Chapter 13

Gaia lounged in bed as she checked on Theanna in her mirror as she sighed. She worried about what was ahead for her. She hoped all went as foreseen.

“How is she?” Uriel, leader of Illuminare or the Light Realm, asked as he rejoined her with a kiss to her bare shoulder.

“She’s ok for now. I worry though. Her life has been less than ideal.”

“Then must we allow it all to happen? What if Chaos is wrong?”

“He’s never wrong... it’s just...”

“You love her, as do I. But can’t we help her then?” Uriel asked as he watched Theanna.

“Father says not yet. She’s so close to fulfilling her destiny, if we interfere too soon it’ll leave her unprepared and that would be a disaster. Do you recall when I asked you for a child?” Uriel smiled and nodded as his fingers began to wander. “It was then that father saw what could be for the future of the realms and what needed to be done for it to happen. We must be patient a little longer,” Gaia smiled at him.

“I’m not a patient creature. If I must be patient then I require you to occupy my attention.”

“So demanding! Remind me why I love you...”

“It’s the feathers. It’s always the feathers,” Uriel smirked.

Gaia couldn’t help but giggle. She loved and adored this man. When she was with him, her heart and soul were happy.

~~*~~

Walking down the hall, back towards her office, Thea thought about her day so far. It’d been long and trying and it was barely noon. She didn’t know what to make of the current Innara drama. In one way or another, her life was always in danger. She was too well known in the Mythic circles for the darker ones not to desire to use her in some way.

This was different. It left a chill in her soul. Just the thought of Mordecai terrified her. Mordecai was evil incarnate and Darius' mortal enemy. Everything good that Darius did, Mordecai wanted to undo.

He was Darius' twin brother, her uncle, her family. The only way to tell the difference between the two of them were their eyes. Darius' were violet and Mordecai's were black. Gaia told her that Darius and Mordecai were two sides of a coin, good and evil. While she tried to love Mordecai as her son, in the end, she was the reason he'd finally been stopped.

Unfortunately, before he’d been dealt with, Mordecai had killed her parents and tried to kill her. The how and why to her survival she couldn't really remember. All she knew was that Damian found her after her parents had died.

The death of her parents is why Gaia had stepped in. Thea couldn't imagine what it had been like for them to fight Mordecai, their brother and son. Some battles shouldn't have to happen, but it had and they'd won.

Thea sighed deeply to herself. She wished she could remember her parents. She’d been so young when they were taken from her. She really only had one very faint memory of her father kissing her mother’s cheek and then hers, it was a memory she’d always clung to tightly. What she remembered most was feeling loved and cherished by parents who died to protect her.

With a deep sigh that resonated through her core, she felt her thoughts slipping towards the dark. Right now she needed to be outside surrounded by beauty and light. With another deep resolute sigh, she opened her phone and called Darius.

“Thea? You ok?” he answered.

“Not really. There isn’t anything desperately urgent is there?”

Darius was struck by the melancholy in Thea’s voice. “No, but right now I’d prefer it if you didn’t go far.”

“Alright. I think I’ll go spend some time in the gardens like I used to.”

“I'd prefer it if you took the Twins with you.” Thea sighed but before she could answer, Darius surprised her by saying, "But I won't insist. Just check in and answer your phone when I call."

"Ok," Thea replied, a small smile pulling at her lips. “I’ll check in later. Bye,” she said as she ended the call as she reached her office.

Plastering on a smile she didn't feel as she saw Celia sitting at her desk, she said, "I'm back. Anything that desperately needs my attention?"

Celia looked at her boss worriedly. There was much she knew about Thea that she’d never tell to anyone. Thea trusted her completely and Celia valued that trust beyond anything else.

Unlike many in D Corp, Celia had truly been recruited. One day Helen Deus had shown up at her door and after a long chat, Celia had come to Los Angeles for the sole purpose of working with Thea. She’d been guaranteed by Helen and Darius that they’d never force her to indulge what she knew unless she volunteered it.

