Goddess Revenge: Goddess Series Book 4 (Young Adult / New Adult) (23 page)

“Oh, Legacy,” Olive said suddenly. Legacy unwillingly looked in her direction, and she noticed that Adin looked at her too. “I forgot to tell you. The police called this morning when you were in the shower. You know that guy who attacked you?” Adin’s head snapped in Legacy’s direction, but she just nodded at her. “He was found dead last night.”

“What?” She barely whispered, incredulous.

Olive didn’t have an opportunity to respond.

“What is she talking about?” Adin asked her at the same time.

“Ummm…some guy, er, grabbed me and tried to hurt me at a basketball game.”

She heard a gasp and looked around the room. She didn’t know if it was Myrha or Rose. Both looked at her with panicked eyes.

But they weren’t the only ones. Adin’s eyes were also alarmed, but there was another emotion struggling to dominate his reaction—and that emotion was rage.

The rage brewing in his eyes tugged at her memory, making a distant memory fly to the forefront of her mind. “
You don’t think I’m going to let him get away with hurting you like that, do you
?” River had said to her the day after Casey’s attacks. Only she hadn’t had an opportunity to press him about it since he was eager to work on her shocking ability.

And now Casey was dead, and River was conveniently out of town.

Would he? Could he?

She felt the blood fall out of her face. She knew there were no coincidences.

“How did he die?” she asked quickly.

“Um, the police said he was attacked by an animal while he was out camping with some friends.”

“W-what kind of animal?”

“The other guys didn’t get a good look. They think it was a bear, though.”

Legacy and Olive seemed to be the only two people coherent enough to speak at the moment. Rose and Myrha still looked panicked. Adin’s rage was winning over his panic, and Lissa was staring at Olive in disbelief she’d brought it up now.

Legacy frowned at Olive. “A bear?”

“That’s what they think. But it was dark. They saw the huge animal like creature drag him into the woods, and when they found his body, he’d been mauled.”

She shuddered as she envisioned the assault of her attacker, knowing this had to have been deliberate. She was having a hard time processing this, but she didn’t have long to try.

Adin’s head shot to Rose. “We have to make sure it wasn’t a god who tried to destroy her.”

“He’s dead now, Dinny. It doesn’t matter?” she said evenly.

“Yes, it does! We have to know what family he belonged to. If he came here to destroy her, then he may not be the only one who knows. There could be others!”

Legacy didn’t really think about him taking the news like this. He’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about her attack, and she needed to set him straight. “I don’t think he was a god,” she whispered, looking down at her fidgety fingers.

“Why?” he asked a little too brusquely as his head snapped in her direction.

She looked up at him and sighed. “Because he didn’t try to kill me.”

“But you just said—”

“He came
on
to me before the game, Adin, and I brushed him off. When it was over, he grabbed me and pulled me under the bleachers. His intent was not to kill,” she said awkwardly.

The rage on Adin’s face morphed into horror as the reality of her attack sank in.

“Oh, Legacy,” he whispered, pulling her into a hug. “Oh my God.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered against his chest. “Nothing happened.”

He wasn’t soothed. He just held her tightly as he shook his head until he was finally able to pull away.

“Tell me what happened,” he said, his hands staying on her face.

She took a deep breath and started from the beginning. Adin’s expressions alternated between horror and rage as she recalled the incident, taking it particularly hard when she described how rough Casey was with her. He continued holding her face, staring at her in silence even after she was finished with the gory details. After what seemed like several minutes, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“What are you thinking?”

His eyes grew cold. “I was thinking he got what he deserved, but it’s unfortunate I wasn’t the one to end him.” He spoke with true conviction.

“Adin!” Myrha chided.

He didn’t seem to hear her. Or he didn’t care.

“I…I’d rather not talk about this anymore,” she said quickly.

He nodded stiffly. He wouldn’t talk about it anymore, but she could tell he was far from ready to forget about it.

“How was your trip?” she asked to try and force him to think about something else.

“Fine.” His answer was too swift.

