by AR Colbert
I shook my head, unable to speak. My heart was pounding so loud I thought the neighbors in the suite next door might complain.
“It keeps drawing me back to you. I can’t seem to get enough. I thought about you the whole time I was in Agartha. I searched the entire palace for that tablet, just so I could see you smile when I brought it back.”
“My smiles aren’t cheap, but I bet you could have found an easier way to get one.” I grinned, just to prove my point. I wasn’t sure how else to respond. I’d never seen Tate behave so sincerely.
“I wonder,” he said, meeting my eyes. The gold flared, creating a subtle glow that I couldn’t look away from.
“Wonder what?” My voice was barely a whisper.
“What would happen if I kissed you?”
I didn’t even realize how much closer we’d gotten until he rested his hand on my cheek. Every cell in my body was alive, dancing and whirling in the electric sensation humming between us.
“There’s only one way to find out.” It was more than a dare. It was a request. I needed to know—needed to feel his lips on mine.
And Tate did not disappoint.
Chapter 7
Tate Castellanos was not my first kiss.
I got a swollen lip from Chad Rankin’s braces one year at church camp. Owen Griggs smooched me on the hay in his daddy’s barn, and Zach Bajek made me feel like the prettiest girl in Oklahoma when he kissed me under the stars at Homecoming.
But every one of those moments was laughable compared to what I felt when Tate’s lips found mine. I’m not even exaggerating when I say it felt like the world shifted. Everything changed in an instant.
The thread that seemed to tie us together was now an unbreakable rope holding us close, never letting us go. It was stronger than the grip of the Kraken. It was stronger than I cared to admit, honestly. It was something ancient. Something bigger than life itself.
We leaned into the kiss more—neither of us able to contain ourselves nor willing to try. And the sound of blood rushing through my ears from my pounding heart was almost enough to drown out the incessant tapping noise at the window.
Almost.
Tate pulled away an inch or so, smiling down at me. But his smile quickly faded. “Everly!” his hands slid from my shoulders down to my wrists, extending my arms. “You’re glowing.”
I looked down, but saw only skin.
Tap tap. Tap tap tap.
A quick glance over to the window confirmed what I somehow knew I’d see. A little white owl sat perched on the window sill, yellow eyes wide as his little feet moved nervously from side to side. Al tapped again.
Tate followed my gaze. “It’s an owl.” Then back to me, “daughter of sea and sky... Do you have the soul of Athena?”
“Apparently.” I shrugged. “Do you mind if I let him in?”
“Go ahead.” Tate ran a hand through his hair, looking as confused as I felt. The connection between us was still palpable, but it seemed less urgent and more confident somehow as I strolled away from Tate and toward the window. It was like the buzzing had been satisfied, and it was replaced with a bond of some kind.
I lifted the window, and Al hopped inside. The Manticorians are here, he said silently in my mind.
“Here?! At the convention? That’s not good.”
“Did the owl tell you something?” Tate stood and met us by the window. “Is everything okay? Your glow is…”
Bright. Al blinked and tilted his head at a strange angle. It’s more than an aura, Everly. You’re actually glowing white.
I looked down again as Tate gently ran his hand back and forth over my skin. I saw nothing but chill bumps in response to Tate’s touch.
“It’s beautiful,” he whispered, “but we can’t let anyone see you like this. When’s the last time you took your aura pills?”
“This morning. I didn’t want to risk it fading while I was here.”
“I wonder if it’s a reaction to that kiss.” Tate’s eyes were round, the gold a deeper, richer hue than normal. A butterfly flipped over in my belly, and despite Al’s bad news, I wanted to kiss Tate again and see just how bright my glow could get.
I glanced nervously at Al.
Oh don’t worry. I already saw everything. There was judgment in those sentient eyes. But I don’t care right now. Like I said… Manticorians. Here. Now. You’ve got to get out before they destroy the place.
“We’ve got to go, Tate. Al said the Manticorians are here.”
“Al?” He looked at the creature. “Al the owl?”
Alpheus, he called out in my mind, but of course Tate couldn’t hear him.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, but I don’t know how we’re going to get you out of here with you glowing like that.”
I walked over the window and quickly marked it off our list of options. We were at least ten stories in the air. Even with my new Keeper strength and power, I didn’t think I’d survive a fall like that.
“I’ll go check the hall,” Tate said, pacing nervously. “Stay here. You’ll be safe as long as you’re in my suite. I promise.”
He ducked out into the hall a moment later, leaving me alone with Al. “Are the Manticorians here for me?”
I don’t know for sure, but it’s likely.
I rubbed my hands over my face. They wouldn’t kill me. Rasputin had made it clear that he wanted me on their side. But based on the stories I’d heard from Millie, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone else who got in their way. That meant Tate was in danger.
“Hey Al, what do you know about my soulmate?”
What soulmate?
“Like from past lives. Who was he?”
Al flew over to the back of the couch. You’ve never found your soulmate.
“Never?”
He blinked. You’ve taken lovers over the centuries, but it’s never been anything more than casual. You’ve never had children. Never bonded with another soul.
