by Allie Burton
I jerked my gaze around. Jeb stood at the edge of the corridor taking in the situation.
My tummy jolted. Anxiety amped my brain. I had no choice. Gripping, the top grimy brass rail, I put my foot on the lowest rail.
Jeb’s running footsteps pounded behind me. Closer. He couldn’t touch me but he could…
I heard the net being yanked down from the hook. Jeb gathered it in his arms, untangling as he ran. He was going to try and catch me.
Been there. Done that.
I climbed higher on the railing, said a quick chant to Aten, and jumped. My arms flailed out to my sides. I had rudimentary swimming skills, but was no Olympian. And that was only if there was water to land in.
At the Nilometer I’d hit water before it evaporated. But that was a few feet of water, while here the water level was deep. How deep I didn’t know. I had a feeling I was about to find out.
I held my breath just before I hit the murky surface. Water splashed and then sizzled. I fell into a vortex of air. Cold steam rose around me. My feet hit the coarse sandy bottom.
The water I displaced surged forward, away from the docks. Toward the Sun Worshipper.
The humongous wave, bigger than the one that had taken out the men on the cliffs, overtook the boat. The small ship disappeared for a moment and then reappeared listing to one side. I couldn’t tell if Jeb or the fisherman had survived, but the boat was damaged.
I let out a shaky whoosh of air. I couldn’t think about them. They certainly hadn’t thought about what’s best for me or Xander. Didn’t care if we lived or died.
I turned toward the shore and began to walk. The cloud of steamy fog surrounding me obscured me from onlookers. I just hoped Xander hadn’t been taken out by my wave.
Chapter Eighteen
Trudging forward, my gaze scanned the horizon. It was hard to see anything while surrounded by my own personal fog machine. My stomach quivered with worry, not only for Xander but for the entire pier and coastline.
“Olivia!” Xander called, but I couldn’t see him.
I rushed forward, so happy he’d survived.
“Olivia!” He stood on one of the more deserted, not-demolished, docks. He’d taken off his shirt. The backpack was at his feet.
My shoulders collapsed, de-stressing with the knowledge that Xander was all right. I picked up my pace with renewed energy. It felt like I was going home. To Xander.
“Did you see that massive wave take out Jeb and the Sun Worshipper?” Xander wrung out his shirt and pulled it back on.
“Yeah. I created it.” I stepped onto the dock. “I hope they aren’t…” I didn’t even want to contemplate what happened to them.
“Don’t feel bad.” Xander hefted the sopping wet backpack onto his shoulders. “They were going to use you and kill me. They plan to threaten world leaders with mass destruction and rule the world.”
“You’re right. It’s just hard to think about—”
“Don’t.” Xander tossed me a smexy smile that made it hard to think of anything but him. “Let’s head down to the beach so we can crack that crab open and see what’s inside.”
We shoveled through a few gawking tourists and headed to Aquatic Park. Drums beat, maracas shook and guitars strummed from the daily impromptu concert on the top steps of the outdoor amphitheater. Nothing stopped the music here. Not rain, or now sun. Not strange waves. Musicians gathered every day to practice and collaborate and spread their own form of joy.
The music was infectious. My body swayed. I half hopped-half danced down the stairs, shaking off my earlier blues. The band swung into a song I’d heard before. Some ancient music from the 1940’s that Fitch had loved to play.
Music kids listen to today is crap. I heard his words in my head as if he stood right beside me.
A wave of pure homesickness swept through me and my shoulders drooped in sudden wistful regret. I could never touch any of the kids while we played or danced. I could never go home again, not with the curse. We had to put a stop to it.
My heavier step led us to the sand at the edge of the water. Xander set the backpack down and took out the crab. He picked up a rock and lifted it high above his shoulder like he was going to smash it down.
“Wait!” My arm shot up. “What if you ruin the vessel too?”
“Right.” He lowered his arm. “I’ll pry open the crack.”
I sat down on the damp sand, which immediately dried beneath me.
