Chasing Destiny [SYTYCW15]

Skopje, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1941

With the help of Zenon, Matheus became an immortal and at first things had been wonderful. They lived in England for a few decades and then they traveled for a few more. They walked in the shadows of the pyramids in Egypt, already old before Akantha had been born. They explored the interior of Africa and ventured east into the empires of China and Japan.

By the 1400s Akantha was ready to settle down, but Matheus wanted to see more of the world. Weary from travel, she returned to a manor house in the Scottish countryside and Matheus left her to roam. She saw him a few more times in the following centuries. There had been a meeting in Rome in the early sixteenth century and a brief reunion at the dawn of the seventeenth century. The last meeting had been during the mess that was the Crimean War. Matheus had seemed okay and possessed all of his facilities. Unlike now. Akantha wondered what happened to him to make him this way.

"This brings back old times," Damianos mused. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"It does," she agreed, yet she pulled her hand away from his. She didn't want him touching her. His touch was dangerous and she wanted to keep her wits about her. "The good and the bad."

"They weren't all bad," he said. "I think the good outweigh the bad."

"I think we remember things differently," she shot back.

"Tell me what happened," he urged again. "From the beginning."

She looked at him and saw the stubborn look in his dark eyes. To think, he called her stubborn. "I was spying for the Allies. I was posing as Reichsführer-SS Himmler's secretary and overheard plans to go after the spear. I was going to sneak out of there and go after the spear myself, but I ran into Matheus. He was undercover as well and we decided to work together to find the spear."

"You found the spear," he said. She gave him a hard look. "Not that I would doubt your abilities. Continue."

"I don't know. I can't explain it. We had the spear and he took it. He said something about restoring order and righting wrongs."

"What wrongs is he talking about?"

"I don't know. I can't even begin to guess what they are. Something had to happen to him. He's not a bad person and would never do something like this. At least, I didn't think he would. Now I don't know what he'll do."

"I'm sorry it happened."

Akantha eyed him for a long moment before she spoke. He was being sincere, or so it seemed. "Thank you."

"Did you sleep with him?" Damianos asked.

"Of course I slept with Matheus," she snorted.

"I wasn't talking about Matheus. I know all about you and Matheus. I've heard of him through the years."

"You're jealous," she accused.

"My dear, I've never been jealous of Matheus. You were happy with him and all I've ever wanted was your happiness. He was not a rival to me."

Akantha snorted. She knew him well enough to know when he was lying.

"I was talking about Reichsführer-SS Himmler," he clarified.

"What if I did?"

"I'm just asking. I figured you did in order to get closer to him," he said. "It's a sound tactic."

"Sometimes we need to do repulsive things." She shrugged and the movement made the wound in her shoulder throb despite the morphine. "It wasn't any worse than sleeping with you."

"You don't mean that."

She could feel his eyes on her and she didn't dare look over at him. She'd admit he was right if she did. She opted for ignoring him. It was usually the best policy and sometimes he even stopped talking if she didn't respond.

"Your silence confirms it," he said with a smirk.

"Shut up."

He laughed. "I love you, thorns and all."

Akantha remained silent. She hurt too much to verbally spar with him. A yawn slipped from her and she knew the morphine was working its way through her system. Drowsiness settled over her and her eyelids felt as heavy as lead weights.

Movement caught her attention and she forced her eyes open. She watched Damianos splash his face in the water basin. He combed his thick black hair back from his face with his wet hands. The hard planes of his face were thrown into relief in the fading light. As much as she hated him, she had to admit he was a handsome man.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find some food and see if there is any news of Nazi movement. Get some rest so you can heal. I will be back before you wake." He slipped out the door and it closed quietly behind him.

A sigh of relief slipped out of her and she sank deeper into the pillows. Regrets washed over her. Some were for trusting Matheus and loving him as much as she did. Her mind still didn't want to believe that Matheus had betrayed her. Just the thought of him made her heart ache more. There was a hole in her chest and it hurt more than the bullet wound. Betrayal was the intentional murder of trust. Tears welled up in her eyes. A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to swallow.

The emotions dammed up inside of her weakened and tears followed. Anguish gripped her heart and squeezed. Matheus' betrayal was more than she could bear. Never again would she trust someone so completely or fall so deeply in love. Love made her do rash things and follow her heart instead of her head. That only brought trouble. It had proved true with Matheus, and with Damianos long before him.

She fell asleep on a pillow wet with her tears.