Daughter of Asteria (The Daughter Trilogy) (30 page)

I barge into the apartment
with Theia just behind me, and my heart breaks, reassembles, and

shatters again when I see Gemma sitting far too close to Devin as they engage in what is apparently a

very private and intimate conversation.

The couch squeals as they separate violently. Devin’s eyes offer surprise and guilt, and then

Gemma leaps to her feet like a caught-in-the-act bitch.

Un-fucking-believable.
Explain that shit.

He leans up as his elbows slide to his knees, and he waits as though I’m supposed to cause a

scene. I’m not going to though, not this time.

This is a dangerous game to play with me right now. I can force every guy here to fall to my feet

- except for him and Jace - though I don’t know if I would have to force Jace. I could certainly beat

him in this game if this is how he wants to play.

I glare into his eyes momentarily before my Aussie friend walks in.

He studies the thick tension and struggles against it to walk to my side. Gemma’s eyes look away

the instant mine find hers.

She’s scared - she should be… very scared. Jace pulls up a chair as he examines the

uncomfortable stare down, and Kry walks through yawning carelessly until he stumbles into the

deathly silent room.

“Did I miss something?” he murmurs in confusion.

“No more than I did,” I snark.

Devin’s eyes narrow, and I can tell he’s about to try and tell me what a fool I am, but I’m not in

the mood.

“I figured something out, and it’s big,” I pronounce while looking at Kry.

“What?” Devin asks curiously as he stands.

I refuse to shift my gaze to him as I continue speaking instructively to Kry.

“We might want everyone, and I mean everyone, for this.”

“We’ll need a big, safe place for everyone to be in at one time,” Kry says while his eyes dart over

to Devin for help.

“I’ve got a place,” Devin adds.

Of course he does. He always has a place. I’m sure Gemma has been on her back in that place

too.

“We’re going to the island,” Theia intervenes.

“The island?” Devin asks in surprise.

“Yes. The ocean surrounds us there, and we’ll have three water lovers there to help out,” she says

in explanation.

Apparently Lana is an embodiment of the water as well, though she didn’t refer to herself as a

descendent of Poseidon when we were dealing with Safina in the desert.

“Yeah, but it’s also the one place we never take outsiders,” Devin replies dryly.

“So I’m an outsider now?” I choke out.

“That’s not-”

“I need to get my stuff,” I interrupt before flashing into the room.

I grab my small bag and toss it over my shoulder. I’m prepared for Devin to flash in, but it’s Hale

who shows up instead.

“What’s going on?” he questions.

“We’ll discuss it there. Then, we’re going to need one masterpiece of a plan,” I gripe.

“Tell me now. You’re scaring me,” he worries aloud.

“Theia wants to keep the chatter to a minimum until we have the protection of the sea surrounding

us,” I explain.

“Okay. Should I be worried?”

“Yeah. We all should be,” I warn.

He swallows hard, and Devin finally appears. He doesn’t speak to me or even look in my

direction as he grabs his own bag. I flash out, and Gemma has the audacity to try and speak to me.

“That wasn’t what you think it was. I was just telling him the two of you could work it out,” she

blurts out.

I meet her comment with a derisive snort. “Sure you were,” I murmur sardonically.

“I really was. He’s worried you don’t want to get married at all because of Jace, and I-”

“He told you? Unbelievable. So much for only confiding in Kry and Ther,” I scoff.

Devin walks out with wide eyes when he overhears the conversation that is busting him.

“Adisia, I swear it was innocent. Believe it or not, we were friends before we were
a nasty

entanglement
,” she growls.

“I choose the
not
option. You’ll have to excuse my skepticism. It’s fairly obvious why, I’m

sure,” I retort.

Devin’s jaw clenches, but he doesn’t try to defend himself. My heart sinks farther when I realize

this really could be the end.

I take a deep, cleansing breath, but it’s contaminated by his wonderful but gut wrenching smell.

“You ready?” I ask Theia.

