Immortal Fire - Book One
Chapter 62

The room was plain, and nothing stood out about it. It reminded me of a typical interrogation room from a crime show on TV. There was a white wooden table in the center along with a white chair on either side. There was nothing else to the room, not even a window. It looked a bit too clinical for me.

“Take a seat and we will begin…” said the guard who had brought me here as he stood blocking the doorway. I continued to stand.

“What is your name?” I asked the guard. This seemed to catch him by surprise.

“Jordan…” he answered. I was stalling and I did not know why.

“Nice to meet you Jordan…” I said exhausted as I pulled the chair out and took a seat. Jordan sat opposite me and looked me in the eyes. There was something strange about his eyes that I could not quite figure out.

“Shall we start?” he asked, leaning onto the table that separated us. He started asking me questions about why I had left Lunzos and what happened then etcetera.

I was watching his eyes and saw a flicker of amber in them every so often. It was not natural. His eye color seemed to be changing intermittently.

“Have you and Hayden Levirious acted in sexual intercourse?” he asked. I almost fell off the chair that I had been rocking on.

“Excuse me?” I asked, almost shrieking. What the fuck?!

His eyes were that strange color again and then the answer clicked in my head… The Elders, they were speaking through their guards… They tried to keep Hayden and me apart for this exact reason and now they wanted to know if we had slept together. I had the feeling that if the answer had been yes, we would not be allowed to leave at all.

“Have you and Hayden Levirious acted in sexual intercourse?” ‘Jordan’ asked again.

“No, we have not,” I answered as casually as I could.

It was the truth but the fact that it was so important to them made me nervous… He nodded and continued with his questions relentlessly for hours. I was on the brink of falling asleep and he carried on. I had repeated the events that had taken place about three times now in detail and I was about to lose my temper if I was going to be asked the same question once more.

“Thank you for answering my questions. I’ll be right back,” he said before exiting the room and shutting it on his way out.

“Oh my God…” I moaned into my hands as I covered my face in exhaustion.

I wondered how Hayden and Hunter were. I had been worrying about them the entire time and it was extremely distracting. I got up and paced the room. My body ached and I needed a shower. I was stretching my back when Jordan returned.

“That will be all Aria. Follow me please,” he said and left without even waiting for me.

I hurried after him and was led back to the throne room. Hayden and Hunter entered at the same time as me and I rushed into Hayden’s arms at the sight of him. The Elders were not present, and I was glad. I was not in the mood to see them again.

“You may leave and return to your homes.” said the freakishly tall guard that had escorted Hunter.

Hunter and Hayden looked as exhausted as I did. Marcus entered then and smiled at us. I immediately felt more at ease.

The other guards left, and we stood there in silence not knowing what we should do. Marcus clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

“Right, time to get you, kids, out of here,” he exclaimed cheerfully.

“Thank God…” muttered Hayden and Hunter in unison.

I smiled at their reaction. It was such a typical twin thing to do. Hayden held my hand, and we did not say anything. None of us were in the mood to speak. Marcus led us out the way we had come and down the steps that led to the street. The wind had died down and by the looks of things, it was late afternoon. No wonder I was so exhausted and drained… I had been interrogated for the entire day. Now that I thought about it, I did not even know what day it was.

“Marcus, I might sound like a complete idiot for asking, but what day is it?” I asked as we walked down the main street of Lunzos toward the city’s gate.

Marcus chuckled deep in his chest and turned to me.

“It is Saturday the fifteenth of March,” he said.

“What?” I exclaimed almost pulling Hayden to a stop.

“That means we were in the underworld for four days! It felt like one night!” I said, trying to wrap my head around it.

“Time works differently there…” Hayden said wearily.

“That means that I was there for about a week, almost two…” he said resignedly, looking into the distance…

“It’s okay, you’re back now,” I said feeling sorry for him, and guilty for not getting him out sooner. It must feel awful to have that much time stolen from you…

“Hell at least you guys know what fucking year it is,” said Hunter, grumpily.

“Language!” exclaimed Marcus in a rush, smacking Hunter upside the head.

We all looked at him in surprise. We had stopped walking now and were standing in front of a jewelry shop…

“Marcus?” replied Hunter annoyed, rubbing the back of his head.

Marcus did not respond but instead started speedily walking down the street. We watched him go and Hayden burst out laughing.

“Language, Hunter! Language!” he shouted in a mock voice of Marcus before starting to walk again.

I could not help but laugh at that and found Hunter was mumbling under his breath as he walked with us.

Marcus was waiting at the open city gate for us and seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“Thank you for everything Marcus…,” said Hayden.

“Not a problem boy. I promised your father I would take care of you lot,” he said and looked at Hunter up and down. “Some are just more work than others…” he said.

Hunter rolled his eyes at him. Marcus pulled me into a hug and then Hayden. He stood back and looked at Hunter, but Hunter took a step back.

“I don’t do hugs old man,” he spoke. Marcus raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, no problem for me then boy… you smell like you’ve crawled your way out of a demon’s behind…” he said smiling mischievously.

Hayden and I burst out laughing at what Marcus had just said and when Hunter’s mouth dropped open in shock, we laughed even harder.

Tears were running down my cheeks and my stomach hurt from the laughter. Eventually, when I had caught my breath, we said goodbye and were on our way back to the car. Hunter was extremely quiet so when we reached the car and Hayden got in, I turned to Hunter.

“You didn’t realize how much time had passed, did you?” I asked gently.

“No…” he answered annoyed.

“Well, don’t worry about it, now you know how much time you need to catch up on and can move forward,” I spoke.

“Are you always so optimistic?” he asked, sounding even more annoyed. I ignored it.

“Oh, fuck no, ask anyone, I’m usually the one falling apart from everything, but I’ve realized that it just takes away from what you still have that is good,” I answered smiling softly at him.

He did not answer so I took it that my point was made. We got in the car and Hayden backed up out of the parking. We drove slowly down the dirt road and the sun was setting in the distance between openings in the clouds.

“Thank God this is all over and we can move on with our lives,” Hayden said cheerfully.

I smiled at him, but it was insincere. I did not believe that it was all over by a long shot. Someone like Hades did not give up so easily. Hayden put the stereo’s volume up and music blared through the speakers. Turning onto the main road that led out of Pawling Nature Reserve, Hunter turned sideways in his seat with a serious look on his face.

Hayden and I looked at him worriedly.

“What is it?” Hayden asked. Hunter hesitated for a few moments.

“Do I smell like I have crawled out of a demon’s ass?” he asked horrified.

Laughter erupted from Hayden and me and we continued to drive. Hunter did not receive his answer and shrunk back in his seat frowning…