A Promised Fate (40 page)

Ziloti. Fauna was one of them and so was Julia.

“Right now, as I speak, I have my people surrounding
your home and watching your wife. You cannot run from us. If you
think your little tricks worked, you are wrong.” He picked Julia’s
cell phone up from the arm rest and played a recording of Ava’s
voice saying our security code, with that simple recording, they
had access to the house. Jules had tricked Ava. My heart dropped
into my stomach. They had access to her.

“One more wrong move and we will go back to your
house and you can watch as I cut that baby out of your wife, kill
it, kill her and then kill Max. I will do it. I really
want
to kill them.”

I closed my eyes and surrendered.

“Do I have your attention now?”

“Yes.”

“Step out of the car. Walk.”

Led at gunpoint, I was directed down a tapered path
across the cliff. The waves fifty feet below were wild and beat the
rocks mercilessly, the sea spray hissed with the incoming tide.
Small stones, dislodged by our footprints, tumbled dramatically
down to sea. The wind howled and threw tossed sand into my face and
eyes. At the end of the path was a wind-carved, stone cavern, and
there I came face to face with them. The Ziloti. I was face to face
with my nightmare and my fear was excruciatingly intense.

At last, I looked up into the eyes of the group of
men and women who stood before me. There were so many, too many.
People who had betrayed not just me, but Ava and Max as well. They
had fooled us all. Tricked us into believing that they stood for
good and that they loved us and followed us on our path to
righteousness. In the sea of faces, robed with hooded cloaks, I saw
my loved ones, people I have known and trusted my whole life, who
had turned, who had sided with The Kakos. The Ziloti stood before
me, an arrangement of evil doers, of extremists, radicals. People
who lived and died in the name of The Kakos. And amongst them were
my friends and my family. My Aunt Gianna refused to meet my eyes,
Margaux and Lirik’s hands were grasped together. Detective Jason
Scott stood tall. Cameron Gallo’s gaze burned into my skin. August
was there too and lastly my father. They stared at me.

Another man, the leader, approached me and the guy
behind me, the one with the gun, kicked the backs of my knees, at
the same time pulling my head up to look into the leader's
eyes.

“Ari Cal Alexander,” he spoke, “do you swear to
follow us in the name of The Kakos? To live the life of a believer,
to live in their words, their truths?”

If I said yes, I would die. If I said no, I would
die. If I jumped, I would die. Which words would keep my wife and
children safe?

The man pulled harder at my scalp. I opened my mouth,
ashamed and afraid of the words that poured past my lips: “Yes, I
swear.” I would do anything for her.

“Adonis, do you swear to fulfill your duty as a
descendant and honor the promises made before you in the name of
Zeus?”

“I swear.” I would do anything for them.

“If you fight me… us, you will die, your wife will
die. If you run or hide we will find you and you will die the most
horrible death. Ari, descendant of Adonis, if you dishonor your
promise to Persephone, you all die.”

I revolted at the idea of joining them, at making the
mistake that so many of our ancestors had before me, but I knew
this man would follow through on his word. Not only would I die,
but Ava and our innocent children would suffer horrible, terrifying
deaths. In truth, I had no choice; I would do anything for Ava,
even if it meant siding with the members of The Kakos. Even if it
meant leaving her for the woman I had been promised to. I will
betray Ava but only to save her. Only for love.

“Nothing in your life belongs to you anymore. Nothing
is private. Your wealth is now our wealth. You belong to us. If
anyone finds out you are one of us, that person will die, but more
than anything,
she
will die – those Fates will die.”

I nodded solemnly.

“We aren’t bad, Ari. We will open your eyes to a
world of power you never knew existed. I think you’ll be happy with
your choice.” I stared blankly in to the man’s cold, dead eyes.

“He’s yours, Fauna.” The man with the gun grunted and
he let go of his grip after pulling me to my feet. Fauna came to my
side with a sleazy, whorish smile and pressed her lips against
mine. She moved her tongue across my mouth and when I wouldn’t open
my lips, she bit down, hard on the scar Ava had left on my bottom
lip the night we married. Instinctively, I yanked my head back at
the sting and ripping of my flesh and her teeth came with me,
tearing open my scar. Fauna’s wet tongue invaded my mouth along
with the metallic, bitter taste of my blood.

My cell phone rang out from my pocket. I knew it was
Ava; I could feel it in my bones.

“It’s my wife calling.” My eyes pleaded for
permission. “She’ll know something is wrong if I don’t answer her
call.”

I was directed by the leader, “Answer the call on
speaker phone. Say as little as possible.”

I slid my finger across the screen and placed Ava on
speaker phone for all to hear.

“Ava,” I closed my eyes when I spoke.

“Ari! It’s time! My water broke!”

I looked at the leader and he nodded, allowing me to
go to her.

I looked at my father, whom I had trusted so
devoutly, and I saw his eyes light up with emotion at the news of
Ava in labor. I looked away from him in disgust.

“I am on my way, Ava.”

Her breathy cries, her moans and pain-filled screams
echoed in the corridors, reverberated in my veins and caused an
ache in my bones. She needed me.

“Push, Ava,” they demanded from her, the doctor and
nurses. “Push, you have to push now.”

“No.” She cried, “no,” she begged.

“Ava!” My gaze darted down the long hallway. Shooting
through the hospital, nurses dressed in baggy, mint green and
mauvey-pink scrubs were a blur to me. “Ava!” I yelled. “I’m
here.”

