“I want to know why I’m here first.”
“Alright then,” Geoffrey said. “There are questions I have about…everything. About your existence. About your desires. About how we’re going to proceed…” He was rambling again, muttering to himself as he stood and started pacing across the room. Geoffrey’s features were still blurry, but the more I concentrated, the more I could tell he was of average height for a man because he didn’t tower over the muted television flickering on the table behind him. A television.
That was new.
Geoffrey held his arms behind his back, fingers laced together as he strode back and forth, head bowed to the floor as he muttered words too quiet for me to hear. Then he stopped, body angled toward me. “What do you intend to do?”
“I don’t know what you’re asking.”
“With your powers. What are your intentions?” He’d sounded warm before, but Geoffrey’s voice had chilled considerably.
“I… I don’t know. I guess I still need to figure out what my powers are.”
“What about the world?” he demanded. His pacing stopped. The blurry outline of a hand swiped over his smooth head. Listening to him was like listening to politicians debate policy: the words themselves made sense, but strung together and their meaning was a mystery.
“What about the world?” I threw back at him, unable to hold back my frustration. “I don’t think I have the answers you’re looking for.”
He moved closer, his movements jerky. “What’s your name?” he asked again.
“Zara.” The word blurted out of me without thought, my fear returning in full force. I didn’t understand what was going on.
“Zara. That’s pretty.” He sucked in a hard breath and resumed pacing, the loose fabric of his shirt flowed around him in waves. He passed in front of the television again, and his arm shot out, grabbing some sort of round device I couldn’t see. “Your magic is pretty, too.”
The saliva in my mouth evaporated. He’d said he couldn’t hurt me here, right? I hadn’t misunderstood.
“Zara, I’m conflicted right now.”
“Why are you conflicted?” I asked the strange man in the most soothing voice I could muster.
“I don’t quite know what to do with you.”
I could almost see him now, if only he’d turn toward me, then I’d have a clearer picture.
“What does that mean?”
“I once made a very difficult decision. A decision I wish I hadn’t had to make. A decision I still stand behind even though I regret it…” He paused by a large window that looked familiar, peering out into the blue depths of the sky. From my angle in the chair I couldn’t see much of the landscape except for a blurry blob to the right. And something about it seemed…
I couldn’t quite focus.
He whirled on me, hands slamming down on the wooden arms of the chair. Bi-colored eyes, one the color of smoke and the other bright as emerald, grew wide with eagerness and maybe a hint of insanity. I jerked backward, heart kicking into overdrive. “We need to meet. In person. There’s much we need to discuss. Tell me where you are.”
The haze had cleared.
I wished it hadn’t.
I was staring into the face of someone who’d known pain, who’d realized grief, who’d paid for the emotions with his very being. Scars the shapes of X’s cut deeply into pockmarked checks, equally spaced on either side of his thin nose. My eyes darted between his. The madness I’d glimpsed earlier had receded; now I only saw hungry curiosity reflected back at me, an expression like he had found a prized possession he planned to hoard away.
Across his brow glimmered four symbols shaded black, edged with luminescent white. One of them was a replica of the wave branded across my arm. It must be true, if he had those brands. He must be the Hand of the Gods, the leader of the Order. Someone I should trust, but also someone my gut screamed at me to pull away from. If I could. My magic—I could now see in the blue strands that held my arms down—remained unrelenting.
A hand ghosted over my cheek. “Tell me where you are, Zara. I’ll find you.”
My insides quaked with a heady mixture of wariness and adrenaline. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Tell me where you are. I must know. That’s the only way.”
He talked too quickly, his eyes bright with frenzy. My own eyes darted to the window, to the tall bell tower I could see spearing the sky now that the haze had faded. I knew that tower. I’d woken to it and its incessant clanging before. The breath caught in my chest.
Catching my expression, Geoffrey turned to see what I was looking at.