Rose stood up and grabbed some plates. Myrha, Lissa, and Olive took her lead. As soon as the room was clear, she sighed.

“Let’s go talk somewhere else.”

He nodded, stood up, took her hand, and guided her out of the dining room. He took her to his bedroom, and she sat on his bed while she watched him pace, getting angrier by the minute.

“Adin,” she said softly.

“I never should have left!”

She knew he was mad, but she didn’t think he’d feel guilty for not being there for her. His anger wasn’t directed toward Casey. It was directed toward himself.

“No, Adin. Don’t do this. It’s not your fault some jerk tried to have his way with me.”

Her words made him flinch.

“I should have been there.”

“I wouldn’t have let you.” She’d needed to play River, and she knew there was no way she would’ve been able to do that with Adin watching. It was hard enough doing what she’d done just thinking Adin knew she was spending more time with River.

He stopped and looked at her incredulously. A flicker of light flashed in the coldness of his eyes.

“You
know
I
wouldn’t have,” she whispered, standing up. She walked over to him and slid her hands around his back. Adin held her tightly, almost painfully.

“I know,” he breathed. “I-I just…it’s just the thought of—”

“Don’t,” she whispered against his chest. “It’s over. Besides, I’d rather be talking about happier things.”

He sighed. “You’re right.” Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head and left his head buried in her hair. It took him awhile to let go of the news he’d just heard. “So what are we going to do about us?” he asked, and his tone was much softer now.

She stepped back and looked up into his penetrating eyes. “I think…we should do whatever we want,” she said with a small smile.

Adin’s hands slid up to her face and he kissed her. She held him tightly as he walked her over to his bed, not breaking the kiss.

When Adin’s mouth left hers and started kissing her neck, she murmured, “Okay. Maybe doing whatever we want wasn’t the right thing to suggest just yet.”

He chuckled as he pulled away. “Legacy, I’m not going to make love to you…
yet
.” He smiled, stepping up to her, his hand brushing her cheekbones. “I still think we should wait until our unwanted bonds are dealt with, and we’re perfectly alone. No matter how much I may want you, I still want to do the right thing. But,” he said in a humorous tone, “I
have
thought a lot about it.”

He stepped away and sat on the bed. She sat beside him.

“Once I got the agony of our breakup controlled—it never went away,” he said quickly, looking at her, “but when I got it controlled and I was in my right mind again, I realized we would still have a future together, so I found myself thinking about being with you in every possibly way again, as if we’d never broken up.”

He seemed almost embarrassed confessing this.

“Adin, I—”

He didn’t let her finish. He gently pressed his lips to hers and kissed her again. “I just don’t want you pushing me away anymore.”

“I didn’t push you away last night,” she murmured.

He sighed. “You started to.”

“Yeah, because I was trying to do the right thing,” she said playfully.

Matching her playful tone, he said, “Oh, you
did
do the right thing. Very, very right thing.” Then he kissed her again.

“You have got to start exercising some willpower. We’ve already established I have none.”

Adin shook his head with a playful grin. Then he grabbed her and yanked her up against his chest, quickly, suddenly, touching his lips to hers. “Who cares about willpower?” he asked, and kissed her.

But that quick motion and thinking about willpower made her think about other powers—well, not powers—Adin’s skills, actually. She knew he was faster than the average human and strong enough to do some serious damage to River’s face. Granted, River hadn’t ascended when they’d had their fight, but he was much bigger than Adin.

She pulled away and gazed into his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” he murmured.

“Why are you fast and strong? You didn’t really explain that to me before.”

He sighed and shut his eyes. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and opened them. “I’m not entirely sure. My dad has some theories, but they’re just guesses. What I do know is my mother is mortal, and my dad is not. I figured I got traits from both of them.” He shrugged.

“So your dad is fast and strong like you?” she mused.

“Yes.”

“But he’s a god.”

He gave one short nod. “Yes.”

“I wonder why you didn’t ascend,” she mumbled, more to herself.

