“So what happened to her?” I tried to hide my yawn, but it was hard. “Where did she go?”
“The only place she could. The girl hid out in the forests of Cumae. She found solace in the nature around her. The years began to pass. When she felt it was safe, the girl would return to the lake where Apollo granted her wish with only her reflection for companionship. It was during one of these trips Persephone took notice of the maiden and pitied her. The Queen of the Underworld convinced Hades to give the girl the ability to speak with the dead. When the maiden returned, she began to see faces of her deceased relatives and friends in the water. They spoke with her about their memories. The girl was grateful. She returned daily to the lakeside to visit with her loved ones until she was spotted by a passing merchant who was taking a short cut through her woods.”
“Again, what does this have to do with me?” I curled my legs beneath me. “And at what part do you tell me why you’ve decided you’re my keeper?”
“Keeper?” Cyrus looked surprised. “Why, yes, I suppose I am. I will shorten my tale, though. I can see you are getting tired.”
“We’re all tired.” Elliot patted my hand. “So if you can wrap this up, we’d appreciate it.”
“Indeed.” Cyrus moved across the room to look out the window. “Word got out about the mysterious prophetess inhabiting the woods in Cumae. Her story was floated through the highest circles and people began to flock to her in earnest. They believed she could contact their loved ones for them. The maiden could, and often did for a price. Her story became twisted as generations came and went. The girl began to truly give prophecies to those who visited her. Her wealth grew. But so too did those who dedicated themselves to the service of Apollo.”
Cyrus turned back around to face us.
“Apollo was thrilled by his newfound resurgence with the people of Greece. He rewarded the girl in two ways. First, he gave her a golden mirror so she would not have to travel to the lake anymore. More importantly, he gave her a way to die. The girl had lived for centuries. Everyone she had ever loved had passed through the veil long before. Despite her wealth and visitors, the maiden longed to join her family in the Underworld. This is the chant you recited earlier this afternoon. It has been passed down from Sibyl to Sibyl since this time.”
“So let me get this straight.” I stood and crossed the room to stand in front of him. “You are telling me this Carter woman was a prophetess. She could speak with the dead. Foretell the future. She could live forever. Yet she chose to pass it onto me? I don’t get it.”
“Forever is a very long time, Ms. McRayne.” Cyrus smiled sadly. “I’ve been by Kathy Carter’s side since she took the mirror from the Sibyl before her during a Spiritualist session in 1842. The world she knew, and loved, had disappeared long ago. You too will discover the truth in my words someday.”
I refused to believe I would be in this position tomorrow, much less a hundred years from now. “Which reminds me. You still haven’t gone into your part in this little tale.”
“I am assigned to the Sibyl. It is my duty to Apollo. My service, if you will.” Cyrus stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Where you go, so too do I. Power is a dangerous possession. You will be in danger from vengeful spirits who wish to return to the living world. You will need guidance and learn how to control them.”
“Ok. I’m done.” I stormed around Cyrus to the bathroom. “I’m going to show you once and for all I’m not the girl you think I am.”
“I would advise against any impulsive actions.” Cyrus was staring at me so hard I could feel his eyes boring into the back of my head. “There are a great many precautions we must take for you.”
“Precautions.” I turned to face him as I reached the door. “What sort of precautions?”
“You must not look into any reflective surface until you have created your door to keep them out. The spirits of the Veil are more than willing to use your powers against you. They can – and they will – pull you into their realm.”
“Oh, now you’re just being ridiculous.” I opened the door and stepped inside, more than ready to make my point. “Glass is glass. It’s solid. You can’t be pulled through it.”
The bathroom attached to my room wasn’t massive, but it held a floor to ceiling mirror. I stopped in front of it and studied my reflection. Eli was right. My eyes had turned into a bright gold, which went contrasted nicely with the dark rings underneath them.
“See?” I pointed to myself. “Just like I told your Ms. Carter. All I see is myself.”
I started to come up with some snide comment about how his mythology was mistaken until my hearing faded out. I could hear nothing except the whispering from my dreams. I turned to face the mirror just as my image faded and the scene before me changed.
A wild woman was sitting on a rock in the dark, muttering to the object in her hands. Even from here, I could see it was the mirror now sitting on my dresser. Her blonde head jerked up the moment the fuzzy edges around the image became solid.
She was me. I recognized my own features beneath the dirt and grime which covered her face. Granted, her nose was longer, and her cheekbones were gaunt, but our resemblance was uncanny.
“Eva. Pretty, pretty Eva.” The woman smiled at me. “You are now one of us.”
Every fiber in my being was screaming to run away. I even tried to take a step backwards, but ended up going closer. “Who are you?”
“Why, I am the first. Delphine, first daughter of Apollo. Messenger for the dead. Or at least, I was.” The woman moved closer to the glass. “You are not afraid?”
I wanted to be afraid. I needed to be afraid. But I wasn’t. I felt nothing but a sense of peace overwhelming any common sense I had left. I shook my head.
The woman’s grin widened. “Then take my hand, child. Join me here and all of your questions will be answered.”