Xander pried his fingers in between the obviously man-made crack in the crab.
The crack widened.
A container snuggled inside the crab in a space that had been carved out specifically for it. The gold glinted in the sun and the etched lines of the hieroglyphics cast shadows.
All my sadness evaporated like…water when it touched me.
“The crab is like a container within a container.” Kneeling down, he peeled away the shell. Then, he took out the vessel opened the stopper and sniffed. “Olibanum. It stimulates the sense of smell.”
“Which is what the last clue said.” My skin tightened knowing we were on the right track. I wanted to get on with it. To find all the oils and make a deal. “Let me read the new clue.” I took the vessel from him and read, “Down crooked street. Bricks under feet.”
Xander went from his knees to his bottom. “What does that mean?” He let the sand filter through his strong fingers.
Staring, I wished I could be one of those grains of sand.
I shrugged away my regret. I couldn’t control what my powers would let me do, or not let me do. I could only move forward. I examined the ancient vessel again, studying the ancient artwork. I might be able to read Egyptian, but I didn’t understand what the cryptic clues meant.
“Why doesn’t Tut help us out here?” I whined to Xander, but I wanted Tut to hear.
“Tut wasn’t involved in hiding the oils or writing the clues.” Xander used a finger to draw circles in the sand. “The Society did it because of their secrecy issues.”
So secret, maybe only Jeb knew where the oils were hidden. And he might be gone.
We were both quiet. I was thinking about the Sun Worshipper possibly sinking, my powers and the new clue. The music continued to play in the background. The warm sun beat down, energizing me again. My nerve endings pulsed. I needed action.
I untied and slipped off my shoes. Then, I took my socks off and let my toes dig into the coarse sand. The sun burned more brightly then I remembered, drying the damp beach and calming the waves. I held up my face and let the sun beat down on me. I nodded my head to the music.
The song playing was one Fitch listened to often. The beat wasn’t melancholy but it brought me down, reminded me of what I missed. Not wanting to think about the negative, I jumped to my feet and twirled to the music. “Take off your shoes.”
“Why?” Xander shielded his eyes from the sun. His dark hair took on a blue-ish tinge in the light, making him look exotic.
“I want to dance.” With you. I held my breath waiting for his response. The beating of my heart timed out the seconds.
He probably thought I was nuts. “I don’t know how to dance.”
I held out my hand. “I’ll teach you.”
“I can’t touch you.”
“You can in water.” The thought had no sooner popped in my head than I was spouting it out. And I knew it was right. Something deep inside of me, not Tut, told me it was so. And I believed it. A smile sprinkled across my face. I’d figured it out on my own. Without Xander or Tut’s help.
Xander and I had touched while in the ocean. I could touch people in water. The only dancing I’d do in the future was in the bathtub. I had to take advantage of the calm bay now. “Take off your shoes.”
He glanced around and I followed his gaze. No one watched us. The musicians didn’t even realize we were there. No one else was on the beach because the day was supposed to be cold and rainy.
Until I changed that.
Changed the weather.
&
nbsp; Power surged through me again. I still found it hard to believe. Dehydrating water was one thing but making ginormous waves and the sun shine—wow—that was on a completely different level. No more foggy days for me. For as long as I was alive.
But even with all my power, I couldn’t force Xander to like me. Couldn’t affirm his interest. Couldn’t stop the pain if he rejected me. Again.
The late afternoon sun shined down harder, more intense because I waited for him to respond. Nervous energy bopped inside my body like dancing by itself.
“Come on.” Xander untied his gym shoes and rolled up his own jeans, which he’d changed into at the Chinese restaurant.
I let out a huge breath and my shoulders lifted as if no longer carrying a heavy burden.
He stood and wiped his hands on his thighs. He followed me into the shallow water, pushing against the waves with his long legs. He leaned forward.
The waves curled around me like I was a magnet of the opposite force. A nervous jolt shot through my body. I took a quick look around. No one paid attention to us, no one would notice the weird way water avoided or evaporated around me.
