Goddess Sacrifice (18 page)

After she took several deep breaths, Adin sighed. “You got more down that time before it started,” he murmured.

She felt her breathing catch, and he continued to rub the ice on her face, but her jagged breathing wasn’t because of the sick feeling.

“W-why are you being so nice to me?” she whispered as she started to cry.

Adin took the ice off her face, but kept his other hand on her neck and gently caressed it. “Because I love you, sweetheart.”

“I don’t deserve it.”

Adin’s breathing became uneven. “Y-you weren’t the one that, that did something w-wrong,” he said as tears started streaming down his face.

“Y-you didn’t do anything w-wrong,” she cried.

“I-I must have done something wrong for you to not want to be with me anymore. I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to figure out what I did to h-hurt you.” Adin put his forehead against hers. “It has to be me. You haven’t done anything w-wrong.”

“Not yet,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” Adin asked softly as he slowly inched the rest of himself closer to her. It seemed like whenever they were close to each other, they couldn’t get close enough. She shouldn’t be surprised that the magnetism was still strongly evident.

“I-I can’t talk about that.” She turned her head to the side as she sobbed.

He reached up and put his other hand onto her cheek to coax her face back toward his. “Please, sweetheart. Not understanding what’s happening between us is killing me. I have to know what I did, or what’s going on.”

“It w-won’t change anything,” she whispered.

“Please just tell me.”

She sighed and pulled away from him. She looked into his pleading eyes as she wiped away her tears.

“Okay,” she whispered, defeated. “Y-you got hurt be-because of me.” She cried, covering her face.

He scooted even closer and wrapped his arms around her. “What are you talking about?” he whispered in her ear.

“I-I was upset about Venus kissing you, and I cried so much that there was standing water. The next morning it froze over, so you and that other guy hit each other because you both skidded on ice patches. It-it was all my fault.” She sniffled.

“And the snakes?”

“Just an insurance policy to make sure the accident happened.”

“If it was anybody’s fault, it was mine for upsetting you like that,” Adin whispered as he stroked her back. “I know you’re still learning to deal with your change. I need to be there for you, not cause you any added stress.”

She leaned her head against his chest and cried. “It’s not just that.”

Adin stroked her hair. “You can tell me,” he whispered.

“You’re going to
die.
”

“I know that, sweetheart.”

“No, I mean, umm, you could die soon.”

“Why do you think so?”

“My mother sent us a message. I had a hard time understanding it, so Lissa had to explain it. You’ll die because of me.”

“So my dad was right. I’ll die protecting you?” Adin sighed, stroking her hair. “Legacy, I’m okay with that. I’ve already told you that I’d die for you anyway. You pushing me away will never change that.”

She shook her head against his chest. “No, your dad wasn’t r-right. We don’t h-have to worry about you dying while p-protecting me—I mean that could happen anyway, but that’s not why I pushed you away.” She hesitated, pulling away and looking up into his confused eyes. “Apparently, my attackers aren’t your biggest concern.”

Adin stroked her cheek. “Then who, sweetheart?”

“Me,” she barely whispered.

His eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m not sure. I’m changing, but my progress is off. Mom said if I stayed with you, then I’ll
kill
you. I-I can’t be the reason you die, Adin.”

“Legacy, you’d never hurt me.”

She covered her face as she cried. “I-I already did the morning after I f-found out about Venus k-kissing you.”

Adin sighed, pulling her hands away from her face. “That was my fault.”

“No, it wasn’t. And even if some other factor happened that wasn’t my fault and my emotional state caused you harm because of it, do you think it’d matter whose fault it was? I couldn’t live with myself if I were the reason you died, no matter what part I played. I can’t play
any
part in your death.”

“Legacy, we could both die tomorrow. Why should we live in agony because we fear death?”

She shook her head at him. “If I killed you, it would destroy me. There’d be no point in hiding from Hades anymore.”

