Goddess Revenge: Goddess Series Book 4 (Young Adult / New Adult) (2 page)

“Er, doesn’t your gate close and lock automatically?” Legacy asked.

“River has the code.”

“What?” Legacy yelled.

“Good grief, he’s your best friend and my neighbor. He’s over here all the time. We gave each other our codes so we didn’t have to deal with the intercoms.”

The doorbell rang again.

“Apparently, he’s just as impatient as ever,” Legacy sneered.

“I’ll get rid of him,” Calli said, standing up.

She got up too. “That won’t work. My car’s outside, so he knows I’m here.”

They started walking toward the door.

“We can tell him we’re going to the mall. We can leave and keep talking,” Calli suggested.

“Don’t worry about it. I have a few things to get off my chest.”

They were almost to the door when Calli stopped and grabbed her arm.

“Legacy, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re still too mad about everything.”

She gave Calli a soft smile. “I’ll be fine.”

Legacy turned away from her and walked to the door with Calli following her now. She took a deep breath as she put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door with a smile planted on her face.

“Hi,” Legacy said as cheerfully as she could muster under the given circumstances. Luckily, her overexertion created an aura of calm happiness rather than feeling as fake as it actually was.

“Hey,” River breathed, and a glowing smile formed on his face. He looked over her shoulder. “Hi, Calli, can I come in?”

“Er, sure,” she said shakily.

Legacy stepped away from the door so River could get in and motioned for him to enter.

He stepped in and rubbed her arm as he passed. His touch tingled, and she cursed the reaction as she tried to ignore it.

“We were gabbing in the kitchen if you want to hang,” Calli said as she turned from him and walked away.

River turned his head to the side and looked at Legacy. She half-smiled at him and followed Calli. He followed her into the kitchen.

“You want something to drink, River?” Calli asked as he walked into the room.

“No, I’m straight. I just came by to check on Legacy,” he said, turning to look at her. “When I left her yesterday, she was still, um, upset.”

River wasn’t divulging what went down between the two of them on her couch. If she wasn’t irate with him, she’d probably be flattered that he wasn’t the kiss and tell type.

Too bad for him. “She knows,” Legacy said, staring him right in the eyes.

“Ah,” he whispered, and nodded in understanding. Then he looked down while his mouth twitched, fighting a smile. He probably thought Legacy came running over here to talk to Calli about it, giggly in all her silly-girl glory of playing tongue hockey. And he was enjoying it, the prick.

“I can leave you two alone,” Calli muttered as she picked up her drink to leave.

“That won’t be necessary,” Legacy said, looking over at her. She didn’t want to be left alone with him! She was still furious. She was trying to control her anger and her mouth. She wasn’t ready to chew him out, and if Calli left her alone with him, there’d be no incentive not to shock him to within an inch of his pathetic life!

Legacy walked over and sat down next to Calli, and River followed, taking a seat across from them, thank gods.

The next few seconds of silence were beyond awkward. No one knew what to say. River wasn’t going to bring up the kiss. Calli wasn’t going to bring up why Legacy was really here, and Legacy didn’t want to even talk to River about anything, much less either of those topics—not yet anyway.

Calli was the one who finally spoke up. “Are you ready for your first basketball game, River?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m a little nervous playing for this team, but I’m starting, so that’s all cool.”

“You’ll do fine,” she said softly, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

He met her gaze and nodded. Then he looked down as he started to smile. It was painfully obvious that he was thinking about the kiss and not Calli’s conversation.

Legacy couldn’t allow that. She looked over at Calli and licked her lips. “Adin came over last night,” she said nonchalantly as she took a drink of her soda.

Calli’s head snapped up, and from the corner of Legacy’s eye, she could see River’s smile fade. Calli glanced at River before meeting her gaze. “Really?” she said, trying to meet her indifferent tone.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. She kept her eyes on Calli, but she could feel River’s gaze burning into her.

“And?” Calli asked cautiously. It was obvious she wasn’t sure if Legacy wanted to get into the specifics of it.

