by Kailin Gow
Why was everyone comparing me to Jana? Even Varun and
Chance – were either of them really attracted to me, or did
they just see what everyone else saw: a girl who looked
almost, but not quite, like the girl they had once loved?
“Poor Haven – I don't know if I could have lived if
I'd gone through something like that. She loved Jana so
much...like, even when Jana started dating Varun, she didn't
even bitch her out or anything. And Jana knew that Haven
had liked Varun forever – and Haven wasn't even mad! She
just figured she wanted Jana to be happy.”
“I could never do that,” Cassie sighed. “Not even for
you. If you date Tim Blanfield, Leia, you are dead to me. Do
you hear me? Dead to me.”
I listened with surprise. Could it be true that proud,
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haughty Haven was the meek one in her relationship with
Jana? And if so, did that explain Haven's nasty reaction upon
meeting me for the first time? Was she just upset that another
girl showed up at Aeros with Jana's face, Jana's body,
replacing Jana?
This girl was getting more mysterious by the second.
That afternoon, after practice, Varun showed up
outside the locker room. “I'm sorry we didn't get to see each
other more last night,” Varun said, kissing me gently. “You
were so freaked out – I just wanted to give you some space.
Are you okay?”
“I'm okay.”
“Do you maybe want to get a picnic? Talk more
about what happened?” He smiled shyly. “Or just talk about
something else – if you don't feel up to it.”
“I'm distracting myself,” I laughed bitterly. “Figured
if I just ignore the whole god-thing maybe it'll go away.
Already I failed a pop quiz this morning because I was too
worried last night to do my reading – although weirdly none
of my teachers seemed to be upset at all. It's like they didn't
even care.”
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Varun smiled a knowing smile. “Ah, well, that... ”
“I managed to make it onto the Varsity Swim Team,
though. And Haven even invited me to have lunch with her!”
“Lucky you,” Varun led me to a quiet patch of grass
not far from the hotel, taking a picnic blanket out of his
basket. “It's not every girl that gets to be asked to sit at
Haven's table.”
“Well, I'm on the swim team now,” I said. “I guess
that's it.”
“More than that,” said Varun. “She wants you there,
I think. For some reason. Maybe it's just because she feels
bad about how she treated you on the first day – she
mentioned to me she felt pretty guilty about that. She was
weirded out, you know...”
“Because I look like Jana?”
Varun looked down. “Yeah, that...and seeing you and
me together...it was hard for her. I love Haven, really I do.
As a friend. But she knows I don't feel that way about her.”
He sighed. “It doesn't make it any easier, though. But her
interest in you – it could be something else. Something more
to do with the Book than with teenage popularity contests.”
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“The book? She's in on this whole magic thing too?”
“Haven't you guessed, Mac?” Varun took my hand.
“We all are. Most everyone on Aeros is employed, either
directly or indirectly, by my uncle. Families have been
brought here – sometimes my uncle even pays directly for
the kids' schooling. Like he did for yours. Even people who
don't think they're working for the hotel are working for
subsidiary companies Cutter Industries owns. My uncle
brings these families out here – families with children.
Special children. That's what Aeros is designed for. To
prepare those children for their destinies.”
“And Haven? She's a goddess too?”
“Not quite,” said Varun. “Nobody knows what
Haven is – and she's not about to start talking. These are dark
days for Olympians – since the rivalry between Fire and
Water gods began, nobody trusts anybody else enough to
reveal their true identities. Even the teachers won't get
explicit about what's going on. I know Cassie and Leia are
probably sirens – but that's about it.”
“So that's why the teachers didn't mind that I didn't
do my homework,” I said. “They're in on it, too.”
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“Most teachers. Aeros Academy had started
employing mortal teachers, too when spouses of demigods
and such began applying. They didn’t want to discriminate.
So now Aeros Academy have quite a bit of mortals too in the
faculty, staff, and student body.”
“So not all the kids at Aeros are ‘special’ then? Just
most…like Haven, Cassie, Leia…you and Chance?”
“Some of the mortal kids know about us immortals,
and they think they may be from an immortal line, an
Embodiment even, thinking they will eventually come into
their powers; but it never happens. They are truly mortals.
