“Good.” I jetted onto Chaumont, slid into the gravel driveway and hopped out. I heard Springer barking excitedly at my arrival. “Come on in.” I dug for my keys, which were still in my jeans. Good thing I took them off before I hopped in the ocean. Oh right, he saw me in my underwear. Oh well, he’d already seen me in less than that.
“Coming, Springer!” I jiggled the key in the lock and opened the door, then Springer blew past me without so much as a courtesy bark. “Wow, you must really have to go.” But he didn’t make for the garden. He shot down the beach toward the marina. “Springer! Come back here!”
“You want me to go after him?”
I didn’t know what to do. Where was Heliope? “He’ll probably be right back, just smells something interesting. Heliope? You in here?” The house felt warm, even though it was the beginning of October. “Heliope?”
“Wasn’t she coming back here?”
“I thought she was. But there’s no sign of her. Where could she have gone?”
“Maybe to the shop?”
I hated leaving home so soon, but that was the only logical thing I could think of. Just then, someone knocked on my door. “Hold on a second,” I said to Ramara, who was rummaging through my refrigerator.
I opened the door and found Jolly standing there. In a disappointed voice, he said, “Oh, hey.”
“Hi, Jolly,” I replied, feeling anxious. I didn’t recall ever having him at my house before. “Something I can help you with?”
“There’s been an evacuation, and I was making sure you knew about it.”
“Yes, we just heard that. You closing up at the school?”
“Uh huh. Is Heliope around? I could use her help with something.”
“Oh, shoot. No she’s not, but I’ll be sure and tell her you’re looking for her, okay?”
He noticed Ramara, who had apparently found a sandwich in the fridge and was enjoying it while lingering behind me. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Jeff. “Anything else, Jolly?”
“No, I guess that’s it. I think. No, there’s something else.” I saw him tense up, his eyes squeezed shut. He started breathing fast as if he might have a heart attack right on my front porch.
“Oh goodness! You okay? Sit in the rocker here.”
“No, I have to tell you—the gate—Heliope’s at the gate—she needs you to come now…” Then with a loud scream he collapsed in the rocker, panting harder than before.
“How do you know about the gate?” Ramara tossed the sandwich in the yard like I lived in a rundown old trailer park. I didn’t think right now was the time to correct his behavior, but I would certainly mention it later.
“I’m not supposed to-tell-you…” He struggled to say each word, and then Ramara understood.
“It’s the Order. He’s the new gate guardian. We have to go now!”
“I’ll grab the keys! Jolly, stay here. We’ll be back soon! I hope!”
“No time for keys. I’ll drive,” Ramara said, scooping me up and taking off across the island at a dizzying speed. What? I thought he couldn’t do this anymore!
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the closeness of him. It lasted only a few seconds because we were at the gate so fast my head was spinning. I doubted my dizziness was from his speed. Good lord, you’re being ridiculous, I scolded myself. I tucked a hair behind my ear and stood at the gate, pretending to appraise it. No letters glowed over the top, and I didn’t see Heliope anywhere. Ramara sat on a rock nearby and watched me.
“All the years, decades, centuries I’ve guarded the gate, and I’ve never been through it. I guess there’s no time like the present.” I looked up and down the beach and called her name. Nothing, not a sound. There weren’t any seagulls either and no sign of Springer. “It looks all clear.” He acted as if he didn’t hear me. “Hey! Can you activate this thing or what?”
“You really mean you can’t, princess?”
“You know I can’t.”
“Just say ‘open sesame’ and believe that it will open.”
“What is wrong with you?” I didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. He was just too dang moody lately. I looked up and down the rock formation, trying to find a clue as to how to open it. “Can you open this or not? Heliope needs us! You heard Jolly.”
“Yes, I can open it. But maybe I don’t want to.”
