Daughter of Kaos (The Daughter Trilogy Book 3) (42 page)

strain to keep her away from him.

The spinning storm holds the fragments tight enough for me to see a flicker of a heartbeat hiding

amongst the shadowy apparatus.

I force my hand into the cyclone, and I grab a hold of the black dust in the pulsating spot. The

tightly bound fragments are forced to resume a corporeal form despite her fervent attempts to stay

among the dust.

My hand remains inside her newly rematerialized body, and it stays wrapped around her black,

frosty heart. I force all the electricity I can into her while tightening my grip on the rapidly beating

organ trying to escape my clutches.

She screams in pain as her volcanic eyes burn into mine in disbelief, but she can’t break free, and

with the wind holding her together, she can’t dematerialize again. She’s forced to go on the defensive,

and she focuses on freeing herself from my vice like grip.

“No!” she screams as she struggles in vain.

I surge the charged power once more, and then I release the fire her external body had been left

unscathed by. Her body heats from the inside out, and this time she’s not so immune. This time fear

stains her eyes instead of smugness.

“We’re not as strong on the inside,” I taunt through gritted teeth.

My white fire surges more savagely inside her already ravaged interior, and then it shoots free

into the air when her head is forced back from the strength of my attack. She opens her mouth to

scream, and my expelled white fire shoots free into the air to mingle with her shrieking cry of pain.

Her eyes blare the fire as well until her whole body cracks and then ashes around my hand.

The wind sweeps the dead fragments into the ocean, and I wobble from the raging battle that’s

finally over.

I can’t hold myself up any longer, and my eyes go blurry when Devin’s arms catch me midair. He

looks so scared, but he shouldn’t be. Our daughter is safe now, and I came down from my three ring

act without his control.

I saved him. He’s really here. Oh please let this be real, or make it a dream I never wake up

from.

“You’re alive,” I almost whisper through the terrible fatigue draining my eyes of their energy.

“Baby, please tell me you’re okay. Please tell me you’re not hurt,” he prays.

“I love you,” I murmur with relief, elation, and calmness rushing out all at once.

His lips stroke mine briefly as tears begin to form in his untainted, non-possessed smoky blue

eyes I love so much.

“I love you. Don’t close your eyes. Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay-”

I can’t hear anything else. My eyes have grown too heavy, and my shallow breaths are no longer

aiding me. It’s dark, but I’m not scared anymore.

He’s alive. It’s over.

Chapter 16

A Sea of Suspense

Devin

“I never thought it was possible to see Devin love someone the way he does her. Has he even left

the room?” Nina murmurs, sounding a little jealous.

She should be jealous. No woman has ever come close to being as incredible as my wife. She

sure as hell never will be. I wish she’d just fucking leave, but I know Nadia wants to see Adisia.

That’s the
only
reason I’ve permitted her stay to extend past the point of the harpie attacks.

“No, he hasn’t left her since the fight. That’s Devin though. Where Adisia is, that’s where he’s

at. You need to get used to it because he does love her that much,” Hale murmurs softly, though I’m

sure she found the content just as stinging despite the tone.

I hear her breath stop for a second. I know she thinks we shared some incredible romance, but it

wasn’t anything special at all. Nothing in my life has been special until I met Adisia.

“I get it. I still don’t understand it, and that’s possibly because I’m the woman scorned, but I’m

happy for him. I only hope I find that one day.”

“Don’t we all?” Hale adds with a sigh.

“How long has it been?” I hear Kry ask as he tries to keep his whisper below my register.

They’ve all been talking too loud though, and the crack in the door has brought in their voices

despite the rest of the soundproofed room.

“Too fucking long,” I growl, letting them all know I just heard them as I hold Adisia’s sleeping

body to me.

He frowns as he walks into the bedroom to join me in my suspenseful waiting.

“Have you slept at all?” he huffs.

“I’ll sleep when she wakes.”

“Devin, you know it’s possible she could sleep for centuries after putting herself through that.

She rewound time after less than a few months passing before the last rewind. That’s never been done

before. She killed Rhea. That alone wiped her out. You should sleep now because torturing yourself

isn’t going to bring her back any sooner.”

I stare down at the dark-haired beauty, the love of my life, the girl everyone keeps

underestimating. Time and time again she has proved them wrong. She has broken the rules and

raised the standards over and over without even meaning to be so incredible, yet they still doubt her.

“She’ll wake,” Jace says as he walks into the room to join us. “I think it has become abundantly

clear there is nothing that can keep her away from Devin for very long.”

I wish I had the energy to be stupefied by the fact those words just came out of his mouth, but I

don’t. Instead, I offer him an appreciative nod while casting my eyes back to the girl I pray comes

back to me soon.

“I think he’s right,” Camara sweetly inserts while joining us.

“I know he’s right,” Hale chuckles out as he too joins us. “Adisia is too damn stubborn to waste

too much time on a silly thing like rest when she knows Devin is waiting on her.”

Everyone laughs lightly, but I’m forced to hold back tears. I know without a doubt my wife

would do anything, and has done everything, to be with me. For fuck’s sake, she pulled time back

while living in the present.

I’ve never thought it possible to feel like this about anyone, and I’ll be damned if I lose her now

to a comatose state.

“Have you found anyone who can help?” I murmur, my seriousness ending the light moment at

play.

Kry frowns, and Ther walks in holding the hand of Gemma.

“We’ve been trying, but no luck yet. If anyone can pull out of this soon, it’s her. She’s going to

be back before you know it, Devin,” Ther utters with such soft sincerity - like I’m too fragile for him

to raise his voice much over a whisper.

