One week earlier, Kori had truly dreaded walking into the building she was currently entering. Just a mere eight days earlier, she had openly worn a scowl on her face, resembling more of bratty teenager than a twenty year old college student. She had iced her mother out, and even contemplated spitting on her at one point, yet, as she entered the building for a second time, she was feeling at the very least, slightly more welcoming.

    She was looking forward to see Blaise again, and maybe even Hayden, though Kori thought that that part was a little doubtful.

    Beside the elevators, Demi pulled aside her daughter, and Kori immediately realized that she was about to get lectured on how to behave. She had the sudden urge to stomp her feet and whine, but somehow managed to resist, and stared at her mother, taking in her seemingly unending list of restrictions and warnings. Then, finally, it did end and Kori was being asked if she understood, and without thinking much of it, she nodded.

    Demi seemed mostly content with Kori’s response. She wrapped her  daughter up in a brief suffocating hug, then disappeared down the expanse of hallways the office had to offer, and Kori was fully alone. She slid into a seat that was besides the elevators, and chewed on her bottom lip, wondering if perhaps she should actually heed her mom’s warning not to wander this time.

    A few moments later, and Kori’s bladder had made the decision for her: Kori had to pee, really bad. She glanced around, worrying her bottom lip, slightly anxious that she might run into one of the employees she had met last time, that they might make her visit a living hell again. Yet, as the moments ticked by, she knew there was no possible way of avoiding it; she needed a bathroom.

    With a somewhat drawn out, dramatic sigh, Kori drew herself to her feet, and began down the hallway, in the opposite direction of where she had seen Demi go. Anxiety was digging a hole in her chest, making it slightly hard to breathe. Every time she heard voices drifting from an office or a conference room, she winced slightly.

    But then, her entire body relaxed, and a smile formed on her face. Just a few more doors, and there was a bathroom. She could see the blue sign, and make out the words underneath, explaining that it was one of those “family” bathrooms. For a second, Kori entertained the idea of sprinting towards it, but somehow refrained.

    Her relief was short lived.

    Drifting down the hallway was a familiar voice, one that had lulled Kori to sleep countless times when she was a child, and whispered soothing words when she would break down. Kori panicked, and threw open the nearest door, then threw herself into it, her bladder clenching slightly from the fear she was feeling. With the door shut, she leant against it and risked a brief glance down at her jeans to assure her bladder hadn’t given up on her.

    “What are you doing here?”

    Kori’s eyes snapped up to a woman sitting at a desk, a phone hovering awkwardly in the space between her and the desk, eyes narrowed at Kori. Kori was startled to notice that not only was the woman rather pretty, but also, couldn’t be any more than a few years older than Kori. The woman’s inky black hair, rather than being tied up professionally, fell around her like a velvet curtain. Her hair was absolutely gorgeous, and even with her porcelain complexion and sparkling green eyes, her hair was what stunned Kori the most.

Kori was rendered speechless due to the fact she was still trying to keep her bladder under control, but mostly because, this woman had completely startled her.

“Did you not hear me?” The woman asked again, her tone growing impatient, the phone coming to a full rest on the desk. “I asked, what are you doing here?”

Kori licked her lips and stammered out an answer. “I’m sorry, I was looking for the bathroom, and-”

“Does this look like a bathroom?” the woman snapped, and Kori winced slightly.

“No, I just, I can explain, if you’d just let me!” Kori stuttered, the urge to pee in her pants and cry growing strong. She suddenly wished she would have just went to see Blaise, or that she would have just stayed in that seat in the lobby, silently suffering with a full bladder.

“Oh, I’m sure you can,” the woman scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Look, kid, you can’t be in here, got it?”

Kori opened her mouth to apologize again, and then maybe cry a little, but a door she had not seen behind the woman squeaked open, and Kori’s attention was drawn to it. Filling up the doorway, was none other than Hayden Easton, the man that had been taking up her thoughts since their first interaction. Her mouth fell shut, and her tongue lost all moisture.

“Fae,” he said, his voice not exactly irritated, but slightly edgy. “What’s going on out here? What’s with all the shouting?”

“It wasn’t shouting,” Fae grumbled then raised her head high and gestured towards Kori, who was still teetering a little too close to the edge of tears. “A girl wandered in. She said she’s looking for the bathroom.”

Hayden’s eyes landed on Kori, and the young girl reached for the door knob, having the sudden urge to run away. She was feeling slightly overwhelmed, and her bladder was beginning to ache from how long she had been holding it in. She had somewhat expected Hayden to react like his rude secretary, but he didn’t, not at all. His face softened and he let out a small sigh, shooting Fae a look.

