Olympiad is Falling, The Rise of Artemis

Blood promise? Mates? Not to mention there are brothers in the room. That was why I thought Alfie… Alpheus looked familiar he had resemblances to Daylen. It was the nose.

“I don’t understand. Explain to me I can’t… belong to you, who the hell are you?” I yelled.

He ran a hand down his face and sighed, “In due time, darling. I explain later when we get to my castle.” He smiled, but it was less than pleasant.

“You’re not taking her anywhere Alpheus.” Daylen barked. For once I agreed with Daylen.

Alpheus chuckled, “There’s nothing you can do about a blood promise. She’s bound to me and sooner or later she’s going to start feeling the effects of the bond it’s nastier if she fights it so it’s better you just hand her over now.”

“Not without a fight.”

“So violent brother.” He smirked.

I couldn’t believe it, he even sounded different.

“So all this time you were just watching me? Asking me out and helping me and Stella. What… you’re not even a witch.”

“Smart girl.” He said.

My hand itched to blast him into the bathroom.

“He’s a fallen angel. That blood bond was illegal.” Daylen’s hold around me tightened, “I’ll get you out of this.”

“Legal or not you know those things don’t really matter.” He was so nonchalant as if what he was saying didn’t have major consequences. What on earth was a mate?

How could my father do this to me? I remembered Archie wasn’t my father… my father lost me because of him.

“Oh, Artemis you think I have secrets wait until you hear what lover boy is hiding.”

“Let’s go.” Daylen yanked on my waist.

“What do you mean?” I whispered, but loud enough for Alpheus to hear.

“Just wait until you hear what she’s keeping from you.” He laughed.

I felt Daylen hesitate and I pushed him out the bedroom door. “You’re right let’s go.”

“This isn’t over. She belongs to me Daylen.” Alpheus yelled as we scurried out of the apartment.

***

A blanket landed on my shoulders then Daylen settled on the couch, pulling me to his chest. He’d been on the phone… or whatever that device is called since we got to Paradis. I had so many questions I didn’t know where to start and there were answers I had to give him, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that.

“Where do we start?” I asked, eyes fixed on the new black coffee table.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

He rested his chin on my head and exhaled. “Where did you go?”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Of course I was. I thought you were kidnapped. I even went to that blasted Queen’s castle.”

I nestled deeper into his body. Knowing that made me feel different, but it was Daylen I was dealing with his motives were always a mystery.

“Orion took me to Grin-land…” I thought about speaking to Apollo and feeling my mother’s presence. Olympiad needed me, Orion was missing now I was bonded to a dark angel, how was I going to help now?

“He took you to Apollo’s territory? Why would he do that? Did you escape?”

Completely ignoring two of his questions I answered the question that wouldn’t require a lot of explaining. “I didn’t escape exactly. We came back together… Orion isn’t a bad guy, he just had some stuff to do here and I had to find Stella. Gosh, I don’t even know where to look.”

Daylen wriggled free of our cute embrace and walked to the bar and poured himself a full short glass of whiskey then drowned half of it in one swing.

“Orion isn’t a bad guy? Isn’t Alpheus the Blancus white you told me about? Look how that turned out.”

I bit my lower lip. Fine not my finest moment. “Fine, are you going to tell me how you have a brother that’s a dark angel?”

He drowned the remainder of his drink, but refused to meet my eyes as he spoke.

“He fell from Paradis.”

“What?”

“It happens. Occasionally.” He still wouldn’t look at me.

“Daylen.” I narrowed my eyes, but it’s not like it would have much of an effect since he wasn’t looking at me.

“What Artemis? What do you want me to say?” He growled and I thought he was going to storm off.

“The truth! Do you have another brother?”

He grinded his teeth together. “Yes.”

“Dark angel too?”

“This is irrelevant to our problems.” He set his glass down and wandered to the hall.

I wrapped the blanket around myself and followed him. He definitely was hiding something. “If I’d known you had a brother I would have figured out sooner than I was being stalked by a dark angel.”

He threw his bedroom door open and slumped on the edge of the bed. “We know now. We should be finding solutions.”

“Yes, but we have to trust each other. What are you hiding? How did you even find me… did you-”

He finally looked at me, paralyzing me with the shock in his eyes. “There’s no way I could have known about you and Alpheus. My brother and I have no contact.”

“Then…”

“I had some of my mother’s power… and uh…shit.”

I settled down next to him. I always thought Daylen was alone in his world sort of like me. Something must have happened I didn’t think they were that close. I was tempted to reach for his hand and squeeze.

“I tracked you and if I hadn’t been there in time Alpheus would have cemented his bond and you would have become the next queen of the dark angels.”

I swallowed. I envisioned myself in black lipstick, huge black feathery wings in a petite black dress standing in front of a nation of dark angels with my king husband next to me. I blinked a couple times. That could not happen.

“I can’t… I can’t be with him. I don’t want to be his queen.”

Daylen cupped my face. He kissed my forehead and wrapped an arm around my back.

“That won’t happen. I’ll find a way to break your bond.”

I felt tears burning my eyes. The last thing I wanted was that. “How can you be so sure.”

He smirked, bringing our heads together. “Because no one that isn’t me is going to touch again.”

With watery eyes I managed to crack a smile. “What makes you think I want you to touch me?”

“I have a hunch.”

He leaned close and I instinctively shut my eyes and the brush of his lips over mine came soon after. So different from his brother. This was what I wanted and I wasn’t going to fight myself on it if he didn’t either. It looked like we were both on the same page. Fear settled into me, what if we couldn’t break the bond? Would I have to give him up and marry his brother?

Hammering at the door broke us apart. My heart felt like the fist on the door. Daylen got to his feet.

“Stay here.” He ordered.

I ditched the blanket and scurried to the living room.

“I said wait in the room.” He hissed.

“Who is it?”

The pounding continued. Daylen peeped through the little whole.

“General Storm.”