“Yes, but Cecilia, I need you to focus.” He raked a restless hand through a tawny lock that had escaped its confine and tucked it behind his ear.
“I’m listening.” I felt a funny stomach flutter from hearing him use my name for the first time.
“Exemplary.” His tone was formal but his copper eyes were shining as if my distraction amused him for some reason. “First, I would have you know what to expect.”
“Forewarned is forearmed.” I nodded my head to let him know I was paying attention now. “Right. I got it…only why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you warning me? I’m just a slave. I’m no one to you. You claim I owe you a favor, but what can I possibly give that you might need? Why did you rescue me? Why did you let Millie and Stone stay here while I was unconscious? And why…”
“Pause. Take a breath.” His eyes were liquid copper and his lips twitched. He definitely thought I was amusing. “Those are all worthy questions, seer.”
I didn’t acknowledge his compliment. Instead I continued to wonder what was going on with this powerful man who seemed so hard and yet had been unexpectedly kind as I waited for my answers.
He rubbed his smoothly shaven chin and the starched shirt beneath his coat rustled as he deliberated. “You are a slave, certainly. But not without power, Cecilia. It’s only a matter of when you decide to wield it.” He glanced over his shoulder as if checking to make sure we were still alone. His expression was serious, all trace of amusement vanished when he turned back to face me. “I don’t have the time or the inclination to reveal my motivations to you. Not that I think you would appreciate my efforts on your behalf any more if I did.” He exhaled a breath. “You need to understand that you now bought many enemies with the special treatment you have received at my behest.”
“Delilah,” I guessed.
“Yes. She and all of her sisters. They think and act as one. I can no longer shield you from the fate that awaits you. You will be thrown back together with the other captives on the two-hour train ride to Paris. Captives who suspect you because of my intervention. Some may even hate you because they lost loved ones on this journey and you did not.”
“Then I am a dead woman and Millie is too.” I crushed the sheet in my hands. “I’m too weak right now to defend myself or her.”
“Not necessarily. You have the gargoyle’s support. He is a powerful ally and in my opinion there is more to him than it seems.”
“Ok, maybe.” I let that sink in. Stone was virtually indestructible but I wasn’t certain yet that I wanted to bank my existence on him.
“Illusion. Subterfuge. Allies who are enemies. Foes who are friends. That is the world you are entering. That is the Court of the Light Immortals where Phoebus makes all the rules. It is a life or death game that you must determine to win or you will lose everything.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“You will. You are a true seer, Cecilia. I wasn’t sure until I saw the evidence with my own eyes.” His lips twisted as if he were remembering something unpleasant. “But it takes the two of you together, does it not?”
I didn’t answer but felt my eyes widening slightly at his correct assumption.
He nodded as if he had just had his suspicions confirmed. “As soon as we started the transfusion and her blood entered your body you began to babble. Names. Dates. Places.” The firm line of his jaw tightened and he looked a little green.
Had I foretold something about him? Something bad?
“I learned quickly that it was better not to touch you.” He took a step backward and straightened his hip length coat. “You must learn your lessons even faster. Heed the wise advice I have given you. I suggest you table the who, what and why of it all for a later time. Your symbiosis with your sister is problematic. It will be exploited. Unlike your wings it is not something you will be able to keep secret.”
Reminded of them, I twisted around to try to look over my shoulders.
“They are fine.”
“How…”
“They emerged fully when the change came,” he explained. “They are more beautiful than any I have ever seen. Like purest crystal with smooth edges but alive and very sensitive to touch.”
My cheeks grew warm. “Ok, but…”
A ship’s horn blasted.
“I must depart.” Leonardo took another step backward, frowned and then went to pick up the tray of food Stone had left behind. He brought it to me and arranged it carefully on my lap. When he raised his head he held my gaze for a moment. My cheeks grew warmer. “They will come for you soon.” Was there reluctance to leave me in his voice? Or was I just imagining it? Casting him as a romantic hero because he had rescued me? “Eat as much as you are able. Food is scarce and every resource is part of the power struggle where you are going.” He breathed out wearily. It wasn’t a sigh that sounded encouraging. “Bonne chance, Cecilia.”
