Everly
Day 6
"You can't be my mother, Darcy. That's impossible." I splutter as she pats my back. Water drips from my nose. I wipe it with the towel wrapped around me. She pulled me from the bath in less than five seconds, but it felt like I was under the water for hours.
"I am, child, it's complicated but I'll condense it for you. When William and I learned you had all four of your consorts, we knew we needed to come up with a plan. That plan was to cast a spell so when my earthly body was killed, my subconscious would be transferred to one of my loyal rebels. Darcy," she presses the palm of her hand to her chest and smiles, "Volunteered immediately. It wasn't until the fear of being caught when you tried to escape overwhelmed her, that I could come to the surface."
My eyes droop, having almost drowned sure takes it out of you.
"So, Darcy is still in there?" I lift a hand to indicate her body.
"Yes. She’s in here," Amphitrite lifts a finger to her temple. "She wants you to know she’s ok and she’s sorry she didn't tell you. That's my fault, I asked her to keep me secret until the time was right."
A giggle escapes me. Just a few months ago, I was watching Vampire Diaries and fawning over Game of Thrones, reading my favourite authors, Ava Taylor, K. A. Knight and Kresley Cole. Now here I am, sitting on the edge of a glass bath, the ocean all around me. In Atlantis. My boyfriends have powers, not to mention I have four of them. A God wants to kill me and every being on the planet. My mother was murdered but now lives inside the body of my best friend. Oh, and I have a twin whose skin is blue. I'm pregnant, but way more than I should be. The giggle turns into a laugh, which soon descends into a full-blown laughing fit. I clutch my middle and squeeze my legs together in an attempt to not pee.
"Oh, this is so fucked up." I manage once I've caught my breath.
"On this occasion, I have to agree. This is fucked up beyond recognition." Amphitrite says, deadpan. My head whips around to look at her, my mouth hanging open.
"Did you just curse?" I ask, incredulous.
"Everly, this is no time for jokes. Poseidon is close to getting what he wants. You must train with Gordon. When he comes for you next, you must ask to train in the ocean." Her hand grips my forearm in a punishing grip.
"Ok. But, um, I'll drown!" I yell, push to my feet and walk into the bedroom. It's colder here than the bathroom so I dress quickly. My mother/Darcy follows behind, her eyes on me the whole time.
"Can't you get us out of here?" I ask, hopeful.
"No. I cannot."
"Can you at least tell me how to kill a god?" I'm guessing any normal means won't kill him.
"Time is running out, Everly, you must be ready." She mutters before her eyes roll into the back of her head and she drops to the floor.
Well, shit.
Chapter Twelve
KARL
Day 36
Leyland swoops his obsidian wings out and shoots between us. They hit our sides, knocking the three of us to the floor. When I look up again, he has the witch in his hands, one on top of her head, the other holding her jaw in a tight grip.
"Le, what the fuck?" Garrot asks as he pushes himself off the ground, Victor is on his stomach.
"What? Oh," he moves to the side a little to look at the witch, a sneer on his face. "You need her, right? It would be a shame if someone... hurt her." Leyland taunts as he stretches the Fae's neck to one side. The woman doesn't try to speak. She only looks at me with accusation.
"Le, we do need her, remember? Everly is in Atlantis. Poseidon has her." I calmly remind him as I survey the change in his appearance. Charcoal wings, onyx eyes. Couldn't give a fuck about anything and attitude.
"Ah, yes, Everly. The bitch who set me free. I should write her a thank you note. Tell me, Commander Karl, whose blood shall I use to write it in? Yours? Or the abomination she is growing inside her?"
His tone sends shivers down my spine. Before I can blink, he twists the witch's head, breaking her neck and pushes over her wheelchair. Before she hits the ground, I command vines to trap Leyland, they wrap around his ankles and wrists, a tree grows behind him, wrapping its branches around his wings, pinning him to its trunk.
"You think to capture me with twigs and leaves, Son of the Earth?" Leyland laughs as I spring to my feet, a blade already cutting into my palm. "I'm disappointed you think so little of your Cupid King." With a grunt, he pushes forward, snapping the branches and tearing the vines. Victor half shifts, wrapping his long, thick tentacles around Leyland's body. He cries out in agony as his half-healed wounds open again, blue blood seeps into the grass at his feet. He'll have to start the healing process over again. Garrot stands there, his hands by his sides, tears rolling down his face.
