irritated? Totally.
“Hi, Calli!” Ellen shouted from the door as she waved to her. Legacy didn’t bother hiding her cringe.
Calli waved back and smiled, but it wasn’t enough attention for Ellen. The
biotch
walked over to their table with Kate and their boyfriends following behind.