by Linsey Hall
“Your nullifying power,” he said. “You lost control of it for a moment.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” The memory of what it’d felt like to have the Nullifier squash my power was not a good one. It was all around awful. “I felt like I had it under control. It just happened.”
“I know.”
“But that’s the scary part,” I said. “If I can’t even control the Nullifier’s power, then I’m a walking threat to myself and everyone around me.”
He reached for my hand and tugged me toward the path. “Let’s go. We’ll find answers with the Metis.”
We hurried up the dry path, dust kicking up beneath our feet. Scrubby brushes dotted the dry hills on either side of us. When we reached the top, a massive white temple complex loomed on the hill ahead. White pillars rose high into the bright blue sky. It was all very ancient Greece.
We were only fifty yards away when there was a crackle of magic in the air. Instinctually, my hands went for the daggers at my thighs.
“Incoming,” Aidan said.
A moment later, over a dozen demons appeared, their hulking forms dotting the dry landscape around us. Shadow demons—gray ones with horns that arced back along their skulls—and the fire sword demons from the pyramid. I didn’t know what those were called, but shadow demons had worked for Victor Orriodor in the past. I’d bet my trove they worked for him now.
Aidan’s magic filled the air, bringing with it the scent of the forest and the sound of crashing waves. Light shimmered around him, and a moment later, a massive golden griffin stood in his place. Talons as long as daggers extended from each foot, and his beak was big enough to carry cows.
“Don’t fly!” I yelled.
Normally, Aidan would take to the sky with his enormous wings, wiping out dozens of demons in quick succession. But with my nullifying power on the fritz, I could zap his power, and he could plummet to his death.
He nodded his massive head, his golden gaze on me, and sprinted for the fire sword demons nearest us. His footsteps thundered, vibrating the ground. He nimbly dodged their burning blades as he leapt at them and bit off their heads with his enormous beak. Blood sprayed and I gagged, looking away to find my own demons.
I drew my daggers and flung Righty at the smoke demon who was about to blast me with a burning jet. The shining black blade sunk into his chest and he toppled, his face twisted with pain. Before he could hit the ground, I nicked my finger with Lefty, calling Righty back to me.
I caught the blade as two shadow demons hurled their burning jets of smoke at me. I dodged one, but was hit by another. Hot smoke blasted into me and threw me backward. I slammed into the ground, pain radiating through my back.
This was such bullshit.
I scrambled to my feet, desperately wanting to control my nullifying power. But there was no way I could dampen our enemies’ power without also dampening Aidan’s. He was safer and stronger in his griffin form. And I was just as likely to only dampen him, leaving him vulnerable.
So daggers it was.
I spun to face the oncoming demons. Three shadow demons had raised their hands to throw their ammo, and two fire sword demons came at me from either side. Aidan was occupied with five of his own demons.
With just my daggers, these odds were looking bad.
I raised Righty and flung it at the closest fire sword demon. The blade pierced his neck, and I called it back immediately. I caught the flying dagger as three blasts of smoke flew at me. I dodged all but one, which hit me in the leg and knocked me over.
Pain blazed up my leg from the heat. Over the top of my high boot, my jeans were singed and burned, the skin beneath slightly fried.
A flash of white caught my eye as I staggered to my feet. Five white robed figures raced down the temple steps.
Backup.
At least, I hoped so.
They threw jets of light at the demons, blasting them backward.
“Hurry!” one of the women yelled. Her dark hair blew in the wind. “Get inside!”
I raced toward her, limping on my bad leg, my lungs burning. Aidan joined me. When I narrowly dodged a blast of smoke, Aidan raced ahead and dropped to a knee so that his back was low to the ground. I scrambled onto him, and he raised his wings on either side, creating a protective wall around me, then sprinted toward the temple steps.
I crouched low and clung to him as he thundered up the stairs. The white-robed figures continued to throw their blasts of light, knocking the demons back.
“This way!” The dark-haired woman gestured for us to enter the temple through the great white gate. Carved marble figures peered down at us from all sides. They were all draped in robes as well. “It is safe inside.”
Aidan crossed under the gate, entering a symmetrical courtyard surrounded on all sides by columns and white marble buildings. In the middle, a fountain spewed clear, glittering water into a large square pool.
Steps led up to the many buildings and walkways. It was all Classical architecture done in marble, like the ancient ruins of Greece, but preserved perfectly.
Trees grew in patches, shielding marble benches. Scholars sat in the shade, writing in notebooks. At least, I thought they were scholars. They certainly looked serious enough with their furrowed brows, some wearing togas and some wearing tweed suits.
I slid off Aidan’s back, and a shimmer of gray light surrounded him as he transformed back into a man. Once he was human again, his concerned gaze darted to my leg. He frowned, then approached, wrapping an arm around my waist. I leaned into him gratefully, taking some of the weight off the bad limb.
“How’s the leg?” he asked.
“I’ve had worse.” Though it hurt like a demon bite.
Aidan leaned over and hovered his hand over my calf. Cooling relief radiated from his palm as he used his healing gift to mend the worst of my injury. It still smarted, but it was vastly better.
