8. ZARA
ZARA
“You might not think it was such a short time if it was Jed who was leaving instead of Seth.” I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but I didn’t do a very good job.
Phoebe had been trying to persuade me that six months would go by in no time, and I just wasn’t in the mood to hear it.
We both looked up as Seth and Jed came into the room.
“You’re back. How did it go?” Phoebe immediately got up and went to give Jed a hug, but I stayed where I was.
If Seth wanted me he could damn well come and get me.
Luckily for him, he did, folding himself down on the sofa next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders before claiming a kiss.
One that I had no hope of resisting, even if I had been enough of a brat to try.
“It went well. Much better than I expected.” Jed seemed surprised, as if he’d really thought Zeus might turn down his offer to stand in for Seth.
“I suppose it’s too much to expect you visited your mother while you were there?” He pulled a face at Phoebe’s question.
“I already told you, vixen, if and when I have to suffer that fate, you’re going to suffer it with me.”
“You make it sound like she’s an ogre. Which I’m certain she’s not,” she added as he opened his mouth, probably to tell her that was exactly what she was, “or you’d be green. So what’s been decided?”
“We agreed it would be best not to broadcast the fact that Jed will be standing in for me,” Seth said.
“Only the other guardians need to know. Most of the wider magical community don’t see me or hear from me from one decade to the next anyway, so unless something comes up that requires Jed’s direct intervention, the team can field everything and deal with it accordingly.
If it becomes necessary to tell people, we’ll do it at that time and not before. ”
My heart sank. I’d been banking on it taking a few weeks, or even months, to put everything in place, but that hope had just been shattered.
“So when will you leave?” The look Seth gave me said it all. He had no plans to drag this out.
“I have another meeting with my father tomorrow. If he agrees to my terms, I’ll ask him to arrange for Gabriel to transport me the following day.”
“I thought we’d have longer…”
“The sooner I go, the sooner I’ll be back. Having it hanging over us like this is no way to live.”
“You almost sound like you’re looking forward to it,” I said angrily, then immediately regretted it.
“I should be getting back to Avalon.” Jed obviously had no intention of being a witness to whatever showdown was brewing. “Are you coming, Phoebe?”
“Are you going to be okay?” Phoebe whispered as I stood up so she could give me a hug, and I nodded against her shoulder, not trusting myself to try and speak. “Call me if you need me,” she said before she turned and followed Jed out of the room.
“I’m not looking forward to it, Zara,” Seth said irritably as soon as we were alone. “But I am looking forward to getting it over and done with so we can get on with our lives without having it hanging over our heads any longer.”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” I did know. And I was sorry. But that wasn’t going to be enough to make me accept it with good grace.
“Look,” he said, sitting and pulling me down next to him, “not so very long ago, we thought we were facing far worse than a six month separation. We had no clue what the Prophecy had in store for us, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this, and you weren’t either. Am I right?”
“I suppose so,” I said reluctantly.
“Six months may feel like a lifetime when we’re apart, but as someone who’s lived for thousands of years, I can promise you it’s far from it.
And once this is all behind us, and I’ve done what I can to help Lucien, we’ll be able to forget all about him, and the Prophecy, and the Underworld, and get back to building our life together.
So you have to try to look at this as something positive. Can you do that for me?”
“I can try.” I didn’t hold out much hope that I’d succeed, but I’d try. “But Seth, what if he doesn’t let you leave once he’s got you there?” It was a fear I’d been trying to ignore ever since he told me he was going to do it, and I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer. “What if he’s lying?”
“I was hoping we weren’t going to have this conversation,” he sighed, “but as we are, I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t considered that possibility. I honestly don’t think that he’s trying to deceive me though. If I did, I wouldn’t be agreeing to this.”
“I just have a horrible feeling about it all. My siren senses are screaming at me that there are things going on we don’t know about yet.
I don’t know if it’s Lucien or Gabriel, but someone is lying to us, or at least not telling us the whole truth.
I’m certain of it. And I’m scared,” my voice wobbled and I looked away so he wouldn’t see the tears I was struggling to hold back, “I’m scared that if you go, you won’t come back. ”
“Zara, look at me.” He hooked a finger under my chin and turned my face back towards him.
“I told you once before that nothing in the four realms could ever tear us apart, and that hasn’t changed.
You can believe me when I tell you that I will always come back to you.
” This wasn’t anything in the four realms though, was it? “Tell me you believe me.”
When he looked at me like that, how could I refuse to say the words he needed to hear?
“I believe you.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
I believed he believed him, and that would have to be enough for now.
Whether or not I did was irrelevant. He was doing this, and we’d just have to deal with whatever the consequences of his decision were once they came to light.
Which they would, that was one thing I didn’t have any doubts about.
“Thank you.” The relief in his voice as he pulled me into his arms and laid his forehead against mine told me I’d done the right thing. We sat like that for a while, just clinging to each other, until I finally pulled away a little and broke the silence.
“It’s kind of ironic really, isn’t it,” I said.
“That first night when you told me what you were, I asked if you were an angel and you said you weren’t.
Now it turns out that you kind of are. And then you told me once you’d still love me even if I was Satan’s daughter.
And here we are. Fate certainly flipped that one around. ”
“And here we are,” he agreed. “Not that my father bears any resemblance to the Christian Devil. If you recall, I also said I’d love you even if you were Ursula the Sea Witch.
That still stands of course, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t change into a sea monster while I’m gone.
” The teasing tone did little to conceal just how hard this was for him too.
“Well, maybe you’d better not leave me alone then, just in case,” I said, then immediately regretted it when I saw the flash of guilt in his eyes. He’d already made up his mind he was doing this, and he didn’t need me making him feel worse about leaving me than he already did.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I know you have to do this. I shouldn’t have said that.” His arms tightened around me, and I steeled myself for his next words.
“I’ve already called a team meeting for tomorrow afternoon, after I’ve met with Lucien again, to finalise everything and formally hand over the reins to Jed. I’d like you to be there, but if you’d rather not, I’ll understand.”
“Of course I’ll be there,” I said, curling into him with a sigh. If tomorrow was going to be our last day together, I wasn’t letting him out of my sight for a second longer than I had to.