Defending Derek
POV: Alexandra
At the declaration of my desire to talk about Derek, she folded her arms across her chest. A few strands of the long straight golden hair that she wore down that day brushed across her face when a breeze came in. She looked like a fierce warrior who was ready to go to war to get her way. She didn’t know that I was willing to be just as tough so I mimicked her actions and stared at her. The silence was tense as the breeze whistled through the gaps of the wrought iron table. She finally relented with a grunt and dropped her arms onto the table, “Ugh fine! What?” I smiled at her triumphantly, placed my elbows on the table, clasped my hands, and leaned my chin onto the clasped hand bridge. I inhaled but maintained the smile, “Why are you threatening to pull the engagement instead of talking it out? If you really love him as you say, don’t you think you owe it to yourself to tell him what you’re thinking and feeling?” She clenched her jaw and looked off at the greenhouse. This time the blonde hair brushing across her face was faintly hiding the tears welling up in her eyes. She spoke softly, “It was a rash decision.”
I got up from my spot and kneeled in front of her, I saw just then that a single tear fell from her right eye. She quickly wiped it away. I got up and hugged her, “You can just go talk to him then.” She shook her head as I took the seat next to her, “I really can’t face my shame like that, I’ve never been good at it.” I sighed and leaned back in my chair to where my head leaned on the back of the chair and I stared at the sky. I clasped my hands on my belly, “What if I created a situation that would help you talk to him? Would you be okay easing into that conversation?” I lifted my head to see her shrug at me. I shook my head and said, “The way I see it is if you want to salvage your relationship with your future hubby, you need to be willing to say you’re sorry and own up to your mistakes. It will open a way for him to apologize to you. I also see it that he owes you an apology too. I’ve said as much to him, he realizes that. You’ve both made rash decisions. You need to be able to talk it out or you’re always going to be tense around each other. Oh and advice for the future is to talk it out before making rash decisions, then you won’t have to face these situations.” She sighed and tucked her head into the folded arms she put on the table. Her blonde hair enveloped her face like she was burying herself under a golden cloth. She peeked her blue eyes up at me, “Do you think you can create an opportunity for me?” I smiled and winked, “Oh I definitely do.” She went back to hiding her face and started talking about how she wasn’t sure if I would be able to. I quietly got up from my seat and gestured to the glass french door in the manor.
It opened quietly and Derek strode over quietly as Jess continued her rant on how she was so stupid for letting it go that far. He sat where I had sat and reached his hand out to her head. He stroked it before saying, “You aren’t stupid Jess. You have every right to be upset with me. I understand that especially after talking to Lex.” I didn’t want to eavesdrop especially when Jess started to tell him she was sorry and the reasons why. It wasn’t my place to further interject myself into the conversation and I felt like I wanted a hot soak in the tub before I had to go help Lucien out later and I needed to talk to Aphrodite. I quietly walked away to let them have their time and space to work it out. I walked in silence saying a little silent prayer to Almighty that they could work it out enough that they were as solid as they once were. I finally got to my room and opened the door.
A whole person was standing there that I had not anticipated being in there. I physically jumped and my heart jumped into my throat. If I was a cat, my fur would be standing up and I would be hissing straight at Aphrodite. I placed my hand on my chest to slow the heartbeat threatening to beat out of my chest. I breathed in deeply and said, “Oh my Gods, you scared the Underworld outta me! Why the hell couldn’t you wait to come until I knew you would come?” She laughed nervously, “Oh well, I was going to come to you in the garden but I realized you were working your love magic. I don’t know if you knew this but you released some of that Healing Heart magic.” She winked at me and I shrugged then turned to take my outer layers off and take my boots off. She sat down next to me on the bed, “I heard from Hades that he thinks he was able to assist you. He said he has a whole new level of respect for you after I told him that Almighty said you went off into the woods to deal with this mostly on your own. Derek…he’s a good person…giving you space and making sure you were okay even if you didn’t know it.” Her eyes widened and she blushed, “Oh…you weren’t really supposed to know that. I hope you aren’t angry with him.” I laughed and shook my head, “No, it’s fine. I kind of figured out he was doing that. I felt like someone was watching me. So…” I yanked my boot off, grunted, and placed it gently next to my foot on the floor and I looked at her to continue my thoughts, “What’s the plan for tonight?” She reached over and pulled the scarf off my neck, “Well, you’re certainly right about coming up to relax before you do this ritual. You will need it. There are a few things you’ll need to know and there are some things your escorts will need to wear around you. I’ll explain that in a bit. For now, let’s get you in that bath, I already drew it for you.”
