The Daughter (The Oracle Series Book 6)

by Witherspoon, Cynthia D.

  “Burned.” He sighed when the doors opened. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Let’s get you to bed. We have a very long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

  I didn’t argue. I didn’t protest. I let Joey lead me into my room where my luggage was already waiting. But with it, there were piles of boxes. The equipment Joey had ordered before we left Los Angeles.

  I ignored it. I would deal with it in the morning. I hugged my friend when he left me. But instead of heading to the shower, I grabbed my phone and flopped down on the bed. I pulled up Cyrus’ number and send him a single message.

  In Romania. Already talked to the press. Good night. XOXO

  I dropped the phone beside me and grabbed the closest pillow to me. I worked it into place then released a happy sigh despite the fact that I was still fully clothed. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt safe here. Secure. I tried to pull myself up to get moving, but I couldn’t make myself do it. Instead, I buried my head deeper into the pillow and closed my eyes.

  I was asleep within seconds.

  ***

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  I stared at the backpack Joey was trying to convince me held all the essentials I would need when we were in the woods. I went from staring at the backpack to him.

  “I can’t carry that. It’s bigger than I am.”

  “It’s not so bad.” He shook his head at me. “Now turn around. I have to adjust the straps for you.”

  I glared at him for a good five seconds before I did what he asked. I could see Dominique trying her best not to laugh as he hefted the heavy thing onto my back. I frowned when he came back into view.

  “Joey, what the hell is in this thing? Concrete?” I lifted my shoulders as he reached out to adjust the right strap. “Stones? The entire Theia Productions shoe collection?”

  “Survival kit.” He kept his eyes down as he tugged at the nylon. “Your bag has your tent, your food, your clothes. No makeup though. You’re going to have to do without that.”

  I rolled my eyes as he began to work on the left side. “I think I’ll live without my eyeliner for a few days.”

  “Good. Cause it wouldn’t fit.” He took a step back. “There. The weight is balanced. How does it feel now?”

  “Like I’m carrying a house.” I grabbed the straps. “But better. Thanks, darlin’.”

  “Don’t mention it.” He helped me take the damn thing off. “I got something else for you too.”

  “What?”

  “Body camera.” He reached into the small black bag by his feet. “I’ll attach it once we get to the forest. We might lose each other, Evie. This will help me figure out just where in the hell you are.”

  “Ok. So that’s helpful.”

  “Very.” Joey patted me on the arm. “I’ve got everything I need. What time are we meeting with your contact again?”

  “At 5 a.m.” I took the opportunity to shake out my arms. “Arc said he’d meet us in the lobby.”

  “So we’ve got twenty minutes.” Joey glanced at his watch. “Let’s go on down. That should be plenty of time to get our stuff loaded up in the car.”

  “There’s a car?” Dominique quipped. “With all this talk about ‘roughing it’, I just assumed we would be walking.”

  “Funny.” I responded in the driest tone I could manage. “Make yourself useful. Grab a bag. Preferably mine.”

  “Nice try, Barbie.” She huffed. “This may be good for you. It’ll help you toughen up. Work on your strength training.”

  I decided my best course of action at that moment was to ignore Dominique. It was far too early and I hadn’t had near enough coffee to deal with the keeper. So I crossed the room, grabbed the phone, and hit the ‘0’ on the keypad. Two rings later, a woman’s chipper voice greeted me.

  “Hey, good morning.” I cleared my throat. “Can you send someone up for our bags? We need to have them packed in the car and ready to go.”

  “Of course, Miss. McRayne. They will be up in a few moments.”

  “Great. Thanks.” I hung up the phone to see Dominique raise an eyebrow in my direction. “What?”

  “That is not what I call ‘strength training’.”

  “No, it’s called ‘using your resources’.” I pulled at my ponytail to tighten it. “Good lesson for you to learn.”

  I didn’t give her a chance to respond, but I could hear Joey snickering behind me as I made sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. I was sure we were going to be away from civilization for at least a week. And I was pretty damn sure that no one was going to be willing to deliver anything if we needed it. So by the time the hotel porter showed up, I was sure there was nothing I would possibly miss. Even if I was stuck in the middle of nowhere.

