“What? Mom, what do you need to know?” My fingers gripped the plastic so hard I feared it might crack. Finn dropped down in front of me, brows lowered with concern. “Talk to me, Mom. I can’t hear you.”
“—come home. Be careful…”
The line went dead. My mouth dropped open and I jerked the phone away from my face to stare at the small, illuminated screen. I pressed the call button again and again, heart pounding harder and harder when only a busy signal came through the speaker each time.
“What’s wrong?” Finn asked, tugging it from my limp hands. I’d thought I’d feel relieved having finally gotten a hold of my mom. But the complete opposite was true.
“We were having a difficult time hearing each other, lots of breaks in the connection,” I said, staring down at the four bars indicating a strong signal. “Then she started talking about being careful and something about coming home. And the line went dead. Now it won’t even connect.”
He frowned down at the device and experimentally pressed the redial button. The screen read “calling” and then “number no longer in service.”
“Did anything else sound strange to you?” he asked.
“Something clicked, but it sounded funny, like the line was interrupted for a moment. But it wasn’t fuzzy or staticky. I don’t know what that was. But otherwise—” I yelped when Finn smashed the phone on the ground. He scowled at the pieces and kicked them into the pool. “What was that?”
“I think someone was listening in.”
I stared at him, comprehension dawning. “You don’t think…”
“I think there are powerful organizations out there. And I think one in particular would be very interested to learn where you’re going next.” He cracked his knuckles, jaw locked. “I also think we need to get out of here sooner rather than later.”
“Why do you keep insisting the Order has something to do with his?” I was back on my feet, fists clenched at my sides. “Why can’t it be… I don’t know. The CIA or whatever the British one is called. Why would my own religion come after me?”
“I know that Order agents were crawling all over that hotel.” He glowered at the pond. I bit back whatever I’d been about to say. “I know those uniforms. And I know one woman there who says she works for them seems mighty upset your coach already went public saying you’re missing.”
My mouth went dry. I backed up until my knees hit the bed, and I sank into the soft mattress. Finn finally turned around and walked toward me, the zippers on his pants jangled with every step.
“The Order is now offering to help find you,” he said. “They’re looking for you right now. If you think about it, they have absolutely no reason to be interested in you unless they know exactly who you are. Otherwise you’re just another swimmer. A famous swimmer. But just a swimmer.” Finn shook his head. “I don’t know how they found out, but they did. And I bet it has to do with the Hand.”
My hands twisted in my lap. I couldn’t keep what I knew from him any longer. “He came to me.”
“Say what?” Finn’s voice was deathly calm.
“Geoffrey. The Hand. He came to me. In a dream. He said we were connected, he knew about my magic. But he seemed crazy,” I pleaded, trying to ease the shocked betrayal reflected in Finn’s face. “He also said he didn’t want to hurt me. He said he only wanted to find me, he wanted to talk, and then he did something or knew something and…”
“And then your teammates died. Apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning, if the coroner they paid off has anything to do with this.” Finn’s fist crashed into the wall. Several books fell from a shelf. “And you didn’t think to tell me any of that until now.”
My lip curled. “I’m not the only one keeping secrets,” I fired back.
“Fine.” He clutched his hair in twin fists and pulled so it stuck up in spikes. “Fine. You’re right. I deserved that. But now, as your guardian, I’m saying we really need to get you out of here, away from them. Will you agree with me on that?”
I nodded. No matter what Geoffrey had said in the dream, the evidence looked pretty damning. “Do you have a plan?”
Finn let out a laugh that sounded more like a whinny. “Do I have a plan? Of course I have a plan. And it’s genius.” He tugged some papers out of his front pocket and dropped them on the bed next to me. My bag landed next to them a few seconds later. “Get changed. We’re making you into a boy.”
“You know this only works in movies, right?” I asked, spinning before a mirror Finn had drudged up from Gods know where. “And even then it’s pretty iffy.”
“Nonsense,” said Finn, “you look great. This hoodie is the right amount of baggy.”
I tugged the brim of my baseball cap lower on my head. After washing away the dried sand and salt and grime of the sea, I’d pulled it on along with the grey sweatshirt, baggy jeans, and black sneakers. But instead of looking like the 22-year-old dude on my fake passport, I actually looked more like a twelve-year-old kid. Green contacts concealed the unique color of my eyes, and I’d tried to contour my face using some of the makeup Finn had grabbed, but I’d given up after two attempts. I was useless with anything outside a mascara wand.
Metal rasped and I whirled, crossing my arms in an X in front of me. “I swear. If you try to cut my hair one more time…”
Finn muttered something I couldn’t understand, but dropped the shears on one of the shelves without further protest. I’d pitched the nastiest of fits earlier, complete with flying fists, when he’d tried to cut my hair the first time. It seemed he wasn’t quite ready to broach that subject again.
“What about you?” I asked, propping a hand on my hip.
“What about me?”
“Are you going to change?”
