Vala Eminence (2 page)

Denver reached over to his desk and grabbed his cell phone to call Cheyenne, wanting to tell her the good news.
But I can't. She's married to Lucien. I don't think she'd betray my trust, but I don't know what kind of black magic he uses to have power over her either. There are things he does to her that make her not act like herself. Or he might be able to comb through her mind for information.
The marriage drove him nuts. It was one of politics and convenience, not love. The whole purpose of it was to fulfill an ancient prophecy between Hades and Persephone. As the heir to Persephone, Cheyenne was Lucien's desired wife so he could use her to gain political advantage with the rest of the Divine Council while he paraded around as Hades.

Denver sighed and dialed her number anyway.
It'll still be good to talk with her.
Hearing her voice was always relaxing for him.

“Hey,” Cheyenne said. Her voice sounded groggy and slurred, like she was disoriented.

He frowned, but tried to hide his worry from his tone. The goal was to have a good conversation with her, not a fight. “'Sup?”

“I just woke up from a nap. What about you?”

Just came back from a trip to the underworld where I freed your ex-boyfriend's twin brother from the chains your husband put on his soul.
He laughed sourly. “Homework.”

“You're actually doing homework?” She gasped.

“I do homework,” he said. “When I feel like it, and I felt like it since I kind of have to or I'll get expelled.”

She made a quiet, thoughtful sort of noise. “Good point. Being expelled would probably be a bad thing. I think if you were on your own, you'd fair pretty well anyhow.”

“I'd have no problems getting a job or anything, sure.” He lay down on his couch and stared up at the ceiling.
But the wards on the school keep me safe from the demons. Maybe now that I know my heritage, I can tap deeper into whatever magic this is inside of me. I'm stronger than them; I know it. I just have to build up my power.

“So why do you stay?” Cheyenne asked.

“My life wouldn't be complete if I couldn't torment you all day with my presence.” The words slid off of his tongue easily. It wasn't a lie, but he had intended for his message to be a bit more sweet and suave.

She laughed, at least, so that lessened his concern. Cheyenne always seemed to appreciate his quirky, sarcastic, offensive sense of humor. Not to mention, she was good at reading between the lines. Somehow she'd understand him until he figured out how to do the schmoopy thing better.

“I know, you can't resist me,” she said. Then she sighed, and he imagined her lying on her bed, gazing up at the ceiling much like he was. He would have gone to her room to relax with her if he thought he could get away with it, but she probably wouldn't like it. Halyn, her roommate, definitely wouldn't.

If you only knew how much I can't resist you,
he thought. What would she think if she knew the truth? The reason he was so drawn to her from the beginning was because he was Hades' heir and she was Persephone's. It was written in the stars for them to be together, or something cliché like that. Denver usually wasn't one to believe in prophecies or in his destiny being in the hands of someone other than himself. However, he did believe the one about Persephone and Hades.

Supposedly his many greats-grandfather fell in love with Persephone and wanted to marry her. She declined because he wasn't exactly the most good-looking man on the planet, nor did she want to be associated with the underworld. Their connection was deep, however. And neither could deny the attraction they had to one another. Secretly, she had longed to be with him, but knew she had to stay away. Eventually, she had married another man who wasn't good enough for her. She'd made up for the mistake of denying Hades instead of pursuing her true love for him. A vow had been made after the wedding, and Persephone sealed her spirit away to be released in the future when she could once more be with Hades. The two had made some kind of a binding covenant, keeping their love pure and alive forever.

It was that covenant that Lucien was using against Cheyenne by pretending to be Hades' heir. He lied to the Divine Council, promising them endless power once Hades and Persephone reunited. The problem was, Lucien wasn't Divine.
Which is why it makes so much sense to keep me near him all the time. He's gotta figure out how to steal my dad's power
—
and mine.