“What would it feel like if I had?”
Al turned toward the door. They say it’s different for everyone; and you just know. But Everly, it’s impossible for you to have a non-Atlantean soulmate. The races can’t mix. You’d be cursed and killed.
“I know.” I ran a hand across my arm where Tate had touched me moments earlier, my skin still singing from his contact. “But what if I’m not Atlantean? What if I’m something different altogether?”
Uttering the words aloud felt good. I was emboldened by the thought. My inner Athena rose up and cheered, and I began to see the situation at hand in a whole new light.
I’m starting to wonder if that might just be true, Al said.
“In that case, bring on the Manticorians.”
Chapter 8
Al explained some of my favorite fighting moves from previous lives, which would have been great had I been armed with a spear or a longbow. Unfortunately, I had nothing but my fists. I’d even left Rossel’s dagger at home, not thinking I’d be going into battle today.
Obviously Al’s wings weren’t teaching me much in the way of hand to hand combat. But still, I wasn’t afraid. I was more eager than anything. Deep down, I was confident that my inner Athena would pull through for me somehow.
The sound of a key card in the door sent Al into the air. He flew to the window sill and turned back to me. Stay close to Tate. I’ll wait for you downstairs. Then he was off.
I turned back just in time to watch Tate stumble through the front door, gag in his mouth and arms held tightly behind his back. My blood turned to lava and I immediately stepped forward, ready to destroy whoever had him bound. But the look in Tate’s eyes cautioned me to stay back.
The next person through the door was the last man I expected to see. Peter Bratton entered, shoving Tate further into the room and sneering in my direction. “We meet again,” he said with an evil grin.
“Let go of him.” I wasn’t afraid of Peter. I’d already won one fight against him. There was no way I’d let him walk away again—
not after seeing what he’d done to Tate. I moved forward once more, only to see another slow moving body enter the room.
She was ancient. Older than old. Her hair was so white it looked translucent, and she probably had cobwebs in her ears. Her eyes were blacker than a starless sky, her skin pale and wrinkled like a raisin. She was Olympian, but not like any other I’d ever seen.
And she wasn’t the last. Standing a full two feet taller than the hunched old woman was Rasputin, looking absolutely delighted to see me.
“Don’t be rude,” he said to Peter in his thick Russian accent. “We are the guests here. We do not want to wear out our welcome.”
“No one said you were welcome here. Especially not when you’ve got a royal son of Agartha bound up like a criminal.”
“He tried to hit me,” Peter said.
“You probably deserved it,” I spat back.
“Now, now.” Rasputin raised his arms like he was calming a pair of fighting siblings. Meanwhile, the old woman glided deeper into the suite, almost floating across the ground the way Rossel did, and plopped down on the couch. Peter grabbed Tate’s arms and shoved him forward as well.
“That’s not necessary! Untie him.”
“Not until we know he won’t strike against us,” Rasputin said before turning to me with a pout. “You never came back to see me. And there is much left for us to discuss. Have you given any more thought to my offer?”
“What offer? Going to work with you?” I scoffed. “Never. I’ve heard about the things you’ve done.”
“No one can help you like I can. Do you see anyone else able to blow down these simple wards? Anyone else with enough power and resources to know where you are at all times? Your prince here could not have saved you if we’d meant harm. What would you have done?”
“I would have fought. And if I died, then so be it. It would be more honorable than joining you.”
“You say that now, but you know so little.” Rasputin stepped toward me, and I felt Tate tense from across the room. He was seated on the couch beside the old Olympian woman, who downed one of the half-finished Agarthian beverages leftover from before we arrived.
“Take Peter here.” Rasputin stopped a foot before me and gestured toward the sitting area. “He was so underappreciated by his people that they chased him out, even when he put his career on the line to warn them of you. But don’t worry my darling, he knows you are what we need now. He has joined the right side now, and look how much good it has done him. He is more powerful than ever.”
Peter lifted the entire couch with Tate and the old woman still on it. He didn’t even break a sweat. He set them back on the ground and grinned at me, cracking his knuckles.
I maintained an even expression… or tried to, anyway. “I see you got rid of the wards to block your powers. Have they been destroyed across the entire convention?”
“Only for those with the right connections.” He winked and stepped uncomfortably close to me. “I am more powerful than they are. Join me and I can help you maximize your power, as well. It is the only way you will be able to accomplish what the prophecy asks of you.” He paused, reaching an old hand out to my face. “The glow is quite lovely. It is different from the powers of the other Keepers. Lucky for you, I know about the lost arts. I know the magic that the rest of the world has forgotten. The time is growing near for you to put your powers to use. You can feel it too, can’t you darling?” His wrinkled fingers grazed my cheek and Tate leapt up from his spot on the couch, only to be quickly brought to his knees by Peter.
“Get your hands off of him!” My voice was like a growl—something foreign I’d never heard before. My heart beat in my chest like a war song, building me up. I could feel the power flooding my veins, ready to break free at a moment’s notice. It was stronger now than I’d ever felt it before, like a tidal wave sweeping me off my feet. I wasn’t fully in control of it.
