Athena

It was barely for seconds after I closed my eyes, with what was followed by the intense knocking on my door. My door rattled, probably would have flown off too, had I not opened it immediately. Rett stood on the other side, panting like he ran a marathon. I had never seen him this worried about something. Not that I knew him for long but Rett always carried a cloud of calm demeanor over his head, wherever he went.

Today, that cloud diffused behind the fear he held in his brown eyes. Liam's state of being had him worried. His hung face, gravity loving frown and sweat laden forehead had me worried.

"Where is he?" I asked. It took more time for Rett to even state anything. He genuinely is shocked, stuttering for words. Something really bad must have happened for him to be so knocked off. "Rett... Tell me."

"He... he is in his room."

I held Rett's hand, leading him towards Liam's room. Although I wanted to ask a lot more, looking at the apparent devastation on his face, I don't want to add more to his pain.

As soon as we entered the room, I saw all the brothers peering at me. Sam was walking around frantically whilst Jake and Ezra were on the bed. It was only when I moved inside further, did I notice both Jake and Ezra holding onto Liam's body as he convulsed in agony.

My feet fired and the next thing I remembered was being seated on the bed and feeling his pulse, checking his breathing pattern. His pulse rate conveyed the state of agony. He is in severe pain.

Why?

Turning towards Rett, who stood at the entrance, still retaining the shocked and scared expression, I cleared my throat. "Rett, do you know what happened?"

"No." That's all he could state. I looked at each and every one of the boys present in the room. Although Rett was as worried as the rest of them, he still somehow managed to keep himself calm for the rest of them.

"Does anyone know what happened?" I asked.

Kare bear was the first one to nod. "I heard screaming from his room. When I came here, I saw him writhing on the bed."

Kare's room was adjacent to Liam's. He would have heard it before anyone else and would have raised an alarm.

With nobody able to help more than a 'yes or a nod, I decided to take things into my own hands. I move closer to Liam's body, which was sweating profusely. His eyeballs rolled back into his head. Both Jake and Ezra move back, giving me the space to let me do my thing.

Dad had taught me how to draw out poison or dark magic. With no signs of poisoning anywhere on his body, I knew he was being subjected to the latter. "Zitó ti dýnami tou Día na ton voithísei eímai i kóri tou, diochetéfste tin enérgeia mésa mou."

Placing my hands over Liam's body, I felt the rush that came over while the energy ran from me to him. As I drew out the hold, the darkness that trapped him, I felt weaker. It was like a tug of war, me against a hundred immortals. But I couldn't let it slip. I couldn't let go of the rope called Liam's body, his soul.

What Liam felt, I felt the same. The pain of being seared by a thousand suns, the agony of being boiled in oil. The sheer torture of having someone grab one's insides and rattle it up. The pain, the torture was channeled by something powerful, someone magical. Something dark and ominous. The hold grew stronger, the magic turned active.

Whoever kept torturing Liam knew, he was being healed. The healing wasn't working for long. Sweat beards ran down my spine as I tried hard, forcing the dark clutch to leave Liam's body. Suddenly, the magic faded.

The thing about powerful spells used by magicals had a drawback. Magic could be traced back to its origin. Like a phone call to a tower and then to the nearest locality, house and eventually the caller. This person also knew I wanted to trace the spell. They ended the trance.

The last bit of strength left my body, resuscitating Liam from the spell. He gasped for air, shooting himself upright on the bed while eying me as if he had no clue what was happening

"Why is everyone here?" He asked, peering at me, then everyone else. Liam's paler skin flushed, life had returned to his body. His heaving chests drummed slower and slower before retiring back to their rhythmic state.

Before I could say anything, Rett sprang on the bed, holding onto Liam's broad muscular body. Like a mother, he swung him sideways. Even though Rett was well-built too, it was Liam who was the broadest of them all. Wrapping arm around him was next to impossible but Rett somehow managed. It hardly took a couple of more seconds for everyone to join.

Even though I was also on the same bed, everyone managed to huddle together, holding onto Liam who was buried under muscular bodies. After an infinite amount of time, Liam gasped for another shot of air, making all of them leave his hold. I never knew the brothers were tight-knit like a pack.

The closest sibling I had was Ares and even that was nothing compared to this.

"Athena," Zane called my name, driving my thoughts away. I also realized he was serious because he rarely referred to me by my name.

"Yes, Zane."

"What happened to him?" He asked, eying all his brothers.

