by Kailin Gow
truthssayer...”
“And?”
“And she senses a great change coming to Aeros. A
presence that will change everything. I can only assume she
was speaking of you. Of Vesta – of my Queen.” He took my
hands, pressing them to his lips. “Of the one for whom I have
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been searching for centuries.”
“Chance...” I faltered. I wanted to tell him about
Varun, to pull away, to put a stop to my temptation before it
started. But I found that I had no words. My desire for him
was beyond speech. Before I could regain control of my
senses, Chance had taken hold of me, whisking me through
the air once again with dizzying speed.
We came to rest on a secluded cliff, in the shadow of
what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient Greek temple.
“Sorry about the nausea,” Chance said, as I tried to
regain my balance. “You'll get used to it.” He motioned to
the Temple. “But you see, I had to show you this...”
“What is it?” I looked up at the ruins.
“It's a temple,” he said. “Built by the Veteri. In honor
of the goddess Vesta. Your resting-place. Your home. You
were there when this place was built...” He took my hands
again. “I want you to try to remember, Mac, please. Do you
remember this building?”
“I've seen it in my textbook...”
“Not a drawing,” Chance cried, “in reality! If you are
Vesta – deep down you must remember this place. You must
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feel a connection to it. Your dwelling-place among mortals,
my darling. Your home!” He pulled me into his arms and
kissed me again, his rough touch as thrilling as it was
terrifying.
I forced myself to pull back. “Chance, I can't...” I
started. “I've started dating Varun…”
“What does it matter whom you're dating?” Chance
snapped. “This is greater than any teenage romance – this is
greater than petty attachments! This is your identity –
powerful, elemental! This is your history, Mac, and mine...”
He took a deep breath before he finished. “This is true love.”
“But I've never been here!” I pleaded. “Chance, this
is insane, I've never seen this...”
And then it hit me, all at once, like a ball of fire.
Boiling heat, searing flame, a pain in my head that made me
stagger back into Chance's arm.
A vision, laid out across my field of view like a
curtain. The temple began to shimmer; its fallen columns one
by one seemed to rise up; the collapsed roof was new again.
The temple was gleaming white, newly-painted, surrounded
by fresh flowers.
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I turned to Chance with amazement. But where
Chance was standing I saw not a man but a god – twice the
height, clad in scarlet armor, flames shooting from his
fingertips and lapping at his torso. A face I recognized in the
very depths of my soul. I felt a sudden rush of love, of desire,
of need – stronger than anything I had ever known.
“My twin,” I heard myself saying. “My king, my
love. My Mars.” I felt myself run to Chance, enveloping him
in my arms, pulling him in for a kiss.
And then the vision was over, and although Chance's
body was still twined with mine, the flames had vanished.
The temple was in ruins again.
“What did you see, Mac?” Chance took hold of my
wrists, his face frenzied. “You saw something, didn't you?
Tell me what you saw!”
I was breathless with shock. “I saw the temple,” I
said at last. “As it was when it was new. It was so
beautiful...flowers everywhere. So white...” I looked up at
him. “And I saw you – surrounded by flames...” I tried to
make sense of it all. “I recognized you. I mean – I knew you
as Chance, but it was more than that. Something deeper. Like
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I knew you from another life…”
Chance was shaking, joy spreading across his face.
“Then it's true,” he whispered. “You are Vesta. You are my
goddess...”
“That can't be!” I pulled away. “You thought Jana
was your goddess, didn’t you? But she died.”
“I was eager for her to be my goddess, and she
wanted to be Vesta so badly that we were both blind.”
“Blind to what?” I asked.
“Blind to the fact she never had any of these visions.
Blind to her not feeling or seeing the flames that you do
when we are close. I know now, which I should have
admitted before, she was pretending to be Vesta’s
Embodiment. She knew about prophecy, and she did
everything she can to try to fit into it. But you…you don’t
even know about all of this, yet you’ve shown more signs
than anyone else. And that was what I loved most about
Vesta…how clever she was. If she did not want to be found,
she would make it very difficult for anyone to find her.”
Chance took my hands in his. “Believe me, I tried
convincing myself over and over again that you’re not Vesta.
