Daughter of Asteria (The Daughter Trilogy) (27 page)

as I use the winds to corral the shrieking monstrosities.

The sirens continue collapsing with their shrill screams of pain. The sands steady themselves as I

release the storm, and Hale claps his hands together as the last siren falls to the ground.

The daughters of Athena have fled with Safina and her followers, and the ashes of the fallen

slowly fall from the windless sky to creep back to the surface.

I slowly turn to face the relieved faces staring at me, but only one demands my attention.

Devin’s smirk is enough to send chills throughout me, and my eyes refuse to flip back blue. The

seduction is calling, the power is glorious, and the taste of immortality is radiating through me.

I saunter with a saucy strut as I gradually approach him with a slow seduction. My bare feet graze

the surface of the sand without sinking, and it only adds to the lusting need he feels.

His eyes flash with mischievous and provocative desire, and my wicked grin stays intact until I

finally stand just in front of him.

“Hi,” I say playfully.

“Hi,” he smolders, and his hand grips the back of my neck while the other one grabs me at my

waist to pull me into his inhaling kiss.

My hands tangle in his hair, and he lifts me off the ground to keep from bending. My body heats

against his, and the electricity begins coursing over me, offering him a pulsing desire.

His smile grows behind the kiss, and the passion is almost overwhelming as it consumes us both.

“Ah-hmm,” a woman’s voice interjects.

Devin doesn’t release me, and our kiss only deepens despite the exasperated eyes burning against

us.

“Well, Aphrodisia is definitely back in full swing,” Hale grumbles.

Devin finally lets a small chuckle escape, and he draws back to brush the hair from my face. His

pure elation is all the more tantalizing, and my eyes can’t tear themselves away as the throbbing from

within becomes stronger.

“Can I have a formal introduction?”

I turn to face Devin’s cousin. She was apparently the throat clearer who was trying to gain our

attention.

“Sorry Lana. This is Adisia, my fiancée and soon my wife,” Devin says proudly while turning me

back into his arms and kissing me with a softer touch as he continues just for me, “Very soon.”

“Wow. I didn’t realize how serious this was,” she remarks with a startled release.

“How do you feel?” Hale asks as he interrupts Lana.

“Like a goddess,” I offer with a tempting smirk pointed at Devin.

His lips reclaim mine, and he scoops me into his arms. Jace seems to be in complete shock,

which is confusing to me.

“You can open the skies?” he asks with baffled intrigue.

“My mother and I both can. Prometheus,” I answer while reluctantly withdrawing from Devin’s

lips.

“That was stronger than Prometheus. That was too strong for you to be so in control over so

soon,” he argues.

“She’s amazing, and she had to learn her control quickly the last time,” Devin inserts.

I smile at the adoring eyes gazing wonderfully into mine, and his lips cover mine once more.

“I thought I saw fireworks over here. Is that all the sirens?” a new voice questions.

I turn around to see a woman in her late thirties bearing an arrogant stare. Her soft, auburn curls

bounce against her shoulders as she stalks toward us very deliberately with too much confidence for

my comfort.

Devin shifts slightly and answers her with a very businesslike tone.

“It’s all that was here. We had Hale.”

Her eyes shift to Hale, and he seems oddly discomforted by her gaze. He lowers his eyes to the

ground, and she speaks coldly to him.

“So that’s where you ran off to. Typical male; never around when you need them.”

“Sorry, Deidra,” he humbly apologizes while bowing to her. “I came to help Devin. Serena and I

have been clashing rather fiercely lately. I hope you accept my sincerest apology,” he answers like a

devoted servant.

She takes a deep breath but doesn’t acknowledge him further as she shifts her eyes back to Devin

with a bit of agitation.

“Recruiting my people without my permission? That crosses a line you don’t normally stretch.

Explain yourself,” she demands.

“Safina is back,” Devin says somewhat curtly.