Fae ignored his look, and started tapping on her computer, already forgetting about Kori’s existence.

“Let me take you to a bathroom, Kori,” Hayden said, and it wasn’t a question or a request. It was mostly a command, and Kori was nearly certain that she could turn him down, but she didn’t want to test that theory, and she still really wanted to use the bathroom.

She licked her lips and nodded. “Okay. That would be great.”

He gestured with a wave of a hand that she should move out of the way of the door, and she did, then waited for him to step through before she followed. He lead her down the hall to the bathroom that she had previously spotted, but she didn’t bother to mention that she was aware of where it was. She only nodded her head at him, stepped inside, and relieved herself. She expected him to be gone by the time she stepped out of the tiny bathroom, but instead, he was leaning against the wall, patiently waiting for her.

“Since you don’t know the office well,” he said slowly, his eyes on the floor, refusing to bring them up to her face. Demi would have found that impolite. “I would feel much more comfortable if you stayed in my office until I could get someone to show you around. I have the strong feeling that your mother wouldn’t like you wandering, anyways. Would that be okay with you?”

“Okay,” Kori replied, her voice much quieter than it usually was. “Sure. That’s fine.”

Hayden nodded his head, accepting this, then without another word, lead her back down the hallway to his office. As they passed through Fae’s small office space, Kori made certain to keep her eyes down so she wouldn’t have to make eye contact with the girl that had snapped at her. Hayden shut the door behind her, and she looked around his office, drinking it in. He had a shelf of books, and she felt drawn to it.

Hayden glanced over at her. “Feel welcome to read any of those.”

“Thank you,” Kori said softly, and approached the bookshelf, gently running her fingers over the spines, looking for a particular one that sparked her interest.

She eventually just chose a classic, Pride and Prejudice, and sat herself down in the chair across from Hayden. She forced herself to keep her eyes on the pages, and read, while not actually taking the information in. Eventually, she found that she had been on the same page for at least ten minutes, and that she could no longer handle it. She sat up straight in her chair and snapped her book shut, looking at him.

Hayden also looked up, and raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, waiting for her to say something.

“Do you have any family besides Max and Morgan?” Kori asked curiously, noticing that he didn’t have any pictures of family or friends donning his office like most did.

“No,” he replied, his eyes falling back on his computer.

“Maybe some pets?” Kori squirmed in her seat slightly, running her fingers over the cover of the book in her lap.

“No. Why are you asking these questions?” he replied, shortly, tapping on his keyboard again.

Kori sighed and slumped down in her seat, resisting the urge to pout. “I’m bored. I want to talk.”

“Talking and interrogating are two very different things, little one,” he pointed out, briefly tearing his eyes away from his screen to glance at her.

Kori bit her lip to keep from giggling and leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling. “I’m not interrogating you. I’m asking questions so I can get to know you.”

“Is that so?” he sounded amused with her, and she too was feeling slightly amused about this conversation.

“If I just told you that it is, then you must know it’s so,” Kori replied, a small smile forming on her face. “Do you like your job, Mr. Easton?”

“Call me Hayden,” he said, completely ignoring her question.

Kori sat straight up again, her eyes burning through him. “You and your brother’s don’t have the same last name. Why is that?”

“We don’t want the same last name,” Hayden answered then caught a look of her intense curious stare and sighed. “And we have different mother’s.”

“You don’t seem to be rather fond of your family,” Kori observed, but he didn’t respond to that, as she expected he wouldn’t.

She wanted to continue answering questions, to press on and learn more about the mysterious older brother of the godly family. And maybe she would have, if it hadn’t been for Demi crashing into the office, Fae following behind her, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. She sent her a boss an apologetic look, as if to try to communicate that there was nothing she could have done to stop Demi, which Kori was almost fairly certain was the truth.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Hayden?” Demi seethed. “My daughter isn’t allowed to be in here with you! She’s not allowed to be anywhere near you.”

“You’re the one who brought her to the office with you,” Hayden replied calmly, seemingly unphased by Demi’s amount of anger. Kori was beginning to get genuinely surprised by how angry her mother got with her co-workers, not to mention the way she spoke to her bosses.

Demi’s face flushed a deeper shade of red, if possible. “Shut up! Just stay away from my daughter. I know what you want, and it’s nothing good. Korianne, let’s go.”

Kori hesitated and looked between both her mother and Hayden. On one hand, she really had been enjoying her time with Hayden. Sure her time spent with him had mostly been her reading and being nosy, but it still had brought her a good amount of happiness. Meanwhile, on the other hand, she knew that her mother was absolutely furious and if she didn’t follow her there would be no telling how Demi would react. Hayden noticed Kori’s conflicted look, and almost imperceptibly nodded, telling her that she should follow her mother. Kori nodded slowly in return, then slowly brought herself to her feet.