He tilted his head and zipped his backpack with a metallic zing. “You seem to forget I’ve spent the last few centuries finding ways to stay invisible. I’m already a nobody. You are a girl who won two gold medals. You are a girl who is now one of the most sought after missing people in the world.”
I blinked and started rummaging through my bag. “But what about the security cameras? What if they picked up your face anywhere along the way? I mean, you were hanging out there for a bit, you know,” I swallowed, forcing myself to not get sucked into that horrible night, “when everything happened.”
“Excellent point. That’s why I had some new paperwork drawn up for myself.” Of course he had. A man as seemingly obsessed with details as he was wasn’t going to let something like that slip. I shuffled my feet. “You are now looking at,” he passed a hand over his face slowly, “your older brother!”
I sat upright with a jolt; he’d slightly altered his features as he’d passed his hand over his skin. The piercings remained, but his face was fuller now, less angelic, complete with alabaster skin, freckles, and red hair that curled over his ears. Finn flashed a dazzling Colgate-commercial smile, and shook out his body, preening under the attention. I watched in amazement as he shrunk a few inches, gained a few pounds around his waistline.
“That’s incredible.” The words slipped out as I got up to circle him like a prized pony. It really was all about the details. Finn looked like a completely new person.
“Babe, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
“And what do I call you now?”
“Neil.” He pulled his wallet out from his back pants pocket and flipped it open, showing me his driver’s license. “Nathan and Neil. Aren’t we just adorable?” I tugged one of his curls and watched it spring right back into place before slanting him a look.
“If you say so.”
He gave me a mocking half-bow and moved to grab his bag, but I stepped in front of it. “And where exactly are we going, dear brother?”
“Hmmm. I really thought you would forget about that minor detail.” He sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. “We really need to disappear. I was thinking now would be a good time to hit the Caribbean. Lots of wa
ter around, plenty of opportunities to train, etcetera, etcetera.”
“You promised to help me find the other Gods.” My tone was dry.
His smile fell away. “Killjoy. In that case, there are a few things we can try.”
I wrinkled my nose and motioned for him to continue.
“First.” He patted the space next to him again. This time I sat. “First, I’d recommend trying to feel for the Gods with your mind. That seemed to work with your magic. Maybe it will work here.”
I scratched my neck and folded my legs underneath me. The sooner we got this figured out, the sooner I could try calling my mom from somewhere else. Like before, I sank into myself, pleased to find that dark void gone and colorful hues in its place.
Hey magic, are you there?
Of course, what do you need?
Can you locate the other Gods?
A pregnant pause followed. A pink ribbon of magic swirled around my middle and I tugged at it, delighted when something buzzed against me. When I thought I might need to ask again, the voices returned. A map.
A map? I asked.
The kelpie. He has a map. Push your magic into it and use it to guide your way.
I blinked and found myself outside myself once again. Finn’s bag was next to mine and I pulled it closer, rooting through the contents until I discovered a collapsible paper map in the front pocket. “What made you think to grab this?” I asked, unfolding it on the bed.
“Call it intuition.”
“Interesting.” I reached for my magic, a satisfied smile sneaking across my face when it pooled in my hand, ready for my command. Praying I was right, I pressed the blob to the middle of the map right over the Atlantic Ocean and waited, letting my essence fill the page. I focused on finding what was lost, trying to find a person I didn’t know yet. I could feel my magic pooling and flexing and feeling for something when it popped.
A bluish glow burst from the United States.
I bounced on my knees and said out loud, “I need more.”
Finn watched warily.
Trust yourself. Closing my eyes, I touched the paper again, this time with the tip of my finger, moving it across the page, waiting to feel something. Anything. A zing raced through my chest as I crossed the center of the nation. The Midwest. I tried moving up and down, tapping each state in turn, but that was the best I got. A regional awareness. I pulled back with a huff.
A cool hand pressed on my shoulder. “Hey, that was really good. Considering neither of us really knows what’s going on here, you narrowed down the possibilities a bunch,” Finn murmured. Part of me took comfort in his words. Part of me still considered the lack of precision failure.
“But where do we start from there?”
Finn thought for a minute. “Well. I need to see a friend in Kansas City about a dog. Let’s start there and see where it goes.”
15
Geoffrey
“You look like death warmed over.”
A coffee mug filled with liquid that smelled enticingly like a vanilla-flavored latte was shoved underneath my nose.
“That’s why I brought you your favorite morning treat.” Toren settled into the seat beside me, a cup of his own black coffee cradled in his other hand. He took a sip and smacked his lips. He looked better this morning, healthier than the last time I’d seen him exiting my office.
“Have you made any progress?”
He sucked on his lips and bobbed his head in a so-so way. “Not really. But it’s a waiting game at this point.”
I nodded and folded my fingers inside the handle of the mug, twisting the cup first clockwise then counter-clockwise. It smelled delicious and looked even better, with the design of an opening rose artfully worked into the foam on top. But my stomach was in knots and the more I looked at the light brown drink, the steam rising from the rim, the more I wanted to hurl it across the room.
“I take it your meeting with the Council didn’t go well.”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
“What did they want from you?”
