Daughter of Asteria (The Daughter Trilogy) (4 page)

blare.

His eyes jerk toward me, and then he shakes his head.

“Fucking side effects,” he grumbles to himself.

“It’s not a side effect. I’m the daughter of Aphrodite. I’m the descendent of Asteria, Prometheus,

Krios, Kahl, Sapphire, and Persia. I don’t know who fucked Aphrodite to have Sapphire, but other

than that, you have my whole family tree. I’ve seen how this ends once, and time has been rewound.

Please trust me,” I plead again.

His eyes stay focused on the road, a tear finally escaping from his wavering lids. He wipes it

away quickly, and then and he picks up his cell phone to make a call.

“Yo. You need me yet?” Ther says through the speaker phone setting.

“I had to bump up the schedule. It’s worse than I thought. She’s spouting off more crazy things

than I’ve ever heard, and it’s detailed too. Just tell Mom to be there before I get there. I don’t want us

having to wait around on her. Adisia tried to kill herself tonight,” he says with a grimacing expression

turning to guilt.

“Damn. It is bad. I’ll tell her. You okay?” Ther asks with genuine concern for his friend.

Devin takes it off speaker phone and pulls it back to his face.

“No, but I will be when she’s better… Yeah… I’ll make sure no one follows us.”

Devin snaps the phone back into place and stares straight ahead. He still doesn’t believe me.

“I can prove it,” I snap.

“Adisia, please stop,” he pleads.

The car crash. I made the car crash the first time he kidnapped me.

“I crashed Ther’s SUV the first time you kidnapped me,” I cry out.

I grab the handle I’m strapped to, and I stare into his eyes. There’s no seduction like there was

last time though.

There’s nothing but self loathing, pity, and guilt flowing from his smoky blue eyes that don’t dare

to swirl for me.

I grunt slightly as I strain to force out any little spark to prove my impending transformation, but

nothing happens - nothing besides my head trying to explode.

“You’re going to hurt yourself. Stop,” he demands.

I growl as I sit back as far as I can and pout for my failed attempt. I couldn’t stop sparking the

first time around, and this time I can’t spark even a little bit.

Way to help me out, Aphrodite.

Devin scoops me up, and
cuts me free from my restraints once we reach his apartment. I don’t

struggle because I know how incredibly pointless that would be.

He pulls my hand in his and leads me to the party I know is waiting.

We step into the elevator, and I throw one last Hail Mary pass in an effort to prove I’m telling the

truth.

“Safina came after us,” I announce.

His eyes narrow at me, and I see I’ve finally struck a nerve.

“I don’t know where you heard that name, but it’s impossible. Adisia, your mind has been filled

with ramblings and nonsense. When all jumbled up, it triggers insanity. You’re piecing things

together that is far too great for your mind to comprehend. Just please trust me on this,” he insists.

I say the only thing I know left to say.

“I love you, Devin. I just can’t put you through all this again,” I whisper.

His walks over and presses the emergency stop button. I see his shoulders drop as he stares at the

wall.

He slowly turns around, and I feel the fire blazing from his eyes as he shakes his head. His mouth

starts to cover mine, but he stops just as his lips hover over too close for my heart to withstand.

He leans his forehead against mine, his tormented breaths mingling with my frantic ones. Finally,

he jerks back up and walks over to the panel once more.

He releases the emergency stop and then punches the wall beside him. It bows and cracks under

the forceful punch, even though he still restrained most of his strength. If he had hit it as hard as he

could, the entire elevator would have folded.

The doors open, and Theia walks over with her arrogant air. I hate this version of Theia.

“Well good grief son, what on earth did you just do?” she barks while staring at the crying

elevator still suffering from the punch.

“Just skip the bullshit and help her, please,” he murmurs angrily as he disappears into the

bedroom.

This is happening completely different. The last time we blew out all the bulbs in the bathroom

after an intense make-out session. This time, he won’t even kiss me.

He’s hurting because I told him I love him, and he thinks I’m just infected. I still have no clue

what entails an infection, but I’ve never been infected. I just love him, and I don’t want to watch the

world end in ashes because I selfishly chose to live.

“So you’re the mortal,” Theia says as she assesses me.

I roll my eyes at her, and I mock her rude condescension.

“We can skip this part, Theia. You think your son fell for a lesser creature, and you find me

loathsome for having lured him into such. Just get to the part where I tell you I’m not infected and

you argue. Then I’ll just prove you rewound time, and for some fucked up reason, I’m the only one

who remembers what really happened,” I snap.

She takes a step back, and Ther starts laughing slightly before he catches himself. Even Phillip

has to turn away to suppress his smile.

“I don’t really… Devin?” she stammers.

“Like I told Ther, it’s bad,” he says from the bedroom.

Her eyes stay wide as she looks at me again. I huff as I flop down on the couch and cross my

arms over my chest.

“So what happens? You rifle through my mind and delete all of my memories?” I snark. “It’s not

going to save any of us. I have to die, or everyone else will instead.”

Phillip’s smirk draws down into a frown, and Ther sits down beside Theia to investigate. The

elevator opens, and Kry walks out with a puzzled look.

“Why do you think the world will end if you live?” he asks as he sits down on the couch beside

me, his crazy bleach blond faux-hawk intact.

“Because it already did once. Theia rewound time back to the point just before I met Devin. I

just remembered it today when he broke up with me. I shut the shades, I made him think I was fine

with it, but somehow he still knew,” I mumble.

I turn to the door that is still shut, and I speak softly.

“How did you know what I was about to do? You can’t see me, and I had my apartment sealed up

tight.”

The door starts to open, and then hesitation strikes as it wavers in the middle. Finally, it swings

open fully, and Devin walks out with a reluctant huff.

“If I tell you, will you please just let Mom help you?” he snaps.