“Sweetheart, there are people all over the world that descended from Greek gods that don’t know where they came from. Those people just think they have special skills. The difference between those people and me is that I know where I came from.”

He was right. She remembered River telling her about this when he’d first told her about Greek mythology. But she hadn’t really thought about explaining Adin’s skills this way. It did make sense, though.

He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, “So I’m strong enough to protect the both of us.” She nodded against his head, not saying anything. “When you suggested doing whatever we want, did you mean you want to get back together?”

“You know I want to be with you,” she whispered as she rubbed her hands on his chest.

“I know, but if we’re doing whatever I want, then we’re getting back together. Officially, I mean.”

“I still don’t know what to think about the prophecy and the chance that I might kill you myself,” she muttered.

“We can figure it out together. As long as we’re together, we can handle anything. Just say the word, Legacy,” he breathed, and she could feel his body trembling in anticipation, waiting for the confirmation he’d longed to hear ever since she’d broken his heart.

She looked up at him and smiled. “Together.”

Adin kissed her suddenly, holding her tightly. As he pulled away, he whispered, “Forever.”

Chapter Eighteen

River was late.

He’d gotten back this morning, and he and Legacy had made plans to talk this afternoon. He wanted to go back to the cliffs at the river, and she had a pretty good idea why. He’d taken her there the night they’d gone out on their date. She figured he hoped the locale would somehow soften the blow or change her mind completely.

But she knew he still had no idea why she was putting an end to their romantic exploration.

She waited, sitting on the couch, strumming her fingernails on the end table, feeling the anxiety of the inevitable conversation build. Lissa walked in and saw how tense she was.

“Legacy, you’re doing the right thing by coming clean with him.”

“I know.”

Legacy had told Lissa and Olive about her intentions, and they were both pleased. But both of them seemed slightly apprehensive about her getting back together with Adin. Neither one voiced any concerns, but she could see the worry in their eyes. They knew what kind of risk they were taking getting back together, and she knew their fears were because of the prophecy and the course of her change.

She heard River’s Mercedes pull into the driveway and sighed.

“Don’t forget your jacket. It’ll be even colder on the cliffs,” Lissa said.

Legacy nodded, grabbed her jacket, and threw it on as she ran out of the house.

River was walking toward the house when she came out.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Oh, it’s okay.”

He turned around in front of her and walked back to his car, opening her door.

Once he got in and they were on the road, she figured they’d start talking.

They didn’t.

She could see River from the corner of her eye, and he looked so uneasy. Part of her wanted to try and ease his concerns, but the other part of her realized that’d be a mistake. This would not be easy on either of them. She shouldn’t pretend it would be.

Once they arrived at the cliffs, River walked her to the boulder they’d sat on when they were here last time.

With a heavy sigh, he said, “Okay, Legacy, let me have it.”

His comment threw her off. She didn’t know what to say to that. “Er, what do you mean?” She needed clarification. Did he already know what she was about to tell him? Had he known all along that she was playing him because of what he’d done to her? She remembered the day after her attack, thinking he could read minds. She’d discredited that thought when she realized he was reading auras, energies, but maybe she discredited it too soon.

“You’re pushing me away. Your energy was pushing me away when I came to tell you I had to leave town. You hadn’t done that in weeks. Well, not unless we were kissing. I know your mind is set.”

“You’re right,” she whispered, looking down. Again with the wild imagination about River reading minds. She needed
her
brain checked. She was just paranoid, but she had every right to be. He had lied to her. He’d broken her trust. She had forgiven him, but he didn’t even know she was mad at him to begin with.

He looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

She shook her head while she stared at him. She needed to find the strength to tell him.

“Look,” he whispered. “I know you don’t want to be involved with me right now. You don’t have to say it. I can feel it. I just don’t understand why.”

Right now
? So that was why he wasn’t fiercely arguing his side, trying to persuade her to give him another chance. Of course. He believed in the prophecy. He knew she wanted to keep Adin alive, and as long as Adin was alive, she’d be with River. He always expected they’d be together someday.