  We entered the lobby a few minutes before five to see the place abandoned except for a lone woman standing behind the impressive wooden counter. I frowned at the massive clock that hung on the far wall before I saw movement just off to my right. A tall man was standing by a large window holding a stick up and moving his head around. I stuck my hands in my pockets as I approached him. It wasn’t until I was by his side that I realized what was in his hand.

  A selfie stick with a cellphone attached to the end. The man gave his image on the screen a brooding look before I saw the flash go off.

  “Excuse me.” I cleared my throat. “You wouldn’t happen to be Arc, would you?”

  “I am.” He was so focused on catching himself in the right light that he didn’t look at me. “You must be Eva.”

  “I am.”

  I almost ducked when he reached out to grab my arm. He pulled me next to him and gave his camera a massive grin. “Smile, girl. You’re about to be famous.”

  “I am already famous.” I stared at him. “Who are you?”

  “Arc. You know that.”

  “Yeah, ok.” It was my turn to reach out. I snagged the stupid stick and pulled it out of hand. “How do you know Prometheus?”

  “How do you?” He pouted. “Give me my camera back.”

  “Answer my question first.”

  “Fine. He and I became close when we were in Tartarus.”

  “So you’re Greek.”

  “Of course I am.” Arc widened his bright green eyes. “What else could I be and still look so stunning?”

  I started laughing when the pieces fell into place. The selfies. The vanity. Tartarus. Arc was none other than Narcissus. The god who loved himself so much, he became a flower because he stared at his reflection so long.

  “What?” He snatched the stick from my hand. “I didn’t say that to be funny.”

  “Joey, Dominique.” I managed to contain my laughter long enough to speak in clear sentences. “Meet Narcissus.”

  “Wait, Narcissus?” Joey looked between me and our new acquaintance. “I thought he was turned into a flower.”

  “Things change. Sadly.” The strange man sighed. “Alas, Zeus saw better use for me in this new, improved world. I help him with his fashion sense. He lets me remain free to roam the top soil. Or rather, grace it with my presence.”

  “He is going to get annoying. Real fast.”

  Joey whispered in my ear. I clamped my hand over my mouth as I tried to hide my giggling behind a cough. I will admit, Narcissus was quite the sight. He was chiseled. Lean. Every strand of his thick blonde hair seemed to behave. Even his beard had been trimmed to perfection.

  I knew from the stories Cyrus had forced me to read that he knew how good he looked. And that vanity had been his curse. But there was more to him than a pretty face.

  Narcissus had been a hunter once. He would be very familiar with the woods. I wondered if I could get him to come along with us, but decided against it. This little mission was going to be dangerous enough as is. I didn’t need another being to look after. Joey and Dominique were enough.

  “Ok. So let’s have it. Hoia-Baciu.” I looped my arm through his to pull him to the closest sofa. “Where do we need to go?”

  The demi-god was too busy stari
ng at himself in the reflection of the wooden table to answer me. I ended up nudging him with my elbow before he reached into his pocket to pull out a sheet of paper.

  “Here. I drew it out for you.”

  “Um, thanks?”

  I took the flimsy piece of paper and unfolded it. It was the crude drawing of a circle. But around that circle was little lines that I recognized. Directions written in ancient Greek. I smoothed out the paper and held up my phone to snap a picture of it. When I was done, I tucked my phone into my jacket pocket.

  “Any tips you can give us? I know about your past, Narcissus, as a hunter.”

  “Don’t call me that. It’s too 3rd century.” He finally tore his eyes off of his reflection to look at me. “I go by Arc now.”

  “Fine. Arc. What do we need to watch out for?”

  “The forgotten ones.” The man shuddered. “Wretched, forgotten beasts who will not hesitate to rip you to shreds.”

  “Any idea how the barrier was weakened in the first place?” Joey perched himself on the other side of me. “I mean, sure, Eva can do her thing to strengthen it. But how can we prevent this from happening again?”

