Sacrifice (6 page)

“Do you really plan to defy the gods?” Delilah asked, darkly.

“What do you mean?” I had no idea where she was going with her question.

“Do you plan to ignore the appointed match for you?” She clarified.

“My match is my choice. For the god’s sake it’s the nineteenth century not 10 B.C.,” I sighed, exasperated with this tiresome spin on the discussion.

“The gods are finicky that way. They will never bless your union to Lord Evander, Empress. Together you have
two
wills, two points of view. You will never see eye to eye, not completely. You must have
one
will as all matches do. You both are doomed to endure pain, not true and undying love.” 

I had to catch my breath. “Evan and I are stronger… because we love each other. The gods can’t change that.”

“Stronger
together
?” Delilah asked, as her laughter rang through the mine like chimes. “Yet, the young lord sought our confidence without you knowing it. That is not the behavior of a true match,
young
Empress.
Two
wills.”

“That’s between Lord Evander and I,” I said calmly, but I was blistering hot.

“And what is between you and Victor? Do you feel nothing for him or is it just that you need to make him nearly as powerful as you.” Delilah asked, as the corners of her mouth flirted with a smile. She was more like Hera than I had thought and this peacock was plucking at my nerves.

“I feel nothing but the need to protect him,” I lied.

“Nothing more?” Delilah nudged further.

“I will fortify Victor’s powers tomorrow,” I said changing the subject, but I could tell by Lucien’s raised brow that he knew why I took the conversation in another direction. I had a feeling that he knew I was lying. I they all did.

“Let’s hope that you don’t place the welfare of this empire directly in harm’s way,” Lucien said stiffly.

“Once Victor has his powers, I will see to it that he protects each and every one of you. It will be his first priority. So there we have it.” It was final.

I began to walk away as the members began to disappear, but not before I heard someone whisper, “I would have tried being nicer to him had I known she would have him babysit us.”

Five
- Cordelia

Warrior Teams

The next morning I watched the sun wake from behind the Sierra Nevadas to meet my smile. I had faith in my warriors. They were resilient, brilliant, and resourceful. Julius, a fire spewing weredragon, and his sister, Hedea, a werevulture, led my winged warriors. They will lead their team through the maze of clouds, which they knew like the back of their hands.

The depth of the ocean would be trusted to Bethany. Thankfully, she knew her duties as a disciple and put her personal feelings aside to handle this task. Bethany, a water siren will led Portia, whose red hair sometimes reminded me of flames, and Delos, whose fins were the same hue as her eyes – beautiful, iridescent turquoise. The sisters were mermaids and descendants of the Nereid, Amphitrite, Poseidon’s wife.

Olympia, of the Leonidas family, led the last group, which will cover the Earth. She was an air shifter and tornadoes were her divine specialty. She will lead with the help of Betrand, of the Octavius family. He was a fire and metal shifter. They both were one with the Earth’s terrain.

I watched as twenty-one of my disciples prepared to depart on a mission that they understood was close to my heart. I was pleased that Nikolas was content with Bethany leaving. When they kissed, as they did now, I thought about the elder’s comments regarding Evan and I not being the right match in the eyes of the gods. I will fight for Evan. I wanted him more than anything. However, I wondered for the very first time since having my memory restored, if Evan would go to such lengths for me. I hated doubting him. I never have before learning that he had gone to the council.

“I have the Spiro boys watching over the elders for the first forty-eight hours,” Evan informed.

I smiled and nodded, not quite ready to confront him. I had to make sure that this mission went off without a snag.

“No one or thing will get past Patrick, Dmitri, and Heracio,” Nikolas said. “Hercules’ boys are unstoppable.”

“The elders will be fine. We’ve taken the appropriate measures,” I said.

“Yes, my love, we have,” Evan said, reaching for my hand. I took his hand and squeezed it lightly. I listened to his thoughts and they were of the warriors and their success in the mission.

“Evan may I speak to you alone?” I asked, sweetly.

“I’m about to take Christopher and Phoebe for their morning ride,” Nikolas said. “Those two divine little brats should be ready.”

