28

laurel

With my heart aching, but also relieved that Sam agreed to our temporary break-up, I approach the restaurant terrace. One year without Sam… I was already without him for almost nine months under a totally different circumstance. At least now, we are fighting toward the same goal: stopping this damned vision and finding a way to be together – forever…

My heart skips a beat when I see the back of Adrian’s head with the wavy jet-black hair. He’s slouched in one of the chairs with his legs stretched out. Seemingly relaxed, he’s looking out over the ocean.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he says without turning his head. “Take a seat. It’s been a long time. We have some catching up to do.”

I take a seat at the other side of the table. “Adrian,” I say with surprising composure.

His eyes, his very, very, obscure and cheerless eyes, find me. I bet his smile – if he is even smiling– never reaches them. He’s wearing a plain, tight T-shirt that reveals his bulging arms with the bronzed glow. A huge word – something that looks like ancient script – is inked on the inside of his forearm.

“Say what you have to say,” I say coldly. I won’t give him the satisfaction of smelling my fear, and I do feel more confident than the last time I was confronted with him, knowing I have the Titans and almost half of the Olympians behind me. “And then get the hell off our property.”

A slow grin spreads across his face. “Well, well, the Titans have toughened you up. I like that. It’s what you need, living by my side.”

“I’ll never live by your side.” I all but spit out the words, and I remind myself to stay calm, to control my emotions. “If that’s what you’re thinking then you’re deluding yourself.”

“Let me tell you what I’m thinking. I’m thinking,” he says, sitting upright, “we started off on the wrong foot. We need to start afresh since we’ll be having a child together.”

I push my chair back. “Say ‘hi’ to the Keepers for me, will you? Thank them for the offer, but I have other plans.”

“Sit down, Laurel. I am not done.”

“No, but I am through with you. I have nothing to say anymore.”

“Aren’t you at least a little bit flattered that the gods choose you? You’re special.”

“I wasn’t chosen and I’m certainly not special. There was a vision and I happened to be in it. And now I’m going to put a stop to it.”

“Stopping the vision... That’s big, Laurel, and dangerous too. You should understand that we have no say in our destiny. The gods don’t allow it, and you should know better. They will get you where they want you. You were safe on the Titan side, but here you are again. Help me understand why they let you go, will you?”

“I make my own decisions and where I live is my business. Maybe that wasn’t always the case, but it sure as hell is now,” I say hoarsely. “No one tells me what to do, especially not a bunch of ancient gods.” I curse myself for responding. I need to get up and walk away. And never look back again. If only it were that simple…

“You really think I don’t know what’s going on? I’m not stupid, Laurel, and neither am I sightless. You see, I knew Sampson would slip up. I was just biding my time until he did.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot. Tell me, how was your birthday party, the music in particular? You have my deepest respect getting a band that ceased to exist to perform.”

“My sister invited them to play. She used to go to school with them and didn’t know they stopped making music. They were just doing her a favor.”

Adrian leans back in his seat and lets out a sneering laugh. “Tell that to the Keepers. I’m sure they can appreciate the humor.”

“You tell them, I don’t care. It was just music. I believe I have made myself clear that I’m not available as a surrogate mother. So, if you don’t mind, then–”

“Actually, I do mind. You see, I have a problem with one of the birthday guests.” Adrian picks up his phone and scrolls through his pictures. “I have a picture of her somewhere… Ah, here it is.” He turns his phone my way so I can see the picture. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but… is this a Titaness?”

I stare at the picture, feeling the blood draining from my face.

Don’t let Adrian get into your head…

I shrug. “And what if it is? She’s my friend. You know I lived with Titans, you just admitted to that.”

“This is the problem.” He shows another picture of Rory – one with Andreas, Sam and me in it. Right here on the parking lot.

“We were brought into this world to eliminate Titans. For your sake, and for all the people like you. If not, this world will become a dark, dark place, ruled by merciless Titans. Now, back to this picture. What Andreas and Sampson should have done is to capture this Titaness, tie her up, throw her in a trunk, and bring her to me. She has no power on this side, and there’s no excuse to let her walk away.”

