Futures Unseen (Chasing Titania #2)

Broken Hearts

"This is fantastic," I turned to Princess Imani. 

"You should get some rest, Orpheus," she kissed my cheek again. "Anything you need, find me. My fae will gladly point you in the right direction should you need it."

I hadn't thought about how exhausted I felt. It's like I had been drained. An ache had begun growing throughout my body from the fall. I found my way to the bed. It was so soft. I didn't deserve this comfort. My eyes closed almost instantly.

"Orpheus," A voice was very muddled in my ears. 

"Lex, my son," another accompanied it.

"Orpheus," I was being shaken.

I opened my eyes to a blue sky. Green trees came into view. I could hear a river trickling by. Flowers were growing all around me. Beside me, Persephone and Domascus sat kneeling.

"Thank the gods of our realm," Domascus sighed. "He's still here."

"Orpheus," Persephone cupped my face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm all right," I eased up onto my arms. My body was unbelievably sore.

"We grew so worried," she shook her head. "You faded from our ability to watch. We thought something bad had happened."

"I was told I lost my magic," I sat up more. "What happened?"

"We don't know," Domascus shrugged. "You'll have to go through it. We'll try to explain if it makes any sense to us."

I looked down. Shit. "I was on Medowlark, with Arn. We had made it to Parisia. I learned that the Parisians were killing the demon-possessed Germaines instead of exorcising them."

"Most cultures lost the ability to exorcise others," Domascus explained. "It's a practice that isn't commonly needed anymore."

"I had argued with Arn that we shouldn't team up with the Parisians. I argued with him, and I-" I took a deep, shaky breath. "I-"

"Let it out," Persephone hugged me close. "Whatever it is, we can take it."

"I broke up with Arn," I spat out. 

Tears fell from my eyes. Persephone exchanged a look with Domascus. He simply nodded. 

"Do you hate me now?" I wiped my eyes.

Domascus set a hand on my shoulder. "Lex, my son, we could never hate you. We're your family now; you chose us. Arn or not, we promised we would be here for you. Please, continue to tell us what happened."

I took another shaky breath. "I flew away from him. I wished that I could be home. Then I was in space and somehow ended up on Zannikar."

"I see," Persephone nodded. "You jumped planets."

"I can do that?" 

"Well," Domascus grinned. "All gods can do it. It is extremely draining on your magic, though. You won't be able to perform many acts of magic for at least a month. You must make sure you're eating well and sleeping enough. When your power recovers, you can make another jump."

"But I need to return to the war," I argued. 

Persephone shook her head. "Lexington, what you need to do is rest. Without your magic, your god powers won't work."

"How do you know?" 

"My mother used to jump planets. It's the reason she disappeared after Levi, and I got married. We didn't see her again until Arn was small. She took an extra long time to recover because of...well...her drinking problem," Persephone flushed.