She didn’t, but she could generalize. “And nothing. He understands why I broke up with him.”

“He’s not fighting you on this?” she asked incredulously and then flashed her eyes at River, realizing that she probably shouldn’t have asked that with their audience.

Legacy laughed lightly. “Well, of course he is.” She looked over at River, and he was watching her like a hawk. “Wouldn’t you?” she asked him.

“Er, what?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“If we were together and I broke up with you, wouldn’t you try to convince me to change my mind?”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

She looked back at Calli. “I can’t really blame him for trying.”

“What did he try, I mean, say?” River asked.

Her eyes flashed to his. “Oh, you know. We love each other. He doesn’t care that I could kill him. He’d rather live a short and happy life with me than a long and miserable life without me. If I didn’t know I was truly capable of inflicting that kind of harm, I probably would’ve caved.” She looked over at Calli and tried not to smirk. “He tried other ways of persuasion too.” She couldn’t help but add that little bit of info for River’s benefit. He sighed heavily as he crossed his arms, so Legacy looked over at him. “Oh, and I told him you kissed me.”

His head popped up. She realized that she sounded a little arrogant and needed to change her tone. She sighed and looked down, shrugging. “I figured if he knew,” she whispered, “he might accept how things are. I also told him I’d understand if he turned to Venus. You know, since I’m pushing him away, I really don’t know what that’ll mean about…things.” She shook her head and took a drink.

“What did he say?” River asked evenly.

“About this kiss?” she asked with smile. “Um, he commented that you didn’t waste any time, but then he didn’t fault you for trying. He said he knows what it’s like kissing me.”

“He wasn’t mad?” Calli asked.

She looked over at her BFF. “No. He’s not my boyfriend anymore. He knows I’m completely within my rights to kiss whomever I want.”

“Yeah, but he loves you, Legacy.”

“So do I,” River said quickly. “I know what it’s like knowing you’re kissing another man. If he’s anything like me, he’s mad,” River said, looking away.

Jealous much
? He obviously understood what she meant when she’d mentioned the other ways of persuasion. Good. “But he’s not like you, is he?” she asked, looking at River.

“No,” he said calmly, watching her eyes, seeming as if he were trying to decipher the meaning of her question.

“If he were like you,” she said, “our relationship wouldn’t be a problem. You’re a god, and I’m going to be a goddess. Adin is mortal, so he’s going to die. Even if we were free to be together now, it’d be short-lived.”

River nodded. “Is that why you sound so bitter?” he asked in an irritated tone.

She suppressed a growl. It would not do for him to get an attitude with her! She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Do I sound bitter?” she asked calmly.

“Something’s wrong,” River acknowledged.

He was definitely perceptive, but she wasn’t ready to confront him. She needed to play her cards just right. And with that thought, she realized how she was going to do that.

She sighed, shaking her head. “I-I’m sorry.” She glanced at him and looked away. “I don’t mean to sound like that. It’s just that…so much has happened. I think I’m just…confused,” she barely whispered.

River once told her that he thought she was confused about how he made her feel, so picking that word to describe her feelings seemed to disarm him.

“You’re right. You’ve been through a lot. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She looked up at him, and he looked genuinely sad. “Don’t be sorry. I’m just trying to take everything in.” More than this jerk realized.

“I should go,” River whispered as he started to stand up. “You obviously came here to vent, and I’m interrupting. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She nodded as she stood up. Calli stood up too. River started out the kitchen, and they followed him. He turned around and hugged Calli. After she pulled away, she walked back toward the kitchen, but then looked over her shoulder. “I’ll see you at school.”

He smiled softly and nodded. He wasn’t making a move to hug Legacy, so she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him. His breath caught as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. She felt her heart race as he gently caressed her back, so she knew he could feel it too. She held onto him much longer than she normally did, and when he realized she wasn’t pulling away, he leaned his head down and kissed the top of her head. He kept his face buried in her hair, and she could feel his hot breath saturating every strand.

She squeezed him tighter, and he kissed her hair again.

