Chapter 8

It’d been several days since Thea was attacked and still she hadn’t awoken. Damian never left her side, he couldn't. Lazerin maintained order for him in Ikisat, consulting him when he needed to. Damian had full faith in his Lieutenant since he’d been by his side since he formed Ikisat.

Right now, though, his only concern was his mate. He and Celia had tried to connect with her several times but each time she was resting and her guardians were trying to repair her memories further. So they’d left her alone and hoped she’d awaken soon.

“Damian, how is she today?” Helen asked as she approached Thea's bed.

“The same. Don't give up hope though. She only sleeps to heal. She’ll wake soon.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” Helen replied as she gently caressed Thea's hair. Then, with a nod to Damian, she went to talk to the doctors.

As Damian watched her, he once again noticed that the head doctor eyed him warily. Damian was sure he knew him but he couldn't care less about that right now. Now it was about his Theanna. Placing a soft kiss on her temple he whispered to her in Daemoni, “Zoqa, my love. I miss seeing your beautiful smile and your beautiful eyes. When you’re ready, please return to me.”

At the sound of his voice, Damian watched as her eyes began to flutter as if she was trying to wake. “That's it, beautiful, show me your eyes.”

“Always so demanding, Dnirya,” Thea whispered softly as she smiled and slowly opened her eyes. “Why is it so bright here?”

Damian immediately waved his hands and the lights softened. “You know how doctors are, Zoqa. They’re all blind.”

Thea giggled before she started to cough. “My throat is so dry.”

“Here drink this,” the head doctor said to her as he approached with a cup of ice water in his hand.

“Averic? I'm awake right? This isn't some messed up memory or anything?” Thea asked, confused.

“Well, that answers that. I was going to ask how much you remember. I was just promoted to head doctor here at corporate. I returned last week from Greece, but I see that you were too busy to keep track of what I was up to,” Averic sarcastically stated. “I guess congratulations are in order. I must admit, I'm surprised you went ahead and decided to marry a Daemoni Prince. They’re far from noble creatures and will make life... challenging.”

Damian began to snarl under his breath at the doctor. He didn't like his tone or who he was. As his Daemoni form started to rise to the surface, Thea reached out and took his hand in hers and smiled at him, immediately calming him.

“Perhaps but Damian is who I love, who I have always loved. He’s my destiny and I’m his. Congratulations on your promotion. You will forgive me if I hope never to return here. After my history, this place gives me the creeps.”

“Well, I’ll leave you be then and let Darius and Helen know that you are awake,” Averic relented and with a nod to Damian, left them alone.

“I don't like him,” Damian snarled.

“I know Dnirya but he doesn't matter. You matter to me. So, I remember being attacked but afterwards my memory is confused. I keep seeing Marcus as the one who attacks me but I know that can't be right,” Thea stated with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Unfortunately, it’s correct. It seems that Marcus was possessed by an Ahriman.”

“Oh no! Poor Kira! Is Marcus gone then?” Thea asked, tears in her eyes.

Damian simply nodded as her tears began to fall. “Before he left us though he was able to tell Darius how to save you. He knew doing so would mean his end but he loved Kira and knew how important you’re to her and to all of us. You should know, he isn't being punished. His soul was judged innocent of the Ahriman's actions and instead has been released to move on.”

Thea nodded as she found comfort in what Damian told her. “I wanted to wake sooner but my head hurt whenever I tried to access my memories. To be honest, it hurts now somewhat.”

“The headaches will take time to go away and it’ll be normal for you to feel confused at times. I have you back with me and that is what is important,” Damian emphasized as he caressed her cheek.

“When can I go home, Dnirya. I want to go home and sleep in your arms, in our bed.”

“Let me talk to Darius and Helen. I’ll see if I can't make that happen today. In the meantime, rest some more, Zoqa. I’m right here,” Damian said to her as he gave her a soft kiss and held her hand in his.

As Thea started to drift off to sleep, she dreamed of her garden. In it, her three guardians relaxed. Even Nihasia seemed to be at peace with them. Softly, she heard the oldest of her guardians, the one that reminded her of her parents, start to sing. She drifted off to sleep listening to the lullaby the seemed to make Nihasia giggle.

Later that evening, Damian brought her home, much to the joy of everyone. Glen was determined that she should rest. Her eyes seemed to be a little different from before the attack. “Do you think she should be home already?” he asked Damian.

“She hated being in medical with all of it's bad memories for her. She is happier at home. She still has much recovery to do, but she’ll get there,” Damian smiled as he patted Glen's shoulder.

“Glen, can I get some soup in my room? I have a bit of a headache and I really want to rest.”

“Of course! I'll bring a meal for you as well, Damian.”

“Thank you,” Damian said as he carried Thea upstairs to their room.

As Thea laid her head on his chest she smiled at her Dnirya. How she loved him so! “Damian, your harem, where are they now?”

“Remember, Zoqa, when we mated I told you that I've never had a harem. You’re all I need or want!”