Knowing Thea as intimately as she did, she really couldn’t wish for a better person to imprint on. She'd been imprinted on others only to regret it. Not once had she ever regretted imprinting on Thea.

She was worried about her though. She didn’t like what she was feeling. "No. Go take some time for yourself. Liam just brought your food by. He said he included your favorite dessert because he had a feeling you needed it. Are you sure he isn't psychic?"

Thea smiled. "Who knows."

Celia watched her closely, "Are you ok?"

"I will be. Just hungry and tired. I'll be outside."

With a nod, Celia sighed as she watched her walk away. Hopefully being in the gardens would change the direction of her thoughts. Thea dealt with so much, so often she hoped she found a bit of peace and happiness soon.

As Thea walked outside towards the maze that led into the gardens, she paused as the rays from the sun warmed her skin. Entering the maze, she made turn after turn, moving through the maze with ease. After entering what appeared to be a dead end, Thea turned towards one of the plant walls and reached into it. She pulled a hidden lever, causing the wall to become a door and swing open.

Inside was the most beautiful secret garden. When she was a young girl, the gardener found her hiding in the maze, playing happily. One day he’d surprised her with her very own secret garden. It was her safe place to hide from all the chaos and drama.

“You always did love it here,” a deep voice stated from inside the garden.

“Damian! Darius said things were bad in Ikisat. Are you ok?” Thea exclaimed as she ran up to him.

“We’re still searching for an escapee or two but otherwise Ikisat is fine. I wanted to see you, though. I needed to see you,” he stated as he cupped both her cheeks with his hands. Kissing her deeply, he pulled her in close before he reluctantly broke away as he said, “We need to talk.”

Nodding, she suggested with a smile, "Let's sit here." As she sat down her stomach growled, reminding her of her lunch. After they’d gotten comfortable, she opened her lunch bag, her smile broadening as she looked inside.

"What is that?"

"A Morning After Mythos Meal courtesy of Liam. He prepared me a meal to replenish my energy and mood.”

"I like that he looks after you. He sees you as family. So what kind of food did you get?"

"Let's see. Yummy clam chowder with bread, an avocado burger with mushrooms, the best fries anywhere, a salad with killer dressing, chocolate mousse with fresh fruit, and a soda. There’s a lot here. Would you like some?”

“No, I’ve fed. The souls of the innocent and the blood of virgins is quite filling,” he smirked evilly.

Thea rolled her eyes at him. “Why do you do that? Why feed into the lies and myths that aren’t true? Just because some human beliefs have Daemoni as pure evil doesn’t mean it’s true.”

“Because it’s fun to get a rise out of you. Zoqa, we came into being when evil came into existence, the evil had to be controlled and punished. Then we were blamed for it. The nature of our Daemoni form is as a result of the exposure to pure evil.

“It’s easier to blame us than understand us. Eventually many of my kind and fellow princes were corrupted by the evil around them. When you never know love, never know anything but evil and darkness, it can take over.”

Thea nodded as she ate. “Nihasia is the part of me that thrives from chaos and darkness. She’s not truly evil but loves that everyone thinks she is. I used to be afraid of her but then I realized she’s what makes me strong. I just wish I had better control over her and the powers she accesses.”

“She’s very reactionary to emotions. That kind of reaction without boundaries is terrifying to most and can be dangerous.”

“What about you? What changed you? I’ve read the tales of the evil Daemoni Prince of Ikisat. If I didn’t know you, those tales would make me nervous around you, especially since Galena says there’s a large measure of truth to them. I mean you can still be a pain in my butt jerk but you’re far from evil.”

“You did. The love you were created from, that I witnessed and never knew existed for our kind bound me to you.”

“I thought you were honor bound to me by my mother,” she stated skeptically.

“When I witnessed Nira and Mikael’s love and saw what it could do I had to protect it. That’s why I made the oath to Nira. She felt the power you had and she became worried for your safety. She begged me to transfer that oath to you. I couldn’t save them but because of the oath I knew you were in trouble and arrived in time to save you...” Damian paused as he watched her intently.

