Daughter of Asteria (The Daughter Trilogy) (11 page)

“Why am I so… so…”

“Because you’re so close to her, and you’re mortal this time,” he whispers as the room slowly

starts to stabilize again.

I still stagger dizzily, and Devin finally scoops me into his arms. Jerry is still collapsed on the

floor, and Theia kneels beside him to take his hand in hers.

I see his veins being relieved of the thick, black poison, and his color gradually returns as she rubs

his hand in hers. He takes in a deep breath, but he doesn’t wake.

“Why did he bring a gun? I thought they had powers when they’re infected,” I mumble.

“He would have if you had been immortal. You accidentally infected him, Adisia. He was

already in love with you, making it an inevitable circumstance. He most likely suffered the same

consequence last time, but he never found us. Events are happening out of order and in different

ways. You can’t blame yourself for this,” he soothes.

I feel the tears dripping free from my eyes, and the elevator doors open as Deacon ushers in the

paramedics. The daisy drops from Greer’s leg, and one of the men begins applying pressure instantly

on the gushing flow.

“What happened?” the one taking lead asks as his eyes dart from Jerry to Greer.

“The one unconscious handed the gun to the other, and it went off in the transfer. One fell to the

floor bleeding, and the other fell to the floor from a faint. Please get him some help,” Devin asserts

while motioning to Greer.

Deacon walks over to Devin as the paramedics scramble to get Greer stable and on a stretcher.

“The cops will probably be here in a minute,” he cautions.

“They’re almost to the lobby now. You want to escort them up?”

“Yeah. I’ll go,” Deacon sighs.

Camara escapes from the padded room, and gasps as she sees the paramedics, Greer, and Jerry on

the floor. She refrains from asking the question they would expect her to know the answer to.

The elevator returns just as the paramedics begin rolling Greer out of the room. Devin rubs the

side of my arm in a comforting motion, and I see Clara starting to stir. I rush over to her as Devin

tells his lie to the police.

“Hey, are you okay?” I whisper.

She grips her head, and sighs as she sits up.

“Not really. What happened?”

Oh good. She doesn’t remember. Thank you Theia.

“Let’s go out on the balcony,” I murmur while trying to shield her eyes from the commotion.

She grumbles lightly, and I see Persia walking out to clear the room of the nosy police. I smile a

little as I see her eyes flash green in preparation.

“Why is my head pounding like a hammer has been slammed into it?” she groans.

“Because you took a nasty fall,” I lie.

“Why?”

“Too much tequila.”

She laughs and then whines when the laughter breaks the hammer free once again. I look through

the glass see the cops drooling over Persia as they step onto the elevator.

Hale walks out, and I see them all talking in whispers about the whole ordeal as Devin uses his

liquid gifts to guide the blood spill from the floor to the sink.

I smirk a little as the water shoots free from the faucet as if on its own to drown out the red stain.

In an instant, there’s only one piece of the mess remaining - Jerry.

Hale scoops him up and carries him to the back. I take a deep breath as I put my arm around

Clara.

“Let’s see if there’s any aspirin in the cabinets.”

“Aspirin… yes… please,” she mumbles incoherently.

Devin’s eyes lock with mine, and I force a smile to comfort the worry he’s feeling for me. I’ve

now seen my brother being used as a puppet, my parents’ house in shambles, the love of my life dying

in front of me, and now my ex going completely over the edge of crazy because I infected him.

My immortal life is an eternal hell it seems, and I haven’t even gotten back my immortality yet.

“Are you okay?” he whispers lightly.

I just nod to lie to him while holding back my tears as I escort Clara into the kitchen.

I climb on top of the cabinet to reach the top shelf of Devin’s overzealous medicine stash. Then I

feel his arms wrapping around me as he pulls me off the cabinet once I’ve obtained the small pill

bottle.

I smile at his concern for my falling off the countertop shortly after the insane close counter I had

with three bullets.

