"Cadmus," I whispered, testing the name out on my tongue.
It felt right. Obviously it was an old, old name and it should feel that way to me.
Antiquated. But it didn’t. It formed on my tongue as though it was meant to be there.
Probably because it was. Cadmus was Gavin and I was a goddess. But if we had been sent to Elyria for eternity, then what was I doing here now? Why had I been acting as a Keeper of Fate for so many millennia?
My mind was spinning. This was too much craziness for any one person to handle without ice cream. I padded into the kitchen for some chocolate chip banana therapy. I didn’t even bother with a bowl, I just sat with a spoon and the ice cream carton. As I ate, I stared at my hands, my arms, my legs, the way my hair curled around my shoulder. It felt so odd to know that I had been around for thousands of years and that apparently I was a goddess. But now I was human.
What had happened in the meantime to put me here? I had no idea. But I knew someone who did. Annen.
I set aside the ice cream and picked up my bloodstone, silently willing Annen to appear.
Nothing.
I pleaded.
Nothing.
I sighed.
Still nothing.
I gave up and put my dirty dishes in the sink and returned to my bedroom before my mom got home. I loved my mom like crazy, but I wasn’t in the mood for chit-chat. There was so much to figure out. I started in the most logical place of all.
I dialed Gavin’s number and felt a rush of relief when his husky voice flooded into my phone.
"Hey, beautiful," he answered.
"Hey," I sighed, settling back into the pillows of my bed. "Want to come over?" I asked hopefully.
If anything could help me right now, it would be him. Seeing his familiar face, holding his hand it would make everything better. I knew it. Out of all the craziness in all of my lives, he had always been a constant. Well, he and Ahmose. And Ahmose said that I might not see him again. Cryptic words. I sighed again.
"What’s wrong?" Gavin asked. He knew me so well.
"Nothing. I just miss you."
"I wish I could come over. But I’ve got to cram for that stupid history final tomorrow."
Gavin was regretful and I instantly recognized the humor in this situation. I was a goddess and Gavin had been the King of Thebes, slayer of dragons. And here we were in Pasadena worrying about high school. What kind of hell was this?
"It’s okay," I replied softly. "It’s almost as good hearing your voice."
"Macy, what is wrong with you?" He sounded so concerned that it warmed my heart. "Did your dad call or something?"
"No," I answered. "I haven’t heard from him in weeks. Nothing’s wrong. Really. I just wanted to see you. I’ll see you tomorrow though. Want to pick me up for school?"
"Of course I do. I want to make sure you get there in one piece. I love you, you know."
"I know. I love you, too."
I hung up the phone and laid it gently on the bed stand. Gazing around my room, I just couldn’t bring myself to do homework. That was just too trivial with everything else going on.
Crossing the room, I grabbed my laptop and returned to my bed. Some thorough research of my ancestry was in order, beginning with my father. My real father. Ares, the god of war.
Hours passed. I heard my mother come home and barely lifted my head when she asked if I wanted any dinner. Thankfully, she left me alone the rest of the evening while she had a movie night with a friend. My eyes had begun to burn from so much online reading by the time I finally closed the lid to my laptop. I lay quietly staring at the wall, pondering my new history.
My true and original history.
My thoughts flew back to Alexandria when I had saved Hasani’s (Gavin’sCadmus’) life. At the time I had no idea how I had done it. Strength from within me had just exploded into that cave and the next thing I knew, Hasani was opening his eyes. It had to be because of who I was not because of the bloodstone at all, which is what I had thought at the time.
I had the blood of a goddess. A minor goddess, but still. A goddess was a goddess. It was a fact that kept running through my mind until the very minute the sleep overtook me.
* * *
I was surrounded in blackness. I stared around, frantically trying to get my bearings. A minute ago I had been in the safety of my bed and now I was elsewhere. A dream. A dream? Was I dreamwalking again?
I was in a long, musty stone hallway. I heard raspy whisperings floating from the end of it, so I felt along the stone wall to find where it was coming from. Oddly enough, even though I wasn’t physically here, I could feel the dampness beneath my fingers as I crept along. It was also so black that I couldn’t see a foot in front of my face. Frustrating. My bare foot slid into something furry and moving and I fought back a scream. Whatever it was scurried away from me and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I approached the end of the hall and I found myself facing a door. Light seeped from under it and I edged closer cautiously. Silently, I opened it just a little and peered inside. The first thing I noticed were a thousand candles floating throughout the room from ceiling to floor.
Their soft glow surrounded three cloaked figures and Ahmose.
But Ahmose is who held my attention.
The ancient priest was suspended in mid-air, his face contorted in agony. I couldn’t see what they were doing to him—their hands were not physically on him, but he was obviously in excruciating pain. He writhed and turned in mid-air, but stubbornly refused to even whimper.
I could clearly see though, the effort that it cost him. Sweat poured in rivulets from his forehead and his jaw was clenched tightly closed. A tiny muscle in his cheek ticked as he stared down at his attackers.
