Goddess Secret (23 page)

She heard Adin moving the ice off his hand and putting it on the table, but she tried to stay focused on his busted lip. He sat up straight and slid his hands onto her legs behind her knees. She exhaled heavily as she shut her eyes. She kept them shut for a few seconds. When she opened them back up, she tried to concentrate on Adin’s wounds and not his touch. When she moved the ice up to the cut above his eyebrow, she looked at his eyes again.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again.

She felt her breathing hitch, but she fought back the tears. She knew Adin was sorry, and apparently, he was going to keep telling her this every chance he got.

“I know,” she murmured.

She walked over to the medicine drawer and grabbed some antibiotic ointment. She put it on the cuts on Adin’s face while he continued to stare at her. When she finished with his face, she pulled up a chair beside him and placed his injured hand on her leg to medicate it. He put his other hand on her other knee and stroked it while she worked. But working on Adin’s wounds made her think about what she had done to stop their fight.

“Er, did I, ummm, hurt you?” she asked while she was looking down, putting medicine on his hand.

“No,” he whispered.

“It sounded like I did,” she whispered as some tears finally leaked over.

“It didn’t even last a second, sweetheart,” Adin whispered as he lifted his hand and stroked her face. He wanted her to look at him, but she kept her eyes down.

Since she wouldn’t look at him, Adin leaned his head down to force her to meet his gaze. When she did, he scooted closer to her, watching her eyes, trapping her with his stare.

“I’m so sorry, Legacy. I never meant to upset you. I know you had a difficult night with Calli, and the last thing you needed was me adding to your stress.”

“It wasn’t just your fault.” She knew Adin was right earlier. River had hit him first, but that didn’t change the fact that she was mad at both of them—she wanted to be mad.

“Yeah, but I should have restrained him rather than fought him back.”

Adin mentioning the fight got her curiosity churning. “How…how were you able to, ummm, catch his hand like that and push him down with one hand?”

Adin sighed and shut his eyes. “Because I’m fast and really strong.”

She nodded and looked down. “I could hardly keep up. You both were moving so fast,” she whispered.

“I know we were.”

“You could have really gotten hurt,” she said as more tears leaked over.

Adin looked up and wiped her tears. “I only fought back as much as I needed to.”

“Why are you so fast and strong? I understand why River may be. He’s going through changes and will be a god, but you didn’t ascend.”

“Just because I don’t have
abilities
doesn’t mean I’m without
skills
.”

She didn’t really understand what he meant by that, but after the night she had, she wasn’t coherent enough to process it. She stood up and put the medicine back in the drawer.

“I’m going to bed.”

“Where’s Lissa?” Adin whispered.

“In bed, I guess.” She shrugged. It was the middle of the night. Where else would she be? But Legacy knew what he was getting at.

“Can I come up with you?” he asked softly.

She understood why he wanted to come up. He didn’t like the thought of leaving and her still being mad at him. She looked at his pleading eyes and nodded. “Your pajamas are in my room.”

She turned away and walked upstairs. After they brushed their teeth, she stayed in the bathroom to get ready for bed while Adin changed in her bedroom. When she came into the room, he was standing against her desk with his arms folded across his chest. His
bare
chest.

“Was your t-shirt not with your pajama pants?” she asked as she walked over to the bed.

“Yeah, but I don’t usually sleep in a shirt. Is it okay with you if I don’t?” Adin asked as he walked up to her and stroked her arm.

She shrugged and turned her back to him to get into the bed. Adin leaned over and moved the covers for her to get in. After she climbed in, he walked around and got in, snuggling up against her. He gently brushed her hair away from her ear and put his lips to it.

“I love you, Legacy.”

She moved her hand up to the side of his face and stroked it once. “I love you too.” Being mad didn’t change that. Nothing would ever change that.

She fell asleep with her back to Adin, but when she woke up, she was lying on his chest. They had their arms wrapped around each other, and she had her leg draped over his.

As she adjusted to the new day, she didn’t feel mad anymore. She wasn’t sure if it was the time or the comfort of Adin’s arms, but she felt at peace. As she stretched, Adin rubbed his hands on her back, so she sat up and looked at him.