My fingers run across the tattered marks on his shirt that were left behind by the ineffective

bullets. His perfect skin is unscathed, and his eyes beg me to kiss him as my hands continue their

slow crawl over his chest.

“Aspirin?” Clara scoffs, irritation in her tone.

I smirk a little as I lean over and hand her the small bottle. Devin walks over and pulls a bottle of

water from the fridge to hand to her just as the padded room door opens once again.

“Well, Devin, I think this will be an incredible venture,” Henry says with such a chipper outlook.

“I think so too, Henry. I’m glad we can do business together,” Devin says with cordialness

despite the crazy past thirty minutes we’ve just had.

It would have lasted much longer if Persia hadn’t rid the room of all the unwanted guests who

were bound to ask a lot of questions.

“Have fun on your trip,” I add.

“Trip? What trip?” Clara chirps while momentarily forgetting about her headache.

Henry gives me a slight scowl to let me know I’ve just ruined the surprise.

“Sorry, spoiler alert,” I grunt through my wince.

Devin smirks at my innocent oversight, and Henry rolls his eyes as he turns back to Clara.

“We’re going to Paris for our honeymoon.”

She squeals and then grabs her head when her headache comes pounding back.

“When?” she rings out.

“Now. I packed your bag last night in case this deal went good. I have to say, a month in Paris

with my beautiful new wife definitely sweetened the deal,” Henry adds with a playful grin.

Devin smiles as his arm wraps around me$ and I know he’s plotting our honeymoon - if we live to

have one. I quickly shake the morbid thought from my mind and embrace Clara as she storms me for

a hug.

“I hope you have a great time,” I say again.

“Oh, thank you, Adisia,” she squeaks in delight.

She drops her arms from around me, and quickly throws them around Devin.

“Thank you too.”

He laughs a little at the embrace he saw coming, and then she pulls back to narrow her eyes a

little.

“Be good to my girl. She cares about you,” she warns.

Devin smiles as he pulls me into his arms.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. I’m not ever leaving her side,” he smolders.

She stifles a grin, and Devin kisses me on top of the head as Henry pulls Clara’s hand to lead her

into the elevator to join the rest of his entourage.

The flash of a quick wave is the last we see of them before the doors close.

“Damn, that was close,” Hale grumbles as his eyes stare at the tattered marks on Devin’s shirt.

“Too close,” Devin whispers as his arms tighten around me.

“We need to get going before anything else happens. If a simple mortal can track us down, then

the worst is on the way,” Gemma growls as she hops down from the bar top.

“I’m sorry,” I whimper. “Is Jerry going to be okay?”

“Shh. Don’t be sorry, baby. I told you this wasn’t your fault, and yes, Mom got to him just in

time,” Devin coos.

“What are we going to do with him?” I ask with tears threatening to fall.

Devin cups my face with his hands as he bends to kiss my forehead.

“I’ve called a mortal physician to come and see to him. We’re going to drop him off in one of the

smaller apartments below that I own.”

“Why do you own another apartment?” I ask suspiciously.

“I use it for storage mostly. You accumulate a lot when you live forever,” he says nonchalantly.

“Then rent a storage unit,” I mumble.

“I don’t like the way they smell,” he snarls.

I try not to laugh, and that is much easier to do when I see Phillip walking through with an

unconscious Jerry strung over his shoulder. I wince a little, and Devin pulls me into him so my face is

buried in his chest.

“Are you sure he’ll be okay?”

“He’ll be better than new when he wakes up,” Deacon chirps as he pats me on the shoulder.

“We should get moving,” Theia prompts while dragging a rolling bag behind her.

Devin nods and motions for me to follow her.

I do as he says, and the men flash in and out of the rooms with all the luggage before we even

make it to the elevator. Persia walks in while carrying her bag, her eyes offering me encouragement.

“I’m actually looking forward to a little gambling,” she says with a smirk.

“I’ve never been before,” I say with a shrug.