Demi was clearly impatient, and grasped Kori’s wrist so hard that the younger of the two winced. Both Fae and Hayden seemingly noticed the pain Demi was inflicting, but neither of them spoke up, probably having had enough of Demi’s wrath. Kori couldn’t exactly blame them, either.

As she was pulled out the door, Kori managed to turn slightly and wave weakly to Fae and Hayden.

Kori didn’t get the chance to see their responses, because after that Demi violently jerked her out of Hayden’s office, then out into the hallway. Demi didn’t stop moving once they hit the hallway, though. She continued to drag Kori through the hallways, even though it wasn’t exactly like Kori was going to go anywhere.

“Mom,” Kori sighed out. “What was that about? Hayden wasn’t even doing anything to me. I was just sitting there. He said I could.”

“Shut up,” Demi snapped, then pulled open a door and shoved Kori into it, the younger girl stumbling slightly. Sitting at the desk was Sophie Webster, who looked up, startled for merely a minute.

“What’s going on, Demi?” Sophie asked, shutting the book that had been in her hands, and sitting up a little straighter.

“Do you mind watching Korianne for the rest of the day?” Demi asked. “I apparently can’t trust her on her own anymore.”

Sophie glanced at Kori, who was rubbing her sore wrist. “I don’t mind at all. I’ll take good care of her, Demi.”

“Thank you,” Demi flashed a smile at Sophie, and then she was gone, shutting the door behind her, leaving Kori on her own.

Sophie raised her eyebrows at Kori, a grin forming on her lips. “What did you do, kid?”

“First of all,” Kori said slowly, her voice absolutely bitter. “I’m not a kid, and you can’t even be more than three years older than me. Second of all, I didn’t do anything, my mother just over reacted, okay? She does it a lot.”

“Right,” Sophie seemed uncertain, but didn’t question Kori further. “Feel welcome to make yourself comfortable. Read. Nap. Draw. I don’t care. Just don’t disturb me, got it?”

Kori didn’t say anything, but she certainly thought that it wouldn’t be hard to leave her alone, seeing as she didn’t necessarily favor the girl who’s office she was currently occupying. She released her wrist, and wandered over to one of the floor to ceiling bookshelves, and start looking over the books similar to what she had done in Hayden’s office. After a few moments, a certain book had caught her attention.

In sparkling gold calligraphy on the written of the spine of a black book was the words, Secrets of Greek Myths. Kori didn’t hesitate at all, her fingers enclosed around it, and she cracked it open, skimming through it when a section caught her attention.

Immortal Prophecy, sprawled across the top of the page, and Kori narrowed her eyes, trying to remember if she had ever heard of such a prophecy in all the greek mythology she had read before. When she came up short, she began to read over the prophecy. She was startled to see that the prophecy mostly seemed to be about the violent end of the gods themselves, but the last line rocked her to her core.

Immortal blood will be spilled.

The simple sentence whispered in her brain, and she grew slightly dizzy. The line seemed so familiar, and yet she could not place where she had heard it before. Her eyes took in the words once more. Then again. And again. And again. But no matter how many times she read over the prophecy, and the last line, she could not seem to place where she remembered this prophecy, or why it seemed so hauntingly familiar.

“Kori,” a voice broke the poor girl out of her thoughts, as well made her jump and drop the book.

Sophie shot Kori an irate look, then leaned down and scooped up the book. A brief look of surprise flashed in Sophie’s intelligent grey eyes, but she hid it quickly, and tucked the book underneath her arm. There was a slight tremor to her hands, but she raised her chin high, making sure it didn’t wobble, to ensure no weakness was shown.

“What is it?” Kori asked, trying hard not to sound cross.

“It’s time to go,” Sophie replied. “Your mother is waiting for you in the lobby. Would you like me to escort you?”

“No.” Kori said, looking out the window at the sun that was dipping low in the sky. “I’ll be just fine. Goodbye, Sophie.”

She walked out of the office, and to the elevators, but didn’t feel as if she was herself or that she was truly in her own body. Her mind felt stretched, and her bones empty. Immortal blood will be spilled. Kori blinked slowly, and licked her lips.

Immortal blood will be spilled.

The elevator doors shut, and she looked at the numbers. Somehow, the glowing numbers managed to bring her back to earth, and she slammed hand against the button. She pushed all thoughts of prophecies out of her head, and prepared herself to see her mother, in case Demi was still in a mood.