"Stop! Leyland, Ever didn't leave you, brother, she was taken!" I yell as I order more vines to twist around each other creating one long, thick vine. "Please, you have to remember!" I yell as the mega vine wraps around him. He struggles against it, my energy leaches from my body.
"I remember! She took my soul from me; she took my child!" He screams, his face turning red from the pressure of Victor and I squeezing him. "Let go of me, you arsehole! I'll kill you; I'll kill you all! Starting with that bitch, Everly!"
My mind catches up as I take Garrot's hand in mine. Leyland has fallen.
Leyland
Day 36
I feel so fucking free! My chest feels empty, I feel lighter than I have for the longest time. Everything would be peachy, except, I'm bloody trapped in a thick twisted vine Earth Boy grew.
"Le, look what fell out of your feathers." Garrot tries. "It's your unborn baby,"
"Burn it," I growl, I don't want to see it, I scoff and look away.
"You need to look at it, brother," Karl demands. If only they would fuck off so I can escape. I've got shit to do. First on my list, get laid. None of this making love crap. No. It's about time I fucked like the demon I am. I fancy bedding half a dozen dark Fae. Those witches are wild.
"This is getting tedious, boys. Let me go. I might let you live. If you keep this up, I will suck all the love from your bodies and leave you shells," I threaten them. More of a promise, really.
"We won't let you go, brother. You can come through this. I know you can." Garrot says emphatically. Tears pouring down his cheeks.
"Seriously, Garrot, let me the fuck go, or I will peel the skin from your body, and wear it like a coat!" I scream. I'm so over this game. "Cut me loose, or you're all dead!"
"Oh, child. What has happened to you?" A melodic voice calls out as I thrash and yell. My mother floats across the space and quick as lightning, she knocks me out with magic.
Victor
Day 36
"We got here as soon as possible," Will tells everyone as he, Mickey and Aphrodite storm into the house, I follow close behind "is he still...?"
"Yes," Karl shouts over Leyland's cursing and the sounds of a struggle reach my ears. Aphrodite floats through the kitchen wall and within seconds, the noise stops.
"What happened?" Aphrodite demands of Karl as we walk into the big room. Her almost translucent body paces back and forth, her feet at least a foot off the floor.
"His fated, Everly, jumped off the cliff into Poseidon's hand in order to save us. It's been nearly thirty-six days and we are no closer to finding a way to get to Atlantis to save her." Karl summarises for the Goddess of love.
"Well, shit." She shocks us all by saying. The Goddess of love has a mouth on her, I find I like it. "Why hasn't the Kraken gone?" She says while squinting her all-white eyes at me. I shuffle from one foot to the other.
"He was injured, five of his tentacles were ripped off." Karl says.
My body shudders deeply at the memory of my limbs being torn from me.
"They're growing back, but slowly." Karl finishes.
The Goddess pins me with her glare. "Come here," she orders. My feet are pulled across the wooden floor without my permission, until I'm standing in front of her. "Hmm, much, much damage.
Your heart is breaking, Dear one." She says as she places her hands to either side of my head, I don't feel them on my skin, but I feel her in my mind. "Oh, oh no. Your mother freed your heart from the prison from which you placed it upon her death. Only to have it torn apart when your blood bound left you. So much pain." her form wavers, turning invisible for a few seconds before solidifying fully. "Let me help with that, and then, you must retrieve the Queen, before all of you are lost and the world as we know it is changed forever."
Garrot
Day 42
Sitting on the floor in front of a fire, my mind wanders like a lost child in the forest. I can feel it fracturing. My powers are unpredictable, random pieces of furniture and knick knacks float around the room as I stare off into space. My only clear thought - I need Everly. Like air, I need her in order to live. Leyland has turned demon, his once white wings are now black. While still beautiful, his onyx eyes strike fear in my soul. There has never been an instance of a Fallen being able to come back, once they let the demon take them. There is no coming back. Leyland is lost to us forever. His eyes hold none of the love they once radiated.
