Chapter 12
Fate’s Temptations
Maya woke the next morning, alone in the large bed. Groggily turning to look at the door, she could hear Misty somewhere down the hall chattering happily about playing outside. Her voice was interspersed with equally loud responses by Cosmo and a few more muted ones by Naomi.
Thinking about some of what happened the previous day, she allowed her dress from the wedding to disappear, exposing her body to the air. Her hand went to the scar, which looked much fainter than she had ever seen it.
There was a knock on the door, and for the first time in her life, Maya felt the need to pull the blanket up over her body. “Who is it?”
“Misty! Can I come in, Miss Maya?”
“Hold on, kiddo. I need to get dressed really quickly.” As Maya quickly covered herself in a casual outfit, she could hear voices muttering just outside the door. “Okay, you can come in.”
Misty came bounding into the room, a huge grin on her face and a plate of eggs and cinnamon rolls in her little hands. “I brought you breakfast! Daddy says you like breakfast too!”
A huge smile spread over Maya’s face when she saw Apollo enter the room behind his daughter. “Did he now? Because I don’t remember telling him that.”
“You mean, you don’t like breakfast?” Misty looked crestfallen.
“Oh, no, I do.” She smiled at the child and moved to the edge of the bed. Apollo approached, then placed a tray over her lap. She mouthed “Thank you” to him, then turned to Misty. “I absolutely love breakfast, but I never told him that.”
Misty’s expression immediately shifted to one of happiness. “I knew it! Daddy’s always right about people because he’s good at his job.” When she reached the bed, she tried to put the plate on the tray. Her father lifted Misty up, allowing her to easily place the food in front of Maya.
“I’m not always right, honey. Even Daddy makes mistakes.”
“Uh-uh,” Misty said, folding her arms over her chest. “Uncle Cosmo says you are right, and I believe him.”
Apollo got down on her level and held up a finger. “But Uncle Cosmo is wrong a lot.”
Misty started giggling. “I’m right more than Uncle Cosmo.”
“Right. And if Uncle Cosmo says that I’m always right, when he’s usually wrong, he’s probably wrong about me too.”
Misty looked scandalized by the words. She turned to Maya, “Is Daddy always right?”
“Not always. Just almost always,” Maya said, her eyes darting over to Apollo, then back to Misty. She adjusted her body a little as she said, “I heard you are going to play outside with your Auntie Naomi. How long has she been your auntie?”
Misty shrugged one shoulder and tilted her face to it. “I don’t know. Maybe like,” she looked at her father, “10 days?”
Apollo put a hand on her back. “Cosmo introduced her as Auntie Naomi.”
Maya nodded as she picked up her fork. “I think we should start planning their wedding.”
“What?” Apollo looked surprised. “Has she asked you to do that?”
Maya shook her head as she speared a few pieces of fluffy eggs.
“She won’t. Naomi is the kind of person who thinks she isn’t worth the effort.
Of course, it’s because of the Hallows. I wish I could say my motives were altruistic, but that wouldn’t be true.
I want to help her get away from them. And since you both trust Cosmo, I think he may be worthy of her.
” Maya kept her eyes down as she ate the eggs, too afraid to look up in case Apollo hated the idea.
“Can I be the flower girl?” Misty asked.
“Hold on, honey,” Apollo moved his hand to his daughter’s shoulder. “I think we need to talk about it with your uncle and auntie before we start making plans.”
Maya stole a glance at him, thinking he was upset with the idea. After she swallowed, she said, “Actually, if we could make it a surprise, at least for Naomi, I think that would work best. Otherwise, she’s going to nix all of the good ideas, saying it’s too much trouble.”
“Maybe she wants a small wedding,” Apollo said, looking at her.
Maya immediately shook her head. “She is the most gregarious person I’ve ever met. Except maybe Noel. She deserves something big to celebrate herself. And I’m sure Cosmo would be thrilled to have a chance to torment as many people as possible.”
“What does tormmenent mean?” Misty looked at her.
“She just means that he would have a really good time with a lot of people. Especially if he gets to tell them what to do.”
Misty immediately nodded. “He likes to be in charge. Daddy’s better, though.”
Maya smiled, “Yes, I agree with you there. I would much rather your father be in charge. Letting Uncle Cosmo be in charge makes me nervous.”
“It’s okay. Uncle Cosmo is nice. He won’t hurt you.”
“What’s this about my not hurting someone?” Everyone turned to see Cosmo standing in the doorway, Naomi just in front of him, his hand on her shoulder.