  “No idea.” Narcissus shrugged. “I’m no historian nor am I a Titan. I am just here for the money.”

  “Of course, you are.” I stood up and stretched. “Alright, Arc. Let’s head out. You can tell Joey here where we need to park the car.”

  “Already? The sun has just risen…” His voice trailed off before he broke into a smile that brightened the entire room. “The light is best in the golden hour. Let’s go. I need some new outdoor shots anyway.”

  As Narcissus led us outside, I shook my head. The Greeks never ceased to amaze me. So when he climbed into the car, I joined him with a single question in mind.

  “Have you considered a career in Hollywood, Arc? I think you would fit in nicely.”

  “Nah.” He waved his hand in the air to dismiss my question. “Too much work. Too little time for my beauty routine. I could never devote myself to the silver screen.”

  “What is your line of work, exactly?”

  “Photographer.” Narcissus twisted around to see me. “I model on the side, though. Good pay. Beautiful clothes. What’s not to like?”

  “Everything.” I shuddered. “Sorry, Arc. I’m not a fan of modeling. Too much responsibility for clothes I don’t even like.”

  “I don’t have that problem.” He shrugged. “I just do what I’m told. Admire the results. If something happens, it happens.”

  We fell silent when Joey started up the car. He drove through the narrow streets until the town fell away. Though I don’t know how Joey could see anything. The farther away we got from civilization, the thicker the fog became until we were crawling down the road. Which gave Arc plenty of time to talk about his favorite subject.

  Himself. I learned that he had become a vegan during the 19th century. That he spent the majority of his time taking Pilates and photographs of himself. Our new tour guide boasted to have collected over two thousand selfies in the past two years alone.

  By the time he told Joey to pull over, I was ready to throw Narcissus out of the car just to get some peace and quiet. I wanted to think. I wanted to go over our game plan. Instead, I had been forced to listen to a god whose biggest fear was that MAC would stop making his favorite contouring kit.

  “Thank. God.” Joey muttered when he joined me at the trunk. “I was tempted to run us off the road just to give Arc something else to talk about.”

  I awarded him with a small smile before I shook my head. “It wouldn’t have worked, Joey. The sky could have fallen in around his ears and he’d still talk about how good he looks in black.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Joey lifted the lid. “What’d ya say, Evie? Ready to do this thing?”

  “As ready as I will ever be.”

  We went through the same routine we did at every location. A brief talk about how what we were going to shoot first. Made sure I knew what I was going to say for the introduction. Equipped our mics. But this time, Joey had new toys to play with. He grinned like a kid at Christmas as he attached his body camera on. Then mine. My friend snapped the last wire in place just below my left shoulder before he told me how to use the damn thing.

  “It will stay on the entire time.” He took a step back to admire his work. “So we’ll capture footage from your angle, Evie. But if we get separated, I want you to press this button here.”

  “What button?” I tried to look down. “All I see are wires.”

  “Here.” Joey lifted up a tiny black box he had hooked onto my side. “Press this and your location will show up on my phone. And stay put. I might not be able to keep up with you if you take off.”

  “Fine.” I glanced over to where Arc and Dominique were waiting. “Anything else?”

  “Your bag, madam.” He grinned. “Turn around. I’ll help you put it on.”

  “Hate this thing. So much.”

  Joey chuckled as I did what I was told. Soon enough, he had me strapped into the bag that held everything I would need to survive for the next week. As we joined the others, I tried to think of something smart to say. Something sarcastic about investigating a beach next. But my words died in my throat as I noticed our surroundings.

  Despite the dense fog, I could still make out thick black trees. Memories of what I had been through in Montana played at the forefront of my mind, but I shoved them back. Now was not the time to remember. This was different. And there was so much more at stake than a simple haunting.

  Granted, I couldn’t classify Montana as a simple haunting either. The monsters there turned out to be the work of Hera. It was my first true interaction with her. But it didn’t matter. Not now. I wasn’t at some ritzy horse farm. I was in Romania. At Tartarus.

  I had a job to do. Be the hero. Be everything everyone expected me to be.