It was Sam, who shifted from his position first. "Yes, we all want to know who did this to our Liam so we can kill that motherfucker." Thankfully, Sam was worried all this while to be angry. Only upon seeing Liam be all fine, did he returned to his usual self. The angry self. All of them, to be precise.

"Liam was under some spell," I said. They all stared at me as if I was talking in some foreign language.

"What spell? Who did it?" Liam unfurled the sheets and stepped off the bed, only to be shoved back by Rett.

"I don't know who it was, but whoever it may be, the magic they hold is very strong and dark," I said, un-creasing my eyebrows. Still nothing. Still, they all acted as if I was talking gibberish. "Have you never been cast onto?" All the boys uttered a single answer - no. "Well, in Liam's case, someone wanted to hurt him and they succeeded in doing it."

"And what did they want?" Kare bear was the worrisome lad of the lot and his questions confirmed them. "Liam never hurt a fly."

Liam nodded in agreement. "Unless the spell was cast by my play-station. I do tend to throw away the controller, whenever I lose."

Our happy joke-cracking Liam was back.

"As much as I'd like to believe it was your Play-station, it's not the case, Liam. It was by someone who was into dark magic."

Jake, who was silently evaluating all my words, spoke. "Who is into dark magic and wants to harm us?"

"I don't know... But we'll figure something out. I will talk to dad and see if he knows something about it." They all nodded.

As I got off the bed, I realized the sad part of being a fallen. Channeling and releasing all my spell-driven energy into Liam's body took a toll on mine. My knees buckled as I stood. I held onto the bedside stand for help. Jake immediately pulled me up while Kare supported my hands, helping me stand. A while back, I wanted to get to know all of them. With that small gesture, I knew they all were kind and they all knew me better than I did. They also knew how a goddess could take even an ounce of pity towards her in the wrong way.

Helping me without dominating or making me feel helpless, even in my most vulnerable state, made me feel special. These men surely were my doom.

I whispered a 'thanks,' smiling into the floor. My attention remained on my non-functional legs that have decided to go on a strike.

Rett's soft yet commanding voice came through to everyone. "Who will take her to her room? Because I can't. I'll be staying with Liam tonight."

I looked at Rett who donned a soft smile on his face. His justification for not coming with me was completely justified, not that I was asking for it.

"I will take her." It was Jake who answered first. And although Jake was the last person I thought would volunteer, he took me by surprise.

After talking to Liam for a while, I took Jake's hand, supporting my walk towards my room. When we crossed past a few more doors, Jake decided to pick me up in his arms.

"What is this? I can walk."

His smile turned to a smirk as he taunted me while still holding onto me in his arms. "So weak, yet so proud."

"Who are you calling weak, Mister?" He laughed at my retort as if it was the funniest thing ever. "Put me down." My voice intonated. All the concern he showed me before vanished, being replaced with anger.

"Just a second." Jake didn't put me down. Instead, he walked faster till we stood in front of my room. I jump off of his hold, while he leaned near the door, waiting for me to open it.

"Thanks for the help... Again." Even though I was pissed at him a second back, he did help me. Until he decided to ruin the moment.

I dropped in my bed, waiting for him to leave. Jake moved in and locked the door from the inside. That's when I realized that he might have something else on his mind. And even though I was fairly new to sleeping with them, I wouldn't leave a chance to do it again. But tonight wasn't that night.

My body wouldn't be able to take any sort of torture or pleasure. The energy drop in me felt like I was marooned in a desert, parched and then made to walk miles for water. Before Jake could sit beside me, I stopped his movements with my hands.

"Can we...not... today?"

He smiled while taking my hand, tugged it over his chest and kissing my knuckles. He gradually placed himself next to me on the bed. "I am not cruel, Dove. I know what your body has gone through."

He pulls me closer and holds me in his embrace. Since the day I stepped inside this house, this was the first time when I felt vulnerability in Jake's hold.

Jake handed me a glass of water that I gulped down in an instance. A toast followed the same routine. The rest was blurry to my recollection. All I could remember was being so moved by his gesture that I kept staring into his eyes. He put me back on the bed, leaning beside me and placing my head over his chest.

With an exhausted sigh, he closed his eyes to sleep while ensuring, I would have a sleepless night. 

~

Wanderers,

I've been seeing a lot of you fantasy lovers read this book of mine and I love you all for your support. I never thought this random thing would make you all want to read it :)

If time permits, please do support my other works too. 

Also, let me know your theories on who wants to hurt Liam and why?