“How long have you been awake?” she asked as she yawned.

“Awhile.”

Hmmm…It sounded as if Adin was deep in thought. “What have you been thinking about?”

“Everything.”

She nodded and looked away from him. If he was really thinking about everything, that was a lot to focus on first thing in the morning.

“But mostly I’ve been feeling your heart beat against mine, listening to your breath and feeling it against my skin, and watching how the fan makes your hair move against my chest.”

She looked back at Adin and half-smiled at him.

He sat up and stroked her arm. “Please don’t be mad at me, sweetheart,” he said, shaking his head. “I know you have every right to be, but I can’t take you being upset with me.”

She sighed. “I’m not mad at you anymore. I’m still not happy you fought with River, but we were all under a lot of stress last night.”

Adin slid his hands onto her cheeks and kissed her forehead.

“I know you’re tired of River’s behavior, and honestly, if I were alone with Venus, I’d savor the opportunity to beat the dog mess out of her.”

Adin cracked a smile. “You’d do some serious damage.”

She smiled back. “That’s a nice thought.”

He sighed as he gazed into her eyes. “Do you know
how
you did what you did last night?”

She knew exactly what he was talking about. “I have no idea how I was able to stop the two of you.”

“What did it feel like to you?” he asked as he moved his hand down her arm and took her hand into his.

“It didn’t feel like anything. I mean, I was mad you were fighting, and I knew I had to put a stop to it. When I put my hands on each of you, it just felt like a regular touch.” She looked down at her fidgety fingers trying to caress the top of their joined hands. “What did it feel like to you?”

Adin looked down, took her free hand into his other, and kept his eyes focused on them. “I guess it felt like getting shocked, but I’ve never been shocked before.”

She nodded. She figured that was what he was going to say, but his words still seemed careful. Now, she needed to break some news to him that he wouldn’t like. Talking to Adin was only half the battle. The easy half. “I have to go talk to River today.”

Adin looked up at her. “No, Legacy.”

“I’m not asking you, Adin. I’m letting you know I’m going.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“No.” She let go of his hands and crossed her arms across her chest. “I need to talk to him alone.”

Shaking his head, he stopped and tilted it to the side, eyes penetrating her. “
Legacy
, it’s not safe.”

“I can handle River.”

He groaned. “I’m not worried about him,” he said, but his tone said otherwise.

“Yes, you are. Medusa has been out of town plotting my demise. You don’t want me around River for personal reasons.”

Adin sighed. “You’re right. I don’t want you around him at all, but if you’re going to talk to him, I’d rather you call him and ask him to come over here.”

She nodded as she dropped her arms. “I’ll try that, but if he doesn’t come over here, I’m going over there.”

Adin shook his head again, but didn’t say anything. She grabbed her phone and called River. He didn’t answer, but his voicemail picked up.

“This is Legacy. We need to talk. It’s eight o’clock in the morning. If you are not at my house by ten, I’m coming over there.” She hung up the phone and looked at Adin. “If he doesn’t show up, you can take me over there, but I want to speak to him alone.”

Adin sighed, but nodded, giving in, though he really didn’t have a choice. “I can check on Calli while you talk to him.”

They got up and brushed their teeth. Afterward, Adin put on his shirt and shoes.

“I’m going to my grandma’s to shower and change.”

He kissed her forehead before leaving, and after he left, she jumped in the shower. She was just getting out when she heard Lissa downstairs.

“Legacy? Can you come down here?”

“Yeah. Just a minute.”

She threw on some clothes and raked the brush through her wet hair. She ran her fingers through her tresses to loosen them up as she walked downstairs. “What’s up?” she asked as she walked into the living room.

“I think we need to have a little talk about Adin. Er, about him sleeping over here,” she modified.

Uh-oh.
“Okay,” she said shakily. She guessed she should’ve known this was coming.

Lissa inhaled deeply as she took a seat beside her. “I know I’m not your mother,” she said slowly, “and…technically, you’re going to be a goddess…so traditionally, you’d be giving me orders, but it’s still my responsibility to make sure you’re making the right decisions.”

