Daughter Trilogy Bundle (102 page)

He told her to wait for him before he went back with Kry.  I see him talking to Kry and telling him I’m too paranoid and clingy.

Tears overwhelm me, and I jerk free from Theia
’s grasp when it all becomes too painful to view any longer.

“
I don’t know about you, but I didn’t see anything other than a jerk!” I cry to Theia.

She tightens her lips, unable to object.  Devin throws himself at me, and his lips claim mine before I can push him off.  The shocking force from my hands doesn
’t knock him off of me because he’s immune, and it takes all my strength to force him off.

Suddenly electricity blasts between us as Jace offers a threatening warning. 

“Stay out of this, Jace,” Devin warns.  “She’s my damn wife.”

“
That you just cheated on who knows how many times,” Jace retorts, and I turn to walk away from the graveling son of a bitch who has broken my heart into more pieces than I’ll ever be able to pick up.

“
Adisia, please, I swear that’s the only time I kissed her, and I didn’t mean to do it then,” he desperately begs.

“
No.  You’ve been cold for two days, and you made me feel like a crazy bitch for noticing.  You gave me every sign, and I fought to not pay attention to the obvious.  Your very skilled mother can’t even find any signs of interference!” I explode.

“
Adisia,” he pleads while grabbing my hand.  “I swear it wasn’t me.  I don’t know what it was, but-”

“
But nothing, Devin.  There’s no supernatural explanation for being a total jerk.  Goodbye,” I sob, and then I feel him hanging on as if he’s not going to let me leave.

“
Let her go, Devin,” Kahl demands.

“
No.  I can’t let her leave me.  She’ll never come back,” Devin cries, and now it’s getting harder to break free.

My chest grows heavy from the panic attack, and Jace walks over to blindside Devin with a punch.  Kry rushes over, but I wave him off.

“He did it for me because I couldn’t,” I defend, making Kry look so torn as to what he should do.

“
Adisia,” Devin begs, and it’s almost a prayer when he continues.  “Please don’t leave me.”

“
Restrain him.  I’m taking my daughter with me,” Kahl asserts, and Theia seems as torn as Kry.

“
Kahl, there may be an explanation,” she tries to insert.

“
Then call me when you have it,” I sob violently.

“
No,” Devin protests, and then he rushes to me.

Kahl throws up a flaming wall as a warning, and lightning threatens to strike as the skies open up for Persia.

“Don’t start a fight here.  Adisia just wants to leave right now, and that’s all we’re trying to do,” Persia neutrally offers.

“
Go,” Hale murmurs with a pained tone.  “We’ll hold him.”

“
No!” Devin yells, and the ocean tries to reach me before Lana pushes back on it.

Hale
’s eyes offer an apology for having not found a way to help me sooner, and Devin screams as his family and friends hold him back.

I cry harder as we flash to the car, and I can hardly breathe as Jace pulls me to his chest once we
’re safely out of reach.

The waves crash fiercely beside us, and I know they won
’t be able to hold him for much longer. 

He
’s too strong, and he’ll only try not to hurt them for so long before he unleashes it all.  My world has just shattered into tiny fragments, and the pieces have been scattered into space.

There
’s nothing but emptiness chipping away at the remaining fragments of hope barely flickering before their inevitable expiration.

Chapter 5

The Tidal Storm

Devin

The dark room is only lit by the full moon casting its too chipper glow through the window.  I’m almost sick as I stare down at the papers she has sent me.

Something as seemingly harmless as another document to examine has shattered me today, for these papers promise she
’s done.  They tell me she no longer wants to be my wife, and it’s almost impossible not to fall apart in front of everyone.

This can
’t be happening.  This has to be some viciously terrible joke played on me by some son of Loki.  I can’t live without her, damn it.

“
Devin?” Kry asks in a sigh as he walks into the room.

“
What?” I growl as I push the papers into the drawer of my desk.

“
Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“
Because I fucking want to.  What do you want?”

He frowns at my bitter attitude, but I can
’t pretend to be happy right now.  None of them have helped me find her.  Most of them want me to just let her go.  It’s as if they think this was actually my fault - as if I kissed Nina of my own free will.

“
Devin, this isn’t healthy.  You need to shave, shower, eat… act like a person again.”

“
Find my wife, and I’ll do all of those things.  Until she’s back, what’s the fucking use?”

He grumbles as he flops down in a chair, and then his arms cross over his chest.

“She’ll be at the wedding.  What are you going to do?”