I stepped forward to get another look out the sliver of window just visible through the gap between Stone’s sculpted arm and torso. We had been on the train for nearly an hour and a half. The port town of Le Havre where our ship had docked and the intermittent towns we had passed along the way with their tiny train stations and high steepled churches were quant. But it was Paris, the City of Lights, that I was most anxious to see.
When my glimpse revealed only more rolling countryside, I turned to check on Millie again. “How are you feeling?” I asked squeezing her chilled hand.
“I’m fine. Stop fretting.” She gave me a feeble smile.
She wasn’t fine. She was too pale and leaned heavily against the gargoyle. Guilt sat heavy in my stomach along with all the food I had gorged on. The protein dense breakfast of eggs and steak had done wonders to replenish my strength and as time passed I was feeling better and better. The opposite seemed to be true of my twin.
You gave her so much blood. What is left for you?
Stone’s observation and Millie’s lingering malaise concerned me. I tuned out the hostile glances of the other captives who were packed and standing alongside us in the railcar under the watchful golden gazes of our new guards. Sun Elves, with unique turquoise skin that reflected UV radiation and obsidian tipped arrows loaded in their crossbows. I brought Millie’s hand to my cheek, pressed it into my skin, and said the words that were burning a hole inside my heart. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. Us being captured, you being so weak. Mamá and Papá being murdered.” Tears gathered and my throat tightened. “If I hadn’t scryed for those herbs,” I whispered, “if I hadn’t snuck out, if…”
“It is so not your fault.” Her eyes took on a faint seafoam green glow. “I was the one who complained about it taking too long to find them. I could have said no when you suggested we scry for them.” Her lips trembled and she pressed them together for a moment before speaking again. “But really it is neither your fault nor mine. This is all on Apollyon. All of it. He killed our parents. He kidnapped us. Him, Cecilia. Not me. Not you.”
Her fierce expression and her words made it clear to me that Apollyon had more than just me to worry about.
The brakes screeched and I glanced out the window to see that the train was slowing considerably. We were passing by modern buildings that reminded me of the high rise apartments back home in the city of San Juan. I was a little disappointed that Paris seemed so pedestrian.
We entered the train yard. I noticed the guards moving in closer to all the prisoners. When we stopped alongside a platform crowded with humans they began to bark out orders, breaking us into smaller groups. There were two of us for every one of them, but they were armed and our ragged band of Dark Immortals had been weakened by our treatment on the journey.
Well, I didn’t feel weak anymore. I felt like escaping.
Now.
Maybe it was Millie’s sacrifice and the strength of her blood flowing through me. Maybe it was because I was fully immortal now. I knew for sure that I was sick and tired of being kicked around. Before I could get Stone�
�s attention to signal that it was time to make our move one of the guards called out to me.
“Seer.” I jumped hoping my guilty expression didn’t betray the focus of my thoughts to the lithe elf wearing a black tunic embroidered with a pink rising sun and cross hatch patterned black leggings like the others. This one stood head and shoulders above the others on the train. “Stay where you are.” He tossed his single dark braid over his shoulder and withdrew his crossbow from his back. “Do not move unless I give you leave.” He cocked his bow and trained it on us as the other prisoners exited the train. The message was clear. He had more than enough lime green fluorescent slashes on his cheeks proclaiming his proficiency with that weapon. The slashes were tattoos representing the lives of immortals he had taken.
I swallowed nervously and stayed put as directed.
Before I had time to wonder why we weren’t being shuttled off with everyone else, a fight erupted out on the platform. Three arrows were released in rapid succession and the three demons who had attempted to escape went down. Without pausing, the grim faced guards who had taken them out crossed to them, removed their arrows, and then tossed the lifeless bodies back inside the railcar.
