I missed Liv already. My whole insides felt hollow. It was possible I’d never see her again. I couldn’t live with that.
I appeared in front of her house, next to a For Sale sign stuck in the yard. Wow, her grandmother worked fast. I peeked in the windows. Nothing was in there, like it’d been empty for months. I jumped into her room only to find everything gone. Even her workshop looked as if it had never even been used before. All of Liv’s beautiful work was gone.
I let out a breath. Why would her grandmother go through this trouble?
I appeared in the middle of the Glittering Goddess, dolls and toys filled her former booth. Nothing of hers remained. This wasn’t about getting Liv safely to the goddesses. This was about erasing any sign of her. My chest tightened. This was not good.
I trudged into my own house. Ali and Melissa sat at the table drinking coffee like they didn’t have a care in the world. Like the love of my life hadn’t been ripped away from me.
“Is she safe?” Ali asked.
“I don’t know.” I sank into a chair trying to make sense of things.
“I don’t understand.”
“Bea showed up at the last minute and forced me into my vessel. I got out just in time to see Liv whisked away by a goddess.”
“Good thing you’re Djinn, or you’d be stuck right now. I’ll check with my source at the sanctuary to make sure Liv’s okay, but it might take a few hours for her to respond.”
Things had happened so fast. I didn’t expect Bea to show up, but I shouldn’t be surprised. The goddesses always attacked when we least expected.
A scratching came from the back door, and I jumped up to see what it was.
I opened the door, and three cats meowed at me. Without warning, they raced into the house. London jumped down from his perch on the refrigerator and sniffed at the other cats.
“Looks like Bea forgot something,” I said.
Melissa picked up Tokyo. “Well, the least we can do is watch these babies. They must be terrified.” She cooed at them.
“I think I’m going to find a place up north. I need to be near her. I can hunt for Samir as easily from there as I can from here.”
Melissa put her hand on mine. “We’ll go with you. We can’t leave you alone. Not now.”
Ali shook his head. “That’s a bad idea. I know you can get out of vessels when you want to, but I can’t. We shouldn’t be that close to them.”
“I’m going. I don’t care. I need to keep an eye on her,” I said.
Ali sighed. “Let’s wait and see what Mia says. In the meantime, where do you think Samir went? We can’t forget about him because Liv isn’t with us. At least she’s safe. ”
Sure. That’s what we thought. Would she ever be safe? I ran my hand through my hair. “I have no idea, but he has the sickle. We can’t kill him.”
Ali smirked. “Oh, come on. We’re smarter than he is. We’ll steal it from him and then kill him.”
“I wish I was as optimistic.” Everything felt so bleak. I might never see Liv again, and Samir would probably kill me. Then he’d go after Liv once she was no longer safe with the goddesses.
Ali’s phone buzzed, and he read it with a furrowed brow, and frowned.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s about Liv.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“Is she safe?” I asked, leaning forward.
“Yeah, she’s fine…” He continued reading, his eyes flicking back and forth, and his frown deepening.
“But?” We should’ve run away together. I could only keep her safe if I kept her close.
“She doesn’t remember anything, including who she is.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Someone wiped her memories.”
I slammed my fist into the table. Damn Bea. Now Liv would never trust me again. Bea must’ve thought if she could get Liv to forget about me, then she didn’t have to worry about my influence. And even though Liv still held my vessel in a ring, she wouldn’t know what it was.
I’d lost her.
Chapter Three
Liv
I had no idea what my friends were like before I’d lost my mind, but I’d hoped against hope that they weren’t as crazy as the girl standing in front of me.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so excited you’re here. I thought no one ever came late. I’m so sick of divines. I’m seventeen, but the goddetts don’t talk to me that much. I won’t be one of them for another year or so.” She talked a mile minute, her ponytail bouncing along. She wore magenta pants and a matching shirt. It was almost fancy but still looked like something you would work out in.
We rushed down the stone hall with massive tapestries and paintings on the wall. Plush carpets ran the length, and the only sound was the girl’s incessant chatter.
“What’s your name?” I asked when she stopped to take a breath.
“I’m Josephine, but I like to be called Josie. What’s yours?”
“Liv. Well, Olivia, but no one calls me that.” How did I know that? The things I knew and the things I didn’t were so confusing.
We paused at a great room filled with long tables and chairs, sort of like a cafeteria, but the tables looked like they belonged in a Hollywood mansion. Each table was set with fine china. Girls mingled on the other side of the room, wearing outfits like Josie’s but in varying shades of pink, with a sprinkling of red.
Josie noticed my ogling. “It’s almost dinner. I’m starving. Let’s get your clothes and change so we can get there before it starts. We won’t be allowed in if we’re late.”
“Really?” I’d officially landed in uptightville.
“Yeah, manners are super important here. Make sure every time you talk to a goddess, you always address her by ‘Goddess’ before you say her name, and try not to do anything dumb or insult her.”
“How will I know if she’s a goddess?”
Josie snorted. “Trust me, you’ll know.”
“What if I don’t know her name?”
“Then just Goddess. But there are only about ten or so here. You’ll learn them very fast and once you do, avoid them if possible. They’re scary. Especially Goddess Lianna.”