“That’s the extent of what I can do,” he said and stood. “But if it still bothers you, they should have a healer here.”
I put weight on the leg and it only hurt a bit, so I shook my head. “I’m fine. Thank you for that.”
The woman who had gestured us into the compound approached. She had bright gray eyes and a serene expression.
“Thank you for saving us,” I said.
“Not at all, Cassiopeia Clereaux and Aidan Merrick. Welcome to the Lyceum of Metis.”
Aidan nodded his thanks while I racked my memory for my knowledge of Ancient Greece. Lyceum meant a school of some kind, which meant that Metis probably referred to the Titaness by that name. Metis was also known as the Mother of Wisdom, if I was remembering right.
But what was more interesting was that this woman knew my whole name, which had been chosen by my fifteen-year-old self when I’d woken in a field with no memories.
“You’re a seer,” I said.
“Indeed. Ophelia Dominiki. I woke this morning with the knowledge that you would be visiting.” She glanced back at the gate and the other Lyceum guardians who were returning from the short battle. “Though I did not realize you would bring…friends.”
The corner of my mouth tugged upward. “They’re hardly friends. And I didn’t realize I’d be bringing them either.”
“I suppose I did get that impression,” she said. “Would you like to come with me? I believe you have questions for us.”
“Yes,” I said.
We followed her through the courtyard and up the steps of one of the larger buildings.
“How long has this place been here?” I asked.
“Over six thousand years,” she said. “At that time, Greece was the natural place for an institution of knowledge and learning.”
She nodded her head toward an older man sitting on a bench against the wall, his gaze absorbed in a book. His form was slightly faded and gray, as if he were from an old photograph. “That’s Cicero.”
My brows rose appreciatively. That was pretty cool. “So, this is like an afterlife for smart pe
ople?”
“A bit. We are an institution of knowledge and learning. We are strongest when we have the best scholars. At death, they are offered an opportunity to come here. Some do and we are fortunate for it.”
I liked Ophelia. She was calm and straightforward, and though I couldn’t read auras, I had a feeling hers would be good.
“This way.” She led us into a cool, brightly-lit room. Wide windows cast gleaming sunlight over the marble. We walked through elegantly decorated halls and rooms until we reached a space that was simpler, yet grander than any I’d ever seen.
The ceiling soared high above, covered in intricate marble carvings. They were geometric, all angles and straight lines, and they were riveting. Benches with cushions scattered the place, along with low tables set with wine and fruit. Bookshelves soared high against the walls, their contents neatly organized.
Individuals dressed in white robes reclined on benches, reading or eating. There were about a dozen of them, varying in age and race. Heads turned toward us as we entered. Ophelia nodded and they rose, then seated themselves at an area in the middle where eight marble benches were positioned in a circle.
A small pool sat in the middle, the water glittering blue. There was something riveting about it, a shimmer of magic or light that I couldn’t identify.
“Come.” Ophelia led us to one of the benches.
We sat, Ophelia and Aidan on either side of me.
“Cassiopeia Clereaux and Aidan Merrick have arrived. They have questions.”
The ten robed figures who surrounded us nodded gravely.
I unclasped the locket and held it out. “I was told that you could read the writing on the back of this locket.”
Ophelia took it and studied it, then passed it around. “We can do more than read it. We helped create it. The engraving on the back is our language.”
The charm made its way around the room, passed from scholar to scholar.
A beautiful, dark-skinned woman looked at the charm, then met my gaze. “I am Nuria, and I enchanted this locket.”
My heart thundered in my ears. This woman might know about my past.
“Cassiopeia is your real first name,” she said.
“You mean, the one given by my parents?”
“Yes. You may have chosen it when you had no memory, but you were drawn to it specifically. Clereaux is your chosen last name, but the one you were gifted at birth was McFane. You are the daughter of Alice and Ethan McFane.”
A dull noise roared in my head. “You knew my parents.”
“Indeed.” Her dark gaze met mine. “They were members of an organization that allies with ours.”
“Were,” I said. Past tense. My heart plummeted, a sick feeling filling my stomach. This emptiness was nothing compared to the Nullifier’s magic.
Aidan reached for my hand. I squeezed it hard. I hadn’t really expected my parents to still be alive, but I hadn’t been able to control my hope.
Her gaze softened. “Yes, were. I am sorry.”
“How?”
“That is not my story to tell,” she said.
“Then whose is it? I want to know what happened to my parents.” I gripped Aidan’s hand harder, trying to control the tone of my voice. I was so close to answers! So close to a person who could tell me.
“They have closer friends than I who should share that story.”
“Who? Were they part of the organization you spoke of?”
“Yes, but we do not speak their name, for they do not exist. Not on this side. And they will not exist if the Order of the Magica discovers them.”
“Can you tell me how to find them?”
“Unfortunately, no. They are well hidden for safety.”
Who the hell had my parents been involved with?
“You operate outside of the Order’s jurisdiction?” Aidan asked, curiosity in his voice.
“We operate according to our own codes and laws,” Ophelia said. “When the Order requests our help, we lend it. But we will not be governed by politicians. Knowledge often defies them.”
Fair enough.
