She ran down another hall, this one matching the dark-red paint from the upstairs walls but with the addition of black flowers climbing up from the corners. She was brought up short by a great wooden door. In the center was a carved falcon. She turned the knob but it was locked.
“Looking for something?” Ocean said behind her.
Skylar jumped in the air and turned to face her hostess with a guilty look. “Sorry, I was snooping,” Skylar said. “Well, kind of. I saw something—a foot. And I followed it. It went in there.” She pointed to the wooden door.
“You followed a foot?” Ocean asked.
“Yes,” Skylar said. “Do you have ghosts?”
“Nope, no ghosts.” Ocean twisted the knob, and the mahogany door opened with ease. They stepped into a circular, cavelike room. A low, continuous flame lined the perimeter, crackling as it licked the walls. The walls appeared to be one continuous, iridescent piece of luminous white rock with twelve-inch-thick obelisks jutting out from the corners. Skylar touched the crystal wall lightly with her hand. It was warm to the touch. The familiar scent of the Book of Akasha filled her nose. The sage, mugwort, and cedar were as strong here as they were in her mother’s library. She felt her here.
“Selenite,” Ocean said, bringing Skylar back to the present. “It’s a powerful stone for removing energy blocks and facilitating meditation. The entire house was made with natural materials, crystals, and stones. They create a sort of vortex.” Ocean shrugged. “I have a thing about energy.”
The room wasn’t terribly wide, but it appeared to have no ceiling. Light from stars in the night sky shone down on an opalescent altar, though Skylar knew it was the middle of the day.
“Selene is the goddess of the moon,” Ocean said. “She helps me when I need her.”
“Is that who I saw come in here?” Skylar asked, ready to believe almost anything at this point.
“I can’t be sure. A few of them wander in and out,” Ocean said lightly.
Skylar looked at her accusingly.
“What? You asked about ghosts.” Ocean smiled. “I call this room the ‘Grotto.’ Cave is too dank for such a mystical place.”
As she said this, Skylar became aware of a low hum. It was soft in her ears, and she felt it land on her skin like mist. As it got louder, it permeated deeper into her body. First her muscles began to shake; then her bones felt the pulse. Once the vibration reached her heart, she fell to her knees. She hoped she wouldn’t vomit the few sips of green smoothie she’d gotten down.
Ocean bent to help her. “I should have warned you. I’m sorry. The energy in here can be overwhelming. You need to build up to it.”
“I thought I had in the hallway,” Skylar said, still hunched over.
Ocean helped her to her feet. When Skylar finally caught her breath, she looked back at the altar. It had a soft light coming from its crystal core, shining out like a prism in every color. A pedestal stood next to it; on top sat her book.
“I owe you your book.” Ocean nodded in its direction. “Take it with you when you leave. But first, you need to sit and meditate for a few minutes. It will help you acclimate to the vortex. I will be back shortly.”
Skylar had learned about meditation early in life. Her mother had often talked about the voice within that ached to be heard, and how it was only possible to hear it in the silence. Skylar had never had time for inner peace. The few times she’d humored her mother and tried, she’d always cut it short.
But things were different now, and she was open to any help the universe was willing to give her. So she sat on a red cotton dhurrie as far away from the altar as she could get—she had a feeling it was the source of her nausea—and she closed her eyes. Immediately, her stomach settled. She took a few deep breaths. The energy made it very easy to slip into a meditative space. Her even breathing calmed the chatter in her mind, and she connected to a wave of peace so loving it made her weep. Her usual rush to be finished was absent. She could stay there for eternity.
After the tears subsided and her mind was completely full of peace, a nuclear flash shot through Skylar’s heart, jolting her out of the serenity. It was the second, deeper part of the process. It was the innate voice of Divinity within her, the one that sits and waits for all of humanity to hear it.
“Open your eyes,” her mother said.
