Prince Ezra
"Ezra! Ezra!" I felt strong arms wrap around me and pull me away from the dark tombstone that now had traces of my blood. The skin around my nails pulled away and the pain radiating up my arm. My throat hoarse from my relentless sobs and my eyes burning from tears.
"No!" I thrashed in their embrace as they dragged me away then sat us both down on the damp grass as I tried desperately to get back to Ezekiel.
"Ezra please," the voice heavily breathed in my ear as if just as panicked as I felt. It cut through the hurricane of grief that I felt and only then did I realize it was Apollo who held me. Who cried with me even though it felt like I was the only one hurting. As if a tight muscle within my chest was pulling itself apart as I desperately tried to breathe.
"Please Ezra," he gently placed his hand on top of my head and held me closer to him. "He's gone."
"No," I croaked as if it was the first time I had ever heard it. As if I had just seen him climb down my window to sneak back to his house before everyone woke up. The feel of his soft dark brunette hair still running through my fingers as I held him whilst he kissed me goodbye. That grin that made my heart stop and his eyes that melted all my troubles away whenever he looked at me.
"He's gone," Apollo cried with me and held me whilst I hyperventilated. Trying to force air back into my lungs as they desperately burned. Unwilling to accept the information he was giving me. I didn't know what had happened as my vision slowly started to be filled with black dots.
A heaviness flooded my limps as I tried to move but found my body unwilling to do as my brain instructed. I stared at the stars that used to be my favorite. That I spent the happiest hours of my life staring at with the love of my life and cursed them. Cursed them for still shining so brightly when I had lost him. When they had done nothing to keep him with me despite them seeing our love story unfold.
I blamed them. I cursed them for everything.
I woke up with a gasp. My body aching as I stirred in the sheets confused on where I was as I took in the deep navy blue walls, the dark wooden headboard above me and the wood like light fixture hanging in the center of the room.
I let out a hiss when I felt a pain shoot through my scalp and let out a groan in dismay as I laid back down. The feeling in my chest still the same. I prayed that when I woke up it would have disappeared just like how I had forced it too these past few years. That I would go back to being numb. That I would forget about the intricate grave Stravos had designed for Ezekiel.
'He told me about the maze at the castle. How you two spent so much time there. I think it would be good that we can give him something he can rest at. A maze where people can't bother him' he had said with such bravery I wondered how he was even able to stand. Yet the heartbreak in his eyes was easy to see.
Just when they had gotten so close he had been ripped away from him.
I wished I could have been like him. Been as brave as he was but instead I cowered away. Stravos had lost a son, more than what I could have ever imagined but I felt guilty for mourning Ezekiel more. For feeling as if a part of me had died with him.
With a groan I pushed myself up and climbed out the bed to figure out where I was. I saw my jacket and boots to the corner of the room then instantly slipped them on. From the moment I stepped out of the room I realized I was in Apollo's home.
They had occupied one of the homes off the palace once Artemis was old enough. Just like how Cloud and Adonis had occupied their own home that had been a long standing project after the wedding. When Iris had stepped down as a princess and moved out of palace grounds all together for her and Gino to chase their dream of owning their own public relations company, the palace had started to feel like a shell.
"You're up," Apollo appeared in the hallway holding a steaming cup of what I guessed to be green tea. Something that had soon become my favorite when I couldn't stand the scent of coffee anymore. "I was just about to check on you," he softly smiled and handed me the cup of tea with a look of sympathy forcing my guard up.
"Thank you," I thanked him and looked down at the steaming liquid. "Is Artemis still asleep? I hope I didn't disturb her last night."
"Maria went over to her parents last night," he explained as he shoved his hands in his pockets then cleared his throat. "I was just busy making breakfast. Maybe we can eat something then talk."
The very thing that forced dread into my body. However I bit down and followed him to the kitchen where he was in the middle of waiting for one of the chefs to make breakfast. Apollo couldn't boil an egg even if it came with instructions.
We both sat down by the table and just before I could open my mouth to dismiss what had happened last night my phone rang from my pocket. I let out a silent sigh in relief for the interruption and raised it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Ezra, it's Tarek, Ebrahiem arrived in Turkey sooner than we expected and he'll be gone by the afternoon. I've organized a helicopter, we need to leave within the next hour."