Divine politics ran deep and were complicated. Lucien was trying to manipulate everyone for some kind of hidden purpose. Denver needed to figure it out and find a way to protect Cheyenne from that monster.
She belongs to me
.
We are the fulfillment of the covenant. This is our destiny, to be together.
Regardless of if they had some ancient dead souls lingering inside their bodies, Denver would have still been pulled in by Cheyenne. He refused to believe that the only reason he loved her so much was because of an ancient spirit. In fact, he wasn't even sure if he believed Hades' and Persephone's spirits were truly locked away, waiting to be released again.

You know that's not true. They are. Sometimes you don't think like yourself, like there's wisdom inside of you far beyond your years. And you can't forget Cheyenne's bizarre behaviors too.
He sighed.

“Denver, you're quiet. You haven't said anything for a while,” she said.

“Oops,” he mumbled.

“Is there a reason you called?”

“Just to talk.”

“Really?” She sounded surprised.

He rolled his eyes, regardless of whether she could see it or not. “Yes, really. Is there a problem with me just wanting to talk to you?”

“N-no, there isn't. I just didn't think that was something you were interested in doing. Every other time you've called me, it's been to arrange a time to hang out.”

“I'm glad to keep you on the edge of your seat then,” he said. “Besides, I can't go over there. You know I'm not allowed to have girls over in my dorm anymore, and I'm getting kind of tired of hanging out in the snow. It's freezing outside, even in the gazebo.”

It wouldn't be if you took her down to her garden, you know.
Denver shoved that thought aside. That was a good example of a thought, an idea, not being his own, of the wisdom beyond his years living inside of him. It creeped him out.
I can't take her there anyway. I did something horrible to her there, and I don't want her to remember.

She snorted. “I forgot about you not being allowed to have girls over… anymore.”

“Jealous?”

“A little.”

He laughed. “Glad to not be the only one then.”

Cheyenne was quiet for a moment. “You're jealous?”

“A little.”

“Why?”

“I don't like other people touching my things.”

“So I'm a thing to you?” she asked. He couldn't tell if she was angry or curious. Sometimes little things ticked her off, and then when he gave her a reason to be insulted she didn't seem to care at all. Cheyenne was unpredictable, but that was part of her appeal.

Okay, think before talking this time.
He ran his fingers over his lips, as he carefully found his words. “You're mine. I've said this to you a million times. Even before you and your demon got hitched out of convenience, you were mine.”

“You know I don't care about him at all. It's like you said, a convenience. I only agreed to wed him to save Zes's life,” she stated.

“Oh, I know. I didn't forget about that, Princess. I'm just saying. Even though he thinks he has claim over you? He doesn't. And even though you dated Zes for three months, or however long it was, you were mine then too. Call it possessive and creepy, but I can't help what I feel. Anytime I see you with another guy, it makes me want to…” He clenched his fists. “To do something.”

Cheyenne let out a soft sigh. “Creepy, kind of, but sweet too. I don't like thinking about you with anyone else but me either.”

I think I love you. That's all there is to it.
But the words caught in his throat. Would she even believe him? Probably not. He wasn't sure he believed himself. Love wasn't an emotion he'd experienced before. The thought had come so naturally to him. So what did that mean? Anything?

“So is it okay that I called just to talk?” he asked. “I mean, that's what a good boyfriend does, right? They call to talk and be all emotionally connected with their girl.”

She giggled. “I didn't think you'd want to be a good boyfriend.”

“Well, if I was going to be bad, I wouldn't be your boyfriend in the first place.”

“Good point, and if you were a bad one, then we'd have to break up. You'd be breaking my heart.”

“Yup,” he said.
I'm more worried about you breaking mine, for some reason, and I don't have much of a heart to break.

She got quiet again. “I'm worried about the twins. Anj is still unconscious and Zes is worrying himself sick.”

Denver held in his groan.
I wanted to talk, but not about them. Definitely not about your ex-boyfriend and how you two still keep in touch.
“Something tells me all of that will be changing soon.”

