by Kristen Day
“That’s unbelievable,” Willow breathed. I gave them a brief summary of the gathering, the spiti of Achilles, and the variety of Nereids I had met. Finally, I relayed Laneira and Psamanthe’s messages to them.
“I can’t believe she knows who I am,” Phoebe muttered in awe.
“I got the feeling they know each and every one of their descendents, even though they aren’t present in their lives,” I contemplated.
“I wish I could meet Laneira,” Willow hoped wistfully as she watched Carmen and Oreithya.
After saying her goodbyes, Oreithya gracefully made her way back out into the sea and vanished beneath the waves. I hoped that I would have even a percentage of her strength and presence if and when I became a true Nereid.
“Let’s get back to the villa and make you some breakfast.” Natasha eyed Carmen, “You must be famished.”
“Breakfast would be wonderful,” Carmen answered. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about food.”
We slowly made our way back to the house, mimicking Carmen’s measured pace. It was wonderful to have her back, but I was still worried about her overall physical health.
“How are you feeling?” I wrapped an arm around Carmen’s now thin shoulders.
“It’s pretty nice to have those bat-shit crazy women out of my head. It was getting a little crowded,” she chuckled. Remembering something, she twisted around to Ricker, who was walking with Finn.
“I’m sorry I attacked you,” she apologized, and then raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Twice.”
Ricker ticked off something on his fingers and sneered at her, “Actually I counted five times.
Not counting The Great Scissor Incident of 2012.”
“You want to make it seven?” she glared back at him playfully.
“I didn’t know you could count that high,” Ricker applauded her cynically.
“Ah, young love…” Finn snickered under his breath.
Chapter 15
If you took a snapshot of my last forty-eight hours, it would probably resemble a head-on collision. I felt like a solid mass of twisting emotions, spiked by moments of pure joy and searing anger; the resulting aftermath leaving me numb with the task of making sense of it all. We had retrieved Finn’s soul, freed Carmen’s mind, and mended Ricker’s heart - but the shadow that continued to hover over me had only grown heavier and darker with each passing moment. The knowledge that Nadia was out there, scorned and vindictive, had me looking over my shoulder every other minute.
I knew that she was to blame for the torment Carmen had been subjected to for the last five days, not to mention what she had put Finn through for an equally exorbitant amount of time. Each hour that went by without any retribution added to my already long list of things to worry about. How much of Finn’s essence had she been able to obtain? And what was she planning to do with it? What had begun as simple annoyance had rapidly intensified into a raging fury; demanding to make her pay for what she’d done. It begged to bestow a slow, agonizing death; eradicating her evil intentions and actions that have hurt so many. But I knew that wasn’t who I was. Acting out of bitterness and revenge would make me no different than her.
I desperately wished that my birthday wasn’t a month and a half away. She was stronger than I was, even without Finn’s essence. I had no way to overpower her. And most frighteningly, she knew it. Whatever she was planning, it wouldn’t be long before it would come to fruition. She wouldn’t wait for me to become immortal, like Keto had vowed to. Nadia was incapable of integrity. She was more into the whole stab-you-in-the-back-and-kick-you-while-you’re-down kind of thing.
Although I knew that a confrontation with Keto was also imminent, the simple fact that she would allow me a fair fight was the only thing that kept me from buying up the entire US Naval fleet of battleships and drawing up battle plans. I also had the sneaking suspicion I would need her to
‘Choose’ me along with the other Nereids, which complicated matters even further. At this point, all I had were a lot of questions and even more assumptions, not a lot of facts or definitive answers - the very reason I wanted nothing more than to throw up.
Fortunately, the fear of Finn watching me regurgitate my entire breakfast was keeping my gag reflex at bay, along with the welcoming Mediterranean Sea that I now found myself in. After returning to the house, Carmen had devoured half the contents of the kitchen and had then slipped into a deep sleep. It had been decided that we would celebrate by staying one more day, and then would go out to dinner in Paphos later that night. I was excited about getting out of the house and actually getting to see Cyprus and the House of Eventide. Not to mention, I was aching to resume any and all normal activities.
