Elijah arrived at the address John sent him, and his phone rang.“Hey Cleo, an emergency came up. A friend's wife caught the disease and is in critical condition. I'll have to get back to you.” He rushed through an explanation and ended the call.As soon as his feet touched the ground, John hurried to meet him.“You're here.” He said with a hint of relief in his voice.“Any update?” He asked, bringing out the herb he brought with him.“A nurse friend of hers administered saline water just before I called. It worsened the situation.” Elijah's face scrunched. There was only one nurse who could possibly know about the saline water effect. What were the odds it was her?“Okay.” He said as John led the way into the house.He followed behind the big guy as they went into a room.As they stepped in, the nurse was rising to her feet. She turned around, and their gaze met and held briefly.“Hero guy?” She spoke first, breaking the spell.“It was you.” He nodded before looking past her to the
Elijah was standing facing the door when Winnie walked in. She went straight to him and stood covering his view. He raised his head and stared at her with an expressionless look.“Who is she?” She asked.“Who is who?” He squeezed his face.“The nurse. The newest woman in your life?” She didn't mean to sound the way she did, but the more she thought of it, the more upset she got about the situation.It had gotten to the point where she couldn't just stand by and say nothing.“What are you talking about?” His lip pursed as he stared at her like she had gone crazy.“Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I saw her with you at the hospital and now in John's house.” “And no part of you paused to think it could be coincidental?” She scoffed. “There are no coincidences with you. You told me to go to hell, and now you're prancing around town with that woman.” The more she talked, the faster she realized she wasn't making sense.Yet, it didn't stop her from going on. It was t
Elijah returned to the lab and found Cleo waiting for him.“You're still here?” He asked as he stepped inside.“I am. Couldn't leave without you.” She said and threw him a wink.“You're so—” He shook his head as he walked to the fridge.“Hey, talk to me. Where'd you go to in such a rush?” She asked while he chugged a bottle of water down his throat.He didn't stop until it was empty, and his stomach was satisfied.He flung the bottle into a trash can and grabbed a chair.Placing it across hers, he sat down. “John, Winnie's bodyguard, had an emergency. His wife caught the disease, and it was deteriorating rapidly. He called me to help.”“Ouch! How's she? Were you able to cure her?”“Yep. Not only that, I made a discovery, too.” He said in an ominous voice, and her interest was instantly piqued.“What's that? Something to do with the disease?” She leaned out of her chair, her ears opening up.“I felt a kind of darkness when I stepped into that room. It was the same darkness I felt but d
“Why do you always sound so grumpy? Is it like a traumatic response? Do you need help? You better speak up now before it's too late.”Elijah could hear the mockery in his voice, but he couldn't fault him. Instead, he blamed himself for not heeding the detective's advice. Now, he had to listen to a man he despised the most out of all his enemies.“Is there a reason you called?” He placed the phone on loudspeaker and focused on the road.“Why? Do you think I'd call you to chat? We're not that cool.”Elijah nodded. At least he had said something true for once. “You know, you're right. It's also the reason I've not cut you off yet. You would never call me if it weren't for something important. What is it?”“I have a proposal for you. It involves a certain best friend named after a color and a god,” he said.Elijah was about to respond when a car drove to his side. He whipped his head to the side and found Cleo winding down. “What the fuck are you doing, man? You're driving like a crazy
“Heir?” He snorted. “You can't be serious right now.”“I am. Everything is exactly as I've said. You don't exist anymore in your world. You need someone to continue what you've failed to finish. I can provide you with that,” she said.Elijah instantly knew it was bullshit. He had his doubts before, however small they were. But right now, he was convinced someone was playing tricks on him.“Stay away from me.” He backed up while projecting a hand to keep her away.“Oh, common, don't be weird. It's not difficult to do. You did it plenty of times with, what's her name again?” She paused and rubbed her chin for a few seconds. Suddenly, she snapped her finger. “Aha! Blue, Avery, or whatever her name is. You also did it with your wife too. However, those were the early stages. Didn't last long, did it?” She asked in a teasing voice and laughed after.“You've had your fun. Why don't you cut it out now and tell me why we're here!” His voice grew tense, as he was sick and tired of going around
“Hey!” Elijah called as he hurried after him.He felt flapping as he moved. Looking down, he discovered he was fully clothed in a robe-like dress.Relief washed through him, even though he had momentarily forgotten he was naked.He raised his head to thank the stranger but was shocked to see they were at a different spot.“Not again,” he groaned.“It's annoying, right? No wonder the other gods want nothing to do with me,” the booming voice said.He shuddered and turned to see the man standing in front of him, behind him.“What is this place?”“Like she told you, it's the product of an imagination. A bored person's imagination. The difference is, it's not yours, but mine.”“How do you do it?” He asked, curiosity making him look around.This scenery was by far his favorite, so far. They were in a spring garden, which had all these beautiful flowers and a massive waterfall.When people dreamt about peace, this was probably what they saw.“Like I said, I'm bored. Roaming around the void f
“He ruined last night's vibe,” a feminine voice hissed.“Honestly, I'm surprised you are surprised. Are we not speaking of the same person?” A deeper voice added.“Has anyone thought maybe he was just tired? I don't mean to defend him, but it always happens.”“Tired my ass. He's just a cheapskate,” the first voice countered. “Look at him, peacefully sleeping. You would think he's an Angel.” She continued spitefully.“He does look like an Angel.” She snarked. “Yeah, like an Angel of hell.”The other two looked at themselves and then back at her. “Damn! What did he do to piss you off this much?”“What didn't he do?”“Wait, why are two of you even in his room?” a second voice asked.The ceiling and paintings suddenly looked interesting, as their eyes trailed everywhere else but on each other's.The third voice paused in the middle of turning his head to question his actions. He wasn't doing anything wrong. Besides, they were all in the room.“Are you not part of us? Why are you in the r
What'd you want to talk about?” Cleo asked when everyone had left.“I need you to go somewhere far. It's just for a few weeks.”“Why?” She frowned.He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he picked up the ring on the bed and stroked it between his fingers.His powers, lying within the ring's powers, called out to him. “You know, I don't remember what it's like to have my powers,” he said, derailing the conversation.“You would if you'd just wear the damned thing.” She shrugged.“You're right about one thing, it is damned. Ironic right? The humans want this little ring. The gods want the powers within the powers of this little ring. Wanna bet on who'd get to it first?” He cocked a brow.“If I have any say, you; you know, it's the actual owner. With how you've been moving, though, I know not to expect anything. And before you remind me about the past, I know what happened when you went overboard. I think you're a better man than you were then,” she said, concluding her lengthy rant.“Oh