My arms wrestled with my magic as he turned back, a touch of a smile gracing his lips. My mind screamed at me to wake up, wake up now. “Zara…”
I blinked.
And he was gone.
7
Zara
“Zara? Seriously, Zara. You need to wake up.” Kazandra touched my arm, her short nails tapping a tempo to some song existing only in her head. “Come on. You’re starting to scare me.”
I rolled toward my best friend and roommate, groaning, but my vision remained blurry with sleep. In the background, the peppy voice of the anchor on the television droned on about the heightened nuclear threat level. My curiosity piqued. Norway was back in the red. Pretty standard for most nations these days. It was threat level black we had to worry about. Not that we’d be alive much longer to worry much about anything.
The room blurred again, and I blinked. This time, Kaz’s rich, brown eyes were level with mine. She peered at me, lines etched deep around the corners of her mouth. “Oh, thank the Gods. You’re awake. I was about to get Coach.”
It was all a dream? But it felt real.
“What happened?” I mumbled.
“You weren’t responding. I kept trying to wake you up, calling your name, shaking you, but you were out cold. It was scary.” She wrapped her fingers around my arm again as if to reassure herself I was, indeed, awake and present before flitting off to the far side of the room. I pulled myself up onto my elbows as she her threw odds and ends into her duffel bag.
“What time is it?”
“Late. Really late. You’ll only have, like, an hour to get ready.” Which was huge considering my normal prep-time took at least twice that. I was going to miss warm-ups for sure.
“Damn.”
“Yep.”
How had I slept so late? I never slept through my alarm on my phone…
The waterlogged, broken, and now-useless device had fallen out of my pocket when I’d crashed into the water in a storm I was ninety-nine percent sure the Kraken had started. The phone I hadn’t recovered or even thought about until now.
The Kraken. Stars, that part hadn’t been a dream.
My fingers flew to my head, pushing hard on my temples. It was a sorry attempt at shutting down the ache brewing deep in the recesses of my head.
That’s what I needed before a competition.
“Another migraine?” My eyes opened to slits again, and the soft dawn light filtered in.
I forced my fingers to stop digging into my face and tried to focus on my bunk mate instead. She was a classic Middle Eastern beauty with the rich heritage to prove it. I envied her full lips, flowing dark hair, and gorgeous olive skin. At the moment, her glossy locks were pulled back, and she’d already shrugged on a long-sleeve Under Armor shirt and yoga pants as she prepared to head out to warm-ups. Genuine concern tinged her tone, and I shook my head.
“No, sorry. I can feel a little bit of a headache,” I fibbed. “I took something for it last night, and that must have knocked me out more than I thought. I meant to text you, but my phone died.” Sort of. My lips twitched in a hint of a smile and she relaxed a touch.
“That’s what roomies are for! Stars knows how many times you’ve pushed my ass out of bed during this tourney.” Her accent flared with her excitement. Kaz rarely expressed negative emotion. She swore by some mantra about positivity making the world a better
place.
“Speaking of yesterday,” she slicked her tongue over her lips with a suggestive wink. “What did you get up to? Or down to, should I say?”
The banter pushed my headache back, thankfully. I shoved the covers off and rolled my legs out of bed, my toes clenching around the thin fibers of the carpet. “Nothing like that, Kaz. I wanted to get out and see some of the town for once. Clear my head.”
She pursed her lips. She wasn’t buying it. But she didn’t say anything. Good woman. “If you say so.” She turned the statement into a question. “Anyway, you should probably start getting ready.” Kaz smoothed her hands down the front of her shirt and glanced at her iPhone when it beeped an incoming notification. “Most of us are heading over now. Want us to wait for you?”
“Nah. I’ll meet you poolside.”
Her head bobbed and she stooped to pick up her duffel before heading out the door. When the door clicked closed, automatically locking behind her, I let out a deep sigh, reluctant to fully peel myself off the mattress. I braced my elbows on my thighs, bones digging deep into the muscles, and scrunched my nose. Could yesterday have been a dream? A dream within a dream if that unhinged man had anything to do with anything?
