The women are sick and tired of Lyden's behavior, and they're not willing to put up with it any longer. Will he be able to change their minds, or will he push them away to save them from a fate worse than death?
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Chapter 25
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Healing
"The furniture is all set up, sir. I just need your signature here and here." A large, burly man hands me a clipboard, and I pretend to look over the documentation. We still haven't heard from Jewkes about Becky and Lisa's place, but once the funds came through, I was easily able to sign and move into a much larger house in only a couple days.
"What's this?" I ask the man, when I notice him staring at Brooke, lounging by the pool in a skimpy bikini in the backyard.
"Um . . . that's the fee for having us assemble everything," he tells me, trying to hide the fact that he was staring, and swallowing noisily as he glances at Murasame on my hip. I knew that of course, I just didn't want him ogling one of my women. I know that seems petty, but I'm not in the mood to be generous. Angela's leaving, and my father's death, still weighs heavily on me.
I sign the papers quickly, and send him and his crew of two men out. As soon as they drive away, I yell, "It's safe to get in now, Brooke." With a squeal of delight, she rips off her skimpy bottoms, and dives into the clear water. A second later, I see her tail break the surface. Thankfully there aren't any neighbors close enough to spy on her.
Becky and Lisa are both out of the house, the former still trying to convince her professors not to drop her from their courses, and the latter working hard at her dojo, giving free lessons to make up for the time she's spent away. Areth is gone to Gaia's court in order to prepare the way for us this coming weekend.
You should go join her in the pool, son. You could use the time with her, and I have a feeling she would welcome the attention.
Looking up, I can see Brooke smiling at me from the edge of the pool, and know that Shemhazau is right. Even after Areth's attentions that first night back, I've been ignoring the women. I really just don't have it in me to give them what they deserve. Yes, I'm still hurting over Angela leaving me again, but it's more than that. I killed my own father. Sure I have him with me still in sword form and with a different name, but that will never erase the image of the two blades piercing his heart, and destroying his body.
Turning away, I head up the stairs, and flop down on the new bed. It's bigger than a California king is, and I'd been lucky they had something this large in stock at the furniture store. The next few hours are spent with me attempting to sleep, to forget about the world around me, and failing miserably.
Someone knocks on my door, but I ignore it. They knock again, with similar results. I can hear the door open, and a moment later someone joins me on the bed, then someone else, and someone else again.
"What do you want?" I ask the three women, without opening my eyes. The old me would have suspected an attackโthe me that had been influenced by Muramasaโbut I know that assassins wouldn't have knocked first.
"Some attention would be nice," Lisa says, and I can just hear the pout in her voice. Odd to hear that from the normally upbeat woman.
"I know I've been unbearable, lately," I start to say, and hear Brooke snort. "Okay, maybe a bit worse."
"Worse?" the redheaded mermaid asks in mock surprise, and I finally open my eyes, rolling onto my back. "I don't know why you would think that. It's not like all you've done since we've been back is hang out in your car, or mope around all day hardly saying two words to us, orโ"
"Okay, okay!" I say in defense, interrupting her. "I'm sorry, but what do you want me to do? I kiโ"
"Killed your father," Becky pipes up. "Yes, we know. And lost one of your girlfriends. If you don't want to lose the rest of us, we could use some attention."
"Maybe you
should
go," I tell them, the words costing more than I care to admit. "You'll be safer then, and I won't have to worry so much about you."
"While I'm glad you still worry about us," Lisa says angrily, "I think we can handle ourselves. We've done well enough so far."
"Well enough?" I ask, sitting up and staring at them incredulously. "Brooke, you were tortured and maimed because I asked you to warn the other Pillars. You almost
died
last time!"
"You didn't ask me to," she replies back, "and I'm fine now."
I ignore her, talking over the top of her protestations. "Lisa and Becky, both of you have come under that monster's control, and you can't even go home now, because we're afraid that Aldol might attack you there."
"That's notโ" Becky starts, but I don't give her the chance to speak.
"Every time we go to the Shadow World, or up against Aldol, something bad happens. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that the only death so far has been my father. We've been lucky, but luck doesn't last forever. One of these times, I'm going to lose one of you for good, and I don't think I can live with that! I love you all too much, to risk losing you!"
Silence greets my statement, and I realize this is the first time I've spoken these words to Becky and Lisa.
Lisa is the first to break from her shock. "We all love you, too. I think Areth has the right of it, though. You are a
dolt
!" My eyes open wide in shock at her words. Not at the fact that she loves me, I think I'd already figured that out, but rather that she would call me a dolt. "Let me lay it out for you, Lyden. Aldol takes control of those around them, and removes their free will. Well, it's our free will that says we want to be