“Why?” I asked, wondering what was different about her.
“She’s like a thousand years old. Most of the goddesses here are only a few hundred. And that’s not even that old. The Goddess Mothers have been around for tens of thousands of years.”
My mind tried to wrap around that number. I hadn’t really thought about it before. I was immortal.
“Eventually we’ll all be goddesses, right?”
Josie sighed. “Yeah.”
“Then how do you become a goddess?”
“You catch a Jinn. That’s the final test.”
I wasn’t sure what kind of alternate universe I’d landed in, but this was insane. I’d wake up tomorrow in my room and only have vague recollections of this place. Maybe all my dreams were this weird.
We stopped at a door that opened only on the top half. A short woman with tight curly hair appeared.
“Hey, Josie, who’s this?” she asked in a high squeaky voice.
“Miss Tess, this is Liv. She just arrived.”
The woman stared at my clothes. “Looks a little old, but Josie here fit right in. I suppose you can too.”
She handed me two sets of pale pink clothes like the ones Josie wore.
“Thank you,” I said, and we continued on down the hall. As soon as we were out of earshot of the door, I leaned down and whispered in Josie’s ear. “Is she a goddess?” I already knew the answer, but I was trying to figure out how everyone here worked.
Josie cackled. “No. She’s just part of the staff. There are a lot of humans working here. Most are servants, but there are a few instructors as well. Sensei Kane is scarier than the goddesses.”
“Who’s that?”
“Defense and weapons instructor. That’s one of the tests you have to pass before you become a goddess.”
“Really? What are the other tests?”
She cocked her head. “There are six. Seduction, persuasion, magic, defense, weapons, and discernment.”
Huh. Well, if nothing else, I’d be prepared to enter the CIA if this all ended up being some cosmic joke.
We went up three sets of stairs. Josie talked a mile a minute. I liked her. She was open and warm. I hoped everyone else here was like that, but if the students were anything like Lianna, this was not going to be fun. As crazy as this all was, Josie’s extreme willingness to help was comforting. She pushed open the door to our room. My mouth dropped.
The room was enormous, with two four poster beds draped in fancy fabrics. Ancient paintings hung on the walls. I recognized one as a da Vinci. I wondered if it was real. Josie flung herself on the purple and gold bed. The other bed was blue and silver with decadent satin.
I set my pale pink clothes on the bed and gawked at the rest of the room. A large set of double doors opened to a wide balcony. The trees went on for miles and a lake was far in the distance. I pushed open another door that revealed a large bathroom with gold fixtures and marble everything else. I spun around to ask Josie if we shared it or not and screamed.
A six-foot snake slithered toward me, his hooded head raised. I scrambled away, my heart racing. Josie laughed.
“Leave her alone, Cupcake.”
The snake swiveled its head around and slithered back to Josie. She held out her hand, and the snake coiled around her arm and wove its head around her neck so it was still facing me. One wrong move, and I was dead.
“You… you… named your pet cobra, Cupcake?” My heart was still palpitating.
“Yep.”
I gulped. “Those are poisonous, you know.”
Josie snickered. “I know, but she’s not going to bite me, and if he bites you, you won’t die.”
But it would be painful as anything.
“Why won’t she bite you?”
“Because she’s the sacred animal of Meretseger. I’m descended from her. What about you?”
“I have no idea. How do we find out? Maybe that can jog my memory.”
“Goddess Lila can test for your matronage. We can do that after dinner.”
“Why did you show up so late?” I asked, now curious about her past.
She rolled her eyes. “Because my mom married a man and didn’t want to tell him what she was. But when I turned seventeen my powers burst out, and I poisoned my birthday cake.”
I rubbed my forehead and tried to figure out what this girl’s deal was. “Why?”
“Oh, well, this mean girl named Heather came to my party because my mom made me invite her. I caught my boyfriend making googly eyes at her, and I just got so mad. I didn’t mean to poison the cake. But everyone died. Well, except my mom.”
I covered my mouth. I was supposed to stay with this girl? “That’s awful.”
“Yeah. But I didn’t mean to do it. Anyway, my mom shipped me off here. I know how to control my magic now. I was one of the fastest ever in that class. Most girls don’t pass until they are close to seventeen. Magic is what I do best.”
I had to sleep in the same room with a girl who had a pet cobra and killed everyone at her birthday party. Fun times.
She caressed Cupcake under his chin. “You need to hurry up and change so we can get to dinner. I do want to eat tonight.”
I looked down at the pale pink outfit. Yuck. I might not remember much about my past, but I was certain I hated pink.
The outfit was surprisingly comfortable, even if it was a horrible color. I slid on the matching flats, and they pinched my toes. I wished I could wear the navy blue Chucks I’d been wearing when we arrived, though I supposed they wouldn't match.
“What kind of food does this place have?” I asked, looking around for Cupcake.
“The best. We only have five-star chefs.”
“Why?”
“Because the goddesses are loaded and pay them twice what they would make in any other place. Not to mention that goddesses are pros at persuasion. The chefs would work for them even if they paid them nothing.”