If it were true and real, shouldn’t I feel differently?
I flexed my fingers experimentally but didn’t feel any of those wonderful and weird vibrations sparking from under my nails and skin. Sensations I’d felt when I’d brushed against the Kraken.
No. I needed to get ready. This was ridiculous. I shoved the thoughts away and attempted to focus on the upcoming competition. Despite how poorly I’d slept and the strain of yesterday, I felt fresher than expected. Thankfully, I hadn’t taken my iPod on the boat with me, and I blasted some Cardi B while starting the long, practiced process of preparing for the races. In the shower, I tried to see if I could change the temperature of the water. When nothing happened, I was deeply glad no one could see the embarrassed blush painting my cheeks and chest red.
Maybe they had the wrong person after all. Maybe everything had been in my head.
Twenty minutes later, dressed in my typical baggy shirt, grey sweats and a jacket, I shrugged on my black duffel bag and its many ironed-on patches from my global expeditions, headed out the door… and almost collided with it when I jumped back in surprise. Someone I’d hoped to never see again leaned on the wall opposite the door, gazing steadily over a cup of what smelled like coffee at his lips.
He sported two legs instead of four.
Nope, definitely not a dream.
None of it.
“Stalking me now?” I turned to make sure the door was indeed shut, trying to hide the shaking of my hands. “Seems a bit unnecessary if you ask me.”
“Stalking, observing, monitoring. It’s all about the same right?” Finn said dryly, lifting one of his eyebrows. It was pierced, with silver balls above and below. He toyed with a silver loop hooked through his lower lip as he spoke. “And yes, I find it absolutely necessary, O wonderful, gorgeous, well-spoken God of mine. Who knows what mess you’ll get mixed up in if I’m not here to keep an eye on you?”
I eyed him skeptically. From the black-shirt that molded to his abs to the tight, black jeans that brushed the tops of stylish, white, combat boots, it seemed more likely that even in human-form he would be the one more likely to get into trouble. He ruffled his shaggy, rock star hair in an attempt to move it out of his face, but it flopped right back.
“Uh huh. Well, today I’ve got a swim meet, then dinner with the girls, and then probably sleep. Doesn’t that sound exciting?” I started to move past him, anxious to get going. “And thanks to you, I wasn’t able to carbo-load yesterday or do any of my other routine stuff. Who knows how my races are going to go. Do me a favor and leave me alone for a while.”
“Excuse me, but my fault? I seem to recall you wanted to hit the gym after your excursion at sea yesterday.” He jogged, a wide array of zippers and metallic bracelets jangling together as he easily caught up with my quick march down the hallway. “You said nothing about food. I would have remembered that. I’m all about eating.”
We stopped at the elevator where I punched the down arrow a little harder than necessary. I glared at the doors, wishing I had the ability to make them open faster. My fingers tapped a furious rhythm on my arm. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about my dream. It was only a dream, after all. But I didn’t really trust him. Finn’s fingers brushing my elbow drew me out of my head again, and I sealed my lips, deciding against telling him about my bout with Geoffrey. Although…
“You know, the Kraken said I’m supposed to find the other Gods. They’ll help solve whatever global crisis is coming. Do you think the Order can help with that? They’re supposed to—”
“It’s more important to teach you to use your magic,” Finn interrupted. I took an involuntary step back. Gone was his easy smile, instead replaced with a dark expression I couldn’t interpret. His leg jiggled, and when he glanced over at me, he sighed.
“Listen. I don’t… I don’t trust the Order.” His head tipped back at an angle and his arms folded across his chest. “I trusted my temple, your temple, before it fell. And I trust the Kraken. But the Order, let’s just say the Order operates on its own level. As your guardian I want to get a feel for what’s going on first. Until yesterday, no one even knew you were alive. We don’t need to rush anything; let’s take it a day at a time. We will find the other Gods. But I’d rather get through some of the basics first. OK?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. I hadn’t exactly gotten warm and fuzzy vibes from Geoffrey anyway. No one else I knew was part of the church or knew its leaders, so it was difficult for me to get another read on the situation. If it bothered Finn to reach out, I’d go with his instincts—for now.