Taking a deep breath, I held out my hands. I thought water made the difference but doubt dug in. “Ready?”
He bit his lip. “Not really.”
“Afraid I’ll zap you or afraid you can’t dance?” My voice held a challenge. Or was he afraid to dance with me?
His chin went up. “Neither.” He took hold of my hands with a firm grip.
Nothing happened. No zap, no shock.
Well, at least not a mystical one.
His face lit up with a slight smile. He gripped my hands tighter.
Tingles shot up my arms and the warmth from his hands enveloped my fingers. The more I got to know him, not the crazy-Egyptian stuff, but him as a guy, the more I liked him. His easy and yet hard upbringing. His intelligence. His caring.
“O-okay, then.” I pushed my attraction aside to concentrate on the dance. After all, this was my idea. I’d wanted to dance.
Not fall in…like.
That’s all it could be. Anything else was impossible. Too many complications in my life right now. And, I might not even live to turn seventeen.
For a few minutes I wanted to forget about the Society and the curse. Forget about my growing attraction. I wanted to appreciate the band and lose myself in the music. Just for a few minutes and then I’d return to the real world. “The rhythm goes like one ah two, one ah two.”
He squeezed my fingers and smiled brighter. “I think I can handle that.”
“It’s fast and upbeat.” Like the way my heart pounded even though we hadn’t even started dancing yet. “Your steps basically mirror mine.”
Did his heart mirror mine? Was his throbbing?
“I can handle that.” His voice sounded deeper, sexier than before. His eyes gleamed with a light that drew me to him.
I wished we were dancing to a slow song. Since we could touch, why not touch a lot. “Go right left right.”
He moved in the opposite direction and tripped, splashing water in the air. His face flushed. Droplets hit my leg and steamed off in seconds. I laughed, enjoying his discomfort. He normally appeared so in control.
“I said right first.” I used an adult voice, like I was the teacher and he an especially slow student.
“It’s hard to see with the waves rushing in and out.”
“Not around my feet.” Laughter bubbled with lightness in my chest. Being different, having this weird power and a curse, still scared me but I couldn’t run around the city afraid of everything. I had to take control. By deciding to find the oils, I’d taken action and it felt right.
My lightness must’ve seeped into him because his step lightened. “Okay.”
“Like this.” I moved my feet to the beat of the music.
He tried again and almost fell. “I can’t believe we’re dancing in the San Francisco Bay. Especially with the Society looking for us. We should be running and hiding.”
“If Jeb survived the wave it will take him awhile to get back to shore.”
“And we don’t know where to go next.”
I’d already run through the reasons why we shouldn’t be doing this in my mind. “Doesn’t it feel good?”
“Yeah, it does.” The water reflected in his eyes changing the green hue to a deeper color, a more intense color. I couldn’t look away.
If the water repelled with a negative magnetic force, then his gaze held a positive charge. I was drawn. Drawn to his eyes, to his smile, to his heart.
I stumbled on my own feet. “Don’t concentrate on your feet.”
“I’m not.” His gaze smoldered. “I’m concentrating on you.”
My mind blanked. All thoughts and actions rushed in and out of my brain like the waves. My heart stopped beating. My mouth dropped open. I didn’t know what to say. “Uh.”
He took a step closer. “If we can dance, can we kiss?”
I couldn’t swallow any air. Was he asking permission or asking if it was possible?
I licked my lips tasting the saltiness of the air. “I don’t know.” My voice sounded husky.
“Should we give it a try?”
Another experiment or did this mean something to him?
I know it meant something to me.
Like a big gamble, the kiss would mean I was all in. He’d know it. I’d know it.
My first real kiss. And most likely his, too.
I licked my lips again and swallowed. The water swirled around his legs. I inched closer. The wave surged in and drained out.
I nodded.
He leaned into me, angled his head, opened his mouth slightly. His firm lips touched mine in a whisper soft caress. The pressure hardened and I knew this is what it was like to connect with someone. Heart and mind. Body and soul.
