Goddess Sacrifice (10 page)

Legacy glared at him. “No, it was apparent to everyone around that she was being a bitch to me. She told me to go to hell. That that’s where I belonged and where I’ll end up. She also said something about me not seeing things from her perspective and that Adin will turn to her once I’m gone.”

She looked at River, and he looked furious. “Ugh! What a…” River shook his head. “I’m sorry, Legacy. She didn’t have to be so harsh.”

“You shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, you and Adin aren’t the best of friends either. How many times have you gotten into an argument with him about something?”

River sighed. “I know, you’re right. I just fucking hate the thought of her, of
anyone
, treating you that way.”

“I can handle her.” Legacy just needed a few moments alone with Venus, and she’d enjoy
handling
her alright.

River was quiet for several seconds, but he continued to stare at her. She glanced at her watch, thinking she should probably leave soon, but when he saw her look at the time, he spoke. “So how are things with you and Adin?” he asked quietly.

She flashed her eyes at him. “Fine.” She wasn’t sure what kind of question he was asking, so she didn’t go into any details.

He nodded. “I, um, mean how are things evolving?”

“Well, we’re talking a lot more about the things that worry us about our relationship. I’m open about you, and he’s open about Venus. Before, we tended to fight about the two of you because it was stressful for the other person to hear, but we’ve reached a new understanding.” She half-smiled at River.

He nodded again, but didn’t say anything. Talking to River about the conversation she’d had with Adin reminded her about his dad’s belief that he’d die protecting her.

“Er, River. Do you still think your mom will try to kill Adin to keep us from being together?”

River shrugged. “I think it’s possible.”

That was unacceptable. “You have to protect him from her.”

“Legacy,” River whispered, shaking his head. “You’re my concern, not Adin.”

“I know that, but you believe in the prophecy. If he dies, then you and I can’t be together. It would be to your advantage if Adin is protected.” She knew it wasn’t fair arguing from this angle, but she would do whatever she could to make sure Adin was protected.

River half-smiled at her. “I guess you’re right about that. Why do you bring it up now?”

“Because Adin’s dad believes that Adin will die protecting me from someone who wants to hurt me. You won’t try to kill me, so that leaves Medusa, Hades, or Venus.”

“I doubt Venus wants to kill you. She probably just wants Adin, so I bet her efforts will be focused on getting him and not killing you.”

“Well, that still leaves your mother and Hades. Hades will probably just try to take me away without bothering with hurting you or Adin, but your mother is the only one who would gain something by Adin’s death. You’re a god now. You have to do what you can to make sure she doesn’t kill him.”

River sighed and nodded. But his demeanor seemed odd. It felt as if he thought they were off topic somehow. While she stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed, signifying to her that something else was on his mind. “When I asked how things were between you two, I meant, how are things
physically
?”

“
River
!” she yelled, but she blushed. Oh, no way in hell was she providing him deets on that! “I’m not going to talk to you about that.” She started to get up from the table, and out of nowhere, River was right in front of her.

“Legacy, wait. I, er, don’t want to know anything specific. I just want to know if
it
has happened.”

“No, you don’t. You can’t handle any information about my private life. You got really upset just knowing that Adin and I had talked about sex. If you knew how close we’ve gotten, there’s no telling how you’d react.”

He flashed a crooked smile. “How close you’ve gotten? So that means you haven’t done it.”

“River, I’m not going to talk to you about this.”

“You don’t need to, baby,” he said with a grin.

She shook her head at him, but couldn’t help but smile back. If River was going to help her by protecting Adin, then she could give him this little bit of news. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to honestly give him the answer he wanted to hear anyway. “Fine,” she whispered. “We haven’t done it…not yet.”

River’s smile grew, and his face glowed.

“It doesn’t change anything.”

His smiled faded a little. “I know.”

“Protect him, River…for me.”

“For you.” He nodded. “I would do anything for you, baby,” River whispered staring into her eyes.