I almost get sick.  The thought of finally seeing her has me excited and terrified at the same time.  I
’ve been waiting a month on this wedding, and I’ve spared no expense to ensure I got a damn invitation.

“
Jake’s wedding is step one to getting her back.  I’ll damn follow her home if I have to. 
If
I can kiss her, she won’t be able to resist.  Aphrodite won’t let her stop.”

The door opens to my study to an unbidden guest.  Camara walks in awkwardly as she stares at us sitting in the dark.  She shows up randomly all the time though.

“Um, I was just coming to see if you need anything from the store,” she hesitantly murmurs.

“
Scotch, please,” I grumble.

She nods, but she doesn
’t leave.  Instead, she walks warily around the room. 

“
So, have you been out at all today?” she asks in her usual odd fashion.

“
Of course not.  Why?” I grouse.

“
Just curious.  Anything new going on?”

Does she know about the divorce papers?  What is she probing for?  She
’s so fucking weird lately.  It’s as though she’s hiding a secret, but I don’t know what.

“
Nothing spectacular.  Anything else?”

“
No.  I’ll grab you some scotch.  Get a shower.  You look terrible,” she adds before walking out.

“
That’s random,” Kry scoffs as the door shuts to the soundproofed room.

I shake my head while leaning back.

“She does that a lot.  I think she just doesn’t know what to say, so she says whatever strange thing comes to her usually unsocial mind.”

“
So the wedding?” he prompts, returning to our interrupted subject.

“
I’m in the wedding party now.  Jake was pretty thrilled with the honeymoon I offered to pay for.  I just have to get her to fall back in love with me.  It won’t be easy, but eternity isn’t worth living without her.”

Kry sighs out in exasperation, but he doesn
’t argue with me.  He misses her just like the rest of them do.  But no one misses her as much as I do.  It’s killing me to be without her for so fucking long.

He walks out to leave me alone in the dark, and then I grab my phone to call the man who rarely has any good news to offer.

“Hello?” he asks warily, knowing I’ll bark at him if he still hasn’t gotten any closer to what I’m paying him to find.

“
Well?  Have you found my girl?” I ask while pulling the annulment papers she sent out of my desk drawer.

I shake my head as I push them through the paper shredder where they belong.

I’m not getting my marriage annulled as though it never happened.  I’m not divorcing her either.  She can have me.  That’s her only option.

“
I’m sorry, Mr. Cole, but it’s damn near impossible.  The bounty hunter she’s staying with knows how to clean a fucking trail, and he knows how to lie low.  Any chance you can give me some insight on her mother’s properties.”

Stupid asshole.

“If I knew where her mother’s properties were, I wouldn’t be fucking paying you to find her.  Just do your damn job!” I yell before crunching the phone in my hand when my anger swells to be too much.

“
Fuck!” I blare while throwing the pieces across the room.

Everything on my desk is suddenly raked off as I lose my sanity and throw the whole damn thing through the wall of the room.  Gasps emerge throughout the house, and Ther walks up with a frown.

I have to find her before I go fucking crazier than I already have.  I have to prove it wasn’t me.  I have to make her love me again.

I drop to the ground as the tears climb free, and Ther walks away to leave me alone in my pile of grief, allowing me to try to hold onto some dignity.

I don’t care about my dignity though.  I just want my wife back.

“Damn it, Devin.  Why did
you have to pick a fight with Jace?” Hale gripes while following me into the apartment.

“
Why did
I
pick a fight?  He did everything he could to provoke me.  He couldn’t stop touching her for five fucking seconds!  She’s still my wife, Hale.  She’s still
my
fucking wife!”

My tears threaten to fall, but I hold them back as I drop to the couch.  Deacon keeps his lips sealed as he proffers me a glass of scotch, and I shakily take it while trying to inhale its toxin.

“It’s been a week since the wedding fiasco, just drop it,” Camara says in my defense.

“
He’s been hiding for a damn week,” Hale counters with exasperation.

“
I haven’t been hiding; I’ve been trying to find my damn wife.  I don’t know how in the fuck they got away.”

The drink sloshes across my pants when my hands jerk to express my fury, and I roll my eyes at the amber stain seeping into the fabric.

Gemma walks in, and I growl in distaste the second her eyes find mine.

“
Don’t fucking speak to me,” I caution.

Her eyes water, but she drops her head before rebelling.

“It’s not my fault, Devin.  Be mad at Nina or yourself.  This had nothing to do with me.”

Fucking bitch.  She
’s probably loving this.

“
I never want to see Nina again.  I’ll kill her if I do.”

“
Devin!” Ther gripes.  “This wasn’t her fault.  Both of you did this.”

