Chapter 20

When I woke up, I was crying. I slowly sat up and looked around my room. My hands unconsciously wrapped around my tummy at the thought of the goddess.

"If you want to live, I must take the life of someone dear to you."

Whose life would she take in exchange for mine? Maya? Melody? Who would it be? I didn't want to live because someone died for me. I wanted to live without being guilty.

"Valeria?" I lifted my eyes to the door when Aspro called my name. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he sat beside me. "Does something hurt?"

My heart hurt.

I looked at him. "I spoke to Selene. She appeared to me in a dream. Mavros was there, too." His jaw locked at the mention of his brother. I didn't care. "She told me I was carrying twins and that they needed a mother, so in exchange for my life, she'd take the life of someone dear to me." Hot tears drifted down my already wet cheeks. "I don't want to live someone else's life, Aspro."

"Shh," he pulled me to himself. "Don't cry, please."

"Why do they keep hurting me? They keep taking away the people I love." My body shook as I cried. "It hurts too much."

"Everything will be fine."

"Nothing is fine. Nothing is fine."

"Stop crying," he stroked my head. "It's not good for your babies."

"But it hurts too much."

"I know it hurts and I'm sorry."

We stayed that way for the longest time until I slept off on his body.

Waking up for the second time, Aspro was still by me. It brought a smile to my face. I was thankful I had someone like him around at such a time. It made things a lot less awful than they seemed. To avoid waking him up, I gently got off the bed and left the room. I was hungry. As I went down the stairs, I touched the railing, only to be surprised when the silver railing froze underneath the palm of my hand.

"Huh?" I stared at my hand. "What just happened?"

Being me, I touched it again and like before; it froze.

"There you are," Aspro came after me. He arched a brow when he saw what I had done. "Already?"

"You knew this would happen?"

He nodded. "It's normal, actually. You're just showing the ability of one child. In no time, the other abilities will manifest."

"Cool."

"It is. You'll have to wear gloves because your touch is going to be painful without the glove."

"Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm." He made black gloves appear. "Hands." I held out my hands for him and he put the gloves on. "Make sure you don't take it off when you're around people, alright?"

"Got it."

"Come on, let's get you something to eat."

I trailed behind him into the kitchen. Carter and Drake were having lunch. They both smiled when they saw me. Carter got up, went to the fridge, and poured me a glass of apple juice. He knew I liked it. He slid it over to me.

I picked it up. "Thanks."

"We made sandwiches. Would you like some?" Drake offered. "There's enough for everyone."

"Sure." I took one from the plate and so did Aspro.

"So, are you going to tell us why you're wearing gloves?" Carter questioned, gesturing at my hands.

I dropped the sandwich on the plate, took off one glove and touched my glass. It froze as expected.

"Whoa," Drake shifted. "Are you like Elsa now or something?"

"Kind of."

"That's sick." Carter commented, nodding his head in approval. "What else can you do?"

I put the gloves back on. "I don't know."

"They'll manifest as time goes on." Aspro sat beside me and began munching on his own sandwich.

"Well," Drake got to his feet. "We'll go give some food to Maya and Red. They must be hungry by now."

"Tell them I'll swing by later today." I said through a mouthful of food.

"Got it."

The pair walked out of the kitchen, leaving me with Aspro. It was funny to think of him as the father of my kids. It felt strange. Weird even. Did it even matter? I mean, Mavros said he'd come see me soon. It probably meant he was ready to accept the fact that I was carrying his brother's children. I couldn't wait to see him.

A nudge from Aspro forced me into reality. "What?" I asked, sipping from my glass.

"You weren't eating."

"Lost in thought."

"Well, eat. You're going to need all the strength you can get."

<<<<>>>

ONE MONTH AND THREE WEEKS LATER.

Aspro wasn't kidding when he said this would be one hell of an unusual pregnancy. Everything was just... odd. It was barely two months, but a baby bump was already visible. Like, really visible. It scared and excited me. I was scared because I did not know whose life Selene would take. Were the council in on it?

"Valeria!" Maya smacked my arm. "Look at what you've done."

"Huh?" I looked down at my hand to see that the remote I was holding barely resembled a remote because I had squeezed the life out of it.

It was past 9p.m. and I had decided I was going to watch Vincenzo. It was a South Korean drama none other than Maya and Hannah suggested for me to watch. Yes, Hannah came over to check on me. She could not come because of her marriage and coronation preparation for her husband. It was understandable. I also found out that another strength one of my girls possessed was super strength. It was incredible.

"Sorry." I mumbled, adjusting myself on the couch.

"Take it easy, woman." Maya said with a shake of her head. "Please."

Lately, I hadn't been wearing the gloves because it appeared that phase was over for me. Now, it was the strength. I guess I had to watch myself. I'd hate to destroy things around here. Last two weeks, I dealt with storms. Whenever I got emotional, which was usually almost every time, lightning and thunder would greet everyone.

"I'm trying to keep everything under control, Maya. It's not my fault the powers make themselves known whenever they feel like it."

"I'm just saying," she threw popcorn into her mouth.

"Shh," Hannah demanded, glaring. "You're distracting me."