And she had absolutely no doubt about that.

Chapter Eight

The next couple of weeks were much colder, feeling as if winter was coming early, and Legacy didn’t know how to stop it. Or if she should. The beautiful fall foliage covered the ground, leaving the trees a shell of their bountiful self.

She still had the same dream she’d been having all fall, and she never got another message from her mother. She talked to Adin about it constantly, but he was just as stumped as she was on the whole sacrifice thing.

Adin and Legacy also talked about River and Venus all the time. It was their therapeutic way of dealing with their unwanted bonds. Neither one got angry about the feelings those people stirred, but the day she told Adin she had talked to River about her mother’s message, he hadn’t been pleased. Not because she had turned to River for answers, but because she had turned to him first. She’d explained to Adin that he’d been busy cleaning up after the Halloween party, but she knew he was hurt. If the situation had been reversed, she would’ve felt that way too, so she couldn’t fault him for that.

Even though Legacy and Adin talked about their unwanted bonds to help deal with the stress, it hadn’t stopped her from thinking about those bonds when she was alone. She really did try not to obsess about the obstacles in their lives, but when she didn’t have other things to focus on, the thought of those obstacles was really the first thing that popped into her head.

She was home late one Friday night, obsessing about that very thing when she heard a knock on her door. Lissa was at a seminar and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow and Olive was staying with a friend, so Legacy was home alone.

She didn’t know who it could be. Adin had a guys’ night out with his friends in his fraternity, so she wasn’t expecting him. Calli had to cheer at a playoff game. River was visiting colleges to decide where he was going to attend next year—he didn’t want to go, but he was willing since he knew his mother would be tagging along and wouldn’t be near Legacy. None of her other friends would come by this late unannounced.

When she got to the door, she hesitated. She had to be careful. There were several people—gods and a monster to be exact—that wanted to hurt her.

“Who is it?” she asked without opening the door.

“It’s me, sweetheart.”

She released the breath she’d been holding. Adin must’ve gotten finished early. She opened the door with a smile that quickly vanished when she saw the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I come in?” he whispered.

“Of course.” Her heart lurched, and it wasn’t the usual pounding in excitement.

Adin stepped in and walked straight to her bedroom without saying anything else. She followed and closed her bedroom door behind her. When she turned around, Adin’s back was to her, and it looked like he had his hands on his mouth. She saw his shoulders jerk, and she immediately felt the blood fall out of her face. He was trying not to cry.

“Adin?” she barely said.

He shook his head. “I, er, don’t know how to say this,” he whispered, and it sounded like he was in agony. What was going on? She was almost too scared to ask.

“Say what?”

He slowly turned around and looked at her with sad eyes. “Venus.” Legacy shut her eyes at the sound of that name. She already knew this wasn’t good, but now she was truly terrified. “She, um…
kissed
me tonight.”

Legacy’s hands flew up to her face as she gasped for air. Her knees buckled, so she stumbled over to her bed. The wind howled outside briefly before the torrential downpour started. It wasn’t enough, though. She cried too.

“S-sweetheart,” Adin whispered.

She shook her head. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say because she couldn’t comprehend what he was telling her. Her brain didn’t want to process it. After she cried into her hands for a couple of minutes, she slid her hands down and looked at him. “I…” She couldn’t finish. After she cried for another minute, she cleared her throat before trying again. “Umm…I thought you were out with your fraternity brothers.”

His throat moved as he swallowed. “I was. She showed up with some of her sorority sisters,” he muttered. “It’s our sister organization, so they have an open invitation to any function as long as it’s not a closed meeting.”

“Er…” She cried again. “I’m sorry. I think I need a minute,” she said as she rubbed her forehead. She looked away from him and tried taking deep breaths, but her breathing was still hitched. She covered her face while she tried breathing slowly. But all she could think of was why this was happening to her…to them.

And it devastated her.