I stomped in the sand toward him. “What do you mean you don’t want to?” Before I could let him have it, something like a sonic boom sounded across the water. “What was that?” The island shook slightly under my feet. “Minerva?” I asked fearfully as I stared out across the water and saw nothing. No vicious mermaid queen rose out of the water to find me and drag me to the depths. It really could have been anything, including a sonic boom from one of the nearby military bases. After a few seconds of waiting for impending death, I saw nothing. Ramara stepped toward the water’s edge to investigate, his blue tattoos gleaming slightly, but apparently he detected nothing either.
“I can’t get in the gate without your help, Ramara. I can’t sit back and let her…”
“Die? She’s not going to die, Nik. And who’s to say that Jolly sending you here isn’t a trick? You can’t trust anyone. Haven’t you figured that out? You’re too naïve for your own good.”
“I don’t trust them. But if she’s not at home and not here, then where is she?” The water splashed under our feet now. That’s odd. It’s not time for the tide to come in, is it?
“How do I know? She’s Heliope! Knowing her, she followed a butterfly through the Audubon Bird Trail. I’m sure she’s safe.”
“Sure? How can you be sure?” My face whitened despite the late afternoon sun. “You know something, don’t you?” I stepped closer and asked him again. “Don’t you?”
“What could I possibly know? I’ve been with you, remember?”
Another boom sounded in the Gulf, and this time the results were immediate. Out deep in the water a wave was building. I could see it. Waves like that appeared small from a distance—they actually were somewhat small until they approached shore and the water gathered up in a heap. There was now no water under our feet at all. “We don’t have time to play games. I thought you were here to help me!”
He gripped me by the arms and stared down at me with an intensity I’d never seen from him before. “You don’t get it, Nik. If I open that gate, I may not be able to come back to you. I’d be gone forever. Is that what you want?”
I stared up at him, his wheat-colored hair tossing across his light-colored eyes, eyes that peered deeply into mine. Any other time I’d want to get lost in them. Then I got it. It was the Order and the scroll and his status. This was about us.
Instinctively I put my arms around him and hugged with all my might, just as he’d done for me when I needed comforting. But this was more than comfort from a friend. I meant this. He seemed surprised at my gesture but didn’t stop me. I breathed him in, wishing this moment would last for eternity. But it could not. Another boom shook the island, and I heard my dog somewhere in the distance barking his head off. “Springer!” I said as I tried to pull away. “He could be in danger!” “No, don’t look, Nik.”
“Look at what?” As I spoke, I felt the wind blowing off the ocean and heard the water draw back behind me. “I have to see.” I didn’t really need to, did I? Death by tidal wave. It may or may not have killed us; that much was uncertain at this point. But he was right, I didn’t have to watch the water come crashing down on us, crushing our bones. He refused to release me, and I buried my face in his chest with a sob. I whispered his name. I was unsure what we were facing, but at least we would face it together.
“No! I cannot allow this. You cannot die!” I heard him shout. He uttered the words, the secret words that opened the gate. Suddenly we were falling, the beach and Springer and the deadly wave behind us.
We lay on the ground together in the fog. For the first time ever in my long life, I would see the Order.
Chapter Ten—Heliope
Old Woman
Faydra, I know you are here. Do not hide from me.
I batted at the fog, as if I could shoo it away. That was impossible; it stuck to my hair and skin like a cold, clingy garment. It made my skin crawl, and I had the feeling that if I allowed it to, the fog would hide me forever. Never before had it been so thick, not here where the sun used to shine on the courtyard and temple continuously. The first time I came to see the Order, after Agrios took me as his wife, the Secret Temple shone like a bright ball of light, bathed as it was in golden sunshine. Each visit after that was much different. The fog began to encroach on that sunny place, creeping in from the woods that surrounded it, then into the plazas and hidden villas that were the homes of the Higher Orders.
Then over the long years, members of the Higher Order began to disappear in the fog. One by one they vanished until only six remained. Six to lead Oceanid kind, and no end in sight to the fog. The Order pulled from the races to fill those leadership roles, but the fog had done something else too.
It affected those of the original Order—those that still remained. And it affected them deeply. Faydra became crueler, darker, more desperate to control everything under her influence. Even her eyes darkened in color. It was almost as if that beautiful being of light no longer existed. Somehow the unholy fog had replaced it, and now darkness ruled.