Skylar’s eyes burst open. She swung her head around, convinced she would see her mom, but she wasn’t there. She sat in the Grotto, her heart pounding. It was the first time she had ever connected to the voice. Skylar knew this was the same voice she’d heard whispering from behind the door she’d kept locked until Argan walked back into her life.
She stared ahead at the rock wall while her heart rate slowed. The faint outline of a woman appeared and then grew stronger. A translucent being slowly became fully visible in front of Skylar. Her eyes were piercing but had a familiar kindness to them. She was an exotic beauty, with dark eyes and jet-black hair braided to her waist.
“Skylar, so wonderful to see you,” the luminous woman said. She wore a green gown of velvet and satin, and her feet were bare. She retained her translucence, the wall behind her still visible.
“Are you Sophia?” Skylar whispered, scrambling to stand up.
The woman smiled. “My name is Magda,” she said, and she grew denser until Skylar could no longer see through her to the wall. “I am very pleased you have found your way here with your great book. It contains the hope of restored balance to the world.”
“Are you a goddess?” Skylar asked. She could feel the pure love emanating from Magda.
“Goddesses are physical embodiments of Divine Feminine energy. So I guess right now, I am a goddess,” Magda said in a cavalier tone. She walked over to the book. “Ocean hoped you would summon me. She is frustrated, not getting the answers she seeks from your book. Even the Great Mothers can get trapped in a cycle that needs to be broken. In time, you will come to read the Sophia and all of the answers will be given. But the human race is not ready to release its rage and embrace the true power of the heart. We must have patience. Everything unfolds in the proper time.” Magda walked slowly about the Grotto.
“Great Mothers?” Skylar asked, her eyes fixed on Magda.
“There were three when time began: Fire, Water, and Air. From them, heaven and earth were created. Sophia, or divine wisdom, lives above in the heavens but also below, buried deep within the human heart. She is the link between God and man, your Holy Spirit. Ocean desires to restore the link and reunite Sophia with the world.”
Skylar inhaled deeply. “That’s a tall order.”
Magda smiled. “She is capable but has been missing one piece.”
“Don’t say me,” Skylar said.
Magda’s eyes danced with amusement. “Human will,” she said. “You all play a vital role in the orchestra of the divine plan. But your focus is scattered and squandered on this physical plane and all its trappings. Most of you don’t realize you are stuck in a wheel that keeps sending you back here.”
“Ocean mentioned that,” Skylar said, trying to remember to breathe.
Magda moved away from Skylar and walked toward the altar. A large white quartz bowl glistened in the middle. A great light shone from within. Magda reached into the bowl and picked up a sparkling green stone the size of a fig.
Magda held the almond-shaped stone up to the stars and began singing a haunting song. A prickle crept up Skylar’s neck and spread over her scalp. The sound circled the Grotto in waves of vibration, making Skylar drop to her knees—this time as a gesture of reverence for a power greater than she had ever known. She felt great loss and great love. For a brief moment, she felt the necessity of her mother’s death. She really was Plan B.
Magda stood before her and placed the stone in the middle of Skylar’s forehead like a third eye. “The beliefs of a few caused the great shift of power many millennia ago,” Magda said. As she spoke, fragmented images flashed in Skylar’s mind: a man in white robes feveris
hly scribing text, a woman being forced away from her family, an olive wood cross.
“For thousands of years, women have been relegated to the second class, wrongfully imprisoned in lives unworthy of their true identity,” Magda continued.
Skylar’s mind showed women in black burkas being stoned for alleged infidelity. Skylar winced at their pain. She tried to shake away the image. The scene turned to five Scottish women tied to stakes with flames at their feet. Skylar’s ability to feel their pain deepened. She screamed out. Magda remained still, the emerald locked on Skylar’s forehead.
The image vanished from Skylar’s mind, replaced by a modern American teenage girl walking down the hall of a high school. Skylar could feel her heart constrict with fear of the girls walking toward her.