I reached for the glass when a loud commotion broke through my sense of peace. I felt someone wrap their arm around my waist, and then jerk me away from the glass. I stumbled, falling flat on my back for the second time that day.
My sense of peace was destroyed.
“Cover the mirror!” I heard male voices over me, but I couldn’t make out all that they were saying. Their words were muffled. Distant. It was as if I was underwater and they most definitely were not. The longer I stayed still, the more I could hear the commotion around me. Finally, when the sounds around me quieted, I opened my eyes.
I was surprised to find Cyrus on top of me. I looked to him then to the mirror, but it was too late. It was being covered by the standard hotel comforter from my bed.
The woman and the peace she brought with her were gone.
“It would be in your best interest to get off of her.” Elliot was standing by the door, his voice colder than the tiles I was laying on. “Now.”
Cyrus shifted his weight off of me while I tried to explain to Elliot how I’d pulled the man down with me as my friend knelt beside me. I couldn’t speak. Instead, I sat up to reach for the mirror again.
“No, Ms. McRayne.” Cyrus took my arm and helped me to my feet. “Don’t let Delphine take you so easily.”
“They,” I took a shaky breath as Elliot wrapped his arm around my waist. “Not ‘they’. It was a woman. Not the scryer, though. Someone different.”
“You asked before why you needed my assistance.” Cyrus took his phone out of his pocket. “This is a perfect example. You are weak and unknowledgeable.”
“Right.” I drew a breath. “If I play along with this, does that mean you will be by my side indefinitely?”
“Yes.” Cyrus smirked. “You won’t even know I’m here. I’ll be like a ghost to you. I’ve had centuries to perfect my line of work, after all.”
“I doubt it.” I barely managed to withhold the temptation to stomp my foot again. “So I’ll never be alone? Or have any privacy?”
“You will. I will fade into the background and act as your shadow.”
&nb
sp; “Alright.” I raised my hands in defeat. “You can help me, but only for as long as I deem necessary. Then you’re out of here. Understood?”
Cyrus didn’t answer. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and bowed his head in our direction before speaking.
“I will be just outside your door for the time being. I’m certain the two of you have much to discuss.”
Cyrus slipped out of the bathroom before Elliot stormed out into my suite. I followed him only when I heard him pick up the phone by my bed. His voice was surprisingly normal given what had just happened to me.
“Front desk? Great. Can you send security up to Room 4632? There is a man outside my friend’s door who is refusing to leave.”
“Elliot,” I hissed between my teeth. “What are you doing?”
“Yes. He’s bulky, wearing a cheap suit. Black hair. Bad scar on the right side of his face. You can’t miss him.”
Elliot hung up the phone and smiled. “No worries, Eva. Security will have him out of here in no time.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did you really just report Cyrus to security?”
“Yeah.” Elliot stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I think you were right. He seems a little too crazy for me.”
“This coming from the man who – not twelve hours ago – was touting up the best lightening and camera lenses to catch ghosts on film?”
“This is serious, Eva.” Elliot closed the distance between us and took hold of my hands. “You didn’t see how quick he jumped on you in the bathroom. That guy is trying to get something from you.”
“What?” I frowned, remembering the look on my friend’s face when Cyrus had fallen on me. “What could I possibly have that a man like that would want?”
“A lot of things.” Eli’s blue eyes narrowed as he studied my face. “Men like that are dangerous, Eva. They prey on young women.”
“Eli,” I spoke my words carefully. “You have nothing to worry about. Cyrus doesn’t seem dangerous to me. I don’t think he is going to hurt me. But what I am starting to believe is that he was telling the truth.”
“Oh, come on.” Elliot moved across the room and picked something up off my dresser. When he returned to me, he handed me my conference identification badge. “Have you looked at this?”
“Yeah. It has my name on it. So?”
“So it also says ‘Theia Productions’.” Elliot placed his hands on each one of my arms. “I think this Cyrus guy noticed that when you were out cold earlier. Even if he’s not after you for your looks, he could be trying to use you to get into the entertainment industry.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this.” I looked up, forcing Elliot to make eye contact with me. “I trust him, Eli. I am convinced he wants to help me.”
“You don’t know how this works, Eva. I do.” Elliot shook his head. “You can’t trust people like Cyrus.”
“I think I can.” I shifted out of Elliot’s grip. “He hasn’t said anything about the show and neither have we. To be fair, the print on this badge is pretty small. It’s possible he didn’t even read it.”
“Why?” Elliot stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. “After all the sarcasm and jokes about this line of work, why are you so willing to believe him?”
“Because I’ve seen the ghosts in the mirrors,” I paused at the sound of knocking at my door. “Listen, we’ll talk about this later.”
Elliot nodded as he moved across the room to open the door. “Yes?”
“Good evening, sir. Ms. McRayne, please.”
I came up behind Elliot who stepped aside just enough for the security guard to see me. “I’m Eva McRayne.”
“Ms. McRayne, I wanted to inform you we found no one out of the ordinary outside of your rooms.”
“No one?” Elliot frowned. “But this guy swore he was going to stay outside of my friend’s room. Have you checked the entire floor?”