To make matters even more troubling, Faydra no longer appeared to me as herself but used the bodies of humans to communicate her will on earth. That was very different from the way things used to be. The old Faydra, the strong, powerful Faydra, would never dream of relying on a human for help of any sort.
And now, according to Ramara, Faydra killed her human hosts—whether intentionally or not, that was an evil act. Not that it mattered, but I did not approve. Not at all.
The fog thickened so much that I could barely see the stairs now. Those stairs would lead me to the highest platform in the temple, a place where we used to watch the constellations move and interact with one another.
How overwhelmed I had been with it all when Agrios brought me here! He’d laughed at that and told me a secret. This was nothing compared to the Order’s former glory. The truth became apparent to me eventually. The Higher Order now dwelled on a veiled island, having been evicted from the high and lofty Mount Olympus and other such exquisite places around the globe. But for all my questions, I would learn no more about it. Agrios would not say who evicted the pantheon of gods and goddesses from their so-called eternal homes. But the world had changed. Men had changed and didn’t need the small gods and the jealous goddesses. They no longer revered Zeus, who changed into golden sand to slip through a lock to lie with the fairest of the land. No longer needed to hear the will of the god from Hermes, the Invisible Messenger. Men became jealous over their wives and thoughts, and their hearts turned to a different God. One who became God of everything, to those who believed in Him.
Faydra, answer me. I need the mermaid, the one I gave to you. Minerva has come, and she wants her daughter. Mercy, mercy, Faydra! Many lives are at stake—many supernaturates will be destroyed if we do not appease her. I must return the mermaid to her home!
For a long time I stood in the center of the temple waiting to hear her deep, sultry voice. All of a sudden, a light flared behind me. Someone quietly lit the Bowls of Attendance, indicating that the Order was now convened. I breathed a sigh of relief. Someone had heard me after all. “Who is there?” I said with my mouth as a human would.
“I am here, Willful One. I think you were married to Agrios for too long, for you have many of his characteristics. You think about things that you should not, Heliope, Daughter of Dionysus.”
Her label mocked me, for I was not related by blood to Dionysus. He was Agrios’ father, not mine. “What I think about is Thessalonike and how she will die if I do not help her. Please give me the mermaid, Faydra. I will pay the price.”
“Oh? The price may be too high for you, Heliope.” I could not discern her in the fog, but I felt her move around me, heard her garments rustling in the temple as she lit the many bowls. It created a dull glow in the hallowed halls of the council room. “You want me to help Thessalonike when she’s thinking of betraying the Order?”
“What? What are you talking about?” I demanded.
“Don’t play the fool with me. I am referring to Thessalonike and the eloi—they are not permitted.”
“Not permitted to what? Kiss? Make love? Marry? If you think you can stop love, Faydra, you don’t know anything about the world we live in.”
She stalked through the fog, and it parted obediently as she came toward me. “No, it is you who do not understand, Heliope. Self-centered, selfish Heliope who finally developed a conscience and a maternal instinct! How un-goddesslike of you, my dear.” Her sharp voice surprised me. I said nothing, hoping I would not irritate her further. I needed Meri. The fog pooled around us again. “You see this? You see how we can barely see one another? How do you think it got here?”
“I haven’t got a clue, Faydra.” I could see her as she stepped within inches of me. No human host needed today, Faydra was herself with her famous red curly hair, long and flowing down her back, tanned skin, very wide green eyes and bow lips that shined without the need of any human cosmetics. She wore a half shirt and a long skirt, red with gold ribbons at the hems and sleeves, in the fashion of the goddesses of old.
“Corruption. The corruption of the Order caused this. Now there are three of us, Heliope. Three to carry on and lead the races, and yet you come here with your petty demands and all your pride. Yes, that had always been your problem. Pride. That is your corruption.”
If she’d seen me earlier, being pummeled by mermaid tails at the bottom of the ocean, she wouldn’t have thought I was too prideful at all. Before I could defend myself, she spoke again.
