by D. S. Murphy
“Who are you?” Sitri demanded, “What are you doing here?”
She looked up through her blond hair, tears hanging from her round blue eyes. They seemed too large for her face, which was square and angular. Still, I recognized her, and even before she opened her pretty mouth, I knew.
“Kai, it’s me. Sarah.”
***
I wrapped a blanket around Sarah’s shaking shoulders and held her tightly. My Sarah, the only thing that had kept me sane during the long years at JDRI. My surrogate sibling, after losing my brother to the car accident in a death I foresaw. But she’d aged years overnight.
We brought her down to Alice, and I tried not to stare at her long limbs. She’d lost all her baby fat and moved awkwardly, like she wasn’t used to her new body. Sitri leaned towards Alice and whispered, “Don’t ask questions, just make sure she’s alright.”
Then he pulled me outside for an explanation, through the side door leading out towards the back of the property.
“I’m going to kill Jadius,” I said, flicking my hands out from my body like I could dispel the rage building inside me.
“I still don’t understand,” Sitri said. “How did this even happen?”
“When we were in Seattle, I made a deal with a watcher.” The look of surprise, then disappointment on Sitri’s face cut through me. I wondered if it was because I was foolish enough to deal with Jadius, or because I still hadn’t told him everything about what really happened after Puriel and I escaped Nevah. It seemed like so long ago now. Matt’s death, the leech at the gas station, getting rescued by biker witches with Zeus’s hunters on our tail. Hard to believe it was only a week ago.
“It was the only way he’d tell us how to find the shears,” I continued quickly. “He wanted five years. But I thought they’d be my years. He must have included a loophole or something and taken five years from Sarah instead. But I still don’t understand what happened in the room. It looked like a bomb went off.”
“Sarah was eight, right? Heirs often demonstrate powers when they become teenagers. So, if five years were taken, she’d be thirteen now, and her powers caught up to her.”
“But why would Jadius take time from Sarah, unless—”
“Unless he knew exactly what she was, and didn’t tell you.”
I squeezed my fists together, and took a deep breath, but my lungs tightened painfully. I glanced back towards the house, and could see Sarah and Alice through the large bay windows of the infirmary. It was so lush inside it looked like a greenhouse, or indoor garden.
“I keep making things worse for her,” I mumbled. I didn’t know she was an heir of Zeus, not until after she killed the Fates, but I never should have brought her to begin with. Not that I had options. Able hadn’t even told me they were in danger—Sitri either. Puriel was the one who warned me that hunters were on their way to collect my friends for ransom.