Royal Power (eBook)

ONE

LIV

“You may be immortal and all, but I still cannot fully support this amount of caffeine intake.”

The sun was shining brightly; his eyes sparkled deviously.

Liv huffed playfully, taking a dangerous sip from her beverage, daring to push the limits of her ruler’s boundaries. He looked dazzling in a green crewneck sweater and slim denim jeans, accompanied by white and neon yellow sneakers, playing the role of college student miraculously.

“I kept my mouth closed for the first two coffee beverages, but a third cold brew…” He pressed.

“…Over half a day of exploring and two meals.” Liv interjected with a smile.

The trees rustled in the distance. The fresh scent of pine filled her body, reminding her of the many wonders from the earth’s beauty. Similar to her golden, coffee regulator, she too donned an outfit from her past life, a grey hoodie stamped with her college mascot layered beneath a black leather jacket.

“You are going to have so much energy by the time the basketball game starts, you will practically be dunking on the court, instead of the team.”

“So long as they count those earned points toward our school.” Liv hummed, her grin slowly growing around the straw clenched between her teeth.

“I said, no more coffee.”

He flashed a monstrous growl, firmly yanking the cup from her grip and throwing it across the pavilion. Brown liquid stained the sparkling concrete, muting it with disgust.

Liv looked back at her boyfriend, eyes wide.

He had turned again.

He grabbed her arm and ripped Liv from her seat before catapulting her against the tree.

Her body hit the cold stone wall.

Darkness.

No longer was the sun dazzling on her tanned skin but instead a cold fog hovered over her ghostly existence.

She breathed deeply, assessing the damage. Her shoulder had been pulled out of her socket. It was the second time that week.

Or night?

To her, it was all becoming one never-ending nightmare.

Liv tried to ground herself in her surroundings. She felt tired. Weak.

“And you were honestly enjoying that pathetic banter?” The cruel statement judged from afar.

“Where am I?” Liv mumbled, trying to see clearly.

Only a blurred vision of darkness could be obscurely identified. It smelled of basil verveina, cedar wood, cardamom and leather.

Her head hurt. She was so cold. She wanted to go back to sleep, return to her dreams of the outside world. Go anywhere from this hell.

“I could not let you escape for too long, Ollie.” The softened voice whispered; a hint of dry sarcasm soothed her conscience.

Hayden. He was here. He would rescue her. She was safe.

She would be all right.

Liv exhaled a sigh of relief, trying to minimize the distance between them by lifting herself up. But she fell to the cold, relentless floor. She had been out for too long, drugged too often and tormented too much.

How long had it been?

To her, it felt like eternity, but it was over now.

“Thank god you’re finally here.” She cried, starting to shake with relief, finally allowing her guard to come down and instead rely on his strength.

She yearned for his warmth. She was so tired.

But Hayden was here. She would be all right.

“Oh, Ollie.” He purred, “You should not use that descriptor – god - so loosely,” before kicking her stomach and knocking her unconscious once again.

PEYTON

“I can’t find her. Why am I unable to find her?”

Hayden hadn’t stopped pacing in his loft.

It had been two days. His anxiety was starting to make Peyton delusional.

He had already asked this question one hundred times, receiving the same answer in return. But Hayden was her king, and although he was hurting, he was also testing Peyton’s patience.

If only Peyton could convince Hayden to change out of his navy suit and white collared shirt, both worn to exhaustion since Liv’s capture.

With a deep breath, Peyton firmly repeated again, “Tristan said Arlo made sure the headquarters would be untraceable, and we suspect with Kronos’s additional support, they’ve ensured that no one will find it, unless you know where it’s located-”

“And they want you to find it.”

A door slammed shut behind her.

