by Kristen Day
I loosened my grip only slightly around Sebastian and laughed with joy. The cadence of the horse’s hooves provided the backdrop to the majestic union of rider and horse. Xanthos could have been an extension of Sebastian; running and turning only at his direction. The entire experience was powerful and breathtaking, and I greedily reveled in the velvety feel of Sebastian’s skin and the softness of the leather saddle against my legs.
It was then when I wondered why mankind had ever given up this marriage of strength and beauty. Modern day transportation separated us from the outside world and distanced us from the animals we had depended on for centuries. I could actually imagine what it must have been like before the invention of the wheel and the undeniable human need for technology. For a moment I felt as if I had been transported to a magical land full of regal heritage, powerful beasts, and happy endings. Then I realized…maybe I had.
Chapter 34
Stasia
“Welcome, Granddaughter, to your destiny,” the stunning woman proclaimed with a wicked grin. As the powerful energy surged through my body once more, I glanced down at the still body beside me. Suddenly her violet eyes flew open with panic and she lunged at me.
“Stasia, no!” she screamed a warning.
Driven only by reflex, I wasted no time plunging the dagger into the girl’s chest with as much force as I could muster. I watched as blood sprayed my hands and ran down my arms with wonder. I pulled the dagger from her body and inspected her pale, unmoving face.
I woke up to the soft caress of water lapping at my face. Like a gentle hand urging me awake, it spoke to my heart and roused my soul. I sensed that I was lying down, but my face wasn’t the only part of me dripping with water. My entire body was wet. A chilly wind blew in from the water and goose bumps rose on my exposed skin.
“Pasha!”
Finn? I tried to say it out loud but my voice wasn’t cooperating. All I could manage was a weak moan. I attempted to shift my legs, but they remained stubbornly curled beneath me; unmoving and shivering. I felt fingers wipe away the sodden hair matted to my face and willed my tired eyes to open. When they refused, I concentrated instead on the other sense available to me. A comforting darkness wrapped around me and began to calm my anxiety and relax my frantic heartbeat.
Finn’s strong, capable arms easily cradled my body and lifted me from my resting place in the wet sand. The air whipped around my dripping face, and the sounds of night filled my ears as he carried me up what felt like stairs. The rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat against his chest lulled me into a warm stupor filled with visions of crashing waves, soft kisses and endless safety.
I was awakened by a harsh light against my eyelids, a mixture of essences I couldn’t distinguish between, and the feel of being lowered onto a plush piece of furniture. The tranquilizing, nostalgic smell of hot tea swirled through my thoughts and my mouth began to water.
“Avery, find her some dry clothes from the bedroom,” a soft voice directed calmly. “Carmen, grab a dry towel.”
“I’ll spoon some cardamom and ginger into the tea,” another woman’s voice offered.
“Stasia,” Finn called to me once more in a low voice tight with concern. I tried to open my eyes again, but my eyelids just fluttered uselessly. Not only could I not move, I didn’t particularly want to. It felt like too much work. I wanted to give in to the fuzzy promise of unconsciousness nipping at the back of my mind. The only thing keeping me from surrendering was the constant frenzy of voices and distraction of essences all around me.
Someone lifted my head and placed a dry towel behind my neck, removing the wet hair from my skin, and I felt my body warming immediately.
“Hold on,” Finn instructed someone. The hands supporting my head froze and a heavy silence filled the room. I felt someone gently run their fingers over the back of my neck and shivered. The ghost finger outlined the newest trace in my growing repertoire; a violet half-moon.
“How long has she had that?” a woman’s voice inquired solemnly.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it,” Finn said quietly. I tried to move my head out of their grasp, but to no avail. I fought to move a finger, an arm, a toe - anything. But my mind didn’t seem connected to my body, and at the same time, I didn’t care. I could lay there until the end of time and have no qualms about it. The punishing blackness urging me to dive into my dreams suddenly became more potent as an icy wave of energy washed over me and blocked out my ability to hear.
Next came an empowering burst of intensity shooting through my veins and filling my essence. I thought I felt my mouth pull up into a grin, but I couldn’t be sure. Slowly the power ran its course and settled into every fiber of my muscles, heart, and thoughts. Then all of a sudden, I could hear again.
“Finn, hold up the towel and we’ll get her changed out of those clothes,” a voice instructed. I kept still, as to not give away the energy running through me and the urge to run from them as fast as possible. And why were they undressing me?! In the middle of the living, no less! I was about to stand and fight my way out of that claustrophobic prison of a room when my senses tuned into the exterior of the house, where a group of unfamiliar essences gathered outside. I forced myself to lie still. I needed to find out what was going on and who had just arrived.
One essence was charged with a sharp electric heat that sizzled against anything it came into contact with. I felt the tree tremor as she came closer. Olivia. Always Olivia. Why did she insist on crowding me? The second essence was born of the Earth itself; giving off an undeniable solidity and the eternal promise of growth. The other two were the most perplexing of all. Their unidentifiable essences were reticent and ancient, but…not human. They were more raw - even animalistic - in nature. I felt the energy of another, but no essence. It unnerved me.