He’s the only one besides Theia that doesn’t seem to be cowering down in front of this redheaded

diva on a power trip.

“Impossible,” she snorts out. “I encased her. She’s not capable of returning.”

“She has returned. The laws we laid out were circumstantial; obviously this is a line that we’ll be

crossing more often as the war nears. They just ran this time, but last time… no one survived,” Theia

answers as she steps up to take the lead.

“Theia, I’m disappointed in you. Since when do you rewind time without telling me?” Deidra

snarks with condescension.

“I didn’t rewind time, and we’re keeping our phone conversations on this matter very minimal.

We’ve been going for face time because of the secrecy of this mission. We needed the upper hand,

and it’s good we kept the element of surprise. If they had seen us coming, we wouldn’t have been so

fortunate tonight,” Theia boldly dares.

“Your tone upsets me. Need I remind you whom you’re speaking to?” Deidra threatens.

“I’m speaking to a titan, just as you are. Need you be reminded of that?” Theia warns.

Deidra’s obvious distaste for Theia’s remark is shown, but then she calms down a little while

continuing.

“If not you, then whom?” she asks with a less offensive tone.

“Adisia,” a breathy whisper releases, and all eyes turn to me as Theia mutters my name like a

prophecy.

No pressure, Theia.

“A mere new power? Impossible. Only a titan can do such, and only a few of those,” Deidra

scoffs.

“She did it, and I can prove it. When I said no one survived, I meant it very literally. The world

was crushed beneath her power, and everyone - including Safina- was wiped,” Theia asserts.

Deidra’s eyes widen in suspicious disbelief, and she comes closer to inspect me as though I’m

some new breed of life. Devin stares down at the woman who looks down at me, and his eyes caution

her.

“Don’t look at me that way, young one. If this girl is as strong as you claim, she can handle

herself in a friendly spout with me,” Deidra dares.

Spout? Does that mean fight?

“No,” Devin objects.

“You don’t get to tell me no,” she snaps.

Her tone with my man is starting to piss me off, and I can feel the goddess stirring inside me to

show her the line she’s crossing.

“Fighting each other is not going to solve anything,” Hale interjects humbly.

“It’s impossible to kill Safina. That’s why I encased her. It’s not likely she escaped. This is a

damn good scare tactic. Safina wouldn’t have retreated, and you’re allowing someone to play all of

you like fools. Now, let’s see how strong your Aphrodite is. I’ve lived long enough to know

Aphrodite’s power didn’t outshine mine, and I’ll gladly prove this all to be a fallacy.”

Devin starts to step up, but I push him back as the green surges to my eyes. I smirk a little at the

challenge my goddess desires to take on, and then I tilt my head to the side like a lioness before

attack.

“Okay.”

Devin grips my elbow as Deidra struts in her long dress with samurai splits that reveal her black

leather pants underneath. She acts as though she’s stretching her tight muscles, and Devin begins

whispering to only me.

“Don’t do this. Deidra is barely an ally. She doesn’t fathom right and wrong the way we do, and

she’s strong.”

“So am I,” I murmur with my second bit of energy slowly awakening.

He tightens his lips, letting me know he doesn’t approve.

“Deidra, I’m asking you not to do this,” he pleads when he realizes my power is not willing to be

subdued.

I feel so good… so alive. It’s intoxicatingly delicious, and I’m ready to show the world I’m back.

“If you want my help, you’ll stop arguing,” she snarks.

“No one needs your help anymore,” Theia rebuts.

“If you’re facing the daughters of Athena with two from Aphrodite, then you’ll need my help, and

you know it. I need to feel this girl’s power before I choose a side,” she remarks with an icy chill.

“Choose a side?” I ask with brazen fearlessness.

“Eternity only lasts as long as you allow it.”

“Safina won’t take kindly to someone who encased her and her mother for centuries,” I remind.

“If she ever wants her mother back she will,” Deidra scoffs arrogantly.