And he would know best of all since he was the one who had saved Anj from Lucien's grasp. In exchange for showing Denver the truth about his heritage, he had decided to free Anj from the dungeons of the underworld where his soul had been captured. That seemed fair. The guy had helped Denver, so it was right to do something in return. If Anj stayed with Lucien, the demon would keep tapping the teenager's gifts until he got whatever he wanted. Lucien never wanted anything that was good for anyone but him.

“You think Anj will wake up soon?” she asked.

“Pretty confident about it, actually,” he said.

“How do you know?”

“Just a hunch. I have this amazing sixth sense for when things go down here.”
More like first-hand knowledge since I'm generally involved in everything bad that's ever happened at Vala.
If he confessed
that
to her, he'd definitely lose her for good. He had to wait for the right time.

She sighed. “I still worry anyway.”

This time, Denver did groan. “You're doing that sighing thing a lot Chey, and the worrying one too. They're going to be fine. If Mr. Squeaky Clean isn't worrying about his brother, it's always something else. As for his brother Mr. Know-It-All Special Snowflake? He likes the attention, and will come out of his coma eventually. Bad things happen to him a lot. Trust me when I say he doesn't care and even welcomes it. Guy has more luck than a rabbit with all of its feet.”

“Is that why you like to antagonize them so much? Zes told me once that you tried to kill him.”

“Yeah, that's the story he likes to tell. I wouldn't have let him die. I'm a bad boy, but I've never actually killed anyone.”
Yet.
“Did I drop him in that pool? Yeah, you bet I did. Rumor had it he couldn't swim, so I decided to see if it was true. I mean, who doesn't know how to swim? How was I supposed to know by 'can't swim' that meant 'sinks like a rock no matter what'? Not my problem. I got him out just fine.”

Cheyenne breathed softly for a few seconds. “I knew you didn't have that kind of malice in you.”

“I do, actually, but I only hurt people who deserve it. And while Zes and Anj aren't my besties, or whatever you girls call yourselves these days, I can't say I hate them either. They don't annoy me enough to the point where I find them worthy of death.”

“When you talk like that, I remember why you worry me,” she said quietly.

“Worry, yet entice you, all at the same time?”

She sighed. “The pull you have on me is indeed incredible.”

He raked his lower lip between his teeth. “Don't worry about me hurting you, okay Princess? That sort of thing doesn't interest me in the slightest.”

“You care about me enough to not break my heart?”

“I didn't say that.”

“You promised you wouldn't hurt me. That means you can't break my heart.”

He blinked. “I guess you're right. Can't say I was thinking that far ahead. But yeah, I do care about you enough. We're actually a couple aren't we? You got me to do the exclusive with you. That's something I've never tried before.”

“Never, ever?”

“No, never ever.”

“But you've—”

“Been with girls, yeah.” He shifted his position on the couch.
This has got to be the longest phone call of my life.
“That doesn't mean we dated or were exclusive, and definitely not sappy and sentimental. You're a special occasion.”

She laughed. “Like Christmas?”

“Not so overrated. I'm sure that pops a bubble of yours or something. I'd pick a more awesome holiday for you, that's all.”

“More awesome than Christmas?”

“Like I said, it's overplayed. You're more the subtle kind of amazing. I'm not sure what holiday it is, but I'll figure it out and get back to you on that.”

Cheyenne laughed some more. He wasn't used to hearing that kind of a response from anyone. Sometimes, on a rare occasion, he made an amazing wisecrack in class. The other students would laugh at those, but that was a lot different than having someone laugh at something he was trying to be serious about. Denver wasn't funny and he certainly wasn't trying to be.

He cleared his throat. “Gonna let you go now, babe.”

“Okay, I'm glad you called, even if it was just to talk.” She paused. “Especially because you just wanted to talk, actually.”

“Sure thing. Maybe I'll do it again sometime, maybe I won't. I figure, why not see what the whole talking thing is all about,” he said, trying to maintain his cool attitude.

“And what's the verdict? Worth doing again?”

“You're pretty intelligent, so I don't think it'd kill me to keep trying.”

Another chuckle. “Goodnight Denver, I…”