Peter must have heard the power in my voice. He raised his hands in the air but remained close enough to knock Tate back down if he had to. I was seconds away from putting Peter in his place when I saw a flash of white near the window. Rasputin glanced that way as well.
There are more, Al said in my mind. They’re everywhere out here. We’re going to have to fight back.
I nodded to show that I understood. Rasputin looked from the window to me and back again, a small smile curling at the corner of his mouth, pulling up his long mustache. It faltered when the door slammed open into the wall at the front of the suite.
I whipped around to see who had joined us, only to be more disheartened than ever.
“I knew it!” Osborne shouted. “As soon as I saw you here I knew Rasputin would be close behind. Your game is up.”
He raised his arm and I braced myself for impact, but it wasn’t me he aimed for. A strong fist struck Rasputin squarely in the jaw. It should have knocked the old man down, but he somehow vanished and reappeared on the opposite side of the room. Osborne let out a roar and lunged for him. With a flicker of a smile, Rasputin played his trick again.
Now is our chance, Al’s voice said in my mind. I’d forgotten he was there. We’ll attack while they’re distracted. We need to get Tate free so he can help us. Aim for Peter on the count of three. Ready?
I nodded.
One… two…
On three we converged. I went for Peter’s legs while Al dive bombed his face. Secretly, I hoped he pecked the man’s eyes out.
I had a surprising amount of momentum—definitely more than Peter was expecting. Not only did I knock him off his feet, but I sent him flying over the coffee table and into the opposite wall. A yell came from somewhere out in the hall and I wondered how many other Manticorians we would soon be facing.
At least I wouldn’t have to do it alone. I dropped to Tate’s side, yanking the gag from his mouth and ripping the restraints from his wrists. “That was amazing,” he said breathlessly.
“Less complimenting and more action!” I pulled him up to his feet. “Also, thanks,” I added with a grin. “Are your powers working at all?”
His face tightened into a look of concentration, but nothing happened. “Stay down, Peter.”
His voice contained the many layers I’d heard before when he went into siren mode, but it felt weak. And it was completely ineffective. Peter stood, lip curled as he turned back to face me.
More yelling poured in from the hall, and Al’s voice rang out in my mind again. They’re coming.
I turned back to the door, ready to take on whoever Rasputin had behind him, but all I saw was a crowd of other Keepers, pale faced and slack jawed as they took in the fight in our room.
Not there, Al said. At the window.
Peter barked out a laugh as I discovered the real threat rising up outside the building. Through the window, levitating in the air ten stories off the ground, was a small army of strange looking humans. They had no auras as far as I could tell, but there was something off about them.
“Witches,” Tate whispered.
Rasputin appeared from thin air just feet away from me with a wide grin. “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider my offer, darling?”
Chapter 9
This time it was Tate’s fist that swung for Rasputin’s face, but the man was quick. He didn’t fight fairly, but he could certainly get out of the way in a jiffy when he needed to. Rasputin appeared near the window, mouth moving silently as the army of floating witches shifted to almost a single file line coming toward the building.
Al flew across the room like a bolt of lightning, headed straight for the Manticorians before they could reach us.
Tate was already moving back toward Rasputin. I ran over and grabbed his arm. “You go help Al. I’ll handle him.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. I was positive that I wanted to be the one to put a stop to Rasputin and his army of evil. But more than that, I didn’t want Tate to get hurt. I knew Rasputin wouldn’t hurt me because I had what he wanted: power. “Just
keep the witches out of here if you can.”
Tate listened without putting up a fight, and his confidence in me boosted my own. I marched over to Rasputin without any real clue as to what I was going to do. I just knew I wanted to stop him.
From my periphery, I saw Osborne run out into the hall. I heard him yelling, but I couldn’t quite make out his words. My only focus was on the evil old bearded man before me.
“Don’t you touch him!” Peter’s voice boomed behind me. Some sense I didn’t know I possessed felt him coming, and without even pausing to look over my shoulder, I instinctively thrust my hands out to the sides and heard Peter’s body hit the floor.
Power surged white hot through my limbs. Wards or no wards, nothing was holding me back. But Rasputin didn’t look afraid. If anything, he looked almost proud. “Well done, darling.”
I flicked my wrist at him next, feeling the heat of power gather into my hands and fly out toward the man. Rasputin met the surge with a hand in the air, calmly lifting his palm toward me and effectively halting the magic I’d thrown his way.
“I don’t want to hurt you. I wish you would not try to hurt me, either. Come. Let me show you how to use that power you harbor. I have much to teach you.”
I tried again to throw something his way, and again it was blocked.
Tate stood by the window, knocking out any witches who Al hadn’t already thrown off course. There was some scuffling out in the hall and the sound of Peter groaning on the floor behind me. I was aware of every movement, every action taking place around me. And as I continued to move toward Rasputin, the warrior part of my brain kicked into high gear, evaluating every object in the room along with its ease of use and potential for massive damage if used as a weapon.
I’d become a machine, and I loved it.