“You
will
let them ride their own horses, won’t you Niko? They can’t ride on your back every time.”

“Oh, alright,” Nikolas sighed, faking sadness. I winced as his bones began to crack and he transformed into a centaur. “Maybe this time I’ll let one of the kiddies win.” Niko galloped away, disappearing into the air.

“You have me all to yourself now,” Evan said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close.

“Are we on the same side?” I asked.

“Huh, what?” Evan cocked his head to one side.

“Are we, or aren’t we?” I asked pulling away from him.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“It was my decision, Evan. You had no right to go to the council and turn them against Victor.”

“They didn’t need me for that. The elders’ minds were already made up.”

“Is this what you want?” I asked, throwing my hands up. “Division in the empire.”

“No but, I don’t think it can be helped at this moment.”

“It can’t be helped when someone is strategically trying to divide us.”

“Someone?” he asked.

“You.” I pointed my finger at him.

“I didn’t go to the council to turn them against him. I wanted to express why I thought we should wait a while longer before restoring his strengths. That’s all,” he said.

“That’s
not
all. You knew that I’d be up against a wall.” I tried not to let my temper flare up. Evan’s explanation, which wasn’t much of one, irritated me.

“You make it seem as though I was purposely trying to sabotage your plans. You know that that’s not true.”

“I
don’t know
that. It looks as though you were and guess what, you succeeded,” I huffed.

“Delia, they already had their minds made up before I got there.”

“You should have never been there. Not without me. It was my argument.”

“I didn’t see it that way. I was actually seeking their advice and wanted to see for myself where their heads were at on the matter. ”

“Admit it Evan. Your sole reason was to screw Victor out of getting his powers back,” I snapped.

“That’s not true,” Evan snapped back. “And I didn’t steer them in any direction.”

“You were supposed to stand by me. You stood by me when I wanted to send the warriors on the mission and the elders opposed. What’s so different now? We can all benefit from Victor’s strengths.”

“I do stand by you on everything… but this.” Evan looked away from me.

“If we stood in front of them as a united front, as
one will
with one agenda, the elders wouldn’t have objected the way they did last night.”

“They would have,” he disagreed.

“Well, the elders stated that they trust
your
opinion, over mine,” I said, glaring at Evan.

“Come on Delia. The council is so transparent. You know how they feel on everything. They don’t even try to hide it. They feel that they are superior when it comes to knowledge.”

“Well, I’m glad you said that. Did you know that the elders declared, once again, that we are not destined to be together, forever? They went as far as saying that we are doomed.”

“Doomed?” Evan asked, laughing into a cough. “That sounds like Delilah.”

“Exactly,” I nodded. “She said unless we are with our matches, we’ll experience nothing but pain from the gods.”

“And what did you say?” Evan asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you tell them that we don’t care and that we will fight for each other, no matter what?”

“Of course,” I said.

“Is that what you still believe, Delia?”

“Yes, and you?”

“Yes, of course,’ he said pulling me close, again.

“Then why are you behaving like a jealous fool?”

“Are we resorting to calling each other names now?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Nevertheless, I want to know why you’re acting so insecure. You shouldn’t feel that way because I love
you
.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want him to take advantage of your kindness.”

“Don’t worry, I can take of myself,” I said, sounding snippier than I had wanted to.

“I know that, darling,” Evan said, and then sighed. “Pain from the gods, huh?”

“Are you scared?” I asked as I brushed my hand tenderly across his cheek.

“No. Why would I be afraid when I have you to protect me?” Evan asked, laughing, but the smile never reached his eyes.

“That’s right. I’m here for you and I will protect you
Lord
Evander,” I said in a poor attempt to sound like a husky male.

“And who am I supposed to pair off with if you choose your match over me? My so-called match died with her parents’ years ago,” Evan said, contemplating the elder’s foreboding remark. He looked down at his empty hands as if he just realized that he had something in them.

“You wish Victor died along with his family too, don’t you?” I asked as I read the angry thoughts whipping through Evan’s mind.

“I never said that?”

