Multifandom

Chapter 28

Julia looked around frantically, panic swallowing her whole.

She was still underwater.

Sinking.

Could a child of Poseidon drown?

She was about to find out.

"It was Cade that I shot an arrow towards," Julia thought. "If he dies, it's all my fault."

A sob lodged itself in Julia's throat.

Just as she was about to give up, two arms wrapped themselves around Julia, dragging her back towards the light of the day.

Coughing and spluttering, Julia lay on the pebbles on the riverside. 

She looked around for Cade, but there was no one to be seen.

Frowning, she slowly sat up. Her silver arrow gleamed under the light.

Did Julia miss?

She hoped so. Then, at least Cade was alive, wherever he was.

Just then, someone came crawling from the river. Julia rushed to help him.

"Thank you so-" She breathed out.

Her saviour was Cade.

"Cade?" She whispered.

Julia drew back.

Cade's sandy brown hair was now dark and damp with water, also coughing and spluttering.

"Yeah it's me." He gasped.

"I am so, so, so sorry, I didn't realise-"

He held up a hand. "It's okay, I understand. After what I had said and done, I hadn't been expecting anything different."

"No, I would've treated you differently, it was just you scared me." Julia said sheepishly.

"Did you not catch my scent? Or get anything from the sudden winds?" Cade asked, looking at Julia, his silver eyes twinkled with amusement.

"I-oh. So it was you." Julia looked down, avoiding his eye contact. "How did you dodge my arrow?"

"I didn't, I deflected it with my warlock magic," Cade replied, a sprinkle of silver swirled up like smoke from his palm. "It was close though, too close," he tilted his chin up so Julia could see a faint red mark on his throat. "If I hadn't stopped it in time, it would've pierced right through my throat. I have to give it to you though, your aim is spectacular."

Julia flushed a little. "Thank gods you're alive."

"Hey, I should be the one apologizing to you." Cade pushed himself up into a sitting position. "I-I'm sorry for blaming you for everything." His voice lowered.

Julia reached out to comfort him, but he held a hand up.

"Julia, I was wrong about my assumption."

"What assumption?" Julia asked.

"Yes, your power did urge me to grow fond of you," Cade carried on, "But I was wrong about the fact that I did not love you." He paused. "I thought over it a lot, day and night, every moment, from sunrise to sunset. From the moment I woke to the moment I slept. There was a feeling of emptiness in here," he placed his hand over his heart. "Julia, I realised, I did love you. And it's not lust, or a want, no." He shook his head. "I don't want to be with you. I need to be with you. You're my life source, you're the reason why I'm still alive. It's you Julia, not Zoe, not anyone else. You're the reason why I live and breathe, the reason why I still roam this world. You're my anchor to this world we live in, except you don't pull me down, you lift me up. And when I'm about to lose it, Julia, you're the one who helps me see that sometimes it's okay to fall."