While some of us come into it early on or throughout. Some
of it trickles in. Haven, for instance. It could be that Haven
doesn't know what she is,” said Varun. “Few of us really
understand our identities. Chance and I know – because of
Antonio's role in the community, in bringing all the
Olympians together. Until the goddess Vesta is revealed and
she reads from her book, the other Olympians or their
Embodiments won't Awaken yet.”
“Awaken? Embodiments?”
“To their abilities – their pasts. They won't
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remember. Only Vesta can reawaken them. And set into
motion the Calypticon.” Varun paused slightly before
saying, “But Vesta hasn’t Awakened either. Whoever is
Vesta’s Embodiment would have to be Awakened first before
all of this happens. She will cause the Calypticon.”
“And Embodiments are like avatars – the energy and
power of the god in human form. Because gods aren't
humans, really. They're pure energy. They have to harness
that power in a human body if they want to be able to act in
the world. They have to assume human form to interact with
humans. If not, their whole presence is too much for a human
to bear.”
“I've heard a little of that mentioned before,” I said.
“Aeros History 101.”
“Now you see why the teachers are so keen to teach
it – along with myths and legends. It's not just academic here.
For all we know, any one of us could be a god or goddess.
My uncle's been tracing divine bloodlines for years, trying
to track down anyone that shows any sign of being a
descendant of Zeus. That's why he bought the property here
in Aeros. It's supposed to be a place of great magic – a place
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where al
l the different legends and myths and gods of Greece
and Rome and Scandinavia and Asia and Polynesia all meet.
A training-ground for gods to train their Embodiments.”
“But if I am a goddess,” I said. “Why wouldn't I
know it?”
“Nobody knows why we're here,” said Varun,
“Instead of Olympus. It's rumored that Zeus got so tired of
the infighting, the politicking among the gods that he
decided to teach us a lesson. We'd all have to live as humans
and learn our lessons as human beings before coming into
the knowledge of our abilities.”
“And are you a god, too?” I turned to Varun.
He didn't answer. “Let's worry about you, now,” said
Varun. “You need to be safe. We don't know who knows
about their abilities yet and who doesn't. Anyone could be a
potential friend – or a potential enemy. Especially among the
water gods – if you are Vesta, you're one of the fire
Olympians. And, as you can imagine, water and fire don't
mix.” He grimaced. “The Erosion shows that.”
“The Erosion?” I was flabbergasted. “You don't
mean...”
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“It wasn't ice caps at all,” said Varun. “It was never
ice caps. It was the water gods, trying to seize power –
submerge the world...”
“This is big,” I said, everything hitting me all at once.
“Really big.”
“That's what Jana was trying to do when she died,”
Varun said. “Call down the sacred fire that would undo the
Erosion – help the fire gods defeat water. But she didn't pass
the test...”
“Jana again,” I said softly. My mind went back to the
fear I'd had in the locker room – did Varun and Chance just
want me because of that resemblance? Was that resemblance
the reason they thought I might be Vesta. “Will I ever live up
to Jana?”
Varun turned to me, taking my hands in his. “You
look like her – I won't lie. But you're different. More
thoughtful. Jana was...she was elemental. A force. Beautiful.
Proud. She wanted power more than anything in the world;
she wanted to be special, to be great. She acted like a Queen.
She was, in a way, at school…with Haven following her like
an eager puppy dog. She wanted to be a god when she wasn't
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– and so she died...” He sighed. “You seem a bit more down-
to-earth. I feel like I can trust you.”
He leaned in and kissed me. “And you don't taste like
her, either,” he said. “You taste sweet – a little salty – like
the ocean in the morning.”
“Is that a good thing?” I laughed.
“That's a very good thing,” Varun pulled me closer.
“Listen, Mac, whether you're Vesta or not – you're somebody.
My uncle doesn't summon anyone to Aeros without a reason.
You're special, whether you believe it or not. You could be
Vesta – goddess of fire. You could be a seer, a mermaid, an
embodiment, anything at all. You could even be a water-
goddess...”
“A water-goddess?” My eyes widened in shock.
“It makes sense, doesn't it? Vesta's book vanished –
meaning you might not be from her line after all. You love
to swim. You love the water. You've even impressed Haven
– and the fact that she's taking an interest in you has got to
mean something. It's not many girls that could survive a
mermaid attack, Mackenzy. You heard the siren's call
without having your ears bleed – a call that makes most
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mortals scream in pain. If you have a connection to the water
– if you have a connection to me...”