“I asked them not to hurt her,” I hiss through my teeth. “They merely respected my guest.”

“You asked them? Let me tell you something about Andreas, our beloved family member, son of Ares. Like his father, he respects nothing and no one. He just wants to draw blood – it’s what makes him tick. And here you are, thinking I’m the bad guy.”

“Don’t take it personally; I think all of you are bad guys, but only you repulse me.”

There’s a slight pause. “Be careful what you say to me, Laurel. Trust me, you don’t want to get on my bad side.”

I let out a short laugh. “You mean this is your good side?”

He sits up straight again, his expression grim. “I think it’s time you start taking this more seriously, because I’m seconds away from getting up and showing these photos to the Keepers. Now, Don and Bastian will get away with a light sentence. Bastian is a fool, easily influenced. Don… Well, the Keepers hold him in high esteem since he’s the oldest and always trying to keep the rest of us on the straight and narrow. The two of them will get away with making some music. I can’t even link them to the Titaness. But Andreas and Sampson having a conversation with a Titaness… I think something’s going on between all of you, and it smells like a conspiracy. And then there’s this fact that you took off with Sampson. I find that particularly strange since he has lost his feelings for you. Did he fuck you?”

The chair scrapes across the tiles as I get up. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“True, but I advise you to listen anyway, because if you don’t, Sampson and Andreas will be brought before a judge, and I promise you their sentences will be far from lenient.”

“What kind of sentence?”

“Let’s just say they’ll be taking a long, long nap. And that, sweetheart, just sucks.”

Slumber…

You can compare it to a vegetative state…

Calmly, I sit back down and stare the son of darkness in the eye. “You would betray them? Your own family?”

“Unfortunately, we have human weaknesses.”

“What is it you want from me, Adrian?”

“A son.”

“We both know that’s never going to happen.”

“No? Then I’m very curious who the father of this child is, because it sure as hell isn’t Sampson. I’m sure he’s doing everything within his power to stop this child from being born, but there will be a child, and he knows it can’t be his. You’d die.”

“And you’d have to rape me. Is that how it’s going to be?”

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I won’t rape you. It’s not my style, and not how I want to bring a demigod into this world. Not even for mankind.”

“Then how? Immaculate conception?”

There’s that awful grin again. “If it were only that easy. No, you’ll come to me, willingly.”

“Never going to happen,” I say with a straight face as if we’re negotiating a deal. “I don’t love you and I’m not attracted to you at all. The chance of me sleeping with you is close to none.”

“That’s enough. I want one month of your time.”

“What?” I yell horrified.

“That’s the deal. You move in with me for one month. All I want is for us to get to know each other without interference from Sampson. When you move in, you’ll do so with an open mind. You’re our chosen one, and I’ll treat you with the respect that comes with that. You’ll get your own room, and I won’t force myself on you. We let nature take its course. You turn in your phone once you step into my house. You’re allowed to call your family, of course. Sampson will know it’s over between you.”

“There’s nothing going on between us,” I say through clenched teeth.

“Wonderful. So he won’t have his heart broken when the word gets out on Olympus. It’s just like a small town with its own social control and small town gossip.”

“And you think that I’ll get pregnant with your baby within that month?” I ask, trying hard to ignore his remark.

“You just have to give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking. You’ve heard stories about me, maybe you read about my father online, but that’s not who I am. I’m more then just a descendant from darkness. You’ll see.”

“What if I don’t get pregnant and time’s up?”

“Then I guess you beat the vision. You’d have my deepest respect.”

“Okay, then.” It’s not like I have a choice.

Adrian smiles as he sticks out his hand, and I realize I’ve just made a deal with the devil.

“Oh, one more thing. If you tell anyone about this deal, then the deal’s off. If you inform the Titans, the deal’s off. When I take you to Olympus, if you confide in Olivia, or anyone else, I’ll go straight to the Keepers.”

