by Laney Powell
We’d both felt it, the loss of closeness with Olivia. When we were able to go off together, just the two of us, it was wonderful. But like the others, I missed seeing her daily.
“I can’t do another summer like this,” Silas said. “I mean even without all the various family dramas.”
I laughed. I knew that mine was included in that, but at least it wasn’t just mine. Olivia had drama, as did Silas. While Morag was happy to have me here, she remained uncertain about the wisdom of Silas being part of our bond. I would have liked to have told her that she was too late, that this bond wouldn’t be broken by anyone other than one of us, and that her disapproval did nothing other than irritate her son. But Morag might have tried to take my head clean off, so I kept my thoughts on the matter to myself.
Thinking of Olivia, and Iliana, who was still missing, made me recall something that Iliana had said at the beginning of the summer. That we needed to tell our families, because we’d need them as this went on.
She’d been right. And while my family had been not only a surprise, but a weak link, I was glad to know now, rather than in a moment of crisis.
I wondered if anyone else had told Olivia they loved her. While I cared for each of the men I shared this bond with, we didn’t discuss our relationship with Olivia. We kept the details of our individual relationships private. All of us were so different. I suspected that each of our relationships differed greatly as well.
Morag told me that I was welcome to leave anything I didn’t want to bring to school and I ended up leaving a bag of some of my clothing that I didn’t think I’d need.
“It’s here if you do. I mean it,” she said. “What I said before. This is your home now.”
I kissed her cheek. “Thank you. I would have been lost without you and Jefferson opening your home to me.”
She smiled and patted me on the arm as she left.
The night before we were to return to school, I was reading in my room when Jefferson came in. “Hey, Caspian,” he said. “Can you come with me?”
“Of course,” I got out of bed and followed him, wondering what this was all about.
He also got Silas out of his room, and together, we went downstairs with him. Jefferson walked to the library, and as we walked in, there was a cloaked figure standing in front of the fireplace. It had just started to cool down, so there was a fire.
It was a woman. I could tell by her hands, which were stretched out near the crackling fire, warming them. At the sound of our entrance, she turned, and lowered the hood on her cloak.
It was Iliana.
“Where have you been?” Silas asked.
“What are you doing here?”
As I got closer, I saw that she had smudges under her eyes, and around her hairline. She looked tired. “I’ve been searching for Violet. And I think I’ve found her.”
“Why didn’t you go to Olivia? She’s been worried,” I said.
“Because the Concilium,” she said, glaring. “I will not risk her. They don’t know. If I show up, there may be a closer look into the Washingtons.”
“Fair enough,” Silas said. “Where’s Violet?”
“Are you familiar with the lake near Nobledark? It’s a hike to get there, but I thought Olivia told me she’d been there.”
We both stared at her. “Matty,” I said. “She was there with Matty.” I’d met her in the stairwell of the dorm that day. She’d been with Matty, and I could smell his scent on her. I could also smell Silas, and I’d been wild with jealousy. Angry that I couldn’t be close to her as I wanted, angry that they could. I’d kissed her then. The passion between us threatened to consume me even then.
Iliana nodded. “On the other side of the lake, there are three small houses in a row. The Concilium uses them, although for what, I don’t know. They’re not an official residence. But I think she’s there.”
“What is this?” Jefferson, who had been listening, came over.
“There are three of us, three siren heirs to the Arabethym Trinity,” Iliana said tiredly. “I am one, and there are two others. When all three of the heirs have a child, and those children come of age, it will be possible for us to finally fulfill our duty and keep the demons in Hell.”
“What?” Jefferson looked between the three of us, looking as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I’ll explain later,” Silas said.
“We know where two of our daughters are. Now I believe I have located the third,” Iliana continued. “At least, I hope so.”
“Why does the Concilium have her?” I asked, mystified.
“Your guess is as good as mine if you have no idea,” Iliana said. “Please tell Olivia that she needs, along with you four, to go there. Go as soon as you return to school.”
“Why hide there?” Silas asked.
“It’s in plain sight,” Jefferson interjected. “No one would think to look for someone who is missing right on the edge of the Concilium’s training school.”
“We’ll tell her,” I said. “What if Violet is there?”
Iliana’s lips thinned as she thought. “We need to get her out of there, and then all of you need to come to Kythira. Olivia knows the way. If you can’t get her out, have Olivia get in touch. But once Violet is free, we need to move quickly. Marbys will know,” she added. “And you have the added complication that I am not sure if Violet knows who or what she is. She was not raised with any magic whatsoever.”
“Gods, that makes it even worse. She might fight us,” Silas said.
Iliana nodded. “You may need to cast a sleep spell or something like that on her. And you’ll need to do that quickly, too, if so. You’ll tell Olivia all this.”
“We see her tomorrow,” I said, unable to stop the smile that spread across my face.
“Haven’t you been seeing her all summer?” Iliana asked.
“Not enough,” said Silas. “Do you want to stay? Have something to eat, or rest?”
“I would love to, but I can’t. I don’t want any of you to come under Concilium scrutiny.”