“Women turn on each other, their insecurities run deep, and none of them are reaching for their potential,” Magda said. “We are seeing small tides start to turn, but we need a revolution, Skylar. It is time for women to remember the Sophia within them. Once that happens, men will follow suit. You have the seed within you to help many awaken and move forward in the lives they have come to this world to live. This is your path.”
Magda released the stone from Skylar’s forehead, and Skylar put her hands to the floor, breathless.
Magda stared at the brilliant stone as she held it up to the starlight. She tossed it in the air, caught it like a penny, and held it up again. “The mysterious stone of Lucifer’s crown,” she continued. “It hasn’t been whole in thirteen thousand years.”
At this angle, Skylar could see the stone’s shape more clearly. It wasn’t an almond; it was half of a perfect circle.
“This stone is a symbol of the severed power of the feminine. But that age is over, and the new one has begun. The chaos of your world is a normal reaction to the earthly changes no man can control. Man is fighting a battle he can’t win.” Magda rested one hand on Skylar’s shoulder. Skylar was surprised at the density of her hand, yet she felt a familiarity in Magda that gave her peace. “The time has come to make the stone whole again, and in turn, make the earth whole as well.”
“Where is the other half?” Skylar asked.
“That is for you to uncover,” Madga said. “Your book is your guide.”
“Me?” Skylar’s fear returned.
“Generations of women have set the path for the Lost Book’s return, your mother included. Your preparations, your ceremonies . . . they were not in vain. She knew you were the one to complete this task.”
Skylar’s mind raced with thoughts. Her mother had never been preparing her for a resurrection; she’d had another agenda entirely all along.
Magda walked back to the altar and returned the stone to the quartz bowl. “He wasn’t all bad, Lucifer,” she said lightly. “We all have light and darkness within.” She backed away and began to lose density. Skylar could once again see the wall behind her.
“We will meet again, Skylar the Divine. This is your choice, but I do hope you take it. What an adventure it will be.” She raised her hand in good-bye and faded completely.
Ocean came to Skylar’s side. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“Yes,” Skylar said, trying to stand up. “She called me Skylar the Divine. That was from my mother’s stories.”
“The goddess wears many faces. She is present in our lives, watching, waiting for us to ask for help. Magda knew your mother’s stories weren’t fables but seeds of things to come. She will help your mother achieve her grand plan.”
“Grand plan?”
“To raise a strong, capable, amazing woman,” Ocean said. “The grand plan of all mothers. That was the theme of those stories, was it not?”
Skylar nodded.
“Only such a woman could accomplish the greatness in her future,” Ocean said, giving Skylar’s hand an encouraging squeeze.
“She said I have to find the other half of that emerald,” Skylar said.
“So it would seem,” Ocean said, walking over to the stone gleaming in the quartz bowl. “Destiny’s a bitch,” she said, picking up the half. “But this is the most exciting time to be on the planet. The cycle of the Divine Masculine is over. The cycle of the Divine Feminine has begun.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Skylar said.
“The growth and evolution of the human soul is truly written in the stars . . . and planets,” Ocean said. “Back in 2012 there was all that drama over the end of the Mayan calendar. You probably didn’t give it much attention.”
Skylar shook her head.
“People were building bunkers, thinking it was the end of the world, when all it really was was the end of a cycle of time. Not that I want to belittle that. It’s been thirteen thousand years in the making, and it couldn’t come soon enough. Mother Earth is hanging on by a thread after the abhorrent treatment thrust upon her. Now it’s time for a new way, one of compassion and healing. It’s time for women to lead the human race into the new age. But times of transition are tumultuous at best. Life will be rocky for your generation and a few after you. You are the fighters that must endure the battles waged by those that refuse to go quietly. And now, with Magda’s blessing, you have an enormous task ahead of you.”
Skylar took in a deep breath. “Madga said it’s my choice,” she said.
“We all have choice, Skylar—but honestly, do you see yourself turning away from such a calling?”
“Can I have five minutes to think about it?”
“Not a minute more,” Ocean said with a smirk.
