“Sightseeing.”
A chuckle came from behind me, but the man was not amused. “How you come here?”
“It’s a long story involving a ghost, lightning, and a tree. Sounds like a B movie, but it’s true.” The knife pressed into my side. “Right, the Cliffs Notes version. I fell into a tree. More like through the tree and down a hole. Or was it inside the tree hole? Maybe—”
“Enough.” He gripped my shoulders. “Where is tree?”
“Wish I knew. I can’t say the tour had been that great. Too much action and adventure. I’m more of a shopping and art museum kinda girl.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for our first date.” Jaxon was suddenly beside us, flipping the knife end over end in one hand. A ball of light glowed from his left hand lighting up the scene around us. A small group of women and children huddled together a few feet away. Their fear was almost tangible. A teenage boy picked himself up off the ground and scowled at Jaxon.
“There won’t be any first dates,” I grumbled.
Jaxson smirked at me, then turned to the boy. “Lesson one, kid, never pull a knife unless you know how to use it.”
The boy tensed and balled his hands into fists. Jaxon widened his stance and waited.
“Elias,” the man scolded.
“Lesson two, kid, never take on an opponent unless you know you can win.” Jaxon threw the knife at the kid making me gasp. It stuck in a tree no more than an inch over the boy’s head. “You seem like a good group. A little rusty on manners, but it’s been a rough night. Why don’t we work together to find the tree we need to get out of here before the bad guys find us?”
The man—apparently the leader of this group—reluctantly agreed. The oldest of the women stayed with the young children, and the rest disappeared into the woods to search. Jaxon took my hand, keeping me close as we walked around each tree looking for a sign it was the one we needed. Although, how we were going to open up a doorway in a tree again was a mystery. Definitely going on the question list.
We searched tree after tree, but no sign of a lotus symbol.
Jaxon suggested that I try to reach out to the symbol with my mind since I clearly had a connection. I thought he was crazy, but we couldn’t spend all night in this forest. At first, nothing happened, then that sensation started like something unfurling inside me. I pictured the lotus symbol in my mind. My palms tingled, and I knew exactly where to go.
We all stood around the tree as I touched the metal lotus symbol once more. Several gasps rang out when the bluish-white light enveloped the trunk and the portal opened. People went through a couple at a time until Jaxon and I were the last ones left. He gripped my hand as we stepped up to the tree. My toes were brushing the edge of the portal when a hoarse voice bellowed from behind us, “Meara!”
We turned to find an elderly man in a dark suit staring at me as if he had seen a ghost. Beside him was the giant from earlier. His eyes were now a glacial blue, but flames were weaving around his knuckles as he watched us with a look of contempt. The gray-haired man stepped forward, his azure eyes locked on me.
“Meara, you came back to me,” he choked out.
Before I could question who the man thought I was, Jaxon grabbed me by the waist and jumped though the portal.
14
We popped out of the same tree we had fallen through earlier and into the small clearing of the Emerald Rain Forest. We stumbled across the burn marks from the lightning strike, Jaxon’s quick reflexes keeping us on our feet. His arms crushed me back against his chest like he was afraid someone would try to rip me away. Anger and fear warred across his face. “Are you ok?”
“I’m ok,” I replied absentmindedly, still trying to make sense of everything that had happened. “You can let me go now.”
“No, I really can’t.” His voice was rough and possessive. His lips brushed against my hair and his arms relaxed a bit. His voice was back to the playful Jaxon I knew when he said, “We have that talk coming, remember?”
A squeak of surprise escaped as I was pulled from Jaxon’s arms. Lia wrapped me up in a bear hug almost suffocating me in her abundant cleavage. I hadn’t noticed until now that the Kyrion and guides were all here as well. The guides surrounded the villagers, their hands out in a hostile gesture that said, ‘One wrong move and you’re toast.’ I didn’t know the people we had rescued, but I didn’t think they were evil. They had been running for their lives the same as us.