“Don’t say that! You have to stay away from him. Please, Legacy, you have to promise me you’ll do whatever’s in your power to avoid him if I’m not around anymore. I’d rather you be with a
monster
than with him.”

She sighed. She knew what monster he was referring to.

“I’m sorry. I…I know River is your best friend, and he’s concerned about you too…” Adin trailed off, looking away from her.

He must have known that River visited her yesterday. “Calli told him I was sick,” she whispered.

Adin looked at her with a half-smile. “You don’t owe me an explanation,” he whispered. “You just don’t know how badly I wanted to be the one over there with you.”

“When he knocked on my door, I hoped it was you.”

“It took everything I had not to come over. I wanted to every second of every day. I’ve missed you so much. You don’t even understand.”

But she did understand—all too well. “I’ve missed you too.”

He wrapped his arms around her and held her. “I love you, Legacy,” he whispered in her ear.

“I love you more.”

“That’s n-not possible.”

They were holding each other, trying to control their crying, when someone walked into the room. She pulled away and tilted her head down, but glanced up to see who it was.

“Sorry, I’m just grabbing the cheesecake. Don’t mind me,” Rose said with a smile on her face.

She glanced over at Adin, and he was giving her a half-smile.

When she left, Adin glanced at her plate. “You should eat some more.”

She nodded as she picked up her fork. They both ate several bites, and when she put her fork down again, it was because she was full, not because she felt sick. She figured the real cure was coming clean with Adin. She had made herself sick because she tortured him with this break up without explaining herself.

Now that she had, she could accept what had to happen. Hopefully, Adin could accept it too.

Chapter Fifteen

As she thought about the unfairness of it all, Legacy sighed, and Adin stood up, taking her hand into his. “Let’s go to my bedroom to talk, so we don’t get interrupted again.”

He could tell she still had a lot on her mind. After putting him through what she had without any explanation, she figured this was the least she could do. She nodded as she stood up.

Adin led her to his bedroom and shut the door behind them. She walked over to his bed, and he followed. Once he got seated, she cocked her head to the side and stared at him. “So now you understand why we can’t be together,” she whispered.

Adin sighed as he shook his head. “No, Legacy. I understand why you tried to push me away, but now we can figure out what to do…
together
.”

“I’m not taking that risk.”

“Sweetheart, I can help you with this. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“That’s impossible. I’d always be afraid of hurting you.”

“You not being with me is the most damage you could ever do to me,” he whispered as new tears formed in his eyes.

“It’s too dangerous right now,” she said as she reached up and wiped his tears away as a distraction from her own.

When she touched his face, Adin reached up and wiped her tears away too. They were doing it to comfort each other, but then they started caressing each other’s faces, memorizing the curves and textures. As they molded their hands all over their faces, they gazed into each other’s eyes while their breathing accelerated.

She was getting dangerously close to kissing him, so she needed to get a hold of herself
now
. She dropped her hands and stood up, looking down at him. “You know I love you, which is why I have to do this.”

“I know that’s why you
think
you have to do this.”

She looked away from him. “Umm…if something happens between you and Venus, I’ll understand. Umm, I mean, I’ll
try
to understand.”

Adin stood up and walked over to her. “Don’t worry about her. You’re still my life. No matter how hard you try pushing me away, I’m not turning to her.”

She shrugged, not looking at him. “You’re bonded to her. And I’m bonded to River. If I chose to stay away from you,” she whispered, “I don’t know what that’ll mean about the prophecy. I-I can’t expect you not to move on with your life if that happens.”

“Don’t say that, sweetheart,” Adin said, leaning his forehead against hers. “I, umm, I can’t even think about a life without you. That kind of life just doesn’t exist for me. You’re my princess. You have always been my princess, and you will always be my princess.”

She started to step away from him, but he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up against him, holding her tightly.

“I have to go,” she whispered.

Adin cried as he squeezed her tighter, but then he slowly let go of her. “I’ll figure out a way to fix this.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Then he grazed his lips down her cheek and toward her lips, but she stepped away from him. She couldn’t allow him to kiss her.