The glass in my hand spirals through the air and shatters against the wall behind Ther
’s head.  The pieces clank against the tile as they scatter to the floor, and Ther swallows hard.

“
For the last fucking time, it wasn’t me!  I would never have cheated on Adisia.  Never!  Do you hear me?” I blare.

They all look away, unable to hide their betraying glares.  They really do think it was me.

With exhausted defeat, Hale drops to the chair in front of me as I lower myself back down to my own seat.

“
We don’t know what to say around you right now.  Look, Adisia just needs some time,” the foolish sun releases.

“
Time
?  She’s had too much
time
, and I know she’s only going to distance herself from me more if I don’t find a way to make amends.”

They all just sit there silently, staring at me as if I
’m that man on the ledge.  Then they disperse when they can’t think of anything else to say.

Camara
’s phone rings just before she escapes and her eyes drop as she glances at her screen.

“
Hey, give me just a minute,” she says to the silent other half of the phone.

I just watch her disappear into the padded room.  I can
’t help but hope it’s Adisia calling to tell Camara she’s coming back.  I pray she’s telling her she wants to surprise me.

I know it
’s a waste of time to wish such a thing though.  The way she ran away from me… I worry I’ll never have her back again.

Everyone is huddled around laughing
and drinking, and for the first time since Adisia left me, I join in with them - though I listen to the conversations rather than engage.  I’m sure they’re tired of me bringing them down.

Camara and Deacon hold each other in a smoldering embrace that makes me sick with envy to see.

I miss Adisia so terribly it physically hurts.  Seeing another happy couple only pushes me to the brink of losing all control and flooding the whole damn city.  I hold it back though.

I
’ll get her back.

Kry laughs with Ther, and Gemma flirts lightly with the man she has no idea is in love with her.  It only pisses me off to see everyone else so happy when I
’m desperate to find my girl.

“
Let’s head out to the bars.  We need a night of peace before we go looking for the next attack,” Ther says too obviously while tugging at Gemma’s hand.

“
Sounds good.  Kry?  Deacon?  Camara? Hale?” she asks hopefully.

She knows better than to fucking invite me after our earlier spat when Camara randomly inserted herself once again.

“I’m game,” Kry chirps.

“
Me too,” Hale murmurs before patting my shoulder.

“
Not us.  We’ll see you guys later,” Deacon says while swirling Camara around.

I almost smile when Camara gives in and lets her hair toss around, but my envy stirs again instead.  I only miss my wife more by the second.

Camara giggles wildly as Deacon tosses her over his shoulder, and they disappear from the room.

Her phone buzzes on the counter as soon as the door to their room shuts, and I pick it up to see the letter
A
and the picture of a dove flashing across the screen.

I get sick, and I freeze rather than answer it like I should.  I just stare blankly, my hope forming and begging not to be ripped free from my grasp.

If it’s not her, it’ll shatter me.  If it is, I don’t know if I can speak without falling apart.

The buzzing stops and I just stare at the inanimate device in my hand as I try not to crush it.  I take several deep breaths, and I try to plan out what I
’ll say if it’s her.  I have no idea if I can do this without pushing her farther away, but I have to try.

This is the first time I
’ve caught a break since she disappeared - other than the wedding that proved to be a disaster rather than a chance for redemption.

Fucking Jace.  I swear I hate that son of a bitch.

I steady my breaths, and I slide the screen to show the dove once more before selecting the call option.  My breath hitches as I listen anxiously, and my whole body tenses as I await an answer.

“
Thank you for calling back.  I’m so sorry, but I have to hear his voice right now,” the girl I love says through a heap of tears falling.

It
’s her.  It’s really her.  She has to hear my voice? 
Oh thank God
.

“
Adisia?” I ask while choking back the emotion that tries to spring free.

I
’m almost worried this is a dream when she doesn’t answer back.  It’s possible I’m delusional at this point after being so desperate to hear her voice.

“
You’re calling Camara to hear my voice, but you won’t speak to me,” I murmur softly, doing my best not to spook her.  “I want to hear your voice too.”

“
I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have… I need to go,” she sobs out, and I feel more knots forming in the pit of my stomach as fear strikes me.

“
Please don’t hang up.  Tell me why you’re crying.  Did Jace do something?” I demand.

Give me a reason to kill that electric bastard, please.

“No,” she whimpers.  “I’m hanging up now.”

“
Please don’t.  I’m begging you.  Just talk to me,” I plead.

“
Bye, Devin,” she murmurs in a near whisper, and the line is dead in that instant.