“Can’t. Breathe,” I gasped.
Lia ignored my squirming. “Take shallow breaths. I’m not letting you go for at least a few hours.”
“Asteràki, perhaps you could let your friend up for air at least to change into dry clothes while I deal with our ... guests.” Bennett’s deep voice of reason seemed to get through to her, and she gave me one final squeeze before letting me go. “The Kyrion must be apprised of what has happened. Meet us in the Order Hall in one hour.”
Lia stayed right by my side as we made our way through the rain forest asking a dozen questions that I didn’t have answers for. Eventually, she ran out of steam and silence descended over the group. The feeling of eyes on my back had my muscles tensing with every step we took, but I didn’t want to set Lia off again by searching for the source.
We came to a stop in front of the elevators. A woman I think they had called Gaia, the Kyrion for the House of Seasons, walked toward the villagers. They watched her in awe. I couldn’t blame them—she had an ethereal quality to her. Her dark blonde curls framed a face of angelic beauty. She seemed to float across the ground, her Grecian-style green dress not even moving as she walked. She addressed them in their language. The man I had identified as their leader doing most of the talking. Bennett and Jaxon broke away from the rest of Kyrion to talk in hushed tones. Lia was swatting at bugs. For the moment, no one was paying close attention to me.
I scanned over the crowd until my eyes collided with the faded brown eyes of the old woman from the village. A floral kerchief covered her head, two white braids trailed down to her knees. Her skin was a deep brown and lined with age, like leather when it had been well worn. Discs of metal and beads gleamed in the lantern light where they were woven into her braids and hanging around her neck. Her dress looked like a basket of sheets had been dumped over her and draped down to brush the tops of her bare feet.
She walked toward me saying something in her language, but “Meara” was the only thing I could understand. There was that name again.
I walked toward her, but Jaxon stepped between us. His taller form blocked my view. “Don’t you have some random females to chase?”
“I seem to be chasing a feisty little brunette quite a bit lately. Trust me my hands are already full—or they could be if you moved a bit closer.” I rolled my eyes and tried to step around him, but he blocked me again. “Until we know more about the villagers, you need to keep your distance.”
“Jaxon, she’s a little old lady. I think I’ve got this.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” He nodded his head to the side. “Remember the boy who held a knife on you only moments ago?”
I glanced over where the teenage boy they had called Elias was practically drooling over the food one of the servants was passing out. He took a huge bite from a chocolate bar, his face lighting up with so much bliss it was like he had seen Santa for the first time. He had been so tough in the woods near their village.
Dang it, Jaxon may have a point. Not that I was going to tell him that. “I want to know why she’s been staring at me.”
Jaxon crossed his arms. Those muscled arms that had wrapped around me ... Uh, stop thinking about his arms! I need to get the walking hormone factory out of the way, so I can try to talk to the old woman.
“Jaxon—” A yellow butterfly flitted between us. Then came back to circle around my head.
The rain forest had gone completely quiet.
Jaxon looked at me with a mixture of pride and concern before he stepped back to join the others who had gathe
red around us. More butterflies joined the first, some went to circle the old woman, some to circle around Gaia. They flew around the three of us, then met each other, then did it again. As if we all took orders from butterflies every day, the three of us met near the center of the small clearing.
“The butterflies on this island really love their welcoming parties.” I tried to joke, but the women continued to watch the butterflies as if waiting. “Uh, does anyone have a clue what’s going on?”
“Can you not hear them?” Gaia asked.
“Hear what?” The air grew thicker with butterflies until it looked like a snow globe of yellow separating us from the others.
“They are excited that you are here. They are calling you to join them, Chosen.”
Gaia held out her finger and a butterfly landed. Her pale-green eyes were alight with what looked like excitement as she watched me carefully. If I hadn’t been raised to give thanks to Mother Earth and to feel my connection with all of nature, this would probably be really strange. But I was so excited I was bouncing on my toes. Now that I thought about it, similar-looking butterflies had joined me on my rooftop hideaway often when I was young.
