by Maya Daniels
“What does that mean? She died because she loved me. That’s what people do when they truly love each other, they protect. Isn’t that right?” I’m upset. I know I’ve died violent, untimely deaths in most of my reincarnations and people I’ve loved and trusted have let me down, but they don’t have to rub it in every day. Geez, I get it. I’m unlovable or not good enough to receive what I offer to everyone and everything around me. I get it!
“Take it easy there, sap, that’s not what I meant and you know it. What I’m trying to tell you is that you’re the last Semiramis. There are no more from your lineage. They either died natural deaths or were killed,” she says, adding, “Mostly killed, come to think of it.”
I just stare at her. I don’t know my biological father and never bothered to learn much about his part of the family until my grandparents found out about me and decided they should be part of my life, although they didn’t make much effort apart from teaching me the Druid ways when they had time. I never really cared, to be honest, as long as I had my other grandmother. Now I wonder if there’s more to it than I was led to believe.
“So, what does that mean for me exactly? We already know they want me dead, but this changes everything. If they find out about this, I’ll wish they just want me dead,” I say solemnly.
“That’s true. If they find out, then they’ll do anything they can to get their hands on you because you’re their ticket to the potions, and with that, the tablets,” says Remi.
“Now what?” My mind is working a million miles an hour. I guess I can just end it all. That way, no Alexia and no one can get the potions.
“No!” Meda jumps up and grabs my arms, shaking me. She scared the hell out of me. It’s not like her to raise her voice or be violent.
“Don’t you dare think about dying, A-ma! I will bring you back just so I can kill you myself.” She’s very angry and it’s almost cute. “Cute or not, you know I can and will do it.” She frowns at me.
“Take it easy, Meda. I was just thinking that’s the easiest way. Besides, since when do I do anything the easy way? Come to think of it, I’ve fought tooth and nail to stay alive this far. I’m not planning on dying anytime soon. Not if I can help it.” I hope she can see I mean it. “I’m not suicidal, you know,” I add with a smile.
“That’s actually debatable,” says Jezzinta, and we all laugh. She has a point. At least the tension is gone. What a day. I’m getting tired and I’m fighting to stay awake. Looking at them, they are exactly the same, forcing their eyes to stay open.
“Bedtime!” I jump out of the arm chair. “If I don’t move now, I’ll sleep in this chair.” I point at it.
“Well, that might not be a bad idea, actually,” says Remi. She stands up and starts dragging the pillows off the chairs, lining them up in the middle of the room. We all help out and make a makeshift mattress in the living room. One by one, we all lie down next to each other.
“This is what a pajama party feels like when you’re young, I assume,” says Meda.
“I wouldn’t know. Never had one,” I answer her.
“Never had one what? A pajama party or a friend to do it with?” asks Jezzinta.
“Both,” Remi and I say at the same time, and I smile at her.
“Well, it’s never too late and I’d rather have it now with the three of you than with anyone else,” Meda says to no one in particular and cuddles up next to me. I smile at her and close my eyes. Meda starts singing softly some native song that, as much as I want to hear it all, lulls me to sleep. The last thought I remember is that I need to ask her to sing it again tomorrow.
* * *
“How in hell can you figure out the exact spot?”
Remi is frustrated, checking out a map of the Pacific Ocean. We’ve been searching for a couple of days now, reading articles, journals, you name it, on which part is considered the deepest point with no luck.
“I still say we go to the beach and I’ll get into the water. I’m sure I’ll find more information that way than staring at this.” I point at all the papers and books covering the entire living room.
“That’s not happening, Alexia.”
Remi is not even glancing up from the map. Ever since I told them that I’m the only one that can take the potions, I feel like I’m in a cage with the door open but I’m not allowed to leave. It’s ridiculous.
“All of you will be with me, Remi. I’m not saying I should go alone. I’m not stupid.” I blow out a breath through pursed lips.