The kiss spiraled inside, starting at my lips and going down into my chest and heart, caught my midsection and traveled further south. Twirled around spinning in my head. Wove back and forth and back and forth like—
“Lombard Street.” I murmured the words against his lips. Placing my palms on his chest, I pushed him away.
“What?” He used the back of his hand to wipe at his mouth.
“The clue meant Lombard Street. That’s where we need to go next.”
“Is that what you were thinking about while we were…while we were…” He took a few steps back and stood on the small beach. His eyes shuttered as if closing me off to his soul.
“No.” I reached out to touch him but dropped my hand. He wasn’t in the water anymore so I couldn’t touch him. Couldn’t reach out to him.
And I definitely couldn’t tell him what I’d really been thinking.
* * *
The red bricks on Lombard Street wove between large pastel houses. Colorful flowers bloomed at the end of every driveway, some in pots and some in short decorative walls. The road wasn’t long, but it was winding.
“Where on the street do you think the container is hidden?” My voice sounded raw from lack of talking and holding back embarrassing tears. I refused to cry in front of Xander.
He’d refused to discuss our kiss the entire way to Lombard Street. Refused to discuss his feelings. Refused to discuss anything.
I’d tried to explain without divulging my emotions, how Lombard Street had popped into my head. I know I’d hurt him by my abrupt ending of the kiss, but I needed to tell him. That’s what friends, partners, or whatever it was we were, did. Told each other everything.
Well, except how we truly felt.
His harsh anger had ramped up my pride. I wasn’t going to tell him about my thoughts and feelings, especially if he didn’t share his. With clipped words we discussed why Lombard Street probably held the next piece of the puzzle and we’d moved on. We hadn’t talked since our planning session on the beach.
Xander probably expected girls to fall madly in love with him at the first kiss.
Like I had, a voice in my head wh
ispered. The voice wasn’t Tut’s.
Xander’s anger had lashed. Hurt me. I couldn’t tell him what I’d been thinking—way too embarrassing. I wouldn’t be just another girl.
You know you aren’t. My common sense voice. From what I learned of his background he’d never kissed anyone else, never hugged or held hands. He’d done all of that only with me. Yes, he was one of the best-looking guys I’d ever seen. He hadn’t had the opportunity to play the field, to play lots of girls. And he hadn’t played me.
Warmth rushed through me. Not warmth from the sun, but the warmth of love.
My heart stuttered. Love?
How could this be love? I’d only known him a couple of days. But it felt like love. Like the kind you read about in books or watch on TV. Like the real forever kind.
I needed to explain, make amends about my reaction to the kiss. Why I’d thought of Lombard Street and pushed him away. “Look—”
“I am looking.” His snotty tone would make an apology difficult. He hurried ahead of me down the curvy street. His feet hit the pavement with solid purpose. His shoulders appeared broader, angrier, a stay-out-of-my-way attitude. “You’re the one who seems to be mooning about.”
Mooning about him. “That wasn’t a command to look.”
“Sounded like a command.” He turned and bowed. “Oh Mighty Pharaoh.”
Red flashed before my vision. I firmed my lips, afraid I might swear at him. “Stop it.”
“Why should I?” He forged around the next curb passing a decorative mailbox at the end of a driveway.
Pride made my back ramrod straight. Stubbornness made me change my mind. I slowed my steps. “Forget it.” I wasn’t going to apologize now. He was acting like a jerk. “Let’s just find the next oil vessel and move on.”
Apologies are the unguent that keeps a relationship together.
Unguent as in glue? I shook my head.
Now, Tut decides to speak. Like he understood modern-day romance.
Not that Xander and I had a romance. We didn’t even have a relationship. A partnership, a temporary truce, but not a boy-girl type of relationship. Probably not even a friendship.
I might lov-like Xander, but he probably doesn’t feel the same. Look how fast he got angry.
