Inferno's legacy

Chapter 19

After so long, she had been a fool to think her nightmares had evaded her. That night, she woke up panting, clutching the pendant on her chest. Sweat coated her forehead, sticking her hair to her face like a second skin.

She swung her legs down, navigating through the darkness. Like the other times, it had felt so real. Like she had been there herself, witnessing such chaos. Except, it wasn't her. It felt like her burden, her emotions, her memories, but they weren't hers. She had never experienced something so raw.

She squatted next to the dying fire in the fire place. She stretched her hand over it and it felt right.

Take it out on the fire.

The fire sparked to life, dancing weakly, like a reflection of how she felt. She felt weak, tired, like it was time to rest after a tedious day.

A hand went to her pendant, clutching it tightly as the other hovered on the fire.

"I won't do that if I were you."

She startled and whipped around in the direction of the voice. Even in the dark, she could see the eyes.

"Never do that again." She said, standing to her full length. "Why are you here?"

"It's my house."

"Yeah, like I barged in here or something. That doesn't mean you can just appear in my room. What if I wasn't decent?" Self consciously, she tightened the blue robe around herself. She had found it in the closet and having no other choice, wore it.

"It's nothing I haven't seen before." He said casually, moving to her bed.

Eretria's cheeks heated, so did her ears. "What do you want?" She asked, watching as he got comfortable on her bed.

"Well, I don't want you to add this room to the many rooms you've set ablaze." He said.

Her eyes widened. "How did you....? No one knows about that." He gave her a shrug.  "You knowing so much about me doesn't exactly make me feel safe." She said.

"I don't want you to feel safe."

"And why is that?" She asked, fiddling with her pendant.

"How long have you had that?" He asked, nodding at her pendant.

She narrowed her eyes at the way he quickly changed the subject but answered him anyway.

"As long as I can remember. I've always had it on. My mother made it a  point to always have it on. Though I can't even remember her saying those words. I was pretty young when I lost her and I felt the pendant was some kind of connection to her. It isn't. It's..." she paused, realizing she was saying too much. "Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity. Has anything out of the ordinary happened with it?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, like I'm gonna start pouring out my life story to you." She said and bit her tongue. God, what was wrong with her? She had practically started to a while ago.

He arched a brow. "I'm not asking you to."

"In a way, you are. Not frequently, but once, it glowed. I even...I think I healed Roman with it. And just now, I felt it could help lit the fire. I never knew it's magical." She said.

"And you're nightmares?"

She crossed her arms. "How do you know about my nightmares?"

"I know a lot of things, princess."

"My personal life shouldn't be one of those things. It makes me uneasy knowing everyone knows something about me. I'm meeting you for the first time." She said, coming to sit to the foot of the bed, her back to Damion. "Well, except the green eyed one. He looks familiar." She muttered to herself. She turned to face him. "And you. I never thanked you for the other day in the forest."

"You shouldn't." He said, standing up. "I did it for my own reasons."

"Whatever you reason, I'm alive because of it. Thank you." She said.

"I never thought I'd hear you thanking someone."

"I don't say it much." She said after a moment of consideration. "And Damion," she called when he moved away from the bed. He turned to her. "Please use the door. I can't have any of you vanishing from my sight." She said and stifled a yawn.

Damion stared at her as she crawled into bed, bringing the covers over her head. He had been right. She was dumb. He should throw her out of here instead of housing her, yet, when she had said she wanted to leave,he had sat there. She shouldn't be here, but he was letting her. Maybe he was the stupid one after all.

With a sigh, he walked to the door. Her request had almost made him smile. But she was handling this better than expected, he'd give her that. Not everyone could stay conscious in a house full of divinities and challenge them. He was used to people bowing at the sight of him. Though that was a long time ago.

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