“Goodbye,” she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks. “You will always have my heart.”

Adin smiled sadly as he put his fingertips up to his lips and kissed them. Then he put those fingers against his heart. “You’ve had my heart for years, princess.”

She walked out of his room, crying. She went into the dining room where Lissa, Myrha, and Rose were drinking coffee.

“I need to go,” she whispered.

“Okay,” Lissa said. “Just let me get our dishes, and we can—”

“Umm, no. You can stay. I just need to go.” She looked over at Rose and Myrha. “Thanks for inviting me.”

She quickly hugged their necks and walked out of the room. When she headed toward the front door, she couldn’t help but glance down the hallway. Adin was standing by his door, watching her. She kept walking, not making any eye contact with him.

She ran home. Even though they’d broken up days ago, after today, it really felt like it was over.

When Lissa came home, she was crying on her bed. She walked into her bedroom and sat beside her. “Do you feel like you’ve made the right choice?”

“No.”

“Then maybe you didn’t,” she whispered.

“I can’t be the reason Adin dies.”

“Legacy, every mortal must die. Adin will die whether or not he stays with you.”

“I just want to be alone,” she cried.

Lissa rubbed her back as she stood up. After she left, she cried herself to sleep. She had the same awful dream that she’d been having, so understanding some of the meanings made the dream even worse.

The next morning, she took a shower and ate breakfast. She didn’t get sick this time. She figured clearing the air with Adin fixed her—as much as she could be fixed in this state.

She dried her hair and crawled back into bed. When she heard the doorbell ring, her heart jumped, but then she remembered River was supposed to come by today.

She sighed as she slid out of bed and walked down the stairs. Lissa had already let him in, so he was standing in the hallway.

“Good morning,” she said as she walked up to him.

“Hi. How are you feeling today?” he whispered.

“Um, I’m fine.” She shrugged.

Lissa walked toward her with her purse. “I’m going to do some Christmas shopping. Today’s the busiest shopping day of the year!” She smiled like she was excited, but Legacy knew she was just using that as an excuse to get out of the house.

After Lissa left, River followed Legacy to the living room, and they both took a seat.

“Have you gotten sick again?”

She shook her head. “Not since yesterday morning. I was able to keep some food down yesterday, and I did okay after eating breakfast this morning.”

He sighed. “Good.” He seemed genuinely relieved.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” she asked as she leaned back against the couch.

“Fine.” He shrugged. “I’ve been worried about you, though.”

“I’m all right.”

“How was your Thanksgiving?” he asked softly.

She shut her eyes and shook her head. “We had dinner at Adin’s grandma’s house.”

“Oh,” River whispered.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was looking down and playing with his hands.

“We talked, but nothing has changed.”

River’s eyes flashed to hers. “So what happened?”

She knew this question had probably been eating at him since he found out that she broke up with Adin.

“Umm, I found out your mom didn’t cause his accident.”

River’s eyebrows furrowed. “
Really
? Er, what did you find out?”

“It was my fault.” She shook her head as she looked into the blank space of the room. “The night before, Adin told me that Venus kissed him, and I got upset. I cried so much that the ground flooded and froze overnight. Adin and the other driver hit ice patches. Your mom probably put the snakes in the other car to distract him long enough to hit the ice.”

She glanced at River, and he looked confused.

“Don’t get me wrong, but, ummm, why does it matter? I mean, so you got upset. You’re going through changes. Why would you break up with him over that?”

She sighed. “My mother’s message finally came though. Apparently, if I choose to be with Adin, I’ll be the one that kills him. The fact that I already hurt him was enough proof for me to believe that it’s possible.”

“Hmmm…” River looked like he was deep in thought.

“What?” she asked, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just thinking about everything.”

“Look, River. Just because I chose to break up with Adin, it doesn’t mean I’m going to come running to you.”