In lieu of dinner, Finn had insisted that we leave on the excursion he had planned for us as soon as possible. So after scarfing down a ham and cheese sandwich, I threw on a stark white bikini before we retraced our steps to the beach, and left the oxygen breathing world behind. The water was chilly, but I barely noticed. Swimming off of the shore of Cyprus during the day was a completely different experience than swimming during the night. The mysterious, serene underwater paradise of twilight had changed into a sparkling, picturesque wonderland, teeming with energy and life.
“So where are we going?” I quizzed Finn for the hundredth time.
“I thought we’d do a little skiing on Everest,” he provoked with a mischievous grin. “You in?” I cut my eyes at him, but did my best not to let my eyes linger. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how mouthwatering I thought he was, but there was no denying how much I had missed him. Having him beside me now, I wanted to drink every part of him in before another evil princess tried to steal him away from me again. The possibility of losing him forever had only served to intensify my growing feelings for him, and had firmly secured his place in my heart. If I’d thought that I needed him before, I had no idea the profound effect that his absence would have on me. He had become as much a part of me as my left arm, and I could no longer imagine my life without him. Nor did I want to.
The sky blue swim trunks that hugged his waist blended in with the turquoise hues of the sea, but they inevitably drew my attention to his tan skin and dark hair that danced in the current. The sun’s rays filtering through the surface above flitted across the shape of his muscular arms as they propelled him forward. The swirling blue tones of his eyes teased me with piercing confidence as he shot forward. Forcing myself to focus, I pushed myself harder and easily matched his pace. That smug confidence dripped down his face the second I passed him, and I couldn’t stop the victorious smirk that spread across my lips.
“I win!” I touted as I went by. In response, he clasped my ankle and yanked me backwards, winking at me as he swam past. Unfortunately, the ten year old within me emerged and called him out, “Hey! That’s cheating!”
“I like to think of it as being resourceful,” he called back to me, and gained even more speed.
Deciding to let him win so that his ego would stay intact, I observed the scenery unfolding beneath me. The sandy bottom below was now dotted with huge limestone boulders; beautiful, lime colored grass growing on their tops and sides. They swayed in rhythm to the currents, and I fought the urge to go to them. Their energy was sharper than the typical seaweed that I was used to; it had a more vibrant presence, and I could sense the frenzy that flowed through my veins without actually touching them. Keeping Finn in my sight, I dove down and wove between the large stone boulders, skimmed my fingers along the soft surface of the sandy bottom, and marveled at the beauty of the sunlight that shone through the turquoise water; bouncing off of the pale landscape. I bent sideways and shimmied between two particularly close pieces of stone, and then emerged on the other side triumphantly.
“We shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
I let out a yelp at the close proximity of Finn’s low voice. “She who?” I asked, once my heart rate lowered to less than a hundred beats a second.
; “Aphrodite’s Rock,” he stated flippantly, and started swimming toward shore. Aphrodite’s Rock was a she? I took off after him in confusion and noticed the rocks that dotted the bottom were increasing in size, some of which were breaking the surface above. Finn moved toward one in particular and shot up along its side. I followed him until his feet disappeared from the water completely. When my head broke the surface, I realized why. He was now perched on top of the massive rock that extended up from below. Using my sub-par rock climbing skills, I clumsily maneuvered my way up the limestone wall and settled in beside him with shaking arms.
“This is Aphrodite’s Rock?” I asked as I inspected our underwhelming sitting spot. It was only about eight feet wide and rose maybe ten feet off the surface of the water.
“No,” Finn chuckled and pointed off to the right, “that’s Aphrodite’s Rock.”