The door thrust open with my weight and I spilled
into the delivery room. Hospital staff surrounded her, covered in
scrubs, white gloves, caps and masks. Their disapproving,
judgmental gaze turned to me and then quickly back to Ava.

“Oh, God!” She breathed and I rushed to her side,
“God.” Her face pinched and her knuckles whitened.

“I’m here.” I offered her my hand and her grip
tightened around my fingers.

“You’re here.” Her glassy, wet, frightened eyes
looked up to mine.

“I’m here.”

“Alright, Ava,” Doctor Patel talked to her from the
seat at the bottom of the bed, “your husband has arrived now. You
have to push. This baby won’t wait any longer. It’s time.”

“Are you alright? Please tell me you are okay.” My
shaky fingers brushed wayward strands of pretty hair from her damp
forehead.

“Ari,” she smiled at me despite her pain, “I’m okay,
so far everything is fine. You are here now. We get to hold our
baby today. We get to see ten little fingers and ten tiny toes, a
little nose and two bitty ears. It is all coming true. Our life is
going to be perfect.”

My heavy eyelids slammed shut. I bit back the bile
that rose up my chest and nodded. She was wrong, of course. I had
just agreed to the unthinkable. My life was no longer my own.
Perfect was no longer in the realm of the possible.

“Ava.” I held her face in my hands. “Ava, I love you.
Please, please promise me that you will never forget how much I
love you.” Frantic, my chest caving in, my voice quaking with every
word, I begged her.

“I won’t… not ever.” She was the one who soothed me.
“I love you, Ari.”

“
Ava
, push!”

“I’m here. I’ll never leave you. I am here. You can
push. You can do this.”

She is my whole world. She is my reason for life. I
could not take my eyes away from Ava. Her grip tightened, her face
pinched, her gaze was forward, focused and determined despite her
fear. Moisture that flooded her eyes broke way and began to stream
down her cheeks and I searched her for a way to help.

Pushes and tears.

I stood right there at her side and our baby came
into the world. Tiny cries filled my ears and I pulled my eyes away
from Ava and took my first glimpse at our tiny miracle.

“Oh, my God.” I breathed. “Ava!” I cheered. “Oh, my
God.” I cried. “She’s here. Ava, it’s a girl. Oh, God… Ava, you
gave me a little girl! She’s so beautiful. She’s here. Zadie is
here.”

“It’s a girl? It’s Zadie?” Breathless and tired, her
voice rasped, giving away her exhaustion.

“Yes, she’s here. She’s so beautiful.”

“October Seventh, 12:02 pm. Seven pounds, seven
ounces, twenty one inches,” A nurse announced and then wrapped our
baby in the receiving blanket Ava had brought from home. The one
that smelled like us. The nurse carefully placed little Zadie in my
arms and I stared down at her in amazement. With wide-open,
brilliant green eyes, a head full of wild, dark hair, soft pink and
full lips, she was lovely and my heart swelled for her.

“She’s perfect. See?” I passed Zadie in to her
mother’s arms and looked on at Ava. She stared at our daughter for
the first time.

“Oh, my goodness.” With the baby cradled and
swaddled, Ava’s words trickled from her trembling lips in a quiet
litany. Her eyes were wide with wonderment and she smiled down at
our little girl. “Oh, my goodness. I have never felt a love like
this before.”

This love, this tiny, wide-eyed creation was ours.
She left us speechless and filled our hearts and souls with this
amazingly powerful emotion. We stared for ages without speaking.
Nurses checked and rechecked, the sun moved over in the sky but to
us, time stood still.

****

“Thank you.” My lips pressed a peck to the top of
Ava’s head and she blinked to look up at me.

A crinkle in her nose matched the crease in the
middle of her forehead. The line deepened, wiggled and then
knitted. Her hand left its warm place on the baby and slowly, she
pointed at me, bringing her finger closer until it rested upon the
corner of my lip. “What’s this? I didn’t do that.”

My fingers darted to my mouth, brushing her hand
aside and the wide pad of my salty thumb wiped at the tender bite
mark that Fauna had left on my mouth. I looked down at the now
dried blood that smeared across the pad of my finger.

I gaped. Unsure. My mouth opened before I could
formulate any rational words. My throat went dry and my breath
stuck sharply in my lungs. I looked away from her, up towards the
corner of the room, unable to meet her eye. “Car accident. On the
way here… I was, um, rear-ended.” I gagged on venomous stomach
acid. “I must have bitten my lip in the accident. I didn’t realize
it… I was too worried about getting to you in time.”

“Are you alright? Is everything okay?”

“Of course. Everything is going to be just fine.”

We weren’t fine. This was just the beginning of the
end. I told the first of many deceitful, ugly lies to my wife and
she believed me so easily.

Cat Mann is an Illinois author who writes teen and
adult romance. She is happily married to a genius of a man and
together they are raising two beautiful daughters. With her dog at
her side, Cat obsessives over French music, witty films and lengthy
novels. Cat’s books have been listed on numerous Amazon bestseller
lists, including the Amazon Top 100, Literature & Fiction
Fantasy Based Novels, as well as being a top contender in Mythology
& Fairy Tales. To find out more about Cat’s projects and get
dates on upcoming releases, find her on Facebook
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http://authorcatmannblog.blogspot.com/
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