“I’m really sorry for how I acted in the kitchen. I shouldn’t have brought up Adin,” she whispered. “I just saw you smiling, and I knew you were thinking about…about the other day. I just wasn’t ready to deal with that.”

“Shhh…” River whispered as he nuzzled her hair. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I know you’re going through a hard time right now, baby.”

She nodded against his chest. “I wish this didn’t feel…so…nice,” she breathed.

“Mmm, I’m glad it feels that way to you.” He kissed her head again. “You know it feels that way to me too.”

She nodded as she pulled away from his embrace. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” he whispered as she stepped away from him, but he let his hand slide down her arm as she walked away and clasped his hand onto hers briefly before letting her go. He turned to walk out the door, and she closed it behind him. When she turned to walk back into the kitchen, she saw Calli standing in the doorway, close enough to witness what just happened with River without being seen.

“What the hell was that all about?” she asked incredulously.

“Damage control.”

“What does
that
mean?”

“When I apologized for my behavior in the kitchen, I realized I was being a bit too hateful toward River.”

“Er, because you were furious with him.”

Legacy looked at her BFF with a coy smile. “Oh, I still am. It’s taking all my strength not to suffocate the life out of him.”

“Then why in the world did you hug him like that?”

“You’ve heard the saying ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer,’ haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” Calli said slowly.

“Well, I’ve decided that it’s time to give River a taste of his own medicine.”

“I don’t like this sound of this. What do you mean by that?”

“He wants me all to himself, so I think I’m going to let him believe that he’s winning me over.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Why didn’t I think of this before?”

“Legacy, you can’t do that. I know you’re mad at him, but you can’t do that!” Calli looked panicked.

“Calli, it’s River’s fault that I’m a danger to Adin, and I still believe River—not Medusa—has been behind the covert attacks against me so far. Adin was right. River is a monster.”

“Lying to River isn’t going to help you.”

“That’s not true. As much as I hate to admit it, I still need his help with Medusa, and I probably still need his help with my change. If I cut ties with him completely, there’s no telling what he’d do, so that’s really not a risk I should take. Besides he needs to pay for what he did to me.”

“And how exactly is he going to pay?” Calli asked timidly.

“It’s his turn to be played.”

Chapter Two

“You still have time to change your mind,” Calli said as she and Legacy walked from the parking lot to school.

Calli had pleaded with her all afternoon about her plan to hurt River as much as he’d hurt her. She’d kept telling Legacy that River was a friend to them both and he’d helped both in the past. She didn’t want her hurting him, but she understood why Legacy felt she had to do this.

“We’ve been over this. Now, how do I look?” she asked as she smoothed her hair.

She wore stiletto boots, a mini-jean skirt, and a form-fitting, low-cut cashmere sweater. She also wore her hair up, so River would be able to smell her perfume on her neck. She kept her makeup casual—she didn’t want it to be
too
obvious she was dressing up.

“Like a knockout,” Calli said, but her tone was wistful. Her BFF really didn’t like her plan.

Legacy smiled and wagged her eyebrows as they neared the picnic table where they’d always gathered before school. River’s car was already here, so she figured he’d be there waiting for them. Normally, she and Calli made it to school before he did, but Legacy took her time getting ready. If she wanted this little plan of hers to work, she’d need to be careful about how much time she spent with him. If she was around him too much, she might be tempted to lay it on too thick or let her real irritation show through. If either of those things happened, he’d see right through her. She needed to gradually get used to spending more time with him, which would make it seem like their relationship developed naturally. That way, he wouldn’t suspect a thing.

He was already at the picnic table and had his back to them as they approached.

“Good morning,” Calli said to River as she walked around him to sit down.

He twisted around and looked at her. “Morning.” Then he looked at Legacy. His jaw dropped. That was a good sign. She kept her expression even.

“Good morning,” she said as she stepped around him.

It was apparent he was at a momentary loss for words as he watched her take her seat. She smiled at him as she sat down. “Er, good morning,” he finally said.