“I said no, and be my guest, try to go. See how far that takes you,” she says, pointing at the door but still staring at the map.
She’s right. I tried to leave yesterday, but she made such strong winds that it was impossible for me to take a step off the porch. She pushed me all the way inside the house. Did I mention that I went inside with the front door as it ripped off its hinges? Yeah, the woman has a temper and if she says no, she means it.
“You can’t hold me here against my will.” I can be stubborn, too.
“Watch me.”
“Don’t you want all this to be over, Remi?” I’m tired of the arguing and everything else. “All I’m saying is we should try. When we know where to go, we’ll find them. I’ll give them to Inanna and we’re done. No more stress!” That’s what I’m hoping for, anyway.
“I said no,” she snaps.
I’ve had enough.
“Listen here! You are not hearing me!”
“Oh, I hear you perfectly.” She stares at me and I can see steam coming out of her. She’s pissed.
“No, Remi, you do not! You listen to reply, not to understand what I’m saying. Do you see another option? Because all this crap we are going through doesn’t have the answers we seek. If you have something better, by all means spit it out. If not, get your ass moving. We’re going to the beach,” I tell her and get up to go change. I’m not going to just sit here, praying the answers will appear out of nowhere.
“Where are we going?” Jezzinta pops her head in, all excited. I know she and Meda are going nuts cooped up in the house, too.
“To the beach.”
She’s faster than me to go up the stairs to change. I’m almost at the top when I hear Remi coming up, too. I guess I got through to her, even if she’s not happy about it.
Two hours later, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, standing on warm sand with my bare feet and breathing in the ocean air. This is heaven to me—the smell, the touch, the taste of water. It’s what keeps me alive and it feels like I haven’t breathed for a long time until this moment. I look at my three sisters and smile. Meda and Jezzinta smile back, but Remi is still grumpy and on high alert, judging by how she is trying to see everywhere at the same time as she scouts the horizon.
“Relax, Remi. Come on, let’s have some fun. We sure as hell deserve it!”
I pull on her arm and she relaxes a bit, giving me a small smile. Little victories are what are important! There are other people on the beach, too. It stretches for miles in both directions. A lot of people are enjoying the beautiful weather, laughing, swimming or just taking in the view of the beautiful blue ocean. Umbrellas in different colors are stuck in the sand and beach towels are spread out everywhere. Vendors walk among the people, offering cold drinks and bottles of water as well as all sorts of snacks from trays that hang from their necks. Adults talk out loud while children run around, squealing in delight, and as I walk on the warm sand, I can smell the coconut scent from the lotions and sunscreens they put on their skin. It makes my heart expand. I will never get enough of the smell, even if I live a million lifetimes. Stores, restaurants, and bars line the street above the beach and it seems like they’re full of people as well, which makes me smile. People are enjoying life as they should. To keep the peace, I lead us to a small, secluded place away from everyone. We sit there, all four lost in our thoughts for a little bit. Just as I was going to say I’ll go into the water to try to see what I can find out, I hear someone calling my name.
The temperature drops instantly. With a glance at my sisters sitting in the sand, their expressions like they just heard someone just died, I shake my head. Whatever.
“Hey, Derik, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to take a walk on the beach. You know, change of scenery and all.” He smiles shyly.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask just as he reaches us.
“Ladies.” He smiles at the gloomy glooms and they each nod. More as a polite thing to do, not because they want to. I can tell.
“We kind of wanted to be alone. That’s why we sat here,” Remi points out, making me want to kick her.
“Right, I understand. I apologize. I just wanted to say hi.” He gives one last smile and starts walking away. “I’ll see you, Alexia,” he calls over his shoulder.
“Yeah,” I mumble. Remi is watching me. “What? You think I planned this? How? I sent a pigeon to tell him where we are?” I roll my eyes. The woman is unbelievable sometimes.
“I didn’t say anything,” she says defensively, but I can see she realized she’s being silly.