“I will not let the Order disappear forever. We will deal with this corruption wherever we find it. Are you willing, Heliope, to root out the corruption within you?”
She had not moved, but I felt pressure around my throat as if an invisible hand were squeezing it. I could do nothing to stop it. Without knowing what she had in mind, I answered fearfully, “Yes, Faydra.”
Now she was so close I could see the gold dust shimmering in her hair. “Good, Heliope. With your purification, we are one step closer to making the Order a place of light once again.” She released her grip on me and purred in my ear, “I am going to send you back to Thessalonike, and you can help her to your heart’s content now. However, when I call on you, you must answer.” Faydra doused the lighting stick by blowing on it expertly.
“Really? What about the mermaid?”
“She’s already there. She’s been there.” Faydra was shocked by my stupidity. “Haven’t you seen her?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Hmm…that makes me wonder about your magic, Heliope. If you can’t discern a mermaid from another creature…”
“She’s enchanted!”
“There is hope for you yet. Now go home.”
Faydra backed away, blowing out the Bowls of Attendance as she departed the temple. I walked down the long hall and the stairs, thinking about what I had learned. I carefully guarded my thoughts to avoid being overheard by her or one of the others who lingered in the mist.
I hoped I could find the gate quickly and go home, but before I even made it to the walkway I heard the gate scrape open and saw the purple letters glowing above it. Who was this?
As I ran toward it, my bones began to ache like never before. Almost there now! A few more steps! I encouraged myself to continue on despite the aches and pains in my legs and arms. What was this pain? Some kind of effect of the fog?
The gate glowed brighter as the door opened. On the ground in front of me fell two people—Ramara and Thessalonike.
Chapter Eleven—Cruise
Red Slicker
Without saying a word, Kendra jumped out of the car and bolted. The evacuation was moving s
lowly now because some fool’s car had broken down. Rather than trying to roll the vehicle onto the shoulder, the car’s owner had abandoned it and was now running down the bridge, uncaring that he was leaving the rest of the island’s residents locked in danger. I saw the wave breaking out across the water, and I wasn’t the only one. People were screaming, kids were pointing and crying. The wave wasn’t a threat to just the island but to the bridge as well. I wasn’t sure how tall the wave would be, but it sure as heck looked imposing and dangerous.
“Kendra!” I shouted as she put the car in neutral and began pushing on it. I got behind the bumper and was quickly joined by two others who helped us ease the abandoned car off the road.
“Push, damn it!” she yelled at us, sounding desperate and angry.
In a few seconds we moved it, and then she shouted, “Run! Get going now!” The wave was about to hit us, and there wasn’t a chance any of us would cross the bridge in time. The only thing we could do was get people to the top of the bridge and pray the wave passed under us. I bolted for the squad car, grabbed the speaker and yelled, “Get to the top of the bridge! Please, everyone move quickly and help your neighbor! Go now!”
I started pulling people out of cars and shoving them toward the top of the bridge. “It’s coming! Get moving!” I yelled at Mrs. Marsh, the mayor’s secretary, who insisted on dragging her heavy-as-heck purse with her. I moved to the next car, Kendra beside me in her shiny red raincoat. She reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony.
“Go! Run to the top!” Kendra shouted to an older couple who were doing their best to obey her. The tall wave moved closer, the water an eerie green with a nasty thick foam on top.
“Kendra! Run!” I grabbed her hand, and together we made for the highest point on the bridge along with the others who were waiting for the wave to crest. Then with a supernatural thud, the wave struck the bridge and washed over the empty cars below us. The force of the water knocked Kendra to the ground, but I didn’t let her go. I pulled her close and covered her with my body, trying to shield her from the painful blow. The water hit me so hard it nearly took the wind out of me, but beyond that I was okay. After it rolled over us and the water poured off the side of the concrete bridge, I lay on top of her, panting for breath as salty water streamed off me onto her face. She didn’t move under me, and I feared the worst.
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