“Yeah,” she quickly offers. “We’ll see you there,” she says to the others.

“You’re going on without us?” Devin asks with a touch of bemusement.

“Yeah. It’ll just be the four of us on Persia’s jet. I’ll leave ours here so you don’t have too many

pile on yours,” she instructs.

“The four of you?” Devin continues.

“Phillip, Persia, Adisia, and myself. Why? Do you want to joins us?” she asks with a motherly

interfering tone.

He tightens his lips for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“I’ll round up the others and ride with them,” he mumbles.

“I’ll fill his spot,” Jace’s Aussie twang chimes in. “I don’t know anyone besides Adisia, so I’ll

come along with you unless you object.”

Devin’s jaw clenches tighter, and Jace takes my bag from my hand before disappearing from the

room. I stare expectantly at Devin, but he looks away.

“You sure you don’t want to join us?” Phillip questions with a leading tone.

“Yeah,” Devin grumbles before flashing out of sight.

“Okay, so let’s get going,” Phillip chirps.

It doesn’t take long to
get to the airport when Jace is the one driving. His electric games play

and offer us a green streetlight path.

I roll my eyes at each smug smirk he releases, and Phillip groans at each tire-screeching turn. I

cringe at every bumper-riding pass, and Persia laughs nervously at every unfriendly gesture the other

drivers offer our absurd Aussie behind the wheel.

We all leap out of the vehicle once it screeches to a halt, and then we quickly flash inside.

Jace aptly acquires the seat beside me, and he makes a less than subtle move to stretch his arm

around my shoulders while offering me a menacing smirk.

The pilots fire up the exhausted engines, but suddenly the door lowers again. Kry and Ther leap

onboard, and I tilt my head curiously at their unexpected arrival.

“Devin told us to come with you guys so we didn’t overcrowd the other jets. He’s calling all the

troops right now,” Kry answers to the silent question.

His eyes scowl at my close proximity to Jace, but I disregard his eyed objection. Jace rolls his

eyes and mumbles to just me.

“That’s not obvious at all.”

“You saw him and Gemma. I don’t think he sent them to keep an eye on me. I’m sure there

really is overcrowding issues,” I whisper.

“So does that mean you don’t care who’s looking?” he provocatively entices.

“No,” I say with a tempting dare, and his eyes light up with exciting desire. “Because there’s not

going to be anything to see,” I spout with my anticlimactic tease.

He huffs as he sits back, but a foolish grin plays on his face.

“I’m wearing you down,” he cockily replies.

“Easy, Romeo. It’s going to hurt worse the next time I have to shock you back to reality,” I

playfully threaten.

Kry relaxes a little when he overhears my last line, and I see Ther visibly exhale his own relief.

Hmph. Loyalists.

Where were they when Devin was all too cozy with Gemma?

I wake up just as
the landing gear connects with the runway, and I look up to see I’ve curled into

Jace’s arms.

Oh good grief.

I pull away to see Kry glaring directly at me.

“Stop looking at me like that?” I growl.

“Is that an order?” he snarks.

“I realize you’re Devin’s friend, but I didn’t see you intervening when he and Gemma were inches

away from each other.”

“They weren’t doing anything,” he gripes.

“Neither am I,” I grumble.

“What’d I miss?” Jace yawns as he wakes up, his arm sliding back around my shoulders

“Nothing worth mentioning,” I huff as I quickly stand and exit the freshly opened door.

I gasp as I step outside and see the marvel kept a secret from the rest of the world.

“Oh my paradise,” I squeal, sounding more like a teen than an adult.

The trapped waves push against the shore as their foam bubbles over the sand. The sea mist

sprays my face and offers it a moment of peace with its serene release.

The salty tingle of the air removes the sour taste in my mouth. I’m entranced by the perfect sand

grabbing the bottom of my feet, and the palm trees growing diagonally across the crystal clear water.

The animated life below the surface reveals an aquatic rainbow of colors, life, and excitement.