“You didn’t have to. Anyway, I’m going in.” I jump up, pull my summer dress over my head, and bolt towards the water.
“Wait for me!” yells Jezzinta, who follows at a run. As soon as I get waist deep, I feel like the world disappears and I’m at peace, just like always.
“I’m going to go deeper, Jez. I think it’s better if the humans don’t see me.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she giggles.
“Go, fish! Go!” She shoos me away, splashing me with water.
I chuckle and start swimming away from her, the beach smaller with each stroke I take. I stop after a bit and peer around. It’s a good spot, at least. No one is here. Well there is one little boat, but it’s far enough away that it won’t bother me. I squint to check where I left Jezzinta and see her wave. Twirling my hand, I make a breathing bubble again and put my head through it before I submerge underwater. I figured everything out to this point, but now I wonder how smart this is. I mean, I’m in water, yes, but who am I going to ask here? The fish? This is a stupid idea, but I will not admit to Remi that she is right. I will stay here awhile, and who knows? Maybe something will come up.
I go deeper and loose myself in the algae and little colorful fish swimming around, forgetting about everything else. After a while, ripples in the water pull my attention to what causes them. I find a person swimming towards me. I’m low enough that I doubt they can see me yet, but they keep coming until I can finally see the face of Thomas. My heart stops. How the hell did he find me here? I try to swim away but he has scuba gear on and can move faster than me with just my legs underwater. He catches up and grabs my leg, pulling me back. As we struggle, I try to pull his mask off so that he has to go up, but he pulls me in that direction anyway. We come to the surface one at a time and I kick him with both legs in the stomach which propels me away from him. I was about to start swimming away when I hear Derik.
“Hey, asshole, get your fucking hands off her.” He sounds very angry and is swimming faster than a human should.
“Oh, look. Another human under your spell, Alexia,” Thomas says with glee, and my stomach flips. Before I can do anything, Derik is within reach and Thomas holds him by the neck like a toy.
“Let him go, Bail!” I yell at him.
“Oh, really? I see I found your weakness, Alexia.”
He’s plotting. I see it in his eyes. I give Derik a quick glance, and his eyes are darting from me to Thomas in shock. I guess he’s figured out I’m not what I seem. I wish he never had, but it’s too late for that now.
“I said”—Waving my hand and wrapping the water around Thomas’s neck like a rope, I squeeze—“Let him go!” I continue through clenched teeth.
“Holy Fuck,” Derik whispers, so light most wouldn’t hear it. But I’m not most, and his words make me want to die. He sees now what kind of a freak of nature I am. At least he’ll stay away from me from now on. The eyes bulge out on Thomas’s face and he drops his hold on Derik, who splashes a bit in the water until he gets his balance.
“Derik, go,” I tell him while I’m trying very hard not to strangle Thomas. I want to do it, but I’d have to live with it, and I’m not sure I can.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, pulling my focus to him.
“Are you crazy? I said, go! I can’t hold him like this much longer.” I start getting tired. It takes a lot to manipulate the elements, no matter how fun and effortless it seems.
“No,” he says stubbornly before he swims up to Thomas and punches him in the face. Lights out for Thomas, I guess, so I let my control over the water go. Derik grabs hold of Thomas and drags him behind him as he swims towards me.
“We need to get out of the water.”
He nods and we swim back towards the shore. Halfway there, I hear Derik humph, like all the air was pushed out of his lungs, and I turn my head to see if he is okay. All I see at that moment is Thomas holding him by the neck and chanting. Within a second, Derik is gone.
Thomas sneers triumphantly at me. “There goes the human,” he says like he’s a child.
“You fucking monster! What did you do to him?”
I’m not even aware I’m doing it, but I have the water rope twice the size of the one before wrapped around his shoulders and neck, squeezing him like a boa constrictor. His face turns gray. I hear the girls yelling from the shore, but I couldn’t care less. I want him to die.