"You dared to defy us?" A hissing voice asked and I closed my eyes. There was so much malice in the voice that the mere sound of it scared me. I felt my thighs tremble as I hovered quietly outside the door. I couldn’t stand not knowing, though, so I opened my eyes again.
Ahmose remained silent, hanging limply in the air like a long, black dishtowel.
"Answer me!" the voice hissed and Ahmose straightened his body out with a harsh groan.
Clearly, they were torturing him somehow. Mental agony? It was though he was stretched on an invisible rack. I could tell each time they inflicted pain on him only by the way he held his body.
"I did what was right," he muttered limply, as his body slumped once again. A thin stream of blood flowed out of his ear and dripped onto his dark robes and I flinched.
"How dare you think you can decide what is right!" another hooded figure asked venomously.
There were three of them. Like the Fates. But their voices were not familiar. The Keres?
They were small and hunched, but apparently lethal. I frantically tried to decide what to do, but ultimately, I knew that there was nothing. I wasn’t physically here.
I peered into the room once again and this time, found Ahmose staring directly at me, his black eyes drilling into mine. I clasped a hand over my mouth and his gaze never faltered. It was as though he was piercing my soul with it. I knew, in that moment, that he had summoned me here. He wanted me to witness this. For that reason only, I forced my eyes to remain open.
His feet were shaking, probably from pain, as he dangled like a rag doll in the air. Blood was seeping from the corners of his eyes now, as well as his ear and I desperately wanted to turn away, but his gaze held me immobilized.
"You will not win," he finally uttered to them with great effort. "She won’t allow it."
The three figures huddled around him and then stepped backward.
"But we will," the figure replied. "She can’t stop us."
And with that, Ahmose dropped from the air into a heap on the floor and instantly exploded into flames. His torturous screams filled the room and my heart as I turned away.
I sat straight up in bed with a gasp. Relieved, I looked around me. I was home. Safe and sound. I had no idea where I had just been, but I was so happy to be here now. I tried to calm my frantic breathing as my heart pounded against my sternum like a runaway freight train.
And then I saw him.
Someone was standing in the corner of my room, outlined by the silvery light of the moon.
Tall and thin, his pale face was luminescent in the shadows. My pulse picked up again. I didn’t take my eyes off of him as I leaned to turn on my lamp. Before I could even reach the switch, he was standing directly in front of me, his ice-cold hand wrapped around my arm. He was lightening fast.
"Don’t," he instructed, his breath so cold that it I could see it in the warm air.
"Why?" I whispered, staring into his silvery eyes.
"Walk with me," he answered. He motioned to me and I was instantly on my feet, although I had not actually moved a muscle.
He grasped my elbow lightly, like a perfect gentleman, guiding me toward the door. Gavin did this very same thing sometimes, in a crowded room. But this icy grip was certainly not Gavin’s and it wasn’t comforting in the slightest.
We walked through the dark house to the back door and out to the quiet pool. Moonlight reflected off of the still water and I could smell the chlorine on the breeze along with the honeysuckle on the side of the house. Comforting, familiar scents in a terrifying situation.
He led me to a nearby chair and gestured for me to sit. I did so, then looked up at him.
"Who are you?"
"Alexi," he replied. He didn’t smile, nor did he scowl. He simply had an expressionless face.
"And why are you here? Why were you in my room in the middle of the night?" I asked, getting back a little of my feistiness. Who did he think he was?
"I think you know why, Harmonia."
My breath froze in my throat.
"You know who I am?" I asked nervously, glancing around.
"Of course. As do you and therein lies the problem."
Chapter Seven
Alexi stared at me, his gaze sharp and unwavering. I tried not to flinch. Do not let him see your fear. Do not let him see it. I chanted it in my head like a mantra while I clenched my fists tightly.
He smiled, an eerily haunting gesture that flooded my entire body with white-hot fear.
"I can read your mind, my dear," he stated, studying me calmly. "I know that you are afraid."
"Who are you?" I whispered. "Did the Moirae send you?"
"Of course," he confirmed, so emotionless and matter-of-fact. "As you just saw, Ahmose is, shall we say, permanently indisposed. You are in need of a new Aegis."
"Yet, you’re not an Aegis," I pointed out, trying not to think about poor Ahmose.
"They told me you were smart," he observed sarcastically, right before he blurred into motion.
In a movement as quick as hummingbird wings, he bent and grasped my elbow and pulled me to his side. His icy fingers had barely touched me before I was standing limply once again.
"Come with me," he murmured.
With his free hand, he gestured toward the pool and as I watched in amazement, the water began to churn around in a whirlpool-like frenzy. It quickly developed such power that it sloshed over the sides of the pool deck in frothy, white splatters. He lifted his hand and the water followed it, swirling up into a funnel, emptying the pool as the water hovered in the air above us, still spiraling like a tornado. I gasped and stared at him as he turned slowly to face me.