Magic crackled in the air, bringing with it the scent of the desert. Across from me, a man stiffened, his gaze going blank white. The room hushed, every face turned toward him.
Was he having a vision?
“Cassiopeia Clereaux.” The man’s voice was monotone. Every inch of him, from the sweep of his white robes to his dark hair, was deadly still. “You have come to the crossroads and succeeded, but the road becomes difficult. A great confrontation is coming. Without your magic, you will fail. Yet time is getting short to recover it. If you are smart and brave, you may prevail, but the way is growing perilous.”
My heart thundered as I desperately tried to commit the seer’s words to memory. The crossroads he mentioned had been foreseen by Aethelred. And his reference to a confrontation and needing my magic to survive it was exactly what Aethelred had said yesterday.
When he finished speaking, he shook his head, and his gaze cleared.
“Another one?” he asked, his voice much more animated, though vaguely confused.
“Yes, Kyros,” the woman next to him said. “Quite a good one, if I do say so.”
He smiled. “Excellent.” His gaze met mine. “I presume it was about you? I hope it was helpful.”
“It, ah…was,” I said. “Though I wasn’t sure I understood it all.” Or maybe I had. I just didn’t want to understand it. None of it had been good news, exactly.
“Understanding comes with time, my dear,” Kyros said.
Great. With time. Just what I had tons of.
Either way, though, the locket held answers. I looked at Nuria, who held the necklace. “Will you tell me what the locket says? How to open it?”
She nodded, then bent her head. “The inscription on the front is directions for how to open the locket. I have made many in my day, and there are several different ways to get inside. Within the locket, there is something that your parents wanted you to always have.”
My heart thundered, covetousness roaring. Of the thousands of times my dragon soul had coveted treasure, it had never wanted anything like this.
“How do I open it?”
“Only you are capable. You must enter the Pool of Memory. There, you will receive instructions on what to do.”
“Where is the Pool of Memory?”
“Here, in the Lyceum of Metis.”
Thank magic for small favors. “Could you take me to it? I’d like to do it now.”
“Of course.” She rose. “Come with me.”
Nuria led Aidan and I through the rooms and courtyards until we reached a small building at the back of the compound. It was the oldest building by far, the stone roughhewn and ancient.
“This is why we built the Lyceum here,” Nuria said. “The Pool of Memory is ancient and has been here far longer than we.”
I followed her into the small building, ducking under the low doorframe to avoid hitting my head. The room lacked the many windows of the other buildings, though it was not dark. An opalescent sphere hung suspended in midair, shining a pearly light on the pool below.
The pool was a natural spring made of boulders and crystal blue water. It was a mere ten feet by ten feet and had a set of stone steps carved down into it. A small bench along the side was the only other thing in the room.
“This place is amazing,” I murmured.
“It is, isn’t it?” Nuria said. “You may leave your things on the bench and should enter the water with only the locket.”
“And then something will happen?” I asked.
“You won’t miss it.” Her smile turned serious. “But do not stay too long under the water. It is wonderful, but you are subject to human physiology there as well as here. You will run out of breath if you stay too long.”
I nodded. Of course I wouldn’t stay ‘til I drowned.
“You should wait outside,” Nuria said to Aidan.
He nodded. Before he followed her
out the door, he reached for my hand and pulled me to him, then pressed his lips to mine. I savored the touch before he pulled away.
“Call for me if you need me,” he said. “I’ll be right outside the door.”
“I will.” I stepped away, then watched him leave.
When I turned back to the pool, the silence made the room feel even more magical. I was surrounded by magic every day, but this was something special. An unquantifiable number of memories lay within that pool. It seemed impossible.
I hoped it wasn’t.
Quickly, I toed off my boots and stripped off my clothes and dagger. I left them in a pile on the bench and approached the stairs, the locket gripped in my fist.
The water was both cool and warm at the same time, swirling around me like a living thing. It felt strange, almost like it sparkled against my skin. When I was up to my neck, the water glittered in front of my eyes like a blanket of sapphires and diamonds.
I sucked in a deep breath and submerged, the water closing over my head and sucking me into a world of eerie silence.
Memories clawed at my mind. They bombarded me from all sides, flashes of faces and names and voices that ignited the familiar headache that always came when I tried to remember my past.
I tried to choose the right one, but they all blurred. I squeezed my hand around the locket, focusing on the bite of the metal into my flesh. Suddenly, one memory gleamed clearer than the rest. I reached for it with my mind, focusing on it.
A moment later, I was standing in a small room. There was a plush blue couch and a small fireplace surrounded by bookcases. It was homey.
It was my home, I realized. And it was fuzzy around the edges. A memory.
I turned, feeling weightless, and caught sight of a tall man kneeling on the floor in front of a little girl who was about twelve years old. She had red hair and freckles and wore a pair of denim overalls and a rainbow shirt.
Me.
Which meant the man must be my father.
My gaze darted to him, taking in his dark hair and strong features. Familiarity burst in my mind as love exploded in my heart.
Dad.
A second later, my head throbbed painfully, a migraine on the edge of agony. It was a familiar pain. Normally, it would push me away from the memory entirely, but the Pool of Memory must be holding it at bay.