Skylar took in a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. “You’re Fire, aren’t you?” she asked, desperate to change the subject.
Ocean smiled and gave her head a tilt.
“Yeah, I figured,” Skylar said. “And you are how old?”
“I can’t really say, as I live outside of the concept of time. I have the ability to come and go through this hologram at my leisure.” Ocean’s features quickly morphed to Asian to African American and back to her own.
“So why be here at all?”
“I have an interest in humankind,” Ocean said, holding the shining stone up to the starlight. “For the most part, you all seem to be moving backward, not forward. This has much to do with the lack of feminine energy in your world.” She picked up the Book of Akasha and brought it and the stone back to Skylar. “They say history repeats itself. That’s because patterns in the universe repeat, creating opportunities for different, better choices. But man’s ego always gets in the way, and the power desired by a select few clouds any progress for all. Strong patterns are repeating in the coming year, and another opportunity will present itself for humanity to move forward, to join together in the global community of earth, and stop fighting amongst each other.”
Skylar took the Book of Akasha from Ocean and felt the familiar energy pulse into her fingertips. Ocean held the stone in her outstretched hand.
“With this stone, you saw the past. With this book, you see the future. You are the link between the old world and the new world, Skylar.” Ocean placed the stone in Skylar’s hand, and all fear drained from her mind. She felt powerful, capable of accomplishing anything she desired. It wasn’t pure love like Magda’s. It was intoxicating, similar to her pull to Joshua, entangled with an unexplainable darkness. Desire welled in Skylar, making her mouth water.
Ocean could clearly see the stone’s effect on Skylar. She removed it from her hand and returned it to the bowl. “It’s time to go.”
Skylar nodded. Before walking out, she paused, holding her book. The certainty she’d felt in the Grotto was diminishing with every step toward the threshold. She knew if she took one more step, she would have to find her own way through the fear and the darkness.
“Isn’t that what we all do anyway?” Ocean asked, reading her thoughts.
Skylar smiled and nodded her head. She looked back at the bowl containing the stone and walked out the door.
The construction of the equine facility stood in
stark contrast to all of the supernatural phenomena going on in Skylar’s life. The project was on track to open in a month, just in time for the spring semester, and everyone was rushing to finish.
The new building had none of the charm of the old barn. It had an institutional, soldierly style. Milicent had insisted on privacy windows against the judgment of her team of minions, and between those and other similar touches, it was taking the shape of a military safe house. No one could understand the fashionista’s lack of style in her design. Classrooms and laboratories were planned for half of the square footage. The other half was planned to house the horses.
“Money is power,” Ronnie said, her arms folded across her body, as she stood in the entryway watching dozens of men scurrying around like an army of ants. Rhia stood behind her.
“Ronnie!” Skylar exclaimed and ran to her former boss to give her a giant hug. “No one said you were coming!”
“No one knew,” Ronnie said. “I figured Milicent had made her annual trek to Italy for the holidays and this was a good time to come by.”
Suki and Kyle came running over.
“It hasn’t been the same without you,” Suki said, giving Ronnie half a hug. Skylar and Kyle looked at her. It was no secret that Suki worshiped Milicent and wasn’t heartbroken that Ronnie was gone.
“The Grayer horses arrived today,” Skylar said. “Five Croatian Coldbloods.”
“How appropriate,” Ronnie said.
They peered into the trailer housing the anxious horses. They were restless, stomping their feet in unison.
“Milicent likes her possessions in sets,” Ronnie said as the group unloaded each horse from their trailer. “I wonder why the extra one?”
“Maybe it’s not extra,” Kyle said. “Maybe she lost one.” He took a white mare by her reins and attempted to lead her into the stable of the old barn.
“And all black but one,” Suki said, watching the horse give Kyle a good run. “Dune, it says on her paperwork.” Suki walked off toward the office, muttering to herself about paperwork. Although she was enamored with Milicent, her job duties had taken an administrative turn and her time around the horses had significantly decreased.
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