“It depends on if I like your answer,” I snap back.

He grabs his aching head and plops down at the bar.

“A woman called me and told me you were about to kill yourself. She said you had sent her a

goodbye text,” he almost chokes out.

“Persia,” I gripe.

He tilts his head. “You’ve mentioned that name in your sleep and earlier in your ramblings. Who

is she, and how did she get my number?”

“She’s my birthmother, and she sees the future just like you,” I grumble.

In my sleep? My mind has been trying to return all along. If I had figured it out sooner, I would

have been able to carry out this plan without interference. He would have never known I even existed.

“Did you tell her anything at all?” Theia whispers in the inaudible tone not meant for human ears.

“No, he didn’t, at least not this time. And yes, I did hear that whispered tone I’m not supposed to

be able to. Save your shock and your theories,” I grumble.

Her eyes widen, and Devin eases toward the couch to sit on the unoccupied side of me. He looks

toward Theia for answers.

“Is it possible?” he asks hopefully.

“You know it isn’t, son. When I rewind time, I’m the only one who remembers. I have to unlock

the memories of everyone else,” she murmurs softly.

Hope enters my doomed stance.

“You can unlock memories? So then unlock your memories,” I quickly interject.

“I don’t have any to unlock,” Theia sighs in exasperation.

“You might want to reconsider that,” a familiar voice says from the shadows.

I smile as I recognize the voice, and Devin is dumbfounded by the surprise visitor he never saw

coming. She must have fully evaded his grasp this time; of course he’s much more distracted than last

time.

“Hello mother,” I say softly as Persia stalks toward us.

Theia jumps to a defensive position, and Devin flashes to back her down.

“Who are you?” Theia demands.

Devin looks toward me, and then back to Persia.

“It’s Persia, Adisia’s mom. This is real,” he gasps.

“How did you find us?” Theia demands.

“She always knows where her daughter is,” I say with a sardonic smirk.

Persia lets a small smile cock from the right corner of her mouth.

“Yes I do, and yes, it’s very real. There’s no other way she should know who I am or what I’ve

done. She does though. The only logical answer is that time has been pulled back by the hands of

someone powerful. If you didn’t do it, then it has to be her,” she says as her eyes point to me.

“Impossible,” Theia scoffs. “I’m the only one who can do such a thing.”

“You were,” Persia retorts as her eyes stare adoringly into mine.

I stand up and run to hug her. She’s caught off guard and off balance, and she slowly returns the

embrace she’s been waiting to feel, even though she doesn’t remember the first time she felt it.

“A lot happened, didn’t it?” she asks with tears in her eyes.

I nod as the tears start pouring from mine as well.

“Yes, too much,” I sob lightly.

She pulls me back into her arms, and Devin seems so torn now. He keeps sitting back and leaning

up as if he’s completely baffled by the possibility he wouldn’t even consider.

“So she really does have Aphrodite and Asteria in her, along with Prometheus?” Devin asks in a

disbelieving tone.

Persia’s eyes narrow as he pulls back from her clutched embrace with me, and she studies my

eyes very intensely.

“Asteria? What’s he talking about?” she gasps, though it doesn’t seem very authentic.

Why would she hide it if she knew it though?

“You didn’t know?” I ask while tilting my head and staring into her dumbfounded eyes very

suspiciously. “Kahl’s mother was Asteria. She woke up to help Aphrodite. They almost killed me

until they learned how to work together, but I couldn’t get a hold of Asteria’s power in time to save

us,” I say as I start sobbing uncontrollably, and her arms tighten around me.

“Asteria,” everyone whispers the blasphemous name in unison amongst themselves, except for

Devin.

He hops up and starts to walk toward me, but he dives out onto the balcony instead. He leans over

to take a breath, acting as though he’s almost ready to fall apart.

I look to Ther for answers. He didn’t act like this last time, but Ther offers no insight as he

shrugs to my silent question.

“Will you unlock the memories now?” I prompt Theia.

She swallows hard as if she’s overwhelmed, and I’m almost certain she still doesn’t believe me or

Persia.

“I really can’t. My mind doesn’t know there are any memories locked away. If you are the one

who rewound time, then you have to show me what you saw. I can then begin unlocking memories

that way.”

“How do I do that?” I plead.

“Just sit down and take my hands,” Theia instructs.

Persia releases me, and I go to join Theia on the couch. I glance toward Devin, but he’s still

staring out at the city view, completely disengaging from the situation.

Kry hops up to go join him, and Ther follows behind.

“You have to concentrate,” Theia says in regard to my distracted frame of mind.

“Sorry. He didn’t act so destroyed last time. He said he was relieved. This time, it’s as if he

doesn’t want to believe I’m right,” I whisper sadly.

I know I didn’t whisper low enough when Devin’s voice brings me new insight.

“Did you try killing yourself last time? Did you tell me you loved me while I thought you were

infected? Did you cry as hard then as you did today?” he barks.

I slump down slightly from my scolding.

“I did cry pretty damn hard for several days while you watched last time. I wasn’t trying to kill

myself to make you feel responsible; I was trying to save your life. I told you I love you because I do,

and it was starting to hurt to not tell you. The last time I saw you, Safina was killing you. I don’t

know what you’re going through right at this moment, but I can assure you that what I saw was

worse.”

He just walks away despite my explanation. That warmness we had before isn’t there. Maybe

that’s a good thing. He’s hurting right now, and maybe I can escape long enough to finish what has to

be done.

Persia’s hand grips my shoulder, and her eyes narrow at me.

“It’s not going to work. Don’t even think about it,” she cautions.

Shit. I forgot she can see me
.

“You can see her?” Devin asks.

“Yes, but only because I’m a direct descendent of Prometheus,” she explains… again.