Thank Zeus. Peyton huffed, turning to find Tristan with Piper right behind him. Maybe Tristan could pacify Hayden’s growing and almost intolerable restlessness with some intel from his Dark God connections. It had only been a couple weeks since Tristan had publicly declared his loyalty to Liv and the Pure God cause, so she had hoped he would be able to leverage any pre-existing relationships to help them discover where his Element Elite had been taken captive.

Peyton turned to Piper, her eyes mentally demanding she take on their royal highness, Hayden. Ever since Rei had left them the morning before on a mission to secure an army to backup the inevitable rescue, Peyton was slowly joining Hayden’s level of ‘losing her shit entirely,’ because of Hayden’s level of having already lost his shit entirely.

“We came back as quickly as we could.” Piper squeaked.

Keep your composure. Breathe. Peyton reminded herself. This is not the time to bitch out your friends...

Peyton forced a smile and nodded, finally walking over to greet them.

“Thank you.”

On the other hand, Hayden had no time for salutations.

“I felt her.” He whispered, turning to Tristan. “I could feel her.”

“That’s why you summoned us back.” Tristan confirmed with a nod.

“Two days ago.” Hayden hissed. “What took you so long!?”

“Because we were on the border of Scotland,” Tristan explained, unsuccessfully masking his irritation as he sat on the couch. “That’s easily a week’s journey for a common deity. We made it back in two days.”

“Did you run into any Dark Gods?” Peyton asked, genuinely concerned. She ran her fingers through her wavy beach blonde hair to ease her apprehension.

She had to recognize her immediate gratitude for Hayden’s anxiety being directed toward new targets. So, Peyton started to make coffee in the kitchen for both of their friends – a journey like that would not have been easy, especially with the current circumstances their world faced between extreme viewpoints of government policy.

Now, it was no longer safe, whether you were a Pure God or a Dark God.

“We were able to deter them.” Piper confirmed, albeit weakly. She walked over to the crackling fireplace and fell onto the black leather sofa nearby.

Peyton took a better look at Piper, whose midnight bob appeared tousled and stunning navy blazer was ripped into a grungy vest, revealing her silver long-sleeved blouse underneath. Peyton turned to Tristan, her arms crossed over her blue, floral laced dress. He certainly looked less injured in his staple leather jacket and black denim jeans paired with a suspiciously textured, coif hairstyle too relaxed for indifference.

“Piper blew them off our path before they could spot us, and made the entire manipulation look natural.” Tristan clarified, his voice tired, but with pride sparkling from his eyes.

Peyton and Piper’s eyes both mirrored his dazzle.

My girl!

“The clothes’ state is more so from colliding into a tree during the process.” Piper admitted embarrassingly.

Peyton laughed, thankful these friends were safe - she could breathe a little lighter, for the time being.

The door opened and slammed again, this time presenting Rei looking worse for the wear. He too, had not rested since Hayden commanded that he rally an army immediately after Liv’s disappearance.

“Silas has granted permission for five troops to accompany us on our mission.” He bluntly stated, heading straight toward the liquor cabinet.

Clearly everyone was set on testing the “if you don’t love me at my worst…” sentiment, today. Peyton fumed, rolled her eyes and joined Piper on the couch, ignoring Tristan’s speculation.

“Over one thousand deities?” Tristan’s eyes grew wide, “That will slow us down. We need to be able to take them by surprise, slip into their headquarters undetected.” He turned back to Hayden, challenging him. “Less will be more with this fortress. Unless you want to start another war. And if that’s the case, five troops will not suffice for a full-blown battle.”

Rei sighed, as if already anticipating this conflict. He calmly poured himself a whisky and took a deep sip. Peyton felt for him, so stood back up and walked over, massaging his shoulders in support. She hugged him from behind; appreciative for the soft velvet, olive green jacket he wore - she had felt cold and lifeless while standing still and watching over the ghostly Hayden.

“There is no way I’m not going.” Hayden protested, staring Rei down with exasperated eyes.

Tristan looked confused and turned to Rei for an explanation.

“As we discussed, I will not allow the king to journey...