She pulled the cloak back over her head. At the door, she stopped and turned back toward us. “Tell Olivia the lake is safe for her,” she said.
“What?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
One side of Iliana’s mouth turned up in a smile. “She’ll know what it means,” she said, and then slipped out of the library.
“I have a hard time believing the Concilium is up to something,” Jefferson said after the door closed behind Iliana.
“Why?” Silas asked, dropping into a chair. “One of them tried to kill Olivia last year when he accidentally found out. And two agents came around to Olivia’s place, accusing her parents of hiding Iliana.”
“What happened to him?” Jefferson asked.
Silas shrugged. “I heard that he ran off, because he knew that he would face stiff punishment. No one has seen him since.”
“At least, not that they would admit to,” I said.
“Well, if Iliana hasn’t gone completely cracked, you may be off to Greece soon,” Jefferson said. “Try and let me know, just tell me you had to bolt, and I’ll know so that your mother and I know how to cover for you.”
Silas’ face creased into a smile. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Of course. We don’t want either of you hurt. Now explain what it was Iliana was talking about, because I feel like I need to hear this again.”
The three of us sat up late, talking. Jefferson struggled with what we were telling him, but he’d met Iliana. He’d seen the way she’d disappeared this summer. And we’d all seen how tired, how worn she looked tonight. She wasn’t faking it. It was hard to get to sleep after that, but somehow I managed. I was glad to be going back to school. I’d see the people I was closest to, and I’d be able to be with Olivia every day.
That gave me hope that maybe things would be all right.
Maybe.
Chapter Eleven
Olivia
I st
epped into my room, looking around. I was in one of the older dorms, and my room was bigger, the ceiling higher.
“Hey,” I heard behind me from the door.
I turned to see Jade sticking her head in. I smiled, and threw my arms around her. Unlike me, Jade had a completely restful holiday, which included time with her parents in Europe, and a lot of time with Levi. They lived close to one another, so it was easy. Less planning.
That’s what happens when you’re not a siren with the weight of the damn world on your shoulders, I thought. But I’m not bitter. And I wasn’t. Or at least, I didn’t think I was. I didn’t want to be. But with no contact with Iliana, no word on Violet, and the underlying worry that Marbys would pop up when he was least expected, and probably extremely inconvenient—I felt a hundred years old at times. I loved my friends, dearly—but we weren’t on the same path anymore. However, I was going to fight to stay as close to that path as possible with them.
I’d talked to Jade at length last week. We’d requested to be in the same pod once more, along with Thalia. I’d seen Sarah, our fourth podmate, listed on the door as well when I came in. Which was nice. I wasn’t close with Sarah, but she was nice.
Thalia showed up a half hour later, and we were all chatting and laughing. It was nice just to be a student who was happy to be back at school. We compared schedules, and I found that this year, I had both Thalia and Jade in magical Combat. But that was it. I didn’t have any other classes with them.
Sarah came into the hallway of the pod, accompanied by two people with light blond hair. The woman wore glasses, and the man had his hand on her back, guiding her. These must be her parents.
“Hi,” I said, smiling.
“Hi, how was your summer?” Sarah smiled, her manner easy. She seemed a lot less nervous than last year.
The woman returned the smile. “You must be Olivia.”
“I am,” I said, and stuck out my hand.
She took it, almost carefully. “I’m Carolyn Gibson, Sarah’s mother. This is Jonathon, her father.”
I went to shake Jonathon’s hand, but he said, “Carolyn, we need to get Sarah moved in.” He gave me a brief nod and moved past me in the hallway.
“See you,” Sarah said, smiling and giving me a look that said she was sorry her dad was being weird.
“Okay, see you later,” I said. I shrugged to let her know it was fine. I’d already seen my share of weird ass parents the last two months. I wasn’t going to judge hers.
But then, as Sarah and Carolyn walked into Sarah’s room, Jonathon Gibson looked back at me, and the coldness in his eyes nearly made me shiver. I didn’t move, and he disappeared into Sarah’s room, closing the door behind him.
“That was odd,” I said, glancing between Jade and Thalia. “Did you notice that?”
Jade shook her head. “Sarah said her parents are both really quiet. Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Where are all your men? I haven’t seen any of them around here today.”
“They’re all here,” I said, a smile drifting over my face. I’d seen more of them as the summer went on, but it wasn’t enough. Add to that the tension of Caspian’s parents and their behavior, and the fact that I hadn’t seen Iliana at all this summer—not even a text outside of her ‘Delete my info’ after she’d been gone for over two weeks—and I was not happy with our set up when we weren’t in school. Something would need to change. “We’re meeting later,” I added.
I’d been able to not only see them, but have one-on-one time with each regularly. It made me laugh how we fell into a schedule that was a lot like the one at school. And like school, I let the guys work it out. This way, they managed how they split time with me. I was kind of a control freak, but early on, something told me that I needed to let them figure this out, and it had been a smart move.
I did pay close attention to Caspian. Part of him was depressed; his parents hadn’t been in touch since he’d showed up at my doorstep. He was welcomed into Silas’ house—I was surprised as how welcome he was, given our first meeting with Morag—but I knew he grieved. He kept it to himself, and in the last couple of weeks, seemed to be carrying less of a shadow around him, but I wasn’t sure. He didn’t like to talk about it, which made things hard.