"Focus, child! Feel her in your heart, in your soul! She is part of you. She holds half of you within her heart. You are connected in ways that transcend this mortal coil." Aphrodite screams echo through the shack. She transported us to Russia, for reasons I don't know, but it's bloody cold. My hands shake as I look down at them, the tips are blue, but I can't focus enough to remember why I should care.
"Very cold, my nipples are so hard, they hurt." I look up and smile at Everly, then quickly look back down at the palm of my hand. I can't let the others know she is here with me, they wouldn't understand.
"Bitch, let me go! Everly is dead to me!" Leyland yells back, his face bright red from the exertion of trying to free himself from the angelic bonds she used to bind him to what looks like a very old throne. His words stab my heart. He can't possibly feel this way, can he?
"Brother, fight this. Your baby needs you, baby Eros, he or she needs you to fight this!" Karl shouts while Victor watches as his arm flicks back and forth between human and Kraken. The giant is losing control, too.
"You boys are pitiful," William murmurs from the corner of the room. His boyfriend checks on the growth of his arm. When he removes the bandages, I wince. His arm is little more than bone and sinew, no skin or flesh has grown back yet. "She's been gone a month, and look at you! Falling apart at the seams. Karl self-harms to help dark Fae. Leyland has fallen. Victor can barely hold his form. You, Garrot, I know you pretend she is still here in your mind. I've seen you talking to her." William scolds us all, I close my eyes when he tells everyone here I've been seeing Everly more and more. It started out as seeing her hair blowing in the wind, then her face in crowds, soon I could smell her constantly, the last few days, she's been talking to me. Karl turns to me, a sad look on his face. He is the only one of us who’s keeping it together. But I have Everly with me, even if she isn't really. It makes me feel better.
Chapter Thirteen
EVERLY
Day 7 in Atlantis
Darcy spent the night in my room, constantly apologizing for lying to me. No matter how many times I told her I understood why she didn't tell me, the shame and guilt seemed to be too much. She left early this morning to fetch breakfast and now we sit on the couch in front of the big window.
"Everly, I am sorry." She says for the millionth time this morning.
"Darcy! Stop. I mean it. Eat. Today, I will ask Gordon if you can come with us when he takes me to train. You and my mother will need the strength to take in every detail of the city. I want out, Darcy. I want to get back to my men, my life. I can't beat Poseidon in Atlantis. He's too strong here. I need to be on land, surrounded by those I love." I tell her around a mouth full of eggs. She nods silently and takes a bite of toast.
Once we finish the food, Darcy takes the tray back to the kitchen while I get dressed. She managed to find me black leggings and a black t-shirt. They fit, but are a little tight around my belly. I stand before the full-length mirror in the magical bathroom, stroking my hands over my growing bump. It blows my mind how fast the baby is growing. A knock on the door startles me and I jump .
"Yeah?" I yell and rush to flush the toilet, pretending I used it. I don't know why.
"Sister, it's time." Gordon's gruff voice sounds muffled through the door. Taking one last look in the mirror, I open the door to find Gordon standing in front of the window, his palm to the glass. He turns when my bare feet meet the plush carpet. His hearing must be amazing to have heard that. "Sister, your child grows hourly. It is astounding!" His usual emotionless tone wavers as he speaks. My brows draw down over my eyes in a frown. I wonder what that is about? Darcy isn't back yet.
"Wait, Darcy isn't back yet, I," I begin but he cuts me off.
"No time to waste, we leave. Now." His tone is angry, but his expression is blank. He confuses me. He isn't like a human, I can't use facial expressions or body language to tell me how he really feels. If he feels.
I let out a sigh as I slip my feet into the sandals Darcy lent me. They’re a size too big but they’re better than getting sand between my toes. A small smirk spreads over his face and he turns and strides out the door. I follow, a little behind him so I can think. My mother wants me to go into the ocean, but how am I meant to do that without dying?
"Do I need to cuff you to me?" He asks, seriously. I shake my head and pretend to be a good prisoner.