Devin smiles a little, but I’m not sure why. Deacon starts laughing with Camara, and I feel a little

lost.

“What’s so funny?” I gripe.

“The fact that you’ve never been gambling, and now you’re going with two people who can see

the future. You still won’t be gambling, you’ll just be collecting,” Deacon chuckles.

I let a small smirk tug at my lips, and Devin bends to kiss me lightly.

“I won’t spoil your fun by telling you the verdict before it’s placed,” he says softly.

“I didn’t think we were going there to have fun,” I murmur.

“We’re immortal. We always find a way to squeeze in a little fun. All work and no play is a sure

way to go mad in our world. Besides, that’s where we’re meeting Hagar,” Hale jokes. “You have to

gamble.”

“Why?” I inquire.

Hale smirks mischievously, and his tone matches his menacing look as he answers simply,

“Because it’s Vegas, baby.”

Chapter 4

Vegas Baby

I actually get a little excited when I see the lights of the Sin City not too far away. I laugh as

Devin covers my eyes with his hands to build the suspense.

I feel the car slow to a halt, and then the doors open for Devin to guide me out while still keeping

his hands clasped tightly in place.

He finally lifts them to free my sight, and I’m instantly floored by the nighttime spectacle of the

bright lights I had mocked. My feet stumble slightly as I try to get my bearings in the blinding streets

I only thought I could imagine.

Every flashing color in the rainbow of signs is completely illuminating the world around us,

rebelling against the dark cloak nature’s sky is trying to provide. The streets are littered with people

from one end to the other.

And I thought New York was wild.

There are women dressed in provocative attires full of sequins, lace, feathers, and glitter.
Ouch.

The louder the garment, the better apparently. Some are heading in to perform, and some are just

finishing up.

Their brilliant eyes are highlighted with daring and dramatic shades, and their lips are stained

with scarlet red, vivid tangerine, mind-boggling hot pink, and so much more.

I laugh as I see the world I’ve never known - and this is still the mortal world.

“Wow,” I gasp.

Devin smiles as his fingers intertwine with mine, and he kisses my gaping mouth. I giggle

lightly, and Hale leans over to speak lowly.

“Perhaps I can use the promiscuous air of Vegas to woo you away for an evening,” he smolders.

Water breaks free from the manhole he’s standing atop, and it covers him with its wretched smell.

Hale spits against the pungent remnants streaming down his face as Devin chuckles. I cover my

mouth and nose to stifle my laughter and shield myself from the foul stench radiating from Hale.

“I swear I hate you sometimes,” Hale mutters while dusting the water off the best he can.

“Maybe we could get along if you left Adisia alone,” Devin says with mock anger.

“I was just kidding. It’s not like I was speaking low enough for you not to hear,” he pouts.

I laugh a little harder, and Devin’s snickers grow too. He takes my hand, and I hear water

sloshing against the ground as Hale begins wringing out his drenched shirt.

“Oh to hell with it,” he mumbles as he rips his dripping shirt over his head.

I hear giggles erupting from all around as the girls close by admire the physique of the glorious

immortal. Gemma even blushes and I’m
very
happy to see such a thing.

Maybe she’ll focus her stalker tendencies on Hale instead of my man.

“My apartment isn’t too far from here,” Devin chuckles out.

“Good. I prefer not to smell like shit when I’m prowling for
available
women,” he snarks.

Devin laughs harder, and this time more roars join the party. Hale shakes his head, but he can’t

help but laugh a little as well.

Devin leads us to a lavish hotel building, and I glance quizzically at him.

“A hotel?”

“I rent here. I rarely come out here anymore, but I have a problem giving up things I’ve put so

much work into.”

I frown a little. What if he has a problem giving up other things as well? So far one ex is already

in tow, and now we’re about to acquire a second.

“I’m only talking about materialistic things I’ve bought,” he murmurs in my ear as he somehow

reads my mind.

“How did you-”

“Because I’ve learned that dreadful look that plagues your face when your mind goes somewhere