“
Legacy
,” Adin whispered, agonized. She heard him walking over to her, so she slid her hands down her face to look at him again. When he started to sit beside her, she jumped off the bed, shaking her head.

“How?” she asked tonelessly. She didn’t know if it was a morbid sense of curiosity or if she was secretly a masochist, but for whatever reason, she needed to know.

Adin looked down. “I left the table to go to the restroom, and when I walked out, she was there. It was a narrow hallway. I started to step around her, but, um, she got in front of me.” He shook his head and sighed as he wiped his own tears from his face. “She got in my face, and I looked away from her. I told her to move, but she didn’t. Since I was facing away from her, she whispered in my ear. When I turned to face her again, she kissed me.”

“She whispered to you?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“
Legacy…
” Adin whispered as he shook his head and tears formed. He obviously didn’t want to tell her what that vile woman had said. She shut her eyes and started crying again. She didn’t know if she could find the strength to keep asking if he didn’t want to tell her.

“She said, ‘I know you want me.’ I don’t, Legacy,” Adin said fiercely.

Of course she would think that. Legacy dropped her hands and stared at Adin before speaking again. “How did she manage to kiss you? Did you kiss her back?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“I was irritated with her, so when I turned to look at her again, I wasn’t expecting her to be so close. It shocked me, and I think I probably gasped. It was in that moment of shock when she made her move. I pushed her away, but not soon enough.”

“Did you kiss her back?” she asked, saying each word slowly. Was he avoiding the question?

Adin sighed. “Yes,” he barely whispered.

Legacy gasped, shaking her head and covering her face as more tears streaked down. How could he do this to her?

“Only for a fraction of a second,” he said frantically, standing up and walking toward her. “I think I was still in a state of shock. After I pushed her away, I fought with her about her behavior and what I really wanted.”

Adin was standing in front of Legacy now, but she couldn’t be near him. She stepped away, walked to her window and watched the rain fall as she cried. As she thought about that evil wench, thunder rolled.

He didn’t walk toward her or say anything. She figured he was giving her some time to deal with the blow of this news, but as the minutes passed, she realized what she needed right now.

“I think you should leave,” she whispered through sniffles without looking at him.

Adin’s breathing hitched. “
Please
, Legacy…d-don’t make me go.”

She continued to cry. “I…I think I just need to be alone right now.”

“I am
so
sorry,” he whispered through tears. She heard him fumble with the doorknob. “I-I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

She nodded, and then she heard the door shut.

After she heard Adin’s car leave, she lost it. She slumped to the floor and sobbed. She cried uncontrollably as the rain pounded on the roof.

She’d never felt this way before. She was mad at Adin for not being stronger, but she knew it wasn’t like he was a regular guy and Venus a regular girl. They were dealing with forces beyond their control. As she thought about how unfair this was, she sobbed some more. She needed a friend, and she knew that Calli would be home by now.

She dragged herself to her car and drove straight over there. When she got to her house, Calli was gaping at her, and she knew it was because of how swollen her face was.

“What happened?”

She started crying again before she even spoke. “Venus kissed Adin.”

Calli growled and grabbed her arm, leading her up to her bedroom. Legacy talked and cried for hours while the rain continued. Calli listened without saying much until Legacy started to relax a little.

“Legacy, River has come on to you many times,” she reasoned.

“But I never kissed him!”

“But he tried to kiss you.”

Legacy knew she was right. River had tried to kiss her in his bedroom, but all she could think of was how hard this was for him. “I didn’t think about actually kissing him, though.”

“Legacy, it sounds like to me that Adin didn’t actually think about kissing her either. It seems she was just more conniving in her attack than River was.”

Legacy nodded while she sniffled. After a couple more hours of tears and talk, she was ready to go back home. She couldn’t hide out here all night, no matter how temping the idea was.

“You should stay here.”

“Adin’s coming over tomorrow. I need to be there, so we can talk about this,” she whispered as she fought back another round of the waterworks.