The elevator dinged and Finn extended his hand, ushering me into the confined space first.
“Speaking of yesterday, I want to apologize.”
It seemed that awkward conversation was going to accompany this equally awkward ride. Didn’t he know the rules of elevators? Once those doors closed everyone politely ignored everyone else inside them from start to finish, then bum-rushed the doors when they opened at the right floor.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I said.
“I disagree,” Finn said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and for the first time, I became truly aware of his average height that still somehow towered over my five foot two. He wasn’t heavily built, but judging by the ropes of tightly-corded muscles wrapping around his arms, he was incredibly strong. The tan tint of his skin was somehow darker in the daylight than it had been underwater. It contrasted sharply with my almost alabaster tone. “I wasn’t quite myself and I came off more abrasive than I normally do.”
The elevator doors opened, and I used my duffel bag as a buffer between us. I was already late to the meet and this conversation was making me later, but he was trying to be civil.
“Are you feeling better today?” I asked.
“Yes.” He nodded at the desk clerk leering at us. “The Kraken yanked me out of a particularly long, deep nap rather rudely. And upon awakening, I was informed that I had a new charge to take care of: no ifs, ands, or buts about it.”
“How long of a nap are we talking about here?”
“Oh, about seventeen years. Give or take a handful of months.” He tossed his paper cup in a trash receptacle outside the doors. “A little longer than usual.”
Time didn’t make sense in this new-found world of mine. However, I really didn’t have the time—ha ha—to think about it right now, so I decided against responding and marched faster down the worn, cobble-stoned street. Finn matched my speed. The building was about two blocks away. Despite saying he’d been unusually terse yesterday, Finn still seemed ill at ease with his fingers twisting around his many bracelets.
“What happened to your horse parts?” I asked.
“I could bring them back, if you’re asking. But I warn you,
I’ll leave the explaining to you.”
“Seriously, where did they go?”
“I willed them away. It’s easier to look like a human right now.”
“Are you a shape-shifter?”
“Of sorts,” he said.
“You really do turn into an actual horse?”
“Head, tail, and all that comes in the middle.”
“What’s it like?” I pulled the zippered edges of my jacket tighter as a cool breeze blew down the street. It was my most favorite piece in my wardrobe; a warm, waterproof, red-white-and-blue spangled piece given to all American athletes when they made it to the Olympics. The rest of the uniform was back at the fancy boarding school my parents had enrolled me in when I was eleven with the rest of my non-travel clothing. But I rarely took this jacket off.
“So many questions, Z. I think we might actually be on our way to becoming friends.”
A sarcastic response jumped to mind, but before I could snark it out, his finger pressed against my lips, stopping me in the middle of the street. “As much as I’m dying to know what’s about to come out of your mouth, let me respond to your question. When I fully transform into my other state, other, more animalistic, impulses become sharper. I’m still cognizant of my being. I still think like a human, but it’s like it takes a back-burner to needs. Things like food and water and running and… other things.”
Wait. Were we talking about drowning people here? Or a normal innuendo? I felt a tinge of red flush over my cheeks, and his gaze swiped across the rosy hue. He shook his head, hair flying everywhere, in a manner I’d seen on horses at the racetrack on TV. The movement put me on his right side for the first time, and only now did I see the large tattoo on his neck.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“This.” I reached a shaking hand out, the tips of my fingers drifting against the soft skin under the curve of his jaw and traced the black replica of my birthmark until it vanished beneath his collar. He flinched but didn’t move away. “Why do you have it?”
“I swore an oath once.” Now he stepped away, a hand nervously rubbing the flesh I’d traced. His gaze skittered over mine again.
Walk on Water Page 5