Legions (18 page)

“I had a choice?” Was all
that slipped out as I sunk into the embrace of the
comforter.

“It was worth it, wasn’t
it?” His eyes penetrated through to my core. They were so
mesmerizing. I felt his fingers lightly grazing my collarbone and
my entire body began to tremble with an eagerness that surprised
me. He brought his lips down to mine, and I felt his breath
hovering on my skin. It smelled so sweet. I released myself fully
to him. There was no room for playful arguing. I needed him now. As
his breath hovered on every crevice of my body, the chill began to
invigorate me as our bodies became one, as if we had never been
separated.

Chapter 21

We were all in our living
room spread out, taking in the moment of having Athen back. Athen
and I never wanted to leave each other’s embrace from earlier in
the afternoon, but we knew we had to get back to Cyril and
Arie.

“Alright, so you’ve got to
fill us in. Arie wasn’t able to locate Matilda. She couldn’t find
you guys. Ana couldn’t see any images. After the incident at the
hospital, it was like you were gone into the mist. I searched the
place you were staying, finding nothing. Where did you go? I don’t
understand, man. You’ve got to tell us what the heck has been going
on?”

My head spun to glare at
Cyril.

“What do you mean you
searched the place he was staying? I didn’t think you guys knew
exactly where he was staying.”

Cyril began to shift
uncomfortably in his chair, and I felt Athen’s arms wrap around me
to calm me a tad.

“I took off. I couldn’t
deal. I think I knew what was up from the beginning, but none of it
made sense. It was becoming clear, bit by bit, and yet, I didn’t
want to see it or believe it.” Athen answered Cyril’s question
before giving me a chance to go off.

“I had placed clues for
myself about our life, but I can tell you they seem really absurd
when you find them in a mortal state, or what you think is a mortal
state.”

“So you really did try the
memsors?
I didn’t think that was even
possible.” Arie said shaking her head in disbelief.

“Where all did you place
these clues?” I asked, letting Cyril off the hook for now. I didn’t
want to dampen the excitement of Athen being back in my arms by
chewing out Cyril. It could wait.

“The first place was
underneath Matilda’s collar. Another one pointed me to a leather
journal back at the Kingston home. I had written a lot of stuff in
that journal.” Athen seemed rather impressed with himself on that
one.

“Whoa, I picked that up
just a week ago! I almost opened it too.”

“It was probably best you
didn’t.” He said, winking at me and hugging me.

“We are still going to have
to do the reintroduction process, you know.” Cyril stated in a very
serious tone. “I think the sooner the better.”

“I totally agree.” Athen
nodded his head. “Tonight we should get it done. Lilith is still
around. I don’t want any complications.”

Hearing him now actually
utter her name made the anger begin to burn in my belly. I never
imagined those syllables would roll off his tongue, and here they
made an entrance.

“Well, we might as well.
Nothing else has followed protocol.”

Cyril and Arie got up from
the couch.

“We should all get some
rest.” Arie patted her brother’s knee on her way out the living
room.

Leaving us to stare at each
other was the best gift. There was so much I wanted to say and so
much I never wanted to hear.

“Can I ask you something?
It’s kind of odd, I’m sure.” I looked into Athen’s eyes hoping for
a positive response.

“Sure. Why wouldn’t you be
able to?” He chided, lightly touching my hand.

“When you were in the
library researching Angels and Demons, did you notice me, and why
were you researching those subjects? How did you know or what did
you know?” His gaze moved quickly from mine, and I noticed he
looked down.

“Well, the first part of
the question is yes. I certainly did notice you, but I was afraid
you were like the others. And that leads into the next answer.
There was someone pursuing me pretty intensely, yet I knew
something was off. There was a beauty to her but a lack of
kindness. She was like stone, even her laughter. I felt she was
something other than what she represented. I couldn’t put my finger
on it. Her eyes were so dark, almost lifeless; yet, the rest of her
didn’t seem to match that persona. It was very
confusing.”

I curled my legs up,
sinking into the couch and deeper into his gaze.

“I had an evil feeling
follow me every time she was around, yet I kept being pulled to her
so I thought I should check it out. Not being privy to the
information that I am now, I had no idea the enormity of
everything. I also always noticed a black marking near her, either
reflected on the floor or the wall. I thought I was going crazy.
Then when I saw you and your otherworldly, completely wholesome
beauty gazing back at me with your wondrous green eyes, I thought I
was really losing it. Especially when I saw the beautiful light
bouncing off the library wall. It was like the exact opposite of
the woman pursuing me. I couldn’t fathom if that was what I was
really seeing or if it was somehow related to the dark markings. It
was beautiful, but I didn’t see any crystals or glass that could be
causing the prism effect, and I realized that on some level you and
the other woman had something in common. Somehow, you had to be
connected. I didn’t know what was going on, and I decided to take
off immediately and barricade myself in my rental house for awhile.
Only she wouldn’t leave me alone, and she had the ability to be
charming.” He said somewhat laughing.

“Yes, serpents are known
for their charming abilities.” I rolled my eyes and smacked his
leg.

“When I realized she was
part of the equation, I almost quit and then finding out that my
mistakes could have turned you away from us, I just...”

“Quit on what?” Athen asked
so quietly, I almost couldn’t hear him.

I couldn’t bring myself to
say it. It felt like the ultimate betrayal. Here Athen lasted for
decades, and I almost gave up in a matter of months. I could feel
the tears beginning to well up. I vowed I wasn’t going to tell him
these things, and here they were pouring out.

“What was it, Ana? What did
you almost quit on?” Anger was edging into his voice
now.

