THEO
Tired green eyes stared back at me from the mirror as I ran my fingers through my damp hair. I was human now and it felt really weird. Still, it was a miracle that I was alive. My fingers lazily traced the thick horizontal scar on my chest. It was the only evidence that confirmed that I'd once been stabbed in the chest, and that stab wound had killed me. I walked out of the bathroom, towel drying my wet hair. Devon was sitting on my bed, running a comb through her hair when I walked in.
"I was starting to wonder if you were sleeping in there" she said, smiling at me. "You haven't done that before?" I asked. She chuckled. "Once. It was the first time I took my bath in a Jacuzzi. I was so comfortable, I slept off" she said, her cheeks turning pink.
I smiled, slipping on a pair of sweatpants. "How're your ribs?" She asked.
"A bit sore. It isn't as bad as before" I said. She rose to her feet and embraced me from behind.
"How do you feel about all this?" She asked. "I'm feeling a lot of things right now, Dev. But I'm really happy. I've lived in the dark for three years.... you have no idea how nice it feels to breathe again" I said. "I'm really happy too, Theo" she said. I turned to face her, with my arms resting on her waist.
"Your bandage needs to be changed" she said and made me sit on the bed. She slowly unwrapped the bandage around my head as carefully as she could. I hissed in pain when the bandage grazed the cuts on the left side of my hairline. "Shit, sorry for that" she said, running her fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes as she began to wrap the new bandage around my head. "There" she said, placing a featherlight kiss on my hairline. "I'm so sorry for the misery I put you through" I said, cupping her face.
"You didn't mean to, Theo. All that matters now is that I have you back" she said, brushing my hair out of my eyes. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, her eyes slipping close. "What do you say we take a walk to the park, like old times?" She asked and I smiled. "Sure"
I put on a red shirt and a blue hoodie. We both stepped out of my house and started to head towards the park. "You know, when you were gone, a lot of things reminded me of you" she said and I felt my heart constrict. It must have been so hard for her to move on.
"Your clothes in my possession, the park, the rings...not to mention the lights in my room. They're golden" she said.
"At first, every night I would sleep in your shirt and cry myself to sleep. My mum said it was unhealthy. Somehow, she sneaked into my room and took them out. I was so mad at her, she had to return them"
I smiled, linking my fingers with hers.
"I thought I was never going to be happy again. Who would've thought that I would finally be with you again?" She said.
"I was hurting too you know, All along I'd been aching for you and it really sucked not knowing who I was" She turned to face me, her beautiful blue eyes shining bright. "I love you so much" she said and brought her lips to mine. When we pulled apart, she had a big grin on her face.
"I just realized how much I missed that" I said.
"Not more than I did"
We stopped to get ourselves ice cream.
"What're we going to do about Liam?" She asked when we both sat down on an unoccupied bench in the park. "Honestly, I don't know. But, what I do know is that he deserves to know the truth" I said. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair.
"What am I going to tell him? Am I just going to walk up to him and say 'I'm sorry, Liam but I never loved you. I'm in love with Shea'? See, if he'll take it in calmly" she said. I shook my head.
"I mean, the whole truth. He's never going to understand it if we're still going to lie to him halfway. I've had enough enemies in the past, I'm not about to start making new enemies. Besides, Liam isn't a bad guy" I said. Devon bit her lower lip, gazing at the empty space in front of her with her brows scrunched up.
"That's if he actually believes me" she said. "We'll figure it out" I said, placing an arm around her as she rested her head on my shoulder. "I hope so" She said, closing her eyes.
***
After Devon and I had left the park, I'd gone to the drug store to get pain relievers since I'd run out of them. I drove back home shortly after I'd purchased the meds. Just as I stepped out of my car and started to head towards the porch, I noticed the shift in the air. Someone was following me. I was sure of that. I moved away from the porch and turned to look behind me. There was no one there.
"You can stop hiding now" I said to no one in particular. Someone stepped out from behind the opposite building. My eyes widened when I took in the sight of his silver eyes and long blonde hair.
"Lucian?" I said, staring at him. His eyes went wide.
"Wait, you can see me?" He asked. I blinked, giving him a once over.