Was there some connection between that and what was happening now? Gaia had called me “Chosen.” Did that mean that I had some special relationship with the butterflies? More questions to add to my list.
“So how do I tune into their station?”
Gaia smiled at me like I was a favored pet. Then held her palm up toward me. She spoke briefly to the old woman before raising her other hand. The old woman placed her palm against Gaia’s and held her other up toward me. The moment I completed the circle a current flowed from my palms up to my shoulders and down to my back where it felt like it traced a pattern onto my skin. Cold grew around me until our breath misted the air. My skin started to glow a faint bluish-white, and frost coated me. I tried to pull away, but they laced their fingers through mine and held on tightly.
“Your spirit power has been free to grow in strength,” Gaia gritted out as frost crept along her hand to her wrist. “I sense the Spirit Kiss was bestowed long ago. Perhaps even when you were a babe. The spirit is using your power to fight us. It does not want to share you with the Goddess.”
I couldn’t say anything—even if I knew how to respond to that mix of information. At the moment I was too cold to even shiver. If I died of hypothermia in the middle of a rain forest, I wanted my name in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The old woman said something, then tugged me toward her using our linked hands. It was awkward being chest to chest with this woman with my hands still clasped. I stared down into her craggy face. Her eyes held a well of sadness that caused my throat to tighten. A single tear fell and froze to my cheek. She nodded to me. Although I was sure I wouldn’t understand a word of what she said, I leaned down. Pressure built in my ears as she sang a beautiful song in one ear and then into the other. I winced as the pressure grew until my ears popped.
“Meara, I feel your presence in her. The wrongs done you, they are ours, not hers. We loved you and thought we knew what was best.” Pain choked her voice as tears slipped down the old woman’s cheeks. “You must let the Goddess claim her. She is strong, there is room for you both.”
I didn’t know how I was now able to understand her, but her words only seemed to make things worse. The frost bit into my skin and spilled down the old woman’s arm. She gasped in pain. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t know how to help any of us. My frustration grew, and a new energy filled me. I lifted one foot at a time, stomping them to the ground and shattering the thickening frost. But it re-formed just as quickly. Both women were now gasping in the cold, and the frost had made it all the way to their shoulders. I needed to break our hold before they were injured.
I gathered my strength and propelled myself backward as hard as I could. I managed a couple of stumbling steps, but we were locked together too tightly.
The frost was climbing up their necks when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. The butterflies were changing formation. A group had broken off from the circling mass and were heading toward us. They dived at me like kamikaze fighters. Instead of bouncing off like I would have expected, they sank down into the layer of frost as though they were being preserved in sap. I was covered by an icy blanket of yellow butterflies.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The noise sounded deafening in our frozen circle. Suddenly, the frost shattered. I fell to the ground, damp and shivering. Strong hands pulled me against a solid chest, and I shook even harder as Jaxon’s warmth met my cold skin. Blankets appeared out of thin air, and he wrapped us up in layers there on the wet ground.
“You know the best way to get warm is skin to skin,” he whispered against the top of my head.
“N-n-not h-h-happening.”
The old woman leaned over us and poked Jaxon with a stick. “Boy, move and let the Goddess do her work.”
He responded in the same language, “Elder, she has been cold for too long, and I fear for her health.”
“The Goddess takes care of her own or have you forgotten the old ways?” The woman poked him again. “Have the great House leaders fallen so far as to deny the power of our gods?”
“Elder ...”
“My name is Rosella,” she replied imperiously.
“Elder Rosella, I mean no offense—”
“You do offend, boy! Now release my granddaughter before I show you the error of your ways.”