But still, at the back of her head, a quiet voice whispered into her ear as sweet as cider, immortal blood will be spilled, immortal blood will be spilled, say your goodbyes now, Queen.

***

It was dark.

There was a slight whisper of wind, and she could feel hair tickling her cheek, but she couldn’t exactly tell if it was her own. Despite the breeze that was causing goosebumps to form on her fair skin, she could make out the sound of a river raging and crashing against rocks. It was never that angry, she thought, and she knew that it must have been a result of his mood lately.

A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she stepped over a rather large branch carefully, her dress slightly snagging on it. A slow hiss escaped her lips, and she tugged on the edge of the gown. The sound of it tearing filled her ears, but couldn’t be bothered with it, there was more pressing issues than a torn gown. She was not Aphrodite, tears could not be wasted so willingly here on such material objects.

After the first altercation with her dress, she decided to hike her skirts up to her knees, and continued her trek through the woods. The closer she got to the river, the more she could tell that it was truly raging tonight. The roar was akin to that of a ferocious lion, and somehow, she thought she might have liked it.

It seemed like eons later that she had arrived on the bank of the river, and caught sight of him, sitting upon one of the rocks far enough away that water was not crashing against him, but still spraying his face slightly. His hair was damp and falling into his face, and she could not help but want to push it away, to look deep into his eyes and hold him.

She dropped her skirts to the ground and approached him quietly, head held high, hair cascading down her back in dark waves. She climbed up upon the rock beside him, which caught his attention. His dark eyes widened and caught her by the arms, seemingly alarmed. She didn’t return the emotion, only grinning up at him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her, clearly concerned as he helped situate her on the rock beside him. “It’s dangerous.”

“So are most things,” she replied stubbornly, then softened slightly seeing the pinched look on his face. She slid her arms around him, her hands kneading into his shoulders, attempting to ease the tenseness he was feeling there. “Darling, were you really going to stay out here all night on my last night? Hiding from your issues? Sulking like one of your brother’s?”

She had tried to hide the pain and anger she was feeling, but it shone through clear in her words. He slumped into her touch, guilt filtering through him. He hadn’t meant to make her feel bad, and now that he had, he wished he could take it back, all of it. He couldn’t believe he was allowing them to spend their last night in such a way.

“I’m sorry, sweet one,” he whispered, the guilt he was feeling clear in his voice.

The guilt didn’t melt her cold exterior one bit, and her hands stopped kneading against his shoulders. “As you should be.”

He turned to face her, frowning, aware that it would pain him to see her face. Her soft lips were pulled down into a tight frown, one he wished to kiss away, but with the dangerous emotions flickering in her crystal eyes, he was certain it was better to keep his distance. And while he knew he needed to keep his distance, he couldn’t do it, and found his hands in her hair, pushing it away from her face.

Her eyes softened, only slightly, but it was still visible. He took this as a chance to press his lips to her’s. For a full second, she didn’t move or return the kiss, stiffening slightly, as if she was contemplating if she wanted to push him away or not. Then, she melted into him, her hands exploring his chest, her lips moving with his. She allowed him to dominate the kiss, their tongues entwining, their teeth grazing each other’s soft lips.

He pulled away first and rest his forehead against her’s, listening to her soft gasps, and observing the few freckles she had on the bridge of her nose. He wanted to kiss each of them, and watch her scrunch up her nose and giggle like she did every time his lips touched her nose. Pain shot through his heart as he remembered that after tonight, she would be gone for six months, and he would be left cold and alone.

“What are you thinking about, love?” She whispered, her breath tickling his cheek.

“You don’t want to know,” he replied.

“I’m sure,” she said slowly, her eyes scanning his face, taking in his sadness and accepted it. “That I don’t. I’m sure it’ll only bring unwanted emotions like it is doing to you.” She paused. “Let me distract you, let me make those thoughts disappear.”

He didn’t reply, but he didn’t have to. Her hands were already exploring his chest again, and her lips were on his neck, pressing soft kisses along the expanse of skin. She grazed her skin against his skin, and his head rolled back, his hands gripping at her waist tightly.

“Persephone,” he moaned.

Kori shot up in her bed, drenched in sweat, her legs tangled in her blankets. She pressed a hand to her forehead, gasping and doubling over. A peculiar dream, she thought, holding herself, waiting for her erratic heart rate to calm before she attempted to sleep again. One that had felt not only a little to vivid, too realistic, but also too familiar. She shuddered, and pressed the palm of her hands to her eyes, warding off tears.

I’m going insane, she thought to herself, then curled back up, pressing her face into her pillow.

She didn’t sleep the rest of the night.

a/n: I'm so proud of that dream I wrote. I hope you enjoy ;)

xoxo,
ry.