Millie, Stone and I exchanged wide eyed glances. That might have been us had I dared to enact my plan.
“Marcel.” The train car rocked as an elf with two dark braids instead of the one like the males wore hopped inside. “The van for the seer awaits.”
“Thank you.” Marcel, the tall elf, nodded to the female. “Make haste then.” He spoke the order to each of us but it was Stone he watched the most closely. All the elves seemed wary of the gargoyle. Crossbows weren’t a very effective deterrent to a creature made of stone except if he unfolded those leathery wings of his and took to the sky, which was exactly what he and I had predetermined to do if the chance presented itself. But after seeing firsthand how effortlessly and quickly the elves had dispatched the demons, I wasn’t as hopeful about any attempt by us succeeding.
I pulled in a deep breath for courage. The gargoyle and I locked gazes as the female guard preceded us onto the platform. I dipped my chin.
He nodded once.
This was it.
My heart rate accelerated as I grabbed the handrail. The plan was that I was going to launch myself into the air first. Stone would follow with Millie. I was a completely inexperienced flier with virgin wings. He would have to carry her and I had to trust him to do it.
“Seer, a moment.” Eyes that were lavender flashing with warning Marcel tapped my wrist with something cold and metallic that clicked. My heart sank when I realized that he had cuffed my wrist. Another click and the matching cuff latched his wrist to mine. My eyes filled with frustration. “We can’t have that brute getting any ideas about carrying you away, now can we?” He grinned.
I shrugged as if it didn’t matter, as if he hadn’t guessed almost exactly what we had schemed.
Moments later after Marcel and I were seated across from Millie and Stone in the backseat of the van, I covered my sister’s hand with my own and squeezed an apology.
Not this time,” I silently promised her. But soon.
I refused to give my captors the satisfaction of seeing my disappointment. I had Millie back, my other half. That was the most important thing. The rest I would figure out. If not today, then tomorrow or the next. After all, we were the daughters of the legendary immortals Raphael and Panacea. We would find a way to capitalize on our heritage and leverage our strengths. We would persevere until we regained our freedom. We were smart. We were together. We would figure out a way to escape. They couldn’t hold us forever.
Regaining the resolve that had abandoned me when I had been alone on the boat, I turned to look out the van window as we sped along. The tree lined boulevard we were on was clogged with taxis and mopeds. I heard the iconic sound of an overseas emergency vehicle in the distance. For a moment I imagined I was a protagonist in a foreign film.
If only.
If only I could rise from my theatre seat, go for popcorn and come back to a happy ending playing out on the screen. If only I could close my eyes and make all the evil we had experienced go away. If only I could unmake my mistakes and could rewind everything, we could all be back in our small cottage on stilts in the rainforest. I hadn’t appreciated it properly then but I realized now that the entire world had been in my grasp and now everything seemed far out of reach.
The pressure of regret burned hot behind my eyes. Determined to distract myself, I refocused on the view out the window. Sidewalks filled with people that seemed somehow even more romantically dressed than those on our own island, slim pants and dark sweaters for the men, women in clothing that skimmed their bodies as if custom made for them. Some strolled alongside limestone buildings containing high end fashion shops: Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Hermès. Others sat at crowded bistro tables outside cafes beneath sophisticated awnings in muted hues. A street sign revealed we were on the Boulevard Saint-Germain and I wondered if Phoebus’ court was nearby.
Our driver took a sharp right onto a winding narrow one-way cobblestone street that would have been too narrow for our Puerto Rican cars. We almost collided with a pedestrian. The man readjusted his cap and waved angrily cursing at our driver in French. We turned yet again and now we were traveling along the tree lined banks of the Seine River. Tall buildings along the waterfront looked residential. Many had wrought iron balconies filled with bright red flowers.