Maya looked at him, a wry grin on her face. “We were just saying that letting you be in charge is scary, but Misty here was trying to convince me that you wouldn’t hurt me. I’m not so sure, though.”
He gave her a look of mock shock. “You wound me, Maya. To think I was telling Naomi that you would make a good sister-in-law.” He shook his head slowly and with exaggerated movements. “To think you were thinking so lowly of me at the same time.”
Misty put her hands on her hips. “You can be scary, Uncle Cosmo. One time, you jumped out from behind the door. That was scary.”
His expression dropped into a large frown. “I already apologized for that, Misty. So many times.”
Misty wagged a finger at him. “But you were still mean.”
Cosmo looked at Maya. “I hope you are happy with yourself. Making my own flesh and blood hate me.”
“No!” Misty said a little too loudly. “I don’t hate you! I’m sorry, Uncle Cosmo.” She ran and grabbed his leg.
Patting her back, he said, “It’s okay, sweetie. I’ll tell you what, you can make it up to me by coming outside and playing hide and seek with me and Naomi.”
“Yeah!” Misty ran out of the room.
Cosmo followed her, his booming voice resounding through the hallway outside of the room. Naomi looked at them. “Apollo, do you mind if we borrow Misty for a few hours? Cosmo wanted an excuse to go to the park and out for ice cream later.”
Apollo smiled, “Of course, he needs an excuse. Can’t just go himself.”
Naomi smiled, “He can’t have people thinking that he likes such … domestic things. So we want to use Misty to give him an excuse.”
“Of course. Have fun, Naomi.”
Naomi looked at Maya. “I hope you get better soon. Whatever’s wrong, you are in very capable hands.”
“Thanks, Naomi. I know. It’s … a very old wound that never got properly treated. The magic on the island apparently didn’t agree with it.”
Her business partner frowned. “You never told me about getting hurt.”
“It was when I was really little. Not something I talk about very often.”
The expression on Naomi’s face made it clear that she was bothered by this. Looking at Apollo, she said, “I know I can’t ask, but please, take care of her. She may be incredibly rough around the edges, but I’m sure there’s a good person in there fighting to get out.”
Apollo smiled, “I’ll keep that under advisement.”
A wicked grin spread across Naomi’s face. “So you haven’t seen a nicer version when you two are together, huh?”
Unsure what Naomi meant, Maya looked at Apollo, who had turned a little pink. “Keep it up, Naomi, and I’ll start asking you questions about your activities with Cosmo.”
Naomi pressed her lips together to hide a smile. “I’m an open book. Maybe we could reaneat[JY1]—”
Apollo held up a hand. “Two unabashed beings together. I must ask you to spare me the stories, Noami. I’ve heard more than enough over the years. And I think what happens in the bedroom is just between the two people who are there.”
“What about if it happens elsewhere?”
Apollo sighed, “I can’t believe I didn’t see how similar you are to Cosmo when we met. Had I known, I might not have been so critical of Maya. You are both incorrigible."
Naomi looked between them, her usual happy look firmly in place. “And I don’t think any of us would have it any other way. See you both later.”
With that, she disappeared. Maya stared at the empty doorway. “I’m afraid I didn’t understand most of that conversation.”
Apollo pulled up a chair and chatted with her while Maya finished her breakfast. Once she was done, he took the tray and moved it out of the way. He was serious when he looked at her. “I think we need to go back to the island.”
Maya’s heart sank. “Do we have to?”
“It sounds like there’s a good chance that we’ll create a paradox if we don’t.
I mean, they’ve already seen us there, before they left.
” Maya looked down at her hands while Apollo sat on the foot of the bed.
“Look, I know how you feel, and nothing has to happen between us.
No one saw us actually doing anything. All they saw was us coming out of a room together.
That just means that we need to be there on Valentine's Day morning. That was a week ago tomorrow. Since you only had about a week, I think we should get it over with.”
“Yeah, we should get it over with,” Maya said, her voice thick with regret. He doesn’t want me, and he’s coming up with any way he can to get out of actually becoming my mate.
The thought was sudden and unexpected. Maya stared at her hands, unsure how it could be her. Ever since my family died, I’ve been sure I would never love. People want me for power, status, or wealth. Love is ridiculous, and it never lasts. So why am I thinking about Apollo being my mate?
“Talk to me, Maya. What’s wrong?” Apollo had moved and was sitting next to her, his hand over hers.
“I just …” Maya had no desire to voice what she was thinking aloud. Her mind cast about for any excuse. “We fought so hard to leave. And what if my magic affects the place again? We could tear it apart.”
“I know that you never want to return, but I think we are risking a time paradox. Right?”