“You can’t be serious right now. You love the mortals, and you know what she’ll do to them,”

Theia gasps.

“We’ve lost the strength we once had. If we’re to survive, certain risks must be taken and

sacrifices will be made. If your girl is truly as strong as you claim, then she’ll prove herself, and none

of that will be necessary,” Deidra growls.

“She’s not ready yet. Her immortality has just returned. She needs time to summon all her

strength,” Devin explains.

I smile a little as the power stirs from within a little stronger, and Deidra’s eyes flash with a red

glare mingling with black swirls.

“I’m ready,” I release fearlessly.

She smirks as the ground beneath me quakes, and I feel the skies pouring down on us as they

crackle overhead.

Suddenly molten lava oozes from the cracks now splitting the desert floor, but I don’t flinch as

the water crashes and cools it to a hard rock. Her eyes narrow, and the lava becomes more restrained

momentarily before erupting into a torrential downpour of hell’s liquid.

The wind swirls over me to act as an umbrella, and the dripping blobs are deterred from my touch.

She smirks just before the ground splits more, and suddenly jagged rocks begin slashing through

the ground with their deadly ascent. My eyes feel a new burn, and I know who is waking up.

A dangerous and excited new smirk appears on my face as the white fills in with the green, and

the others gasp with Deidra as suddenly the jagged rocks halt their ascent before fleeing back into the

ground.

Deidra scrambles backwards at the feat she apparently had prepared for. I feel more power lifting

me into the arms of invincibility as I taste the destruction I wish to wreak.

I drop my winded umbrella and the scorching balls of lava drip down to roll off my skin as

ineffectively as water. Burns scatter against my clothes, but my body remains unscathed by her

weapon of choice.

More gasps sound out, and I see the sheer terror beaming from the face that was once so eager to

exterminate me like a meaningless bug.

The arrogance has fled her as humbleness curls around her eyes and mingles with panic. A

chilling giggle emerges from me as the power calls me to do its will.

This bitch threatened Devin. This bitch wants to feel in control. This bitch should die.

“Adisia, no,” Devin beckons while rushing toward me.

“She wanted to feel my power,” my voice echoes in a taunt as I giggle more.

“I’m sorry,” she begs. “Please stop.”

“You threatened him,” I say with a chimed tone.

“No. I wouldn’t hurt Devin,” she promises like a sniveling coward.

“You would choose Safina,” a hollow tone expresses through my lips.

“No. I swear I won’t. I swear I won’t. I had no idea Asteria was part of you,” she beckons.

Suddenly my lips are rushed as heaven flows into my mouth. The passion ignites and the fire I’m

holding in the palm of my hand ashes from the fire I feel as my clothes begin to sizzle against the

scorching heat of my body.

Devin’s lips are bringing back my sanity, and I release the storm as my winded wrap comes to

shield him before the acidic lava has a chance to harm him.

She drops her attack instantly while I’m distracted, and I gradually come down from my

extraordinary power rush as he commands all of me - forcing the goddesses to back down.

He grips me tighter to his body, and the silence from all around finally resonates with me.

I just lost control. I didn’t even feel it coming on.

I gasp a little as I pull back, and Devin’s eyes are etched with worry. He cups my face with one

hand, and I can see all the horrified faces surrounding us as Persia’s eyes water in disbelief.

“What happened?” I ask quickly.

Deidra dusts herself off and swallows her pride as she answers the question no one else will.

“You’ve just shown me to never question your power again. I’m sorry, and I will serve you,” she

says while bowing.

“Serve me? I don’t want you serving me or anyone at all. I just want to find the damn crazy

bitches and kill them so we can move on. I’m sick of the hiding, running, and fighting. I don’t want

an eternity of that,” I babble.

Everyone exhales in relief when they see I’ve fully returned, but Deidra continues her servant-like

demeanor she had expected the others to show her upon arrival.

Persia’s lips are tightened to the point I can’t even see them, and her face is ashen.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I demand.