“You’re… you’re taking me to Olympus?”

“Is that a problem?”

“N-no, of course not.”

“The Keepers are dying to meet you.” Adrian rises. “I’ll give you a few days to get your affairs in order, to concoct a plausible story for your family. I’ll expect you on Sunday. If you’re not there before Sunday afternoon, I’ll take that as a rejection and I’ll be on the next ferry to Olympus. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

I flinch as he runs his fingers along my cheek. “You can relax, Laurel. You’ll enjoy your stay, and maybe, in the end, we’ll learn how to love each other.”

It’s already past midnight when Sam texts me to ask about Adrian. I just keep staring at the screen, not sure how to answer this one. He’s probably expecting me to let him know how things went this afternoon and I feel ashamed that I haven’t told him. But what could I say that wouldn’t be a lie? I accused him of lying to me so many times, and now I’m doing exactly the same thing because I don’t want to hurt him.

But he’ll know soon anyway.

He’ll know you chose Adrian over him.

Adrian has a tight grip on me and I don’t see how I can wriggle myself out of it. Just as I moved back to Sooke, because I wouldn’t let anyone in my family get hurt, I’ll move to the Archeron Mansion because I won’t let Adrian hurt Sam and Andreas. Yes, they carry the Olympian genes, yes, their family hurt mine, but they weren’t the ones responsible. The ones responsible are the Keepers, representatives of the Olympian gods, and they are the ones I want to see hurt.

And I will.

I will, by moving to Adrian’s house and warding him off for a month. I will, by going to Olympus and playing along. I want to see their smug faces, and then, when the month is over, I’ll be giving the vision the finger. That will be my retaliation.

“I love you, baby,” I whisper in the dark, placing my phone on the nightstand without texting Sam back. Then I crawl beneath the sheets to dream up a story to explain why I’ll be leaving on Sunday when I just got here

After breakfast, I go up to my room to pack a small suitcase, telling myself all along that I’ve made the right decision. It has to be this way. If not, others – Sam – might get hurt.

Put to rest for fifty years.

I shiver as I close the suitcase. I’m not naïve – I’m just doing what needs to be done so as to put an end to all of this. And I have to believe that Adrian will keep his word as a man. If not, I will tell Olivia or Sander. Last night, I memorized their numbers. They’re just a phone call away.

If you have access to a phone…

With tears rolling down my face, I lift my hands and take the necklace off. I press my lips against the warm stone. “I’m so sorry, Sam. I promise I won’t let him get a hold on me. I love you. I adore you. Never him. Please don’t hate me.”

I open the second drawer of my cabinet and, with a sob, carefully place the necklace on top of Sam’s picture with Storm, which I have printed out the day before. The last thing I do is remove all messages, numbers, and pictures I have of Olympians and Titans from my phone.

Manning up, I wipe away the tears with the sleeve of my blouse as I step out of my room, dragging the suitcase along.

“Please, let me be strong enough to face the demigod of darkness. Please, let me be strong enough to convince Sam that we’re over,” I mumble as I park my car near the mansion. Fortunately, I have my memory back from the night Adrian gave a party in his basement. At least I know a little bit of the layout of the house. At least I know which space to avoid…

After a short walk, I reach the front door, and, with one last heavy sigh, stretch out my arm and pick up the dog-faced knocker. Just minutes before high noon, I hit the door with it. It promptly opens as if someone was already waiting behind it eagerly. Stupid me, he probably heard me coming ten miles down the road. From now on, I can’t let my guard down. Whatever I do, I have to remind myself constantly that Adrian will always be one step ahead of me, so I need to be two steps in front of him. I can only let him think what I want him to think, or Sam will pay for it.

“Guné Laoura, welcome to the Archeron Mansion. Please, come in. Let me get your suitcase.”

And while my family thinks I’m on my way to Nanaimo to help out my former boss at his restaurant, I step past the old butler into a dark oak hall, and I realize that I have turned away from the light and have become a prisoner of the dark.