"You can actually see me?" He said, his eyes still wide.
"No, Sherlock. I've just created an illusion. Of course I can see you" I snapped.
He grinned and moved closer, his wings slowly retracting themselves.
"Wait, you've been following me?" I said. He shrugged.
"Well, I needed to make sure you were safe especially after you were almost choked to death some days ago" he said and I narrowed my eyes.
"How do you know about that?" I asked. He pointed out the fading fingerprints on my throat and the bandage around my head. "Well, you don't have to worry about that. You shouldn't be here, Luke" I said, unlocking the door.
"Theo, you don't understand the gravity of the things that has been happening. You recovered your memories two days ago and that means, you haven't been aware of the dangers lurking around"
"Now, what? I'm just a human now. I'm no threat to anyone. Besides, how did you know that I recovered my memories two days ago?" I asked. "Will you at least let me in, Mr Smartass?" Luke said, amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Fine, come in" I said. He walked in and I shut the door. "Nice apartment" he said, looking around. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge in the kitchen. "How's Amyra?" I asked when I returned to the sitting room.
"She's great.....being the queen and all" he said, plopping down on the couch. I smiled and sat down beside him.
"I've been watching you most of the time" Luke said and I narrowed my eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me. If you were watching me most of the time, then who has been ruling the four lands?" I said, giving him a pointed look.
"Relax, Have you forgotten that I can be a perfectionist when I want to? It wasn't easy at first but I finally got the hang of it. Now, that isn't why am here. Do you remember who attacked you?"
"No" I responded, bluntly.
"You were attacked by three blood thirsty incubuses. They were even too much to take on a single human, don't you think?" I stared at him, stunned.
incubuses attacking me? Why would they do that? I mean incubuses usually don't share their preys. They would've killed me. I realized that Luke was actually the one who'd stopped them from choking me to death. I'd seen a blur of silver, he'd saved my life.
"So what now? I'm no longer a chimaera...or the prince of the underworld. I'm just human now, why would anyone send incubuses after me?" I asked, confused. "I'll tell you why. During the three years you spent away from Devon, I showed up several times but you never saw me. Does that ring a bell?" I rose to my feet, running a hand through my hair, pensively. "I-I don't understand. I'm not supposed to be able to see you... unless my ability to see through glamours was retained"
"That's right. Your ability to see through glamours wasn't just retained. Your powers are coming back. You can't escape your destiny"
"Just because I can see you doesn't mean I'm going to turn back into a fairy" I said, rolling my eyes. "Two nights ago in the palace, a seer from Fyradok came to see me. He had a message from the Fates" "What did he say?"
"Moirae asked him to tell me that one of the reasons she sent you back is for you to fulfil your destiny as the king of the four lands. Your uncle still has followers even though he's dead. They're ganging up against you. I don't know who's heading them but they're going to stop at nothing to get rid of you"
I let out a sigh, running a hand through my hair. I was agitated.
"You need to be careful, Theo. Not everyone here on earth is as innocent as they seem. Until you get back your full powers, you need to do everything with caution. You should tell Devon about this too" he said, rising to his feet. He embraced me. "I missed you, Theo and I'm glad your memories are back" The front door opened and Devon walked in.
Hereyes went wide when she saw Luke. "Oh my God, Lucian?" She breathed.
"Hey, princess"
"Goodness me, look at you" she said, giving him a hug. "How's the king of the four lands doing?" she said, a smile tugging on her lips. "I'm great. Everything has been great. Look at you, is it just me or have you grown taller?" Luke said.
"If she's grown taller, it means you've grown shorter" I said and he laughed.
"I have? I mean, I used to be taller than you when we were kids. Now, you're taller than me by only a few inches. Jeez, I need a rapid growth spell"
"Good to know you haven't changed one bit, Luke. I didn't think that I would be saying this, but I missed you" Devon said.
He grinned. "Not to worry, princess. I'm back"
"What do you mean you're back? Not that I don't want you to stay" I said.
"Well, we have a lot of things to talk about"
"Okay, now I'm worried" Devon said, taking a seat. "Trust me, it's serious business. We should all be worried"