“Oh,” I breathed in amazement. Two crescent-shaped white beaches joined together, creating a point where a massive white limestone rock looked out over the sea. It was a rough half dome about the size of a five-story building, its vertical cliff facing the sea. With the tide in the process of coming in, the entire back half of the rock was still visible sitting atop the rocky shore. Behind it, the shore gave way to a rocky hill sloping upward towards a road that followed the winding coastline.
Unable to tear my eyes away from our amazing view, I struggled to shift my body off of the broken piece of rock that was valiantly trying to puncture my leg. My hand slipped when I experienced a sharp, cold sensation at the back of my neck. A flashback of being rendered helpless within Nadia’s cold, dank, cave hit me and my eyes swept the area. Instinctively, I sent out feelers with my ‘other’ sense to make sure that no one was waiting for the perfect time to attack.
“Did you feel that?” I asked Finn, zeroing in on the strong positive energy that rolled off of Aphrodite’s Rock in swells.
“No,” he refuted as his body tensed in preparation for whatever I was sensing. “What did it feel like?”
“I don’t know…” I answered, beginning to doubt myself. Just because I felt something cold blow across my neck didn’t mean our lives were at risk. “I think it was just the wind.” Finn’s eyes focused and his trace shimmered as he sent feelers out for any danger or evil.
“Yep,” he agreed and rubbed his arm, which had stopped shimmering. “Probably just the wind.”
“Do you think Nadia would have followed you back here?” I wondered uneasily.
“No,” he shrugged casually. “If she does, I’ll feel her before she can get within ten miles.
That’s the only good thing about being evil; she might as well put on a glow-in-the-dark orange jumpsuit,” he chuckled at himself.
“She has a way of just…popping up, though,” I countered, not feeling nearly as assured as he seemed to.
“There is one thing I’ve been trying to figure out, and it’s something that you definitely need to be aware of,” he explained nonchalantly. “Keto showed up in Nadia’s underground travelling circus of torture.”
“Keto?!” I almost fell off the rock.
“I could tell that they were planning something, but I kept going in and out. I couldn’t ever stay awake long enough to hear an entire conversation. It was slightly annoying.”
“Do you think Keto is going to help her infuse your essence into her soul?” Why would Keto be helping Nadia? She had to be getting something valuable in return.
“I know for a fact that Keto doesn’t have the ability to perform the essence infusion ritual.”
“How do you know?” Apparently, my detective skills needed some work.
“The process of infusing essence requires a great deal of energy, pulled from a source such as the sun or the moon…neither of which Keto is affiliated with. If I had to guess I’d say Nadia is helping Keto, not the other way around. But don’t think you are the only thorn in their sides,” he poked me in my ribs playfully. “There’s a good chance that this has absolutely nothing to do with you or the Tydes.”
“So, you don’t think that Nadia could convince Keto to confront me before my birthday?”
“Keto is not one to be coerced.”
“I need to find out for sure,” I squirmed. “Not knowing is worse than anything else.” It was then that I decided I needed to find Nadia, or even Keto through a reverie. I couldn’t just sit around anymore. If they were planning something diabolical, I couldn’t let them take me by surprise. And I had to practice! I still didn’t know what all I was capable of! Not to mention that I still needed to get an understanding of what Keto was capable of.
“I could sit here forever,” Finn mused happily, voicing the exact opposite of how I was feeling. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, soaking in the sun with a smile. His body was completely relaxed, and I got the feeling that he didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile I was a ball of nerves - two seconds away from a panic attack.
“How do you do that?” I asked; a little annoyed at his cavalier attitude.
“Do what?” he asked, peeking out at me from the corner of his eye.
“That!” I gestured to his relaxed stature with contempt. He sat up and threaded his fingers through mine tenderly.
“If you were sitting beside you, you wouldn’t have a care in the world either.” He grinned and I gave him a ‘be serious’ look. He twisted his body toward mine, providing me his full attention. His handsome face darkened and a steely hardness entered his eyes.