“If you kill me, you’ll never find him, Alexia,” Thomas half whispers, and that snaps me out of my rage. I release him just enough so he can take a breath.
“Where is he, Thomas? Where did you send him?” If he doesn’t tell me, I’m going to kill him. I’ll find Derik another way.
“I sent him to Lucifer,” he says and starts laughing like a crazy person.
“That’s your idea of hurting him? You sent him to the light bearer?” I take a moment and really look at him. The guy really is crazy. I guess that’s what dark magick does to you. He frowns at me like he didn’t think of that. “You skipped the lesson on your angels, Thomas?” I ask him.
“Well, you can’t find him without my help, so it doesn’t matter where I sent him. Only I can bring him back,” he says with a smile. By this time, Meda and Jezzinta are next to me.
“He tells the truth, A-ma. Only the one that sends humans through the portals can bring them back.” At her words, I squeeze the water harder.
“Sap, don’t do it. I know you want to, but you’ll regret it the second it’s done. Please, sister.” Jezzinta puts her hand on my arm and I can see again through the red in my eyes.
“Well, we need to bring this thing with us. I’m not letting him out of my sight until he brings Derik back!” I tell her.
“That can be arranged. Hold him like this for a minute. Be right back,” Jezzinta says and starts swimming back to shore. “Don’t kill him,” she throws over her shoulder.
After a few minutes, she comes back with a handful of berries and
shoves them in the warlock’s face, holding his mouth so he can’t spit them out. As soon as she’s sure he swallows them, she moves away.
“What did you give him?” I look at her.
“Oh, just some poison berries. I saw them growing on the bushes around the beach. At my raised eyebrows she adds, “They won’t kill a warlock, but they’ll make him like a puppet. He will do what we tell him. With the handful I gave him, we have three or four hours max.”
The girl is a genius.
“Okay, let’s go. We have a warlock to play with!”
I smile and can know how evil it must look, because Thomas’s eyes are too big for his face. He’ll regret touching Derik; I’ll make sure he does. We go to shore dragging the warlock with us. When we near it I see Remi waiting for us there.
“She’s so angry that she wouldn’t even come to help,” I say furiously.
“She’s deathly afraid of water, A-ma. After she drowned two lifetimes in a row,” Meda tells me, and that makes me feel like an ass. I need to stop being so self-centered. It’s not all about me. I’ll tell Remi I’m sorry later. Right now, it’s time to make the warlock pay.
Chapter 18
“Let’s tie him in the basement,” Remi says as soon as we stop the car in front of the house. Her pacific blue Volkswagen Tiguan was a smart choice today; we would’ve been sitting on top of each other if we’d used Jezzinta’s Micra. My car? I haven’t seen Jasmine since I parked her that day at work when my entire life took a turn.
We pile out of the car dragging Thomas with us. According to Jezzinta’s assessment, we have an hour, two max, left to get him to bring Derik back before he’s back to his old self. We lost half an hour parked on the side of the road in front of the property so Remi and Jezzinta could put some sort of a cloaking spell over him using their own blood, just so we could bring him here without him dying. Apparently, my grandmother was not joking around when she made sure this place was safe from anything but humans—well, and us, obviously. I wouldn’t mind if he was gone for good, but not before he brings Derik back. We need him out of here by then.
I’m still furious at him. I want to strangle him and watch the life drain out of his body, but Derik didn’t do anything wrong apart from being kind enough to try and help me, so the least I can do is bring him back even when I know he’ll never want to see my face again. I know I wouldn’t if I was him.
We tie Thomas up in a chair Meda brought down and stand around him.
“Okay, warlock, you need to bring the human back,” Remi tells him.
I’m scared just seeing her like this. Her anger is so strong it makes the air in the room cold and my breath is puffing out between my lips.
“We need him moving, not frozen, Remi,” I tell her and she starts taking deep breaths. It warms up a little.
“Did you hear what she said?” I ask him, and he nods at me like a fool. “Do it!”