“G-Granddaughter?” I whispered incredulously. “First, a man wearing a s-suit in the middle of nowhere—that just screams evil v-villain, by the way—thinks I’m s-someone he knows. Then I get f-frozen because I’m apparently lugging around some spirit b-baggage. Those poor butterflies died to keep me from becoming a Dia-cicle. Now a Rom elder thinks I’m her granddaughter. Curiouser and curiouser.”
“Remember when I told you there were things you needed to know?” Jaxon brushed the hair back from my face and placed a kiss on my forehead. “This isn’t how I wanted to have this conversation, but too much has happened. You are one of us—a Paldimori. You don’t know what that means yet, but you are very special. If the stick gouging my shoulder is any indication, I believe we may have also found some of your family. Ouch! Damnit, ok, I’m getting up.”
Jaxon got to his feet rubbing his shoulder but stayed close. Rosella made me get rid of the blanket and lie down on the wet grass. The silence was broken only by the chattering of my teeth. The air around me seemed to grow thicker pressing me down into the muddy grass. An itch popped up at the base of my spine, and I wriggled to scratch it. The tingling grew worse like thousands of ants marching along my back.
Then the ground moved beneath me. Roots shot up from the ground to wrap around my wrists and ankles. A sweet scent filled the air. Something soft grazed my hip. I felt the same sensation all around me. The roots pushed me upward until I hung in their grasp feet off the ground. A circle of yellow lotus flowers made the perfect outline of my body on the ground below where the shards of iced butterflies had dissolved. The wind picked up, carrying leaves that stuck to my naked body. Then the yellow lotus petals were ripped up by the wind. Together they molded into an elaborate dress.
I was dry, warm, and dressed like a fairy queen. The crowd below me stared open-mouthed, just as stunned as I. Except Lia, her hands were on her hips, and she looked two seconds from finding an ax to chop me down.
This is amazing! Why is she so angry?
The roots speared through my wrists. I screamed, and the wind rose with a shriek of fury to rip at the roots that I could swear were wriggling through my veins. Blood splashed the yellow petals of my full skirt and pain knifed along my back like the skin was being ripped away. My vision expanded.
I saw the village we had transported to through the portal, the land around it laid to waste.
Then I was underwater staring at the remains of a city and the crumbled landscape.
One scene after anot
her of devastation and pain overwhelmed my senses.
A voice whispered in my head, “Rest, my child.”
I gave myself over to the soothing balm of that voice and knew no more.
15
The sun beamed down on the meadow in the training area where I waited for Molly to show me what we were doing today. My thoughts were a jumble of questions and more questions as I absently twirled a purple flower between my fingers. I’d woken up in my rooms this morning to find Molly yelling at a furious Jaxon. It had taken a moment to recognize him because the transition had been so dramatic.
His hair was in a disheveled mess around his face. His eyes were pitch black as they met mine across the room, the emotions pouring from them hitting me like a thunderclap. His clothes were wrinkled and torn as if he’d been in a fight. Molly had her hands pressed against his chest pushing him back through the doorway to my bedroom. The last thing I saw before unconsciousness claimed me again was him breaking away from her and reaching his hand out for me.
When I’d finally woken for good, Molly’s cousin had been sitting on the edge of my bed humming. She had let me know that the Kyrion had taken away the villagers to some unknown location and called a meeting to discuss what happened. Molly and Lia had been required to attend as well. I’d asked her a dozen questions, but she hadn’t known the answers. I hoped Molly would have some when she got out of the meeting.
I secretly hoped that Jaxon would come as well. His actions when he’d seen me this morning didn’t seem like a man who only had sex on his mind. What was happening between us? Had he felt that zing when our eyes met? Those were just more questions to add to the list.
Finally, Molly joined me. My questions hit her rapid-fire. She cut me off and told me to pick two. I went with the most important. “Is my grandmother ok?”
“She’s fine. She’s giving everyone hell.” Molly gave me a mischievous smile that was more like the woman I had been told about. “She’s great.”
Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Page 38