"Am I late?" Red jogged down the stairs in yellow sweat pants and a brown tee.

"What did I say about doing that?"

Logan followed closely behind Ared.

A lot had happened these past weeks. Logan regained consciousness a month back and was in absolute shock when I explained everything. From how he attacked me at the hospital and to my present condition. He would not stop blaming himself.

"Logan wouldn't let me leave the room." She sat between me and Maya. "How are my girls doing?" She cooed, touching my tummy.

As if sensing someone's presence, they kicked. It was slightly uncomfortable. "Doing good."

"Hey, V." Logan ruffled my hair.

"Stop that." I slapped his hand away and he chuckled.

"Please!" Hannah clapped loudly. "Stop talking, okay?"

I pressed my lips together.

"Sorry." They said in unison.

Just when we thought there would be silence, Melody and Carter joined in. I could have sworn I heard Hannah say she'd rip someone's tongue out. Speaking of Melody and Carter, their son, Dimitri really was one of the best things to happen to me during this period. I and Zayne kept communicating through the kid. Melody would call me weird whenever she'd catch me talking to the kid. I simply waved it off as the pregnancy messing with my head. Truth is, I enjoyed speaking to my brother after so long. His voice calmed and gave me hope. He had matured.

Once everyone became quiet, I couldn't help but capture this moment in my heart. I did not know if the goddess and council would change their mind and take my life as supposed. At the same time, I did not know whose life they'd take if they decided to spare mine. I didn't want to lose anyone of them.

Drake and Aspro were not here as they had gone to do something important. They did not tell me what it was, though. I didn't bother because I knew it wouldn't be something bad. They were both responsible men I could rely on.

"How do you understand this?" Logan asked, looking at his mate.

"You read the subtitles," she said in a duh tone. "It's right there."

"I think we can do something more fun." Carter quickly got up and turned off the TV, much to everyone's dismay.

"Carter!" they complained.

"What?" he laughed. "Let's do something else."

I loved how happy they were. I hadn't even told them that Selene said she'd take one of them as a replacement for my soul. How could I break their hearts?

"So, what should we do?" Hannah inquired, shifting on her butt. "It better be fun."

"I'll try. Let's begin with I'm hosting a party. As the game title says, I'm hosting a party, but you have to bring something to the party."

"Okay, okay," Maya rubbed her palms together. "Balloons."

Carter shook his head.

"Drinks." Mel said.

Another shake of his head.

This went on until it got to my turn.

"Vape?"

"You're invited."

"What?" Hannah.

"How?" Red.

I didn't care how I got it, but I was glad I did. It got me excited.

"Keep going, pe-" Carter paused mid-sentence, his eyes fixed at the entrance of the room. "Mavros?"

My heart stopped beating for a hot second. I did not turn to look because I feared it was a prank. I wouldn't put it past Carter to prank me. He was Zayne's friend, after all.

Red tapped me. "V, look."

No. I would not look.

"Val?" Aspro came to squat in front of me. "Go talk to him."

I shook my head. "You're playing with me."

"I'm not. I promise."

"He's really here?"

Aspro nodded. "Turn around."

I slowly got to my feet, spun around, and slapped a hand over my mouth. It wasn't a game, neither was it a prank. Mavros was before me. In the flesh. I remained rooted to a spot, watching as he came over to me. He was still the same. Nothing changed. When he was close enough, he pulled me to his chest, wrapping me in a warm embrace that smelled of sandalwood.

"I'm here now," he said, kissing the top of my head. "And I won't leave you again."

I was too dumbfounded to even cry or do anything. I just stood still and let him hold me.

"Thank you," I heard Maya say. "For coming back."

He only nodded before disappearing from the living room with me. He had brought us to my room.

"I'm sorry." He began, still not letting go of me. "I should have come sooner."

A single tear fell from my eyes. I remained mute.

"I should have told you how I felt sooner. I should have explained things to you."

When I spoke, my voice came out in a whisper. "You disappeared without a word."

"And I'm sorry." He pulled away from the hug. "The council called for me and when I went, they banned me from leaving Alynthi. I could not open a portal on my own. I had to spend days convincing Fitia to help me. She didn't until Aspro joined in."

"You'll still leave me,"

"No," he lifted my chin so that I gazed into his eyes. "I won't ever leave you. I'll stay with you no matter what happens."

"I don't get it, Mavros." I wiped at my tears with the back of my hand. "You don't love me. Why did you disobey the council and come here?"

"You saw me as a liar because I failed to explain how I really felt. Back then, I was scared and in love. Then, it wasn't completely love, but I loved you. My fear was the reason the council did not summon us."

I searched his eyes for sincerity. "What about now? How do you feel about me?"

"I love the woman in front of me with all I have. I love her with every part of my body and soul. I love you, Valeria."

"Even though I'm carrying your brother's children?"

"When I said I loved you, I meant all of you. It doesn't matter whose child you're carrying. All I want is your heart."

My heart felt like it was going to burst from the happiness I felt. I did not know what to say, so I communicated with my body. I wrapped my hands around his neck and kissed him. It delivered the words I wanted to say, even though it was brief.

"I love you, too."