“I just… It was only for a
few hours. I didn’t think it was good for us or the situation if I
kept thinking of you. I know I couldn’t have stuck to it, but I
thought I was making so many mistakes that either involved you or
were because of you that I had to detach myself from you.” Tears
were streaming down my cheeks now in a constant dribble.

“I know I couldn’t have
done it. I think it was my coping mechanism or something. I was so
worried that I’d lose you to her. I was messing up left and right,
putting us all in jeopardy and the process in limbo. It makes me
sick to think about it.”

There was a long pause, and
I wasn’t sure what his reaction was going to be. Fear started to
creep into my mind as I began thinking about how selfish I
sounded.

“Sweetie, it’s okay. I
understand. I’m so thankful you stayed strong, but you can’t ever
give up on us. There is always a way. Granted, I never had to deal
with a situation quite like this with you. I can only imagine what
you went through. Please don’t let it eat you up.”

My tears had no intention
of stopping, and I felt the warmth of his arms wrap around me and
wondered how I was so lucky to have him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to
hear anything else, but there was a part of me that longed to hear
every detail, no matter how horrible.

***

The moment had finally
arrived. Our family was going to become complete once again. I
looked into Athen’s eyes and even though they were still beautiful
in this state, I couldn’t wait for the familiar green to return to
them.

The intense feeling of fire
began spreading through my body, and I knew it would reach Athen’s
soon. I held on to his hand as much as I could considering the
amount of pain that was darting through every inch of my body. I
quickly thought back to when I was reintroduced. I had no idea that
he was in pain as well. He never once mentioned it. He only
appeared strong and concerned for my well-being. I hoped that I
could someday be as strong as Athen was.

“I love you, baby.” I heard
his soothing voice hover in the air, and then he grabbed my hand
with such a grasp I knew the process had begun.

Arie and Cyril were in the
corner of the room waiting helplessly as we both transferred as
much energy as we could. The memories that were missing were being
placed through his psyche. This time was so different than with me.
He knew and remembered so much, I wasn’t certain exactly what this
process had in store for him.

Athen’s eyes closed as the
pain was no doubt becoming impossible to control. His body
stiffening in pain as the images continued to run through him. I
placed my hand on his cheek, caressing it as best I
could.

His voice quiet, but
resolute as he uttered. “Never let me go.”

“I never will, my love.” I
whispered into his ear as I held him tightly as the pain ran
through both of our bodies. Hopefully, preparing us for the battles
that were lurking for us ahead.

Not realizing that I would
be seeing images from his time away from us, I was shocked beyond
belief. I wanted to shield myself from the images that I was
seeing, especially when Lilith would appear. The blazing pain was
etching a semi-permanent mark on my heart. I wanted this to be
over. I wanted the images to stop. The pain I could handle, but the
images of Lilith and him over the last few months made a storm of
emotions swell inside of me.

Seeing the agony on Athen’s
face as the pain ran through his body, I forced myself to get out
of my own insecurities and be strong for him. He was here with me
now, and that was what I needed to concentrate on. She was no
longer part of our future. Not wanting to disrupt or impede the
reintroduction process, I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes
and began to allow the images to wash over me.

Not all images included
Lilith, but the ones that did were like a knife right into my
heart. They were together walking along the beach, and chatting at
Starbucks together, going out to dinner and hanging out at
someone’s home. So far no pictures of her at the place he was
staying emerged. I was secretly thankful for that.

Seeing Athen alone brought
me the most solace. Invading his most private thoughts during this
process was not something I expected. Following him on his journey
to discover what he thought was going on was fascinating, but the
images were so jumbled with the quickness that these thoughts were
running between us, sometimes making it confusing.

Athen began to become
restless. Opening my eyes and touching him with my other hand, I
noticed the beads of sweat that were now canvassing his forehead.
The process had only begun, but I knew we had a long journey ahead
of us. I only hoped I could be as strong as he was for me just a
few short months ago.

***

Athen was sleeping quietly
in our room. I snuck out to chat with Cyril and Arie for a little
bit and get a refresher on some tea. After the reintroduction
process, Athen was knocked out like I had been after mine only a
few months before. However, he has been coming to earlier than
I.

“So how’s he doing?” Arie
asked me as I was steeping my loose tea.

“Like ten times better
than I ever was. Somehow the memsors
really seemed to have worked for him. Instead of him being
flooded with memories like I was, it’s like his mind is only having
to sort them out. Hopefully it lasts, for his sake. Since I am
still trying to figure things out from before, it would be
wonderful if he could at least regain most of his memories pretty
quickly.”

“That would be nice.
Wouldn’t it?” Cyril asked. “Especially in light of
everything.”

Athen’s voice came booming
down the hall.

“In light of what?” Athen’s
words reached us all.

“What is he doing out of
bed already?” I was shocked.

I ran down the hall to
greet him as he made his way towards us all in the kitchen, hugging
him as hard as I could.

“How are you up?” I asked
him, holding on and not letting go. It took me days to get through
the reintroduction process.

“I honestly couldn’t do it
anymore. There was no more sleep to be had. Besides, I think I
remember just about everything or at least the important stuff.” He
said gently touching my cheek softly.

I became completely
flustered knowing exactly what he was thinking about and felt the
heat wrap itself around my body in embarrassment as Cyril and Arie
most certainly heard.

“Well, that’s comforting.”
I whispered to him with a giggle.

We made our way into the
kitchen where Cyril and Arie were both smiling widely. Arie had
left the pot of stew on the stove on simmer to come and hug Athen.
It was like heaven having him back in our lives. Everything was
coming back to him so quickly. I can’t even imagine how pitifully
slow everything must have felt for them all when I was in the
process.