Legacy waited, not knowing what to say because she didn’t really ask her anything…or tell her anything.

“Umm…I know you two are in love, but you’re still in high school.”

“But my soul is thousands of years old,” she said with a smile.

Lissa chuckled. “True. But until you ascend, you’re my responsibility. I know Adin and River are supposed to help protect you, too, which is why I haven’t said anything about Adin staying over here before.” She sighed, groping for words. “Er, I’m not going to say anything about him staying over in the future either. I just think you should be careful. You don’t need to lose sight of what’s important—your ascension. You must remember to control your emotions. Everything else is secondary.”

“I will.” She didn’t know what else to say. She wasn’t sure if she was going to say anything else or if she wanted her to volunteer any information. Luckily, she didn’t have to worry about that for long. The doorbell rang.

“I hope that’s River,” she said as she and Lissa stood up. “I called him to come over here so we could talk. He and Adin got into it last night,” she whispered as they walked toward the door.

“Legacy,” Lissa said, frustrated, “you have to be careful with
their
emotions too.”

“I know, I know.”

Lissa sighed as she walked away, and Legacy answered the door.

“Hi,” River said as soon as she opened the door, before she even had a chance to really look at him.

When she looked at his face, she gasped. He looked much worse than Adin did. She shook her head at the sight of his wounds and gloomy expression. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he whispered.

From the sound of his voice, she knew he didn’t mean his battle injuries, but at least she could do something about his cuts. “Come into the kitchen.”

River followed her, and she grabbed them something to drink. She also put some ice in a towel and took out the antibiotic ointment, and she internally hoped that she wouldn’t have to buy this stuff in bulk. He was sitting down with his arms folded across his chest when she pulled a chair up to him. She gently applied the medicine to his cuts, and River shut his eyes.

As she lightly rubbed in the medicine, he opened his mouth and took shallow breaths.

“Am I hurting you?” she asked as she tried to barely touch his cuts.

“Yes,” he whispered.

She pulled her hand away from his face, though she didn’t think he was talking about his cuts. “I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t stop,” he whispered with his eyes still closed. “When we touch, it’s easier to ignore the ache in my heart. Since I don’t get to touch you, you have no idea how much your soft touch means to me.”

He was wallowing, and she knew she couldn’t get caught up in that. She went back to quickly working on his face. “You should have put some medicine on these cuts last night. They’re already starting to scab over.” When she finished applying the medicine, she picked up the ice and put it on his swollen eye. “Hold this.”

River reached up and grabbed the towel. His hand grazed hers, and as she slipped her hand away from the towel, River’s pinky stroked the back of her hand.

“I’m sorry, Legacy.”

“Sorry for what? Getting into a fight when I asked you to behave or for not helping me out when I needed you to?”

“Both,” he sighed.

She leaned back into the chair and stared at him.

“I was mad at myself already for having such a hard time giving you what you wanted, and
he
was right there with us. When he got in my face, I lost it.” He looked down.

She nodded. “Yes, you did.”

“I know that Adin only stepped in because I, umm, startled you,” he whispered, looking back into her eyes. “I would never hurt you. You know that, right?”

“I know,” she murmured.

“The thought of me scaring you has upset me more than anything. I never want to do anything to frighten you.” He shut his eyes again.

“You didn’t scare me, River. I knew I was asking something of you that I really didn’t have a right to ask, but Calli’s my best friend…” She hesitated because River’s eyes were still shut. “Look at me, please.” He did so. “And you’re my best friend too. If I can’t turn to one of you, I turn to the other.”

He nodded.

“So what are we going to do about Calli?”

River sighed as he pulled the ice off his face. “I’ll ask her to the dance.” He sounded so sad.

Even though she knew this was a big sacrifice for him, she smiled. “I really appreciate this, River.”

“I’m doing this for you. I know if she’s hurting, you’ll be hurting. And I don’t want you to hurt.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and continued to stare at her for several seconds. She couldn’t understand his expression.