“To you?”
Varun kissed me again. “Chance is the Fire King, the
God of Fire.” he said. “But me – I'm one of the water clan. I
don't believe in the Erosion – I believe in peace and balance,
water and fire combined. But you don't see me anywhere
near an open flame, do you?”
“Then you're...”
“That first time we met, Mac – you felt a connection,
didn't you? You felt it, too.”
I remembered the feeling that made me shiver when
Varun touched me for the first time – like ocean waves
lapping over me. A feeling of safety. Of calm. “Yes,” I said.
“I felt it.”
“That could be a sign, Mac. A sign that you're one of
us, that you're like me.” He pulled me closer. “I don't know
what you are, Mackenzy Evers, but I think I'm falling hard
for you.”
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Chapter 17
I was falling for Varun, too. The more time we spent
together, the more I grew to feel safe with him. When I was
near him, letting him wrap his warm, muscular arms around
me, I felt protected. Mermaids and sirens couldn't get at me
– not when Varun was around. Every day after school Varun
met me after swim practice, taking me for walks along the
beach, explaining to me more and more about the history of
the island, about the legends of Embodiments. He certainly
wasn't trying to push me away, I thought. Rather, he was
thoughtful, intelligent, doing his best to answer my questions
and to ease me into the life of a student at Aeros Academy.
He explained to me all about the different kinds of Olympian
I could find at Aeros – not only truthsayers or sirens but a
whole host of creatures.
“But the fire-creatures don't know their true identities
yet,” said Varun. “Not without Vesta.”
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“You mean me,” I'd said.
“We don't know that...”
But Varun's insistence that I wasn't the goddess Vesta
didn't quite convince me. As much as what he said about my
connection with water was true – my love of swimming, of
the ocean, of its salt and blue expanses – I felt an equally
strong, if not stronger, connection with fire. And, if I were
truly honest with myself, with Chance.
I hadn't seen Chance since that day I found the book,
and we kissed. He was once again conspicuously absent
from class, a fact that made me both disappointed and
relieved. As much as I craved his touch, as much as I longed
to see him again, I wasn't sure how to reconcile my
developing relationship with Varun with my feelings for
Chance. Whether or not Varun and I were officially a couple
– whether or not we'd defined the relationship as exclusive,
I didn't think Varun would be too happy to hear that his
newest girlfriend was doing exactly what his old one had
done: falling for his hated cousin. But at the same time, I
wondered if I'd be able to resist Chance if he came near me
again. My hunger for him was so great, so strong, so all-
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consuming, that I knew no matter what I tried to tell myself,
I'd be weak at the knees wh
enever Chance returned.
At last, a week after I'd last seen him, Chance turned
up at my locker when I arrived at school.
“I heard what happened to you,” he said gravely,
foregoing any kind of introductions or pleasantries. “In the
ocean, last week.”
“Varun saved me,” I said, and Chance glowered.
Evidently Varun wasn't the only jealous Cutter.
“We need to talk,” Chance said. “Can we go
someplace private? It's urgent.”
“I've got class,” I said. “I can't afford to miss it – not
if I want to make it into college. I've been doing terribly the
last couple of days – I'm so distracted...”
“Leave it to me.” Chance led me to Dr. Newton's
office, where he silently handed a note to the principal.
She read it and nodded. “Are you sure?”
“I'm sure,” Chance said, and the principal nodded.
“Take as much time as you need,” she said.
And with that, Chance led me out of school and
towards the grounds of the hotel.
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“What was that all about?” I asked.
“Technically, the note said that you've contracted
Aeropagite disease, a highly infectious illness to which I,
luckily, am immune, and that you need to be quarantined.
But, of course, Dr. Newton knows as well as you or I do what
that means?”
“Meaning?”
“Olympian business.”
“Everyone knows...” I sighed. “I can't believe this.
It's like I'm going to Hogwarts or something.”
“Not quite,” said Chance. “That, Evers, was fiction.
This is fact.” We were by now in a secluded glade along the
beach. Chance turned to me, his eyes full of longing. “I've
been gone on business of my own,” he said. “But now I'm
back.” He smiled at me. “And so incredibly happy...I saw the