  It was time to get to work.

  Chapter Ten

  It wasn’t until we were halfway across the field that led up to Hoia-Baciu that I noticed the mob waiting for us. Men and women - some with cameras, some with microphones - started cheering when they saw us. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and let my face fall into the mask I wore around the press. It was easier to hide my fear that way.

  “Who invited them to the party?” Joey frowned as he came up beside me. “I thought you asked them yesterday to leave us alone.”

  “In the woods, yes.” I nodded. “I didn’t say anything about them greeting us at the proverbial door, though.”

  “Well, I can’t say that I blame them. I am pretty spectacular.” Joey smirked. “I am just surprised, that’s all. I’d expect this in the U.S. Not here.”

  “Bună dimineaţa!” Arc pushed past Dominique to grab my arm. He waved to the press with a laugh as he pulled me towards them. He fired off another round of a language I couldn’t speak before he finally decided not to be rude. My newest companion switched to English. “Oh, good. They speak your language, Sibyl.”

  “Great.” I gave him a tight smile. “Not surprising though. I thought everyone spoke English here.”

  Arc scoffed as he introduced himself to the press as my guide. I didn’t bother to hide the disbelief on my face as he talked about his fear for us as we went into Hoia-Baciu. But this group had no interest in the great Narcissus. A woman pushed her microphone at me as she asked me about my time in Romania so far.

  I did the best I could. I tried to be patient. Answer all of their questions. But time was running out. When Joey cleared his throat, I found my way out.

  “It’s time for us to film the introduction to the episode.” I took a step away from them. “Joey, let’s include our new friends this time.”

  “Whatever you say, Evie.” He narrowed his eyes at me and lifted his camera off the ground. He put it on his shoulder as I turned back to the group.

  “Just stay still. Cheer or shout when necessary, ok?”

  “What are you doing?” Dominique hissed into my ear. “I th
ought we were going to take care of the barrier. Not parade you around like…”

  “My duties include bringing glory to our pantheon, right? Recognition?” I gave her the most hateful look I could manage. “Well, I’m doing that. So shut up and let me do my job.”

  She glared at me before she moved to stand behind Arc. I could still feel her staring as I nodded to Joey. He dropped his hand to tell me we were rolling, so I grinned hard enough to make my cheeks hurt.

  “Welcome back to Grave Messages! Today we’re greeting you from a field outside of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. For those of you familiar with the paranormal world, you know exactly where I am. But for those of you who aren’t? Well. See those trees behind me? That’s the infamous Hoia-Baciu Forest. The most haunted forest in the world.”

  I opened my arms to gesture to the press behind me. “And check out the welcoming wagon! Romania sure knows how to make a girl feel wanted around these parts.”

  The crowd behind me cheered and I caught sight of Dominique rolling her eyes. Not that her opinion mattered. So I smiled brighter. Wider. And kept talking.

  “It’s true that we are here to document the paranormal in these woods. But our purpose in Romania is much darker. Much more deadly. You see, buried beneath these lands is none other than Tartarus itself. Never heard of it? Good. That’ll keep you away from here. Let’s just say it’s a very bad place for very bad souls. Thanks to the Olympian Council – yeah, those same gods you learned about in middle school – Joey and I are here with one Dominique Breaux to keep those bad souls from escaping. Say hello to the viewers at home, Dominique. I’m sure they are just dying to meet you.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my laughter when she gave Joey’s camera a dark look. When he turned back to me, I was still chuckling.

  “Anyway, we’ve got a grocery list of activities planned for the week ahead. Document the paranormal on these lands as Alexandru Sift attempted to do back in the 1950s. Shut down a weakening barrier. Find a way for me to survive the week without Wi-Fi. Good times. So let’s get started, shall we?”

  I winked at the camera and saw the little red light shut off. I turned back to the press behind me to thank them for their participation, but as I waved goodbye to them, I noticed a woman watching me. She was in the very center of the crowd. Her Latina features striking in this part of the world. But it was more than that. The stranger noticed she had my attention, so she gave me a cruel half-smile, nodded her head, and disappeared.