“Answers I don’t have.”
Toren sipped his coffee again and set it on the table in front of him, looking around the dining hall with vague disinterest. We were in the central part of the compound and I’d selected a table in the middle of the room where everyone could see me. I wasn’t hiding my face any longer. If rumors were going to circulate, I wanted them to be because of my deliberate action. Not lack of it.
It was the middle of breakfast rush and it was packed, but despite the lack of chairs, there had been open seats to either side of me until Toren sat down anyway. Eyes lingered as soldiers and nurses and IT workers stuffed scrambled eggs and toast down their throats. I ignored them all. Toren ran a hand over his curly head of hair and eyed a soldier who looked more than a little helpless.
“Do you remember being that new?”
I didn’t. I was practically born here, raised by people as bloodthirsty as they were manipulative. This dining hall was as familiar to me as a normal person’s kitchen. But I shrugged to avoid talking about it. The soldier looked across the sea of bodies one last time before seeming to reach some sort of internal decision. The tray trembled in his hands as he crossed the room. He bee-lined toward us, gaze averted, and took the spot next to me. He leaned away, one butt cheek hanging over the edge of the chair in his effort to maintain distance, and I hid a smile.
“So what are they doing, then?” Toren asked.
“The Council? They heard me out. You’re free to proceed as we originally planned. Bring her in.” I rotated the cup in my hands. It was no longer steaming and the rose on top was starting to blur. “They’d rather she was dead, but they also want to know what happened, where she’s been all this time. They want to know if she can drag the other two Gods out of hiding.”
My gut clenched at the thought of Zara in the hands of the dozen members that made up the Council. Each member represented a specific region of the world; many had their own specialties as well—like trade negotiations or land acquisitions. Our governmental structure most closely mirrored that of a monarchy. Nearly everyone at the table was born into their position. The only odd ones out were Toren and the Council clerk. Both had assumed their positions only because their predecessors died heir-less and without extended family.
We had firm rules in place guarding against regicide. Those didn’t protect just me, but everyone else on the Council, as well. They were to prevent members from killing one another and either seizing their power or using the lack of opposing power to their advantage. If one member killed another, they and the rest of their family, cousins and all, were to be put to death immediately.
The Order was big on bloodshed.
“You should drink that before it gets cold,” Toren said, nodding at my mug.
I was thinking about the horrors that might await Zara now that the Council knew about her illicit existence, and I shook my head. I tapped the soldier who’d bravely bitten the bullet and pushed the mug toward his tray. His pale face turned ashen as he first looked at the mug, then at my forehead, then the mug again.
“Here, you can have my coffee as a special treat for joining our ranks. I’m not thirsty anyway.”
Wide brown eyes blinked beneath bushy brows. I couldn’t tell if he understood what I’d said or not. Surely, we didn’t employ complete idiots, did we?
“But you always drink espresso to start your day,” Toren said. “Are you sure you don’t want that?” Toren reached for the mug and the soldier appeared more than happy to let him take it. I knocked my friend’s hand away.
“No, I’m one-hundred percent positive I don’t want to drink any coffee today. I’ll puke it up if I do. I’m not feeling very good. I also insist that this good man here…” I trailed off, waiting for him to introduce himself.
Another slow blink before recognition kicked in. “Mateo. Mateo Lopez. Private, first-class.”
“…Mateo, enjoy it with his breakfast instead.”
Toren’s gaze flicked from me as I stood, to the mug, then back to me. The muscles in his jaw flexed before his lips twisted in a brittle smile. “It’s like I don’t recognize you anymore.”
I raised an eyebrow at Mateo, who obligingly lifted the cup to his lips and sipped, before smiling at Toren. “I think I’ll take a nap,” I said to Toren. “Then maybe I’ll be able to focus later today. In the meantime, I expect that report on Ukraine on my desk when I wake up.”
Toren took another sip of his coffee in silence.
16
Zara
Finn forced me to hike to some small town nearby. From there we grabbed an Uber outside one of the small ‘mom and pop’ diners and headed for the airport. I’d tuned him out about seven miles back when he started talking about magical signatures. I only checked back into his one-sided conversation when he called me out for not doing enough to contain my magic.
“You’re like a beacon, noticeable as a lightning storm at midnight.”
“How exactly was I supposed to know that?” I grumbled. “You’ve never mentioned it before. I don’t know if I can turn it off.”
Finn grabbed my wrist and ran a thumb over the soft skin on its underside. It felt nice. I almost forgot I couldn’t stand him until he said, “But you can. You have to, or you’ll draw every fey creature in a 50-mile radius right to us. And since we’re going to an international airport, that’s a lot of beings.”
“If I’m such a draw, then why didn’t more stumble across us at your humble abode?”
“I cloaked that area an incredibly long time ago.” Of course it would be that simple. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Oh yeah, because I was quickly learning that I didn’t know anything about anything. “The shield somehow held up over the centuries. Besides, it’s more difficult to sniff out a God when they are hidden than when they’re mingling with tens of thousands of people.”
“In that case, what should I do?”
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