“Stasia, listen to me. I am Prime of the Sons. I can kill and have killed without blinking an eye. I have the most powerful essence, only second to my father. Not to mention, I have an army of Sons behind me.” I held my breath at the conviction in his voice and the strength of the darkness that now surrounded us. “I fear no one.” His eyes melted and dropped to our intertwined hands, “Except you.”
“Me?” Yeah, right.
“It’s true. You scare the hell out of me.” His voice wavered slightly as he began to run his finger over my trace, sending tingles up my arm.
“Yeah, right,” I whispered my thoughts, attempting to brush his words off.
“I’m not me without you,” he vowed adoringly. “The possibility of losing you was almost too much for me to handle. I compromised your trust and risked both our safeties by foolishly believing I could handle it all on my own. But, I can promise you right now, I’ll never underestimate you again.”
“I just feel so much pressure,” I sighed. “Not only do I have to fight my way to become the leader of the Tydes, I have to somehow prove that I’m worthy of being a Nereid - and I have no idea how I plan on doing either of those things! I need to practice. I need to get stronger. I need to come up with a plan. And to top it off, Nadia and Keto are now best friends! I just don’t think I can-“
“You’re not alone in this, Stasia. I won’t let anything or anyone hurt you. Whatever comes our way, we’ll handle it. Together.”
“Together,” I repeated quietly. It had been so ingrained in me that hardships and trials were something I stumbled through alone, that now I had a hard time seeing it from a different perspective.
“But by my calculation we have twenty-four hours before we have to leave this paradise, and I intend on making the best of it. What do you say?”
“I think I can handle that,” I said and allowed myself to smile.
“Good. But can you handle this…?” he raised an eyebrow at me, stood valiantly and did a back flip into the water, ten feet below. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I stood shakily (note to self: no more rock climbing) and pivoted, backing up so that my heels were hanging off the rock. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and flung myself backward.
Chapter 16
Unfortunately for the tender skin of my stomach, that feeble attempt at a back flip turned into more of a half flip-half flop. Finn, of course, was several feet away doing nothing to contain his laughter. My wounded pride burned inside of me and I chased after him. I finally caught up t
o him at the bottom of another rock structure. I followed quickly as he disappeared around a corner, and I realized with fascination that the sea had carved out a tunnel that ran the length of the rock; leaving about six feet of air between the ceiling and the water. But Finn was nowhere to be seen. I entered the tunnel and searched below me for a submerged Finn lying in wait. Without warning, I was grabbed from behind by warm, strong hands. An equally strong, warm darkness descended upon my heart, and I immediately gave in. Finn twisted me around with a smirk and pinned me against the side of the tunnel, clearly pleased with himself.
“You shouldn’t swim alone. You never know what kind of darkness lurks in these waters,” he mewled in a low voice; taking my breath away as the water rolled down his handsome face and swirled within his blue eyes, which were currently mere inches from my own.
“The only thing lurking in these waters is you,” I countered with disregard.
“Exactly,” he gave me a crooked grin. He licked his lips and moved even closer. Those same perfect lips parted ever so slightly as they met mine; tasting of sea water and lighting my world on fire. The heat that rolled off of his body as he pressed against me contradicted the cold of the rock at my back. He broke his kiss and diverted his attention to my neck, slowly kissing his way to my shoulder. The sound of the water splashing up against the tunnel walls didn’t mute the moan that escaped my mouth, as lips continued their southward course. He followed my collarbone and gently kissed his way down to where my bathing suit clasped in the middle. His head disappeared beneath the water as his mouth explored the now red and tender skin of my stomach, sending shivers down my body.
He continued to sink, running his fingers down my legs and wrapping them around my ankles. The next second he yanked me underwater with him, caught me at the waist and pulled me against him with a wicked glint in his eyes. I shook my head at him and kissed him again. As our kisses became hotter and deeper, we sank to the sandy bottom below; emblazoned by our own desire.