“GORDON,” I TURN TO face him as we enter the sand field, plastering my most innocent look on my face. “I want to connect with the ocean. It calls to me, yet, I've always pulled back from her embrace.” I begin, planting the seed to hopefully get him to believe what I say next is his idea. “I agree to let you train me. I'll even pay attention and practice. I’ll go into the ocean, if only for a short while. It scares me, Gordon,” I turn and look out at the vast emptiness behind me and raise my hand to the glass. Immediately, dark figures swim towards me. My heart thunders in my chest as they get closer. He grunts. The only indication he is listening to me. “How do they know I'm here? What do they want?” I wonder aloud. I don’t expect Gordon to answer .
“You’re their Queen, sister. They want to be close to you. They feel your emotions, since you broadcast them so loudly,” he replies, a small hint of emotion in his tone. Without taking my hand off the barrier, I turn my head to look into his blue eyes.
“Do you feel my emotions?” I ask, even though I'm a little scared of the answer.
“Yes. But I am beyond emotions. I care not for them. Now,” he straightens his spine and laces his hands behind his back. “Let us begin your training. The ocean, she wants you, but you must be ready to meet her.”
Beyond emotions? Ready to meet who?
Gordon goes over the same things I did with William. Inner lights, healing and taking away life. They have similar methods. Anger. Force. It makes me miss Will, too. I wonder how his arm is healing. Gordon interrupts the pity party that seems to be lasting forever in my mind.
“There are things I can’t show you what to do, because you're simply the only one who can do them. No doubt there’s things you can do I don't know about. Don't be surprised if something happens out of the blue.” He stands before me. His legs planted wide. I look up at him, pretending to not want to kick his arse. “Concentrate on your heart, sister, from what I have observed from you so far this seems to be the centre of your power.” He seems uncomfortable admitting that, like anything to do with feelings makes his skin crawl. I do as he tells me, and close my eyes. Inside I see my inner light. Its silver tendrils lace through my soul. I see Karl’s brown light, soothing my broken heart. Garrot’s blue light shines bright in the dark, lighting the way to Leyland’s soft pink glow. It's dimmer than before, with slashes of black through it. I pull on it, but it doesn't come to me. It shrinks back, like my touch burns it.
The sand beneath my feet rumbles, silver light pours from my skin,
swirling around me in an angry vortex.
“Calm, sister. Centre yourself.” Gordon says softly from somewhere behind me. A chill caresses the back of my neck making my eyes pop open.
“What the?” A section of the glass barrier surrounding the city of Atlantis is missing. The ocean beyond seems darker, more foreboding.
“I think contact would soothe you, sister. Come, touch.” he encourages, his hand held out. I take a step forward; my feet feel like lead and my stomach churns. The barrier must give off some sort of light because the missing section is darker than the rest as I stop beside Gordon. The pull I feel almost floors me. It's so strong, my legs wobble as I try to resist it. “Go, I've got you.” he whispers next to my ear. I swallow hard and squeeze my eyes closed. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. From deep inside me, I feel something shift. A kick. Like the wings of a butterfly fluttering inside my tummy. My legs take the final step plunging me into the ocean without my permission. Cold, heavy water surrounds me, sucking me into its embrace as soon as my body passes through the invisible barrier.
I feel light as air and as heavy as a rock at the same time. I dare not open my eyes and my lungs begin to burn within seconds. The pressure from above bears down on me, creating an uncomfortable feeling in my head. I expected to feel weightless, I expected to feel comforted. Instead, my body sinks to the sandy floor and panic sets in. My eyes spring open only to find I’m further from the city than I thought. Gordon stands unmoving at the barrier. His face stoic. His hands still behind his back. My natural instinct to breathe becomes impossible to ignore, I thrash my legs and arms, trying to swim back to the opening, but I don’t move. My feet seemingly stuck to the seabed. Despite watching me, unblinking, he doesn't seem to see the panic building inside of me. Bubbles escape from my mouth and nose. As they float towards the surface, my body betrays me. My mouth opens and I take in great lungs full of salty liquid. It burns. A scream forces its way out of me as I wrap my arms around my stomach. If I die, then so does the baby. I have to get out of here!
The Everly Davis chronicles Page 45
