The Immortal Defenses Series - Destined

Chapter Eleven

Ahaz arrived first thing in the morning. Roman was the only one awake to greet him and it made him slightly uneasy to be with the man alone. He had to tell him about Cheri and Ellie using the anger defense. He had to tell him about their brief time outside when Silos tried to attack Alexia. He had to tell him about the message from Amarantos. Most unfortunately, he alone had to tell him how Alexia had snuck off with her friends while they questioned her almost-attacker. Ahaz seemed very interested in the fact that the girls were able to fight off two full grown Immortal men, but so far, he was not giving any clues as to why Ellie and Cheri were able to use the defenses.

They were in the living room, with Roman sitting and Ahaz pacing back and forth in front of the two huge windows. Glancing outside now and then seemed to help him think. Once and a while he would stop pacing and run his fingers through his hair, attempting to keep it out of his face. They had been alone for over an hour now and Roman was getting anxious. He wanted answers but knew that Ahaz wanted to hear from Alexia, Cheri, and Ellie first.

"Should I go wake them?" Roman asked. "I am sure you don't have all the time in the world to wait for them."

"Perhaps that is a wise idea." Ahaz glanced at his watch. "I have a Union meeting at two." He turned and faced the window without another word. Roman marched up the stairs, eager to get a moment away from Ahaz. He truly hated being alone with the guy. He had heard stories of what he did to people who crossed him. Roman didn't know if they were true and wasn't willing to find out. When he reached the long hallway, he debated for a moment who to wake first, his brother or their guests. Hoping to steal a moment alone with Alexia, he knocked lightly on the door. When there was no answer, he turned the knob and walked in.

They were all fast asleep. Cheri was cuddling Alexia and Alexia was cuddling Ellie. A white socked foot hung halfway out of the blanket and Roman got the urge to tickle it. The blanket was wrapped mostly around Cheri leaving Alexia and Ellie to freeze. No wonder they're cuddling up to each other, he thought. He wished he had a camera, as it would have made for a good blackmail photo if he ever needed one. Everything about the way they were sleeping made him want to burst into laughter.

For no apparent reason, he couldn't help staring at Cheri for a moment. The way she was wrapped in the blanket with her hair spilling out over the pillow made him get slight butterflies. Then he turned his gaze to Alexia. Her head was sunken into a soft pillow, and he could make out a slight puddle of drool on it. Even while she slept she was beautiful, and he wanted to wake her with a light kiss on the forehead, but he didn't know what her reaction would be. They hadn't had very many personal moments yet and he didn't want to offend her by being so forward.

"Alexia," he called softly.

Clearly still asleep, she muttered, "Of course Demetri, climb in the bed with us."

Roman's heart plummeted into his stomach. She was dreaming of Demetri. Why Demetri? He knew they had not spent enough time together yet but once the danger was over he had big plans to win her over for good. But was it too late? Had Demetri beat him to it? After all these years, the time had finally come where he could be honest with her, be with her forever, and she was dreaming of Demetri! But could he really be honest with her? Or would the truth chase her right into Demetri's bed? No, he couldn't think like that, he couldn't let those kinds of thoughts pollute his brain.

He backed away from her, slowly hoping to get out of the room without waking anyone up but as he turned to leave he tripped over one of their open suitcases and fell flat on his back. All three girls bolted upright, hair all over the place, tired eyes glancing around for the source of the noise. When they realized it was only Roman and not another attacker, they laid back down in unison with a grumble of annoyance.