The goddesses sounded like manipulating bitches. And I was supposed to be one of them.
Josie pushed open the door.
“Where’s your snake?” I asked. Maybe I’d need to request a different roommate. Though, I did like Josie.
“Probably under the bed. He sleeps there when I’m not around.”
Good to know. Give Josie’s bed a wide berth.
Girls in various shades of pink rushed down the hall, and we entered the great hall.
“So you’ll have to sit with the cherubs. I’m sorry. I’ll help you figure out what you’re good at so you can move up to the divines with me. It will be a while before I move up to the angels.”
“Can you explain what all these names mean? Cherub? Divine? Angel?”
“Yeah, cherubs are baby goddesses. Most of them are twelve.”
“How many levels are there?” I absolutely needed to move up. I did not want to dine with whiny twelve-year-old girls for long.
“Cherub, priestess, divine, angel, oracle, seraphim, goddett, and then goddess.”
“Hey, Macy,” Josie said to a small girl with her nose in a book. She blinked up us. “This is Liv. She’s new. Can you help her feel comfortable?”
Macy nodded and dropped her eyes back to her book. I slid into a chair across from her, feeling highly embarrassed to be sitting at the kiddie table. I watched girls chatter all around me, though there were a few who were isolated. A bell rang, and Macy shoved a bookmark in her book and slid it into her bag.
“Stand up,” she hissed. I did, as chairs rattled all over the room. Every girl was on her feet and silent. A door to the left opened, and a group of chattering young women entered.
They all looked to be in their late teens or early twenties. All wore gorgeous dresses in a rainbow of colors. Their hair was perfect, makeup flawless, and nails manicured. Not a single one had on heels that were under three inches tall.
“Who are they?” I whispered.
“Goddetts,” Macy said under her breath.
Ah, so that’s what I had to look forward to. They all stood around a table near the front. I moved to sit back down, but Macy shook her head. Another group of women entered, Lianna among them. I didn’t even have to ask Macy who they were.
Goddesses.
Once they were seated, the rest of the room sat.
Macy pulled her book out again, and the other girls around me didn’t look my way. So much for making friends. I ate dinner in silence, but at least the food was to die for.
Soft conversation floated around the room, and something about it felt off, but I couldn’t tell what. Maybe it was that I had no memory of who I was. Maybe everything would feel off no matter where I was. I needed to find out who I was. If Goddess Lila knew whom I descended from, maybe someone else could help me figure out how to get my memory back. They had magic for crying out loud. Surely they could find out something as simple as my full name.
Dinner passed quickly, and I observed the others in the room. The goddesses spoke to no one but themselves except once when a pixie-like goddess called over a servant, and after pointing to her food and scowling, she slapped the woman across the face. No one around them even flinched. I wanted to ask Macy about it, but she never glanced up from her book.
After dinner, the goddesses glided out among the girls and chatted in small groups. If a goddess approached a group, the girls all visibly stiffened. I stood awkwardly to the side, hoping no one else would try to talk to me. Josie spoke animatedly with her hands to the short, but beautiful, goddess who had slapped the servant.
She looked around the room, spotted me, and waved me over. I felt incredibly out of place as I walked toward them.
As soon as I was close enough, Josie grabbed my hand and pulled me to her side.
“Goddess Lila, this is Liv.”
Lila had brilliant blonde hai
r twisted up into a bun. Her wide green eyes had inch-long lashes.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. Let’s go to my office and find out who your Goddess Mother is.” Her voice was soft and sweet. I’d follow her anywhere. But I wondered if she was more dangerous than anyone else in here, because she instantly put me at ease when I knew I should be wary.
She led us into a large office similar to Lianna’s, but instead of books lining the wall, all Lila’s shelves had obelisks of different shapes and sizes.
Lila must’ve seen me staring. “You like my treasures? I’d like to add you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Each one of these represents a girl who attended our school. We usually don’t test who their Goddess Mother is until they are divine, but your situation is unique.”
“Here’s me,” Josie said pointing to a shelf. It had only a dozen or so obelisks, while other shelves had fifty or more.
Lila chuckled. “Yes, that’s Meretseger’s shelf. Have a seat I’m excited to see who you come from. Usually we know enough to make predictions, but with you it’s completely unknown. This is new.”
I sank into a chair, now a little nervous, though I wasn’t sure why. Josie sat next to me, quiet for the first time since I met her.
Lila sat across from me. “Give me your hand.”
I held out my hand, and she gripped it hard. With her other hand she drew a long purple nail down the center of the palm, slicing it open. I flinched, but she held tight. Blood pooled in the center. She lifted her finger, and the blood rose with it, forming an obelisk shape. Lila’s eyes widened as the obelisk continued to grow. Soon it was larger than any I’d seen on the shelves.
Without warning, the obelisk turned pitch back and became incredibly heavy. I nearly dropped it. I had to catch it with my other hand.
Lila didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“The name, what is it?” she asked.
“What?” I asked.
“The name should be facing you.”
My eyes traveled the length of the obelisk. The name Bast ran across the whole thing.
The Glowing Sands (Sons of the Sand Book 3) Page 2