“Oh, that's right. I don't know why I forgot that. This headache is confusing things for me,” Thea smiled painfully.

As he laid her down on their bed, Damian placed his hand over her head and was able to ease her pain temporarily. “Rest my sweet girl, I’ll prepare a bath for you before Glen brings your soup to you.” Thea nodded as she once again closed her eyes and listened to her guardian's lullaby.

~~*~~

A week passed since Thea returned home and once again she had another headache plaguing her. Appearing in Ikisat, she just wanted to see Damian. She needed to see him.

As she entered his home, Thea saw Damian leading a tall blonde woman into a bedroom, a sly, sexy smile on his face. She suddenly became enraged at her mate. How dare he lie to her! He'd told her that he just needed to check on the gates. Was this the real reason he had vanished from her life so many times?

Stomping towards the same door she'd seen them go through, she burst open the door with incredible force, finding them sitting on a couch together, talking and smiling and flirting. Her anger rising even higher, she ordered, using royal Daemoni, “*Xa kaera, xiqkh!* (Be gone, bitch!)”

With a gasp, the woman vanished with a bright flash. When Thea could see again no one was in the room with her and instead of being in a bedroom she was in a living room. Her head pounding in pain, she sat down angry and confused and holding her head, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Theanna?”she heard. She looked up to see Galena looking at her worriedly. “Baby girl, why did you just order Amelia, the housekeeper, from her rooms?”

“What?” Theanna asked, very confused. Amelia was not tall and blonde. “I didn’t. I saw Damian with a tall, blonde woman in here.”

Galena looked at her, even more worry filling her, “No sweetie, Amelia was reading in her rooms. Damian is checking the gates.”

Her head continued to pound as she closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. “So he’s not having an affair?”

Galena joined her on the couch as she replied, “No, not unless it’s with Lazerin, his lieutenant.”

Thea smiled wryly and painfully at her. “My head is absolutely killing me. I never used to get headaches, except when Kaya was trying to hurt me. Galena, what’s wrong with me?”

“You’re still healing baby-girl. Let me get Damian.”

“No, it’s ok. He’s busy.”

Galena turned Thea to look into her eyes. “Are you sure? You came here because you needed to see him. If you need him, let me get him.”

A tear rolled down Thea’s cheek as she nodded. She didn’t know why but she really wanted to see him. She needed to make sure he still loved her. She knew he did but for some reason she just needed to have him tell her.

Galena closed her eyes and sent a message, “Brother, please come to where I am. Theanna needs you.”

Almost instantly he appeared in the room. “Zoqa?” he asked, concerned as he bent down in front of her. He could feel her pain and confusion.

Theanna threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck. She couldn’t say anything as her tears fell. Feeling her shaking, Damian looked at Galena worriedly. Galena told him telepathically what had happened with Amelia before leaving them alone. Picking Thea up in his arms, he flashed them to their rooms. “Zoqa?”

“Damian, why am I so confused all the time? I see things wrong, I become enraged so easily, and the headaches... I've only ever had headaches because of Kaya.”

“Zoqa... you’re still healing. You just need some more rest and time to let your mind heal.”

“No! I don’t want to give it time. You want me like this, don’t you? This way you can control me and do what you want. You can have all the affairs you want,” Thea started to get irrationally angry. Standing up she started to pace, her Daemoni horns began to show, slowly growing longer.

“Theanna. Calm down. I don’t want to control you or have affairs,” Damian said, his voice forcibly calm, although he was confused by her sudden anger.

“Don’t try to placate me, you jerk. Where are they? You have your harem hidden, don’t you? You just wanted to be mated to me to control our power. Argh! Why did she mate with you? Now we’re stuck with an asshole prince whom I hate! Great Theanna... just great! Did it again, didn’t you? Had to be weak and react to your stupid human emotions! Now I’ll have to fix everything for you again. Just once it’d be nice if I didn’t have to come to your rescue,” she ranted as her voice deepened and became raspy.

Damian became more and more concerned. This didn’t sound like his Theanna. This sounded more and more like Nihasia. “Zoqa?”

“Stop! We aren’t your beloved. If we were, you wouldn’t treat us this way!” her eyes flashing dark red.

“What way?”

“Sleeping around on me, placating me to get your way. I wish I could just be rid of you.”

“Theanna, you don’t mean all of that. This isn’t you talking.”

“Stop calling me that name! Of course its me. You know what... just stay in Ikisat where you belong, with your harem, and away from us!” she spat angrily before vanishing, mentally blocking him so he couldn’t follow.

“Galena!” Damian yelled. “Find her! She’s blocking me!”

“Yes, my prince!” Galena responded as she returned to her mirrors.

Damian exhaled worriedly. What was all of that? It was all lies and untruths. Something was going on more than just Thea needing some more time to heal. If they didn't figure it out and soon, things were going to very quickly spiral out of control and then they may lose Theanna for good.