She had stopped eating, stunned as she listened to him. “Wait... I thought you found me after it all was over. You saved me?”

“After Nira and Mikael were killed by Mordecai, you survived, but barely. I was able to save you from him but you were dying in my arms. Those eyes looked into mine and didn’t see a Daemoni prince in his true horrifying form, you saw me. You were the only creature I’ve ever known who hasn’t been afraid of me, ever. I couldn’t let you die. There was only one way to save you, I gave of my essence to you.”

“That means...”

“We’re bonded, not just by oath or betrothment, we’re connected by our sheer essence. If you’re in pain, I feel it. If you love, I feel that love. We’re forever connected. Even if you decide to never be my mate, I’ll still always be a part of you.”

“Then your feelings for me are because of our bond, because of what I feel for you,” she stated sadly as she looked down to hide the heartbreak filling her.

“No, Daemoni Princes don't do what I did, oath or no oath, it makes us vulnerable. But in that moment when I looked into your eyes I saw what could be. I saw the possibility of loving and being loved, of being accepted for who I am, the good, the bad and even the ugly. That’s why I shared my essence with you.

“When you started to develop deeper feelings, I felt a joy I’d never felt before. Your feelings only made mine stronger.” Reaching over he made her look up at him as he said, “Zoqa, because of our bond, because of what you feel, I cannot deny my love for you. You’re my beloved. I would gladly give all of my essence to you to keep from living in a world without you.

“Know this, I’ve never had a harem, nor do I want a harem. I want you to know this because the truth is I’ve never been and will never be with anyone but you. You’re my mate, my beloved.”

Thea gasped as her tears flowed freely. Without a thought to her food, she threw herself to Damian and wrapped her arms around his neck as she hid her tears. “Truly?” she whispered. She’d always been told that every Daemoni Prince had a harem, whether they used it or not. It was a thing of status and power.

“Truly,” he replied as he held her close. “I am so very sorry I couldn't protect you or our child. I failed you.”

“No! Oh Damian, no! The blame for what happened lies strictly with Innara and only Innara. We were both made to suffer because of her. Together, we will protect each other and together we will prevent her from ever harming us like that again.”

“Galena showed me a vision of life without you. We may fight, we may have drama, we may even drive each other crazy, but we also love each other beyond reason. There’s nothing I fear except losing you.”

“Never again, no matter what happens, let’s never run away from each other again. I promise to always try to turn to you instead of away from you,” Thea swore as she looked into his onyx eyes.

Damian leaned close and before kissing her said against her lips, “As your Dnirya, I promise I’ll always fight for you and for our love,” he promised as he captured her lips.

Breaking the kiss with a worried look she asked, “But what of my mortality, won’t you lose me as I grow old and die?”

“Once you shared my essence you were no longer mortal. Only Galena knew of what I’d done. Darius never knew what happened. He assumed because Nira and Mikael had become mortal that you were mortal. We can still be destroyed by unnatural means but we won't grow old and die as humans do.”

With a sigh, Thea settled next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What is it, my Zoqa?”

“Where do we go from here? Do we try for more? Do we continue on as we were? What about my life here and what about Innara? What will she try next? And what about Mordecai?”

“You’re over-thinking things again.” Damian turned towards her and caressed her face as he said, “In this moment, all I ask, all I hope for is that you truly become mine and the rest we figure out day by day.”

“Damian, what are you saying? Is that a proposal? That kind of sounded like a proposal?” Thea asked with confusion and hope on her face.

Taking her face in his hands, he replied, “Theanna, become my beloved mate, let me love and be loved by you for all of eternity.”

With a smile, she kissed him deeply. “Yes, my Prince, my Dnirya, I’ll become your mate. We may end up driving each other insane but it’ll be one heck of a ride.”

“That it will be!” Damian smiled happily as he held her close, kissing her passionately.