Everyone is worried I’m going to break, and if she doesn’t hurry up and come back to me, I very

well may. I haven’t ever felt so miserable in all my life. She damn near died saving me… she still

might.

I wish she had just let me stay dead and lived her life with our daughter. If she doesn’t pull

through this, I’ll join her in the grave.

Chapter 17

Our Eternity

The warmth spreads over me as a slight smile forms in a quiet room surrounding me on this soft,

velvety bed. Rhea’s face burning to ash races through my mind, and my eyes pop open to see Devin’s

body spiraled around me like the red stripe of a candy cane.

His uneasy breaths and tortured dark circles tell me he hasn’t been asleep very long. The question

is, how long have I been asleep?

“Adisia?” Persia whispers softly, and I turn to see her in the rocking chair beside the sliding glass

door of a house I’m not certain if I’ve ever been in.

I pull one finger to my lips to let her know I don’t want to wake Devin, and she walks over to sit

in the chair beside the bed. I almost cry when I see her holding a bundled up blanket in her arms

because I know it my daughter is hidden beneath the folds.

“Aster?” I choke out in a near muted tone, and she offers me a warm smile while gently placing

my sleeping beauty in my arms.

I gasp when I see a new baby instead of the three week old I left behind. She’s so much bigger,

older and I look up with trembling eyes to ask the silent question I can’t muster the energy to ask

aloud.

“You’ve been out for three months,” Persia kindly says to answer my plea.

“That long? Three months?” I gush in disbelief.

“Yes, and Devin has been awake for most of it. He’s only been sleeping when his body forces

him to. He’s been up for a month straight this time, and he’s only been out for four or five hours

now. We’ve been logging the days so we didn’t lose track of time. With Aster here, it’s important to

keep up with her exact age for medical purposes,” Persia explains, and I sigh as my eyes flop to the

ceiling.

I almost smirk when I see the giant mirror staring down at me, and then I notice a few reflective

surfaces around the room as well. I blush fiercely at the request I had once made.

Devin actually followed through
.

“Where are we?” I ask gently.

“Devin’s island home,” she says with a red hue of her own when she takes notice of my wandering

eyes.

Well that’s embarrassing.

“Oh. It looks different,” I muse as I stare around at the room I might not have ever even seen

during my previous stay.

“It is different. Devin had it customized while you were sleeping to better suit your tastes. It was

actually owned by the three of them, but Theia and Phillip decided the two of you should share it.

Devin wants to raise Aster here for the first few years of her life,” she adds.

“Oh. That’s crazy. It’s isolated. We’ll be tracked down,” I rattle out in a near whisper, even

though I know that’s no longer an issue now with Gemma’s mole parents dead.

“We know, Adisia,” Persia sighs.

“What?” I murmur with complete bemusement.

“We know about Ava and Edgar,” she clarifies, apparently catching onto my not so discreet

whispering tactic.

“How?” I gasp. “Does Gemma know?”

“Gemma is still in the dark along with Ther and some of the others. We thought it would be

easier for Ther if he didn’t know. During the first few days of your unconsciousness you were

infected with horrible night terrors. Kahl and I were gone with Theia and Phillip to retrieve your

mortal family and Aster. Jace was here to draw out the nightmare, but he realized it was memories

afflicting you rather than dreams.

“You were reliving the death of Devin over and over, and although Jace knew it was a memory,

you were the only one with such recollection of the event. Adisia, you rewound time again in a way

none of us have ever known possible. Not even a second rewind should have been possible for another

century, but you did it,” she gushes in complete awe.

“I know. I saw it all play out in reverse,” I whimper.

My eyes move to the sleeping man still wrapped around me, and I trail one of my fingers down

his tensed jaw line. Aster wiggles lightly, and then Devin snuggles in closer to me.

Mmm. This feels so right.

“It was amazing to view the world rolling backwards the way you saw it. Devin hasn’t left your

side even to eat. We’ve almost had to force food down his throat. It’s a good thing immortals don’t

lose or gain weight because he’d be wearing a sock for a shirt by this point.”

I frown upon hearing that. I hate knowing how miserable he has been. I’m sure he felt guilty

once Jace told him why I rewound time. He always takes on too much burden.

“Theia has been a worried wreck because he wouldn’t sleep. He spent most days pacing back and

forth in front of the bed. I’m sure he’d like for you to wake him,” she murmurs in a pushy tone.

“I want him to rest. I can see it in his face he’s exhausted,” I exasperate, and then I kiss his

forehead that has moved a little closer.

“The two of you should have plenty of time alone. Kry has built a few other houses on the beach

though,” she chuckles. “No one is willing to leave the Emperian too unguarded.”

“Oh, hell. I forgot about that. When can we find a replacement?” I grumble.

“When someone is stronger than you,” she giggles. “I don’t think it wise to block your powers

again. It seems as if they’ve found harmony within you anyhow,” she adds.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not blocking them again. I’ve learned my lesson.” She laughs at the

agitation on my face, and then I continue while giving a shrug. “What if I throw the match? You or

Theia could take me on,” I suggest hopefully.

She laughs a little too hard this time, making Devin and Aster both stir. She covers her mouth to

silence her outburst while shaking her head.

“It doesn’t work that way,” she chuckles. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with the title, but it appears

you have a wonderful team willing to take on the tedious tasks that come along with it. Everyone has

stepped up to fill the places of Deidra’s old team, and Lana has been quite instrumental in our

procedural planning, and-”

She stops short when I rudely let out a gigantic yawn. Aster yawns in her sleep as if my reaction

was contagious, and Persia and I both grin at her adorable little face trying to grin once she finishes.