“What happened!?” A panic-stricken Olivia crashed through the door and stomped her way toward the couch where I was foiling inside. The acute spark of her essence danced across my skin and filled the room with static, and I lost the ability to feel the other essences clearly in her presence. My already erratic pulse quickened with frustration.
“She disappeared again and ended up on the lakeshore…drenched to the bone,” Finn’s voice explained beside of me.
“Disappeared? What do you mean she disappeared?” Olivia’s accusatory tone was directed at someone behind me. “I thought you were going to protect her!?”
“Olivia-” a voice tried. Avery, possibly?
“She is strong,” Amphitrite said. “She could have killed me, but she chose not to.”
My thoughts raced back in time and flashes of a startled Amphitrite raced across my mind’s eye momentarily. She shouldn’t have tried to stop me. She should have known better than to cross a Goddess as strong as I was. It was her own fault she got hurt.
“Kill you?” Olivia gasped. “You mean she hurt you?”
“During these ‘sleep walks’, I believe she may be under the influence of something - or someone - else. She is not herself,” Amphitrite defended me. “She simply knocked me out for a short period of time. I can assure you that I am fine now. And it looks like her eyes are back to normal, so I believe all is well.”
Amphitrite had always possessed strong intuition. Maybe I should have killed her when I had the chance. I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
“Her eyes?” I felt Finn stand abruptly.
“I had completely forgotten until just now,” Amphitrite remembered; clearly perplexed. “Seconds before she incapacitated me, her eyes changed. They appeared to be more…violet.”
“Violet?” a resonant voice reiterated from the doorway. The sound startled me, considering there was no essence connected to him. Then it clicked. Sebastian. At his voice, a blast of energy clouded Finn’s dark essence and he crossed the room in seconds. Somehow Olivia got there faster.
“Did you have something to do with this?!” Finn fumed at him. I peeked out of one eye to see what was going on. Finn was being held u
p by Olivia, who had her hands on his chest. He glanced down at her with eyes full of surprise.
“That’s got to be at least four times I’ve been accused of that,” Sebastian smirked as his eyes slid to Olivia with feigned indignation. He leaned up against the door frame and crossed his arms nonchalantly. “If I make it to five, do I get one free?” Scorching anger exploded from Finn at Sebastian’s cavalier attitude, and he shoved Olivia out of his way.
“Answer the question.” Finn pinned him up against the wall and Sebastian sighed visibly.
“He was with me, Finn,” Olivia advocated for him, and tugged at Finn’s arm.
“Like I told you before,” Sebastian finally spoke with contempt, “I would never harm her.”
“But you are hiding something.” Finn narrowed his eyes at him. I found myself wondering how Sebastian was, in fact, masking his essence. And why.
“And just what would that be?” Sebastian challenged Finn with a toothy smile.
“We all have our secrets,” a kind, calming voice said behind him. I felt a slight rumble ripple through the tree below at her presence. “But they are our own to reveal…in time.”
The other essence. She slid around Sebastian and gently placed a hand on Finn’s tense arm. Wild red hair flowed down her shoulders, and bright green eyes held his gaze with severe wisdom and poignant authority. It was then that her essence washed over me in earnest. Waves of earthen strength and the smell of dew on summer grass washed over me like a spring shower. My curiosity piqued and I fought to lie still; not yet seeking to bring attention to myself.
“You favor your father in appearance.” She tilted her head in thought, and then lifted a sly, red eyebrow. “And in temperament.”
“Meara!”
I closed my eyes as Amphitrite squealed with delight and the two women embraced each other.
“Watch yourself,” I heard Finn threaten Sebastian. “I won’t tolerate disrespect.”
“This is Meara,” Amphitrite announced to the house. “She is the Queen of Atlantis.”
Well that explained it. Why had Olivia brought the Queen of Atlantis here? That would only make things more complicated. It was then that I decided Olivia would need to be dealt with. She was too much of a liability.
“Olivia has been quite distressed concerning Anastasia’s well-being.” Meara stepped closer to where I was lying on the couch. “I see she is resting peacefully?”
“You know who Stasia is?” Phoebe gasped. Oh, Phoebe. So naïve.
“Of course, child,” Meara’s light tone indicated she was smiling. “Everyone knows of Anastasia.” Finn sat back down beside me, and I allowed myself to enjoy his churning darkness as it washed over me.
“It’s a privilege to meet you, Meara,” Finn acknowledged with building edginess. “But the new information Amphitrite has divulged could mean there’s something going on that has impacted us all. There is someone Stasia needs to meet.”
Someone I needed to meet? I didn’t have time for this! My thoughts shifted into overdrive and I quickly constructed several escape plans. None of which were favorable. Or that didn’t call for severe loss of life. Then again, maybe this meeting they had concocted could work in my favor. I decided to wait it out for just a little while longer.
“And who would that be?” Olivia affronted.
“Can I count on you to look after Stasia while I go get her?” Finn ignored Olivia while addressing the room. I loved the fact that he didn’t trust my safety to anyone else. Not that I needed anyone ensuring my safety. They should be more worried about themselves. But they would find that out soon enough.
