From Shadow to Light - Book Ten

Ch. 23- A Haunting

"She is a twisted soul, a death-ridden woman, haunted by dreams."

—Erebus—

For days, I sat in Lianna's temple like it was mine. I sat on her throne and thought about every beautiful thing about her. There was nothing I could do but think. Her blood was on my hands and I watched the shocked look on her face when she realized what I just did. I killed her. She was the only one I loved in this world and now she is gone. I sank back and wiped the tears away from my ears when a pair of slender arms wrapped around me. "Now, now, bastard god. Don't cry for me for you were the one that did this to me in the first place," she said.

I turned around quickly as I found her sun-tanned skin glowing in front of me. Her wavy brown locks and golden eyes. Most of all, her venomous smile that brought me to my knees time and time again. "Lianna?"

She tilted her head to the side. "You have to stop dreaming about me. What's done is done." Lianna gazed upon her surroundings and smirked, like it was all normal for her to be here right now. "Where it all began. Tell me what it was like when you stabbed me, Erebus. Did you feel an ounce of pain for me? Or were you too stunned that you killed the only person that ever loved you?"

I gulped, stumbling over my words. "I did...love you."

"Human emotions," she said quickly. "We are not human and never will be. We are powerful, you and I, but what is the darkness without the light? Nothing. Sooner or later, you will succumb to your own shadows. You will become a monster with no one to love but your own creatures."

"Stop."

"Stop what?" she argued. "It's the truth, Erebus. You stabbed me in the heart and now I am laying in my crypt, rotting because of you. I should be alive right now and fighting you tooth and nail for what you did to me, but I'm not. I. Am. Dead." Her voice was distant now, far away. Once I faced her now, she was gone but the laughter echoed all around me. She was everywhere and nowhere, but all I wanted was her to torture me more. To keep speaking to me, even if she was a spirit. "They will hunt you down, bastard god. And they will tear you to pieces for landing a hand on me. It's a promise."

Then she was gone. As though she was never here, wrapping her arms around me like she used to do months before. Even if most of our relationship was fake, some of it was real. Lianna told me herself and I hoped for that little sliver of truth she gave me. We were real once upon a time and that is something everyone will remember for years to come. My Lianna is dead because I killed her myself. How is this world of hers worth living if she isn't?

***

My eyes slowly opened as I tilted my lips into a smirk, facing Amias on the bed. He wore nothing but boxer shorts while I was in nothing but a velvet slip that ended above my thighs. My hair was in a braid down my back and legs crossed over each other. For weeks, I have gone into my dreams and haunted the god of darkness, making him suffer for what he did to me. He still thought I was dead which was the funny part. I was alive and better than ever, for I had divinity in my blood now. I was the ruler of every single god in the universe, in which they spoke in my mind quietly every damn time. I had to tell them to shut the fuck up once or twice because I needed a little bit of silence. They listened, thankfully.

Amias' brow shot up, a smirk curled on his own lips. "Does he still think you're dead?"

I nodded. "He doesn't know anything except that he killed me. I know the others told me it was dangerous to even do this, but it is so entertaining. Watching him wallow in his own grief when that was the plan all along...oh, I wish you could see it." My family and friends have never left my side since I came back from the dead, which annoyed me greatly because I was okay. Perfect, even. The potent sunlight within me drummed in my bones every minute of the day and I felt more awake than I ever did before. There was nothing I couldn't do now. No god who controlled me like Erebus.

"I saw the pain in his eyes when he killed you, Soari. The guilt and shock he felt was unfathomable," he smiled even more, staring at me like I was the only beautiful thing in the universe. I blushed. "What about your army?"

"Waiting for my call, of course," I replied. "Helios and the others are helping in every way they can with the rest. It is only a matter of time before Erebus realizes this world is nothing if I'm not in it. And once he sets on his mission to destroy it, well, we're all going to be there within seconds." Amias moved closer to me and then with quick speed, lifted me up until I sat in his lap. His hands roamed my backside while I smiled mischievously. My arms wrapped around the back of his neck, feeling his bulge through the thin layer of fabric he wore. His warm chocolate brown eyes brightened at the sight of me, even in the early morning light. On my left finger, I wore my wedding ring that Amias gave to me. It was his mother's and I never once took it off. I never will. When my husband confessed our marriage to everyone in the throne room that day, they were surprised. Shocked. But we needed it to be secret to keep the plan in place, for Erebus to realize he lost me entirely. "We are so close."

"I know," he replied, moving a strand of hair behind my ear. "We will make it through this mess and then—"

"We buy a boat?" I asked.

Amias chuckled and goddamn it was the best sound in the world. "I promised your family a wedding—a proper one. After that, we will buy a boat of your choosing," Before I could think about the endless selections of boats in the world, the man I loved with my entire being flipped me over so he was on top of me, his lips spreading into a grin and then pressed on top of mine. "Until then, Soari, let's occupy ourselves for a little while. Shall we?"

"We shall." I drawled, kissing him like my heart depended on it. This is all I ever wanted. Him. The life we are planning together. Dreams that never seemed possible years ago because I had no idea what I wanted. If I hadn't run away, I wondered if I would ever meet Amias Guinevere. Maybe, who knows. He was mine now and nothing in the entire universe will make me give him back. Nothing.

Together, we were unstoppable.