The wild and unruly jungle life that surrounds the other side calls out with its animalistic curiosity.

I giggle as I see the adorable monkeys dancing in the trees when they get excited from the visitors

in their private home.

“Wow. I’ve definitely got to look into a new line of work,” Jace pipes in as he walks up to join

me.

“The house is just over there,” Theia says while pointing.

“Wow. I wish I had brought a better selection of clothes for a place as magnificent as this,” I

blubber.

“I’ve got us covered,” Persia adds with a smirk.

“Huh?”

“I went shopping last night. I don’t do well in such a congested atmosphere, especially when

there’s an awkward air. I love shopping, and I enjoy getting to buy my daughter stuff now that I can

be a part of your life,” she says so compassionately.

I smile at her affection, and her arm drapes over my shoulders as we continue our trail to the

house. I almost stumble forward when I see the immaculate piece of art towering on the beach.

The sea is almost an ornament next to this impressive beast. The wall-to-wall windows stretch

across the entire house - offering no privacy. A long pier leads to the deeper parts of the ocean, and

the gallant perks of being immortal are all the more seductive.

“Wow,” I gasp again.

“I’ve got a place similar to this one. We need to go there sometime,” Persia murmurs.

“Really? That’s awesome,” I giggle, but then reality settles back in.

She acknowledges my frown, and quickly shifts to comforting mother.

“He’ll be back. They always come back.”

“When they’re mortal,” I whimper.

She squeezes my arm, and Theia opens the massive doors to the impossibly huge home. The pale

blues and various greens offer more friendliness than the stark white choices Devin uses.

The furniture matches every cliché of beach themed articles, but it’s almost a comforting

normalcy.

“I’m going to go swim for a while and clear my head before the others get here,” I say to Persia.

“Do you have a suit?”

“No, but I can manage without one,” I whisper.

Jace trips and plasters into the sand headfirst, while Kry walks into a palm tree just in front of the

house. Ther laughs ridiculously hard as he shakes his head and joins us inside the wide open doorway.

“You just caused a pileup,” he chuckles out.

I roll my eyes. “I meant I can swim in my clothes - not naked,” I squeal.

Kry shakes his head with embarrassment, and Jace stands with a blushing face.

“I’m glad you’re not so juvenile,” I huff to Ther.

“Oh I flipped over the railing, but you didn’t see me,” he snickers out.

Crap.

“I have suits, many of them. I bought them for you. I had planned on poolside bonding in

Dallas,” Persia giggles out.

I smile as she hands me a bag, and I smile appreciatively before flashing upstairs to change.

I pick a white one with diamond-like trim decking the sides, center, and neckline. The thin strip

in the middle is the only thing making this a one-piece, but it’s by far the most decent - even though

it’s anything but.

I wrap a small, red sarong around my waist and jog down the stairs to head to the beach. The guys

have already changed, and they’re inspecting the island.

I step out, and I see a jet landing.

I guess I just thought I was going to swim.

As soon as the jet stops, Devin and the others flash over to the house. He stops quickly, and his

eyes widen when he sees my daring ensemble.

Gemma is right behind him, and I look away quickly as she bumps into him playfully. He laughs

a little at her childlike gesture, and I can feel my blood boiling.

If he wants to play this game, then sound the whistle.

I’m good with the adolescent game of jealously, and now I’ve got the help of Aphrodite.

“The others won’t be here until tonight, but you can brief us now if you want,” Gemma says with

a girly, giggly tone.

“I’ll wait. I only want to go over this once,” I say as if I’m unaffected by their bullshit flirting.

Devin tosses her a bottle of water, and I can feel the sting of betrayal surging to the front.

Maybe I’m not as good at this game as I thought I was.

My eyes drift down to the ring I’ve been unable to take off, and I’m startled out of my trance

when Hale’s serious voice interrupts my silent panic.

“Your ring too big?” he jokes.

I smile at him, and I can see Devin staring at us out of the corner of my eye.