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I don’t want to take that risk at all, to harm you in any way.
But everything points to you as being the one – the cave, the
flames, how we feel for each other, this sudden rush of love
so great only knowing someone for so long and accepting
them for who they are and loving them beyond time…the
book…”
“But the book – it vanished....”
“Did it?” Chance grinned as he looked down at my
hands.
I followed his eyes. Between my palms there had
appeared a stone, gleaming orange and gold, a stone that was
slowly morphing before my eyes into a book.
He touched my face gently and said, “I see you have
reservations, doubts – and I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t
jump into believing I’m Vesta, too, if I were you, without
more proof and certainty.” He looked down, and when he
looked up again at me, his beautiful sapphire eyes were
stormy with angst. “I’ll leave you alone and let you figure it
out, Mac. I won’t chase you. I won’t persuade you. I’ll wait
until you come to me on your own. Body, soul, and mind.
Because I won’t take you until you’re sure.”
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Chapter 18
This time, I wasn't going to lose it again. I told
Chance to take me home, too shaken by what I had seen to
let our relationship progress any further. When he had
seemed to hate me, I had wanted nothing more than for him
to want me. But now that he was convinced that I was this
goddess, I grew afraid. Having the book didn't necessarily
mean I was Vesta, I told myself. Surely it was possible that I
was just a handmaiden, or even a truthsayer – that I was
protecting the book for the real Vesta! And although
I had
experienced a vision of the Temple, that too could mean little
more than that I was one of Vesta's line. After all, Chance
had been wrong before – hadn't two girls died because he
was convinced that each one was the goddess he wanted to
find so badly?
At the same time, though, I knew I was falling for
him. His pulling back from me at Vesta’s temple only made
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me want him more, seek after him. The brief moments we
spent together – the more seconds I spent with my lips hotly
pressed against his – the more I was certain that we had a
connection that went beyond mere physical attraction.
Something in my soul craved a release which only Chance
could give; some strange part of me cried out to him.
Yet I could not bring myself to open the book.
Although I carried it with me everywhere, terrified that the
book would vanish again, I couldn't bring myself to do more
than touch its ancient pages. What would I find, I wondered?
And I was certainly afraid to find out. The memory that
Chance had inspired in me – the vision of Vesta – was so
powerful it had nearly knocked me unconscious; could I deal
with having memories like that flooding into my head page
by page? Yet although I did not open the book, I found
something comforting in its presence. It was like a talisman
– giving me energy, giving me strength. I liked keeping it in
my bag and putting it on my knee, feeling my body react to
its energy.
My mother was especially busy with work this week
– a relief, I felt. I didn't dare talk to her, lest I betray any of
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the secrets I'd discovered. My mother would probably think
I was crazy, I told myself – she'd have me committed! But
the Conference for a Post-Erosion World was scheduled for
next week, and my mother's hands were full trying to sort
out security for England's Prime Minister and Southern
Ireland's President without causing an international crisis.
Life continued strangely calmly over the next few
days. I started going to swim practice regularly, eyeing
Haven with just a bit more suspicion now that I knew she too
could be an Olympian. As for Chance, we did not repeat our
kiss by the temple – I saw him only rarely, for he seemed to
be avoiding school – and although his manner towards me
was no longer full of contempt, he seemed far more
restrained. When he looked at me, though, his eyes were
naked with desire, I felt a shudder pass through me. He
wanted me, I could tell. And yet he was holding back.
Perhaps he too felt the fear I felt – that it could be a mistake,
that I could turn out not to be the one, that his love could cost
me my life.
That afternoon after swim practice, I was the last to
finish dressing. The locker room was damp and empty, and
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when I heard the door swing open, I assumed it was one of
the other girls from the team come back to fetch a forgotten
swimsuit.
And then I felt the blow.
Someone hit me from behind, sending me crashing
forward into a locker. Blood streamed from a gash in my
forehead as I staggered back, trying to turn around, to see my
attacker…
But my assailant was stronger than I was. As I
screamed for help, the figure put a gloved hand over my
mouth, picking me up by the hair with the other hand, and
threw me to the hard marble floor. I felt something – a foot,
probably – collide with my ribcage, and I screamed as my
bones cracked with the impact.