If Millie and I had been here under different circumstances, I would have loved to join the young people I saw with their picnic lunches sitting on blankets watching the boats going by or looking over the low walls.
But that was not the hand the fates had dealt us.
On the multilane Quai d’Orsay, we passed the Museum D’Orsay with its Paris Orleans clock turret and crawled through more traffic and another light at the Point Alexander III arched bridge before making a U-turn and pulling to a stop alongside Gustave Eiffel’s 1889 wrought iron masterpiece.
“Why are we stopping at the Eiffel Tower?” I asked marveling at how much bigger Paris’ most iconic structure was than it seemed in pictures.
“Because this is the entrance to Phoebus’ domain. His court is located above, of course.” The female elf rolled her eyes, disdainful of my ignorance.
I started to bite back a retort but then decided to let it rip. “Phoebus might be a big deal to you and yours on this side of the Atlantic but he’s not all that where I come from.”
Her gaze narrowed and she looked like would enjoy getting in a riposte but Marcel jerked his chin at her and she sheathed her ire.
“We get out here,” Marcel announced then motioned to the female elf. “Escort the gargoyle and the sister across the plaza. I’ll take the seer. We’ve already formed an attachment.” He tugged on our cuffed hands and pulled me out of the van with him. I noticed Millie held Stone’s arm and leaned on it as we crossed the paved area at the base of the tower.
Tourists waiting in a long meandering line to go up to the viewing levels paid no attention to us, nor did I attempt to solicit their aid. There was nothing they could do. Besides, humans saw only what they wished to see. Their brains had built in mechanisms for making excuses rather than acknowledging the otherness of the immortal world that existed right alongside their own. That’s why none of the mortals had seemed aware of the commotion back at the train station. The humans had stepped over the three fallen demons, but hadn’t really seen them, the elves or the procession of otherworldly captives that had exited the train afterward. Some of the older races could disguise their appearances, but I wondered if that really even mattered. To the humans, we were practically invisible, shrouded in the mist of myth and legend.
Marcel stopped outside a restricted employee entrance on the north side. He uttered a word in his native tongue and the door slid open. Down a long corridor he led us and then to the left until we arrived at another closed door. Another password was spoken
and we entered an interesting room that was open to the floors above it and contained the iron footprints of the tower.
“You two up the stairs first,” the female elf ordered her charges. Forehead beaded with perspiration and looking even paler than she had on the train, Millie grabbed the handrail to step up but stumbled.
“Amelia.” Stone grabbed her elbow before I could get to her. Concern creased his brow.
“Step back and keep your hands to yourself, gargoyle,” the female elf barked withdrawing her dagger. She moved to separate them when Stone didn’t immediately comply.
He turned hard eyes on her. “You push too hard, cruel elf. Do you not see that she is out of breath? Let us pause for a moment or let Stone carry her if speed is so important to you.”
The female elf cast a quick glance over her shoulder looking for guidance.
“It matters not.” Marcel shrugged though I was sure the gargoyle’s displeasure worried him. It was becoming increasingly obvious that he was very protective of my sister. “It might make our job faster and easier if you tote her.”
“Very well.” The female elf lifted her chin and Stone didn’t hesitate to take my sister into his arms. Though she protested, I saw the look of relief on her face before she turned it into his marble chest.
The metal stairs clanged sharply beneath the gargoyle’s heavy stone feet, but dully under mine. The elves known for their stealth, passed silently. At the top awaited an open elevator uniquely slanted on one side. We stepped inside and the door automatically closed. The elevator slowly crawled up to the top of the thousand-foot tower.
Even shackled, concerned about Millie’s health and worried about what lay in wait at the top, I couldn’t help but be awed by what I saw through the gaps in the iron latticework as we ascended. The Seine River. The Grand Palais. The Tuilieres Garden. The Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe. The Paris landmarks I’d seen in pictures grew smaller as we climbed higher and higher. I turned to see what Millie thought of the view but she wasn’t watching.
Dream Magic Page 7