Chapter 9
Success at a Cost
The next time Maya opened her eyes, she had an urge to immediately close them again.
“No, no.” A gentle voice spoke near her, followed by something warm touching her forehead. “You need to wake up now, Maya. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”
Her eyes fluttered open and she let her head drop to the side on a very soft pillow. “What happened?”
“What is the last thing you remember?”
“Trying to fly,” her voice was groggy, and her eyelids felt too heavy. “Did I pass out from hitting the ground?”
“No. You landed on me, so, you were fine after that. You nearly died because you literally opened your old wound.”
Maya opened her eyes as a few pieces of their conversation came back to her. She grabbed his hand and kissed it. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure how well that gamble would pay off. Did we make it off the island?”
“Ahem.” The voice was not Apollo’s, and it commanded her attention. “Help her sit up, Apollo.”
“I’m sorry about this,” Apollo said near her ear.
He moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed as his arm slipped behind her back and he helped her sit up.
His hand rested on her stomach over most of the scar.
Disinterested in anyone else in the room, she turned her head and rested her cheek on his chest.
“Maya Strife, do you have any idea what nearly happened?”
“I nearly died,” she said, smiling into Apollo’s chest. She placed a hand on his pecs and nuzzled in. “I need more sleep.”
“No, you didn’t nearly die. You actually died. And I find Mr. Hart’s explanation of the situation to be highly improbable.”
“We both wanted off the island, and I figured out how to make that happen,” Maya said as Apollo repositioned himself a little. “Now you know that I would do anything to get away from there.”
“Of all the irresponsible—” The stern female voice cut itself off. “The magic that was released could have done significant damage to the island. And clearly, this was a plot you and Mr. Hart came up with together.”
“Nope. I’m perfectly capable of dying all on my own, thank you very much.” Maya’s tone was getting to be more like herself, and the situation was unfortunately waking her up faster than she wanted to.
“Given how quickly Mr. Hart contained the magic that you emitted, I find that nearly impossible to believe.”
Despite wanting to stay right where she was, Maya pulled away from Apollo a little and looked up at his gorgeous yellow eyes.
They really are gorgeous. His whole face is.
Unable to help herself, she reached up and touched his hair.
Apollo had a strange expression on his face as he turned to look at her.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a low voice.
To her surprise, Maya giggled. Then she patted down his hair with the palm of her hand. “It’s bouncy, but soft. Like sunshine through a window.” She giggled again.
“Are you okay?” Apollo was clearly concerned about her.
“I’m great. You are much better at healing magic than I thought you would be. You kept me alive while also absorbing magic. That had to be stressful.”
“Yes, it was.” He did not look amused.
Frowning a little, Maya said, “I’m sorry. But it was the only thing I could think of. And I knew that telling you ahead of time would just upset you, and I didn’t want you to stop me.”
“That’s an interesting confession, Miss Strife,” the stern female said, finally drawing Maya’s attention to the other end of the room. “But do you really expect me to believe that he was able to do all of that while surrounded by magic that was trying to react with yours?”
“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about. All I did was to let go of holding my wound closed.”
The woman’s steely look was highlighted by a flash in her red eyes. “How were you holding it closed, exactly?”
“I just did what the man showed me after I created a portal to escape him. When I created the portal, he realized that I wasn’t going to be as easy to control as he thought after I witnessed most of my family being killed.
He kept me from saving my last two siblings by reopening the wound.
Then he told me if I didn’t want to die, I needed to keep time bent around it. ”
As the woman narrowed her red eyes, Maya began to pay a bit more attention. She had hair blacker than the night and a face that was lovely, even when she had a grim expression. “You’ve been bending time? Since you were a child?”
Nodding, Maya allowed her head to drop back against Apollo’s chest. “It’s exhausting, but after this long, I’ve got the stamina for it.”
“Geez, Maya,” Apollo said into her hair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“You didn’t think—” He sighed as he pulled her into him and whispered, “Of course it matters. How I treat you will be drastically different knowing that.”
“I’m … I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I just wanted to get you back home.”
He looked at her, his eyes searching hers. “It worked, but it wasn’t worth the risk you took with your life.”
She patted his chest. “Have you gotten to see your daughter yet?”
“Yes.”
“Then I say it worked out well.”
The woman cleared her throat again. “I’m sorry to break this up, but what you both did was entirely inexcusable.”
Maya’s head whipped around and she looked at the black-haired woman. “I was not going to stay there with people constantly interfering further with my life. They made it so my clothing wouldn’t stay on my body, and sent Cosmo in to try to force us to mate.”
“They—” The woman’s eyes widened, then narrowed so that the red was barely visible. “Explain, Mr. Hart.”
Maya looked up and watched as Apollo kept his expression calm. “Cosmo will know more about it since I never encountered the couple. What I do know is what Maya has told me.”
“Go on,” the woman said, her arms folded over her chest.
“Cosmo woke her up by entering her room. Maya is able to … generate clothing, and that particular magic wasn’t working properly after he entered.”
Maya nodded. “But he was decent. Mostly. Tossed some frilly mess of a shirt at me, so I chose something else to wear.”
“Very interesting,” the woman said dryly.
“You asked, lady. And I feel compelled to point out that you asked someone who wasn’t there what happened. If you don’t want supposition and hearsay, you should ask one of the people who was actually there.”
“Considering you were dead for nearly two hours, Miss Strife, I’m not sure how much of your brain is working yet.
” The words struck Maya, and she looked up at Apollo, her mouth slightly agape.
“For the sake of getting things cleared up sooner rather than later, I’m asking the only person present who may be able to explain what is happening before I get further involved. ”
“That is all I know, Athena,” Apollo said, his hand gently rubbing Maya’s back.
Maya tapped his chin. “I was dead for more than an hour?”
He looked down at her. “More like a state between life and death. I had to use a lot of magic to keep you breathing so you didn’t suffer brain death due to lack of oxygen. I can’t yet say what the ramifications will be. I’m so sorry, Maya.”
She fell silent, her eyes dropping so that she was staring at his hand. Something about it tugged at the back of her mind as she stared, her brain only processing bits and pieces of the conversation.
Finally, the woman said, “I will need to approach the situation with caution, so I can’t make any promises about what will happen. As for sending you back, I’m afraid she is too unstable to return.”
“The only people we encountered were Naomi and Cosmo. The old couple also knew we were on the island. Apart from that, no one is present on the island who will notice our absence.”
The woman’s jaw ticked as she looked at them. “Very well. I will leave you to care for her. I trust that you won’t say anything about this to anyone else.”
“I stand to lose just as much as you should this incident be known.”
The woman nodded, then disappeared.
“Who was that?” Maya asked.
“Don’t worry about it. For now, I think you need more rest.” He slipped off of the bed and laid her down carefully on some incredibly comfortable pillows. “And don’t worry, no nightmares, so you can sleep soundly.”
“Wait, Apollo.” She grabbed his forearm as he started to tuck her into the bed. She looked at his hand. “It looks fine.” She looked up at him. “I thought it was … hurt.”
He gave her a soft smile. “You aren’t the only one who uses magic as dressing.” Then he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Sleep.”
His calming smell coupled with his quiet voice and gentle touch helped her to relax, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.