“Her?” Olivia asked again, with suspicion evident in her sober tone. Finn’s essence darkened considerably next to me.
“Stasia’s cousin.”
Chapter 35
Olivia
“Stasia’s cousin?” I demanded as we descended the stairs of the tree house. “Since when does Stasia have a cousin?”
“Since today. She’s claiming to be Luna’s daughter.”
“Luna?” I asked no one in particular. The last time I’d heard that name was in my Order History class. “I thought she had no descendants?”
“So did I,” he muttered under his breath. He spun around abruptly and grabbed my wrist to inspect the trace on my palm. I snatched it away from him out of reflex, but his face showed his satisfaction at its inactivity. I’d noticed it had stopped burning by the time we’d reached the tree houses; eliciting a mixture of emotions within me. I was overjoyed by the fact that she was no longer in danger, but that either meant she was dead or someone else had saved her. Neither of which I preferred.
“Are those Sebastian’s horses?” Finn asked me.
“Yeah.”
“Interesting,” he mumbled. He eyed them warily as we walked past.
“More like terrifying,” I interjected, and then chuckled. “It was one hell of a ride. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“Had you never been on a horse before?” he asked curiously. I didn’t miss the amusement lining his words.
“It’s not like the beach is the horse riding capital of the world, you know.”
“True,” he laughed. “But the irony is impeccable.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I stomped in front of him and put my hands on my hips.
“Back in the day, knights were also called Paladins,” he smirked at me.
“And?” I prompted impatiently.
“Knights always rode horses.” He covered up another laugh with a poorly executed cough, and brushed past me.
“I’m descended from Calypso, a powerful Goddess who wiped out whole armies of knights on the regular,” I huffed back at him. “What did their impressive horse riding abilities get them? Dead! That’s what.”
He shook with laughter as we made our way to the base of his tree house. Moments later, we both stopped in our tracks when emphatic, angry voices floated down from above. Finn and I shared a sharp glance as another roar of shouts filled the air. We raced up the stairs and into the small cabin perched in the candelabra tree; not knowing what we’d find once we got there.
“If you’re going to cheat, at least be good at it!” Ricker was yelling when Finn swung open the front door.
“Why don’t you tell me your secret then, since you’re such an expert!” Ian threw back him viciously. He slammed his cards down on the dining room table and stood up.
“Oh, good.” Ricker noticed us. “Finn, come tell this cheater he can’t put down an Ace - one, two, three. Everybody knows it can only be Ace, King, Queen-”
“An Ace goes either way, you jack-wagon!” Ian argued, and threw up his hands in disgust.
“You can’t be serious,” I muttered under my breath. Cards? That’s what they were all upset about? I walked over to the table where Sean, Ian, and Ricker appeared to be playing gin rummy and snatched the cards out of their hands.
“Hey!” Ricker cried. “We’re in the middle of a game!”
“Not anymore,” I informed him calmly, and tucked the deck of cards into my back pocket.
“Where’s Liam?” Finn asked the guys.
“If I had to guess he’s probably sulking somewhere, painting his fingernails black and listening to Megadeth,” Ian snickered. It was then that I noticed a fourth person in the kitchen. She had her back to us and appeared to be washing something in the sink; oblivious to the card game or our arrival. Her pale, long hair swished back and forth as her arms went to work, and she hummed softly. Something seemed very familiar about her. With Finn taking care of the guys, I slowly made my way through the kitchen towards her.
“You’re getting stronger,” she accused me without turning around. “It would appear you are somewhat of an enigma, Paladin.”
“What did you say?” I provoked suspiciously. She set down a towel and deliberately added a small clear stone to the collection she had laid out on the countertop. She spun around and met my gaze with light blue eyes and a quiet smirk danci
ng on her pale lips. Her ivory skin appeared even more translucent in the artificial light of the kitchen. Her eyes weren’t violet, but I knew it was her. It was definitely her.
“What are you doing here?” I narrowed my eyes at her and took a menacing step towards her.
“At the moment?” she smiled at me. “Making the most of captivity. My crystals needed polishing.”
“Captivity?”
“It’s extremely difficult,” she turned back around and sorted through the tiny crystals, “to be born into a specific destiny, whether you want it or not. The divine fate you’ve been given begins to feel more like a curse. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“And what would you know about curses?” I crossed my arms skeptically and raised an eyebrow. I heard Finn filling the guys in on where he’d found Stasia and how she was doing, and I did a quick palm check to make sure she wasn’t in danger.
“I know we can never reach our full potential until we embrace our ‘curse’ fully.”
“Spare me,” I scoffed. “You sound just like my mother.”
“Fallon.” Finn entered the room and eyed the girl with firm resolution. “Time to come clean. Let’s go.”
I was able to put two and two together fairly quickly, as Finn grabbed Fallon’s wrist and led her out of the kitchen. This stalking, riddle-speaking, pale girl was Stasia’s cousin. She was also the sole descendant of the other moon Goddess, Luna, which added to her ‘cannot be trusted’ status in my eyes.
“Tell Carmen to come over here when ya’ll are done questioning moon-girl,” Ricker told me off-handedly as I followed Finn and Fallon out the door.