I looked up at her confused, “How the hell did you know I was coming up to the room to soak.” She laughed, “Oh honey, you’ve been out in the cool air all day walking around and working up a sweat. You sat on the ground too, I just guessed. I know that’s what I’d do. I figured if that wasn’t your next action, I would convince you. When I saw you starting to undress, I knew that’s what you were fixing to do.” I shed my jacket, got up, and walked over to the wardrobe to hang it up. I was going to place it back in the wardrobe but I felt a hand on my own. She whispered in my ear, “I think you should just leave it out. You’re going to need it later, remember you’re leaving the house. Not to mention I want it out so I have room to look through and find you something suitable to wear. You need a certain type of outfit for this and I would be the best person to pick it. I’m hoping I won’t have to lend you something because I want to stay with you until it is time to go home tonight. Will you even have available escorts tonight?” I nodded, “I have Jheelis and Jynx.” I walked over to the window to stare down at the garden to see if the two lycans had left on their trip yet. It was empty and I smiled hoping our plan that we hatched out in the woods would help her to understand his sincerity. I looked back at her, “Understandably, those two won’t be able to join us.” She looked over my shoulder into the garden and smiled, “Love will find a way, child. You’ve blessed them with your magic. Their hearts will heal, luckily it wasn’t nearly as huge as it felt. Your blessing should be enough. Now, let’s get you in that tub.” She grabbed my shoulders, turned me around, and pushed gently on my back.
I walked into the room and the scent of lavender hit my nose, it seemed Aphrodite really wanted me to relax. I saw the bath drawn steaming so nicely as I like it, she lit some candles around the room and the light was off. She closed the door and announced she would be looking for my outfit for the night. Silence set in other than the hot water hitting my bare skin. I let out a relaxing sigh, glad that I had expelled the junk from my body, exhausted from the long walk out to the waterfall and back. Tired from the fact that I was stressing about all of this stuff with Lucien on top of the demon blood issue. I closed my eyes to further relax and inhaled the lovely citrusy floral scent. I heard a large gasp and a curse from Aphrodite in the room and it made me start. She shouted back to me, “Not to worry, Alexandra! Someone did to me what I did to you. She’s wearing all black, do you know someone like that?” It was likely Jynx, she could sometimes open portals that were silent and she could move into a room unnoticed. Likely she did that and Aphrodite turned around to see her. I chuckled, “It’s Jynx, I believe.” I heard Jynx acknowledge that I was right and I heard the two introduce themselves to each other. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again and soaked in the silence in the bathroom for a long while.
Finally, I crawled out of the tub probably the most relaxed I have been since coming back from the retreat. I pulled on the towel that Aphrodite had laid out for me and stepped out of the room. I suddenly saw two women pushing a long-haired blonde man out of the room. Jynx told him to sit outside while I got dressed and I had assumed it was Jheelis. I walked into the room and up to my bed to see a wispy white long-sleeved dress on the bed. I didn’t recognize it from my wardrobe and rubbed the material. I looked at Aphrodite, “Yours?” She smiled and shook her head, “Well, I was going to go get one of mine but thought it would take too much time. Jynx offered her a beautiful gown for this purpose. It suits the occasion very well.” I was a little shocked to hear that Jynx had anything in her closet that wasn’t black. I looked back at her and she shrugged, “Just because I wear black all the time doesn’t mean I don’t have other colors. This one was my baptismal gown into my order, I needed white and House of Dark provided the gown. I haven’t worn it since though.” I looked down at the shoes…cursed heels. I sighed and shook my head. I felt Aphrodite’s hand on my shoulder, “Sorry dear, this is the parameter of what this ritual requires. It’s stupid but necessary. We can pack you some flat shoes for later.” I got dressed with some help from Aphrodite in zipping up my dress.
When I was fully dressed, they allowed Jheelis into the room and we all sat down at the small tea table in the room. Aphrodite smiled at each of us, “Now I need to explain what’s going to go down tonight. First I have something I need to give Jheelis and Jynx.” I looked at her and noticed for the first time that she had a bag around her body. She pulled out two golden bracelets and handed them to the two people who would be my guards. I stared at the bracelet that Jynx slipped onto her wrist, “What are those for?” She sighed, “Well, those are suppressors. I’m going to give them to everyone in attendance but Lucien.” I furrowed my brow, “So why would they need suppression?” She reached across the table and clasped my hands, “Promise not to freak out?” I shrugged and said, “I mean sure, nothing really surprises me anymore.” She leveled her gaze where she would stare directly at my eyes, “I’m lifting the suppression on your Aphrodite ability. Your full powers will be unleashed tonight on Lucien.”
