Chapter 6 Crack On The Phoenix's Wings

Chapter 6 Crack On The Phoenix's Wings
Odessa's Pov

I don't even see Damien's hand get shoved to the side. It just happens, one second it's coming for my face and the next it's gone, deflected like he's swatting away nothing.

My breath hitches at the sight of him. Rowan. Standing there in the middle of the sidewalk like he owns the concrete beneath his feet. I heard the news that night, didn't I? After the explosion, after the fire, someone told me he died too. He died with his brothers. All of them gone in one night.

But here he is. Alive.

"You've got some nerve showing up here," Damien sneers, his eyes glaring as he stumbles back from the force of Rowan's shove. His hand is still raised halfway, frozen in that stupid position. "Mind your business, De Luca. She's already rejected you."

He takes a step towards me and my body moves before my brain catches up. I rush to Rowan, not caring who sees, not caring what it looks like. My body is trembling so hard I can barely stand, my knees threatening to give out as I hold myself back from crying. I can't cry here. Not in front of all these people. Not in front of Damien.

"Please get me out of here," I whisper. My voice sounds small, even to me. "Please... he'll kill me.., he'll kill me.."

The words come out helplessly broken.

Rowan cups my face with both hands, his palms warm against my cold cheeks. His eyes flush with something I read as relief, like he's been holding his breath and finally let it go. He smoothens my hair with his palm, a gentle press that somehow makes me want to cry even more.

"He wouldn't dare," Rowan says, low enough that only I can hear. "Not this time."

Not this time. The words hang there, heavy with something I don't fully understand.

A car suddenly pulls in front of the store, tires screeching against the pavement. Hades and Nikolai both exit through the doors, moving fast, their eyes scanning the crowd like they're looking for threats. Hades tosses the keys to Rowan without a word, the metal glinting in the sunlight.

"Go on," Hades says, already turning towards Damien. "We'll take care of this."

My body stiffens against Rowan's grip as I watch them move past me. They look just the same as I remember. Unscathed. Alive. Walking and breathing like the explosion never happened. I don't recall this happening the first time, them coming to save me. Damien grabbed my arm and dragged me back inside that day. Nobody stopped him. Nobody even looked.

But now I'm being led to the front seat of the vehicle, Rowan's hand on my lower back guiding me forward. I watch over my shoulder as Hades and Nikolai corner Damien, their bodies blocking him from view. Sarah is screaming something but I can't hear the words.

I'm led to the passenger seat of the car by Rowan as he takes the wheel and drives. My head is blank throughout, completely empty, like someone scooped out my thoughts and left nothing behind. I can barely breathe with how hard I was trying to hold back my tears. My chest hurts from the effort of keeping it together.

How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let him take advantage of me for ten years? Ten years of walking on eggshells, ten years of apologizing for things that weren't my fault, ten years of telling myself he loved me when he never did.

And somehow, in this trance or whatever this is, I've been given another chance to relive this again. To do it differently.

I don't realize when tears start rolling down my cheeks. At first it's just a few, silent and hot, but then they shift to sobs that shake my whole body. I can't stop them. I don't even want to anymore.

Rowan reaches gently for my shoulder and soothes me in soft rubs while his eyes stay on the road. He doesn't say anything. Doesn't tell me to calm down or ask what's wrong. He just drives, his thumb tracing small circles through the fabric of my dress, guiding us through a long league of trees that I don't see fully.

I fall asleep throughout the drive. My body finally gives up, exhaustion pulling me under as the trees blur past the window.

When I'm up, it's in a sterile, grey and white bedroom. I turn immediately to the alarm clock beside me, squinting at the red numbers.

It's 6pm.

I look down to see I'm still wearing the dress. The blue sequins catch the light from the window, glittering against my skin. I check the calendar on the nightstand, the same one I saw at the store.

Still reads 2040.

I run my hands through my hair, tugging at the knots. "So this isn't a dream," I mutter aloud, more to the room than myself. The words feel heavy coming out, like saying them makes it real.

"Do you want it to be?"

I raise my head to meet his eyes. Rowan is standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. He's dressed more comfortably now, in a grey sweat suit that hangs loose on his frame, holding a glass of water in one hand.

He walks towards me in the same measured steps I've always known him with. The guilt comes crawling then, wrapping around my throat and squeezing. I finally piece it properly together. The night he saved me during the incident. The way he just happened to be at every event, every game, every room I was in but never said a word. Not once.

I felt stupid looking at him now. So incredibly stupid. I trusted Damien so much that it made me make stupid choices. Choices that got me killed.

Rowan hands me the water and my phone. "Nikolai got it for you," he tells me as he watches me take a sip. The water is cool and I didn't realize how thirsty I was until it hits my throat.

I take the phone from him, my fingers already trembling. The screen is buzzing with numerous notifications. Phone calls, text messages, missed alerts stacking on top of each other. From my mother, Sarah, my father, my aunt and uncle. All of them wanting to know where I am, what happened, why I ran out of that store like a crazy person.

I freeze when I scroll my mother's string of messages to the very first one she sent. The one from around the time I was at the store, before the slapping, before Rowan showed up.

\[I'm cancelling your engagement with Damien, I've spoken to his father. Baby, I'm really, really, really sorry but you'll understand this soon. I'm doing this to protect you, he's not who you think he is\]

I pause. My thumb hovers over the screen. Then I look at Rowan, standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching me read.

I look at the text again. Then back at him.

Does she know? Or worse, does everyone know?