Now, however, that we were going to be in close proximity with each other, I wouldn’t let him weasel away with excuses.
This summer felt like it had been a preview. But for what? It also felt anti-climactic, like we were preparing for something that wasn’t going to happen. There was no word on Violet, since I hadn’t been able to get in touch with Iliana. I’d talked with Althaia a lot, but I found that I missed Iliana. Althaia hadn’t heard from her either.
“Well, let’s get ourselves unpacked, and then you can run off and we’ll only see you at meals,” Thalia said with a laugh.
“Oh right, like we’re going to see much of you, since you have someone named Marcus in your life,” I shot back.
With a lot of laughter, we sorted out our rooms. I arranged my desk, making sure that my books and all the things I’d need for classes this year was ready. I remembered last year, and how excited I’d been—how unaware.
I wouldn’t trade the past year, however. For all the challenges, my life had improved considerably.
The door to the pod burst open, and I turned. I could feel them. Then my door opened, and all four of my guys were there, smiling. I walked the several steps to them to be surrounded by tall men with strong arms that made me feel safe, protected, and loved.
Even though Caspian was the only one who’d said the words.
I kind of wished one of the others had brought it up. I’d been thinking about it, with all of them, but the right moment hadn’t presented itself. I wished it had, but it hadn’t.
Which was weird. The moment with Caspian had been perfect. We’d both needed to share to that degree.
“We need to talk to you,” Silas said, his face somber.
“What’s wrong?” I said immediately.
“Come back to our pod, and we’ll get into it,” Matty said. He was smiling, but his eyes were serious.
“Your pod?” I asked, following them out of my room.
“By some mystery of fate,” Jake said with a grin, “All four of us are in the same pod. Just downstairs from you, even.”
I laughed. That was the best news I’d heard all day. Last year, they’d been spread out throughout the dorms. “Maybe telling Madame Karathos wasn’t such a bad thing,” I said.
The five of us walked together down the hallway. I noticed a few stares, and some whispers, but I ignored them. This was my family, these were my guys, and I wasn’t going to hide it anymore. I wasn’t going to be making out with them in the middle of the dining hall, but I’d decided that I had nothing to be ashamed of. I needed to quit acting like I did. And after this summer, after all that happened in Greece—I didn’t care what others thought. The people I loved and cared for knew me, knew my truth, and accepted me. The rest didn’t count.
We went down to the first floor, and Caspian opened the door to the pod. He led the way to the second room, and the other three guys followed behind me.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I said.
Jake sat down on the bed, pulling me into his lap, nuzzling at my hair.
“Iliana showed up at our place last night,” Silas said.
Between Silas and Caspian, they told me about Iliana’s visit. When they were done, I was so surprised, it took me a minute to get my thoughts together. “She really thinks they’re hiding Violet here?” I asked finally.
Caspian nodded. “She seemed sure in her belief.”
“Well, we’re going to need to find time to hike up there, and look around,” I said. A familiar feeling of stress settled on me. This was my normal mode with school, although it kind of sucked that this had nothing to do with school, and my lessons would only add to it.
But if we didn’t find Violet and close off Hell, none of this would matter. Because Marbys
would find a way.
I hadn’t had any dreams of him lately. Since that was his preferred mode of harassment, I felt like maybe he had other things to preoccupy him, or he wasn’t able to reach me. I didn’t know, which I didn’t like, but I was glad regardless. The respite from him was welcome.
He wasn’t gone, though. There were times when I had the sense of him, the dark and smoky room with black and red shadows, a sense of pain and anguish. No, he wasn’t gone. I sighed. “All right. What do your schedules look like? When does rugby start?”
They all looked at me like I’d grown another head. “Rugby is in spring term, Olivia,” Caspian said patiently.
“Good to know you’re paying attention,” Matty said, with an exaggerated sniff of someone extremely offended.
“Oh, shut up. I didn’t know when it started,” I said. “So no rugby, then?”
“Nothing outside of class and free time,” Silas said with a grin.
“So this week, then,” I said. “After class. On Wednesday. I don’t want to let this wait.”
“How do you get in touch with Iliana if we find her?” Jake asked. “You said she told you to delete all your phone contact with her.”
“She said you needed to get Violet out of there, and then go, with all of us, to Kythira,” Silas said. “She said you knew the way.”
“I do,” I said. “If I call Althaia, she can find Iliana. Goddess, this is going to be crazy if we find her,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Matty asked.
I explained what Iliana told me over the summer—that once we found Violet, the clock was ticking. We had to get her to Greece, and Iliana would bring Kassandra and Aella. We had to make the circle, and the mothers needed to pass on the power of the heirs to us, to their daughters. Only then could we cast the spell together.
Every time I thought about it, it pissed me off. The manner in which things had to happen, the fact that it had to be just so—all pointed toward a god who wanted to see the sirens never succeed. I didn’t say it out loud, nor would I ever, but this felt like nearly an impossible task.