“But you did think it,” I said, running my fingers through his silken, chestnut hair.

“Stay out of my head, Delia. That’s not fair,” Evan snapped.

“No, it’s not, but what you did to me last night wasn’t fair either.”

“Are we back to that? I’m sorry. You have every right to be upset with me,” He said, stepping closer to me. “We must stand together on everything from now on. We’ll show the elders and the god’s, for that matter, that our bond is unbreakable. Do you forgive me, my love?”

“I will, eventually.” I said, walking toward the entrance doors to my home.

“But not now?” Evan asked following me.

“Not now.”

“Can I at least try to make it up to you?” Evan asked. “I still have the tickets to the opera.”

I whirled around to face him and caught the flirtatious way he raised his brow. He was truly irresistible and he knew that I loved the opera. Perhaps, an evening at the Whitney Opera House and dinner out was just what I needed, but I wanted him to squirm some more.

“I don’t know. I’m still pretty angry at you and I think it’s a little selfish to be out tonight while the warriors are on a mission,” I said, staring him straight in the eyes.

“The warriors are not in battle, Delia. They can handle themselves during a search. The elders are guarded and one minor excursion is nothing to feel even remotely guilty about. In addition, Lilith Blue, you’re favorite actress, is performing in ‘Love’s First Night’. You read the reviews in the Territorial Enterprise. Mr. Twain’s review was very promising and tonight’s show is the last. How does dinner at Delonore’s Hotel sound to you?”

Evan wouldn’t give up and he knew that I savored Chef Delonore’s Chicken Kiev. I enjoyed pretty much everything the Russian chef created.

“Alright, perhaps a night out would be nice.”

“Perfect,” He said, and walked out the double doors.

“Wait,” I yelled after him. “I will restore Victor’s powers tonight, once we return.”

I could see the blue of Evan’s eyes turn a deep turquoise, indicating that his emotions were darkening, but he remained composed.

“I will be by with Night Wind at seven,” he promised.

Six - Cordelia

Missing

I was at the foot of the stairs when Evan arrived. A smile emerged on his face when he looked up at me. My heart fluttered against my chest. He straightened his bow tie and I smoothed the front of my satin gown before descending the staircase.

Tonight was going to be wonderful!

“As usual, you will be the most beautiful woman at the opera, Goddess Cordelia,” Evan said, beaming.

He bowed and took my gloved hand. I pulled him closely by the neck with my other. I leaned into him, and didn’t give a damn if my dress got wrinkled. I pressed my lips against his. He opened his mouth slightly and kissed me passionately, leaving me breathless and hungry for more.

“We’re going to miss the first act of ‘Love’s First Night’ if we keep this up,” Evan breathed, slowly pulling away from me. I could still taste the sweetness of his kiss as the tingling sensation made its way down to my toes.

“So let’s miss it. We can create our own first act of ‘Love’s First Night’.” I pressed my face into his neck and feathered kisses on his neck, earlobes, and cheek until I found his lips once more.

“You and the gods know how badly I want to, but I promised you an evening out at the opera and I keep my promises,” Evan said, smiling.

He had to unhook my hands from behind his neck in order to stop me from kissing him again. I cooperated, although reluctantly. I would have been just as happy staying in this evening with him than going to see the show.

“Alright, alright,” I murmured, drunk on Evan’s kiss. He led me out of my house.

“Good evening, Miss Cordelia.” Night Wind opened the door to the carriage.

“Good evening, Night Wind.” I marveled at how Sun Paw’s brother’s long, lustrous, onyx hair shone in the moonlight.

The ride into town was bumpy as usual but we made it in time for the beginning of the first act. The beauty of the developing story of two star-crossed lovers, who planned to defy tragedy and betrayal to be together, mesmerized me. The lovers were willing to sacrifice everything to share their love for one another. I couldn’t help comparing them to Evan and me. Like them, we were devoted to each other and fought for each other. We’ve been betrayed and had been through horrific tragedies, yet still here we were sitting side-by-side and hand-in-hand in a reserved box at the Whitney Opera House.