Chapter 55 Back to campus

Chapter 55 Back to campus


Daphne

“I didn’t leave Olympus because of you, Hades. I didn’t come running back to you. What we did was a mistake, you realize that right?” I say to him. Hades’ lip downturns with obvious hurt.

I step past him toward my wardrobe, still speaking. “I could never be with you, Hades. I can’t. I can’t be the Queen of Hell. It’s a lot to ask from me. I would lose my mind.”

He touches my upper shoulder, stopping me in my steps. Every time our skin touches, I feel this unspeakable wave of emotions surge through me. He has complete control over me.

“Please don’t touch me,” I plead with him. Right now, I am begging because for some reason, I can’t stop myself from completely submitting to him. All it takes is one look, one touch, a tiny echo of his voice and I am completely mesmerized with him.

“Please don’t run away from me, Daphne. I’ve traveled through a million life cycles to find you and I’ll keep traveling for as long as I can. All I want is one chance. Let me show you. Let me show you that I am the right guy for you. Let me show you that I am fated to be with you,” he says. His voice is subtly broken. If he is in any pain, he is doing his utter best to hide it.

When he’s on the class stage, he is powerful, controlling but right now, in the privacy of my room, he is utterly vulnerable, so heartbroken that I can even sense the pain in him.

“The fates won’t allow it,” I say. If I’ve learned anything from the stories I heard about the fates, I know they can never rewrite destiny.

I turn around to face him. I can see myself shimmering in the slight wetness of his eyes.

“What are we doing, Hades? You know we can never be together, right? We can’t. It is not our destiny. You said it yourself.”

He takes my hand, squeezing as gently as he could. “I don’t care what the fates say. I don’t care about destinies. I believe we can make our own destiny. Just give me the word. Say the word, commit to me right now and I will go to bat for you. I will burn down this entire world for you. I just need you to say yes. Come back with me to Hell, let me show you the things I’ve never shown you before. Choose me and I swear to you right here, right now, I will be yours forever. I will protect from all the curses and consequences of defying destiny.”

By the end of his speech, I am in tears. I wanted to say yes to him immediately. I wanted him to take me away. I wanted to succumb to his request; his words are so persuasive, so strong.

Just as I open my mouth to reply, the door bursts open and Anna comes flying in. My old roommate, my old foe.

The last time we spoke, she was angry at me over Adonis – well, Eros – choosing me. Now, she comes bounding toward me and throws her hands around my neck.

“Oh, thank God, you are okay! I just heard. I was so worried. I kept thinking I might have had something to do with our fights. I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have fought with my best friend over a boy!!” she says, almost crying into my neck.

I pat her upper shoulder, incredibly relieved. “No, no, this is also partly my fault. I should’ve told you the truth about Hades from the beginning.”

Anna breaks the hug to stare into my eyes. “I have a confession to make.”

She pauses while I wait for her to continue.

She draws a deep breath; guilt mixed with regret written all over her face. “I’m the one who reported your affair to the school authorities and exposed it to the campus.”

I bob my head. Compared to what I’ve been through, it really didn’t seem to matter so much.

“I was so angry at you. I mean you had Hades and Adonis and it just didn’t seem fair,” Anna continues.

I turn around to look at Hades but he has vanished. I figure he must have disappeared when Anna came in.

I return my attention to Anna. “I know you did all of that and I forgive you, Anna. I’m so sorry for putting you in that position too. You have no idea how much I regret it and how much I missed you!”

We hug again, throwing our arms around each other, apologizing profusely. When we finally caught a break from all the tears and apologies, we fall into the bed to gist like old times.

“So, where’d you go? We were all so worried about you. I genuinely thought you were dead and then, Adonis vanished too.”

I choke at the mention of Adonis’s name. I am not sure what to tell her. She wouldn’t even believe me if I tell her the truth. No one would. I still don’t. It still feels unreal.

“He just dropped out of school. Didn’t even say goodbye. I am worried he might be in trouble, too.”

I wave a hand in the air. “Trust me, he is fine. You don’t even want to know what’s going on with him!”

Anna’s interest grows. She arches her brows. “What do you mean?”

“Never mind. Hey, listen, do you want to move back in with me? I miss you so much.”

“Don’t even ask. We have all the time in the world to tell me why you dropped off the face of earth.”

“Ah, I wish I could tell you, Anna. It’s a long, freaky story. You will not even believe me!”

Anna rearranges herself on the bed. “Try me.”

I think about it for a second and shake my head. “Nah, it’s nothing serious. I just went back home. I needed the break.”

Outside in the windows, I see Hades’ shadow lurking protectively. Waiting for my response to his plea and to tell the truth, I have no idea what I’m going to say to him.