“I’ve checked everywhere, sir.” The stocky guard raised his hand to silence Elliot’s protests. “There are only conference guests and employees on this floor.”
“Thank you.” I placed my hand on Elliot’s chest as he started to step forward, pushing him back into the room. “We appreciate your help.”
The guard mumbled as he disappeared down the hallway. I started to close the door when I heard a soft laughter off to my right.
Cyrus was leaning against the doorjamb, smirking in my direction. “I don’t believe your companion cares for me very much.”
“It’s not you per say,” I glanced over to see Elliot falling into the chair I’d vacated earlier. “He’s very protective.”
“Which is good.” Cyrus nodded. “You will need all the help you can get, Ms. McRayne. If you listen to nothing else I tell you, please remember this. Do not get too close to anyone. Especially your beloved. It never ends well when they have to leave you.”
“Why?” I felt stupid asking such a simple question, but I needed answers. And this was the only person who seemed interested in giving them to me. “Why me?”
“Fate? Destiny? You were in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Cyrus shrugged. “There is no rhyme or reason to how the Fates work. It is best to just follow their plan without question. Otherwise, nothing but suffering will follow you for the rest of your days.”
“Eva, who are you talking to?”
I was staring at the door frame when the sound of Elliot’s voice broke through my thoughts. I whipped around to refute Cyrus, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter Seven
“Rise and shine, doll!”
I woke up confused until I realized where I was. We were still in New York. I was still sleeping in a strange bed. The drinks I’d shared with Elliot the night before to forget about Kathy Carter and Cyrus had done nothing to stop the whispers in my dreams. So I was surprised to see Elliot bounding into my room with a stack of thick folders in his hands as my alarm clock was starting to go off.
“No, it’s too early.” I smacked at the alarm then buried my face into my pillows. “Go away.”
“It’s just past seven.” Elliot sat on the bed, swinging his legs up with the folders in his lap. “We have work to do.”
“Eli, you can’t just burst into my room anytime you want to.” I grumbled loud enough for him to hear me despite the pillows. “I could be naked.”
“You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” He was flipping through the folders until he stopped as if he was deep in thought. “Or do you?”
Elliot chose that exact moment to pounce on me, tickling my sides until I was gasping for air.
“Ok! Ok, I’m awake!”
When he stopped, I opened my eyes to see his face was inches away from my own. I was still trying to catch my breath as Elliot brushed his nose against mine. He paused only for a moment before he kissed me.
I can’t explain what it was like to kiss my best friend. What I can say is how I was surprised by my own reaction. I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck, forcing him farther down to deepen our embrace as a fire flashed through my veins. Elliot pressed himself harder against me until one of us groaned.
I was so focused on what we were doing that I failed to hear the knock on my door until a voice carried through from the other side.
“Ms. McRayne, are you alright?”
I’m not sure which one of us pulled away first, but when Cyrus threatened to break down the door if I didn’t respond, our impromptu make out session slowed.
“Gotta. Answer. Cyrus.” I murmured between kisses.
“Ignore him. He’ll go away.” Elliot switched his focus away from my mouth to tracing the outline of my jaw.
“Ms. McRayne.”
“I’m fine!” I managed to call out as I intertwined my fingers into Elliot’s thick hair to get his attention. “Just getting awake.”
Cyrus’ only response was silence. I shifted beneath Elliot to whisper in his ear. “I guess we really should get going.”
“We
don’t have to go today. Let’s take the day off. Be tourists for awhile.”
I laughed loud enough to break the spell we were under. Elliot propped himself up on his elbows and grinned at me.
“So what do you say? Want to skip the conference today?”
“By god, do you even have to ask? Yes. I thought Connor wanted us to go to everything we could.”
I wanted to ask him so many questions like what our actions this morning meant or how would this affect us in the future. But I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Instead, I turned onto my side and grabbed the first folder he had abandoned in his quest to tickle me breathless.
“What’s all this?” I thumbed through the pages. There were pictures. Statements. I stopped when I came across what appeared to be a police report and whistled. “This is a lot of work, Eli.”
“I know. David and the guys in Research have been scouting for locations for us to film the first season. Since you asked to have a choice in where we go, I had them fax everything they had here for us to go through today.”
I nodded. “And these are our choices?”
“Yeah.”
Elliot got off the bed and went to the door to speak with Cyrus as I sat up. When he returned, we began shifting through the papers together, oblivious of the conference going on below us. I was sure Elliot planned this on purpose so I wouldn’t have to go downstairs after the events from the day before. He had room service deliver us breakfast. He talked nonstop about the abandoned places in the files spread out before us. When I glanced at the clock and realized I hadn’t gotten out of bed after being up for over three hours, I threw up my hands in surrender.
“Enough already.” I interrupted him as he was chatting about the souls of mental patients. “I have to take a shower.”
“There’s no rush.” Elliot tucked the papers he had in his hand back into the folder. “I was serious when I said we should be tourists for the day since you’ve never been to New York before.”
The Oracle Series: Volumes 1-3 Page 6