I rolled over onto my back and tried to catch a
glimpse of my attacker. I gasped in horror as I looked up at
three masked faces.
“No you don't!”
I turned in the direction of the voice. There was
Misty, her electric-blue hair sopping wet.
“Misty – run!” I spat out blood as I cried out.
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But Misty had no intention of running. Instead, she
made her way towards the attackers, kneeing one – a broad-
shouldered man firmly in the groin as her elbow came down
onto the other's chest. But the third attacker, a smaller figure,
pushed Misty off, sending Misty reeling. Her head crashed
into the locker and she slumped down to the ground.
The smaller assailant then made his way towards me,
pinning me effortlessly to the ground as I tried to fight back.
Another of the attackers made his way to my bag. It was then
that I realized what they wanted.
“No!” I shouted – but it was no use. The man grabbed
my bag and vanished into the shadows. I heard a thud as he
dropped the bag behind.
“Come on, let's go!” The second attacker called in a
husky voice, and the others swiftly followed, leaving me
bleeding on the floor. I leaped to my feet and ran to my bag,
my heart sinking. As I suspected, the bag was gone.
I turned to Misty, who was staggering to her feet.
“Misty! Are you okay?”
But Misty didn't look at me. Instead, she was
muttering something – words in a language I didn't
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understand. As she spoke, she began to shimmer, her whole
body morphing in a weird blue light.
“What the...”
As Misty stepped forth towards me, she was no
longer the young, attractive girl I had fought on the wrestling
mat. She was an old crone, thousands of wrinkles crossing
her withered face, a single bright blue eye the only reminder
of the lovely girl she had once been.
I stepped back in shock, only to fall over onto the
bench behind me.
Misty gave a twisted laugh. “So I take it you can see
my true form, child,” she said. “That's a good sign. A good
sign indeed. It means Chance was right about you. You have
potential.”
“Chance?” I looked up at her in confusion. So
Chance trusted her? “Who are you?”
“I'm certainly not Chance's pretty young piece on the
side, as you so enviously thought.” She laughed. “No, I have
never dreamed of such an honor – all the other girls he's
loved have burned up and died. But me, I've survived for
centuries. His stalwart friend. No rival to you, my dear.
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Better a long life than a fiery death for me, pretty.”
“What are you? You're not human...”
“Neither are most of the students at Aeros, child –
and most likely neither are you – if you react with such fear
at every non-human you come across, you'll never make it
through your first class. I am a truthsayer, Mackenzy Evers.
A seer. An oracle. One of Vesta's line.”
The truthsayer. Now I understood why Chance and
Misty had been so close.
“The seer?” My fear abated. If Chanc
e trusted Misty,
that meant that I had to, too. “Then you know if I'm Vesta or
not!”
“Ah, that's beyond my powers, my dear child. You
see, I told Chance that I felt a strong presence – nothing
more. Whether it is you or not I do not know. But I can tell
by reading you that whatever you are, you are no human. But
you're not reading pure, either...not like the others.”
“Like Jana, you mean?”
“Oh, Jana,” Misty sighed. “Yes...”
“How did she read?”
“Jana was no human, child.”
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“Was she a goddess?”
“She had hubris, child. She wanted to be Vesta – to rise
above her station in life. But no, Mac – Jana wasn't human
at all.”
“And me?” I looked eagerly at Misty. “What am I?
Chance thinks...”
“You can see beyond my glamoured form,” said
Misty. “That means you are more than human. But I cannot
tell you more than that. Even an oracle, a truthsayer like
myself – the true identity of the Fire goddess is hidden. She
cannot be recognized easily – she can prove her nature only
by passing a test.”
“A test?”
“A test that has killed many women already. But that
was how they did it in the ancient days. Vesta and her lover
Mars worked out an arrangement. For long ago, in the most
ancient days, they were lovers. They were happy. But the
goddess Vesta, though pure, was tempted. Another wooed
her away from the Fire God.”
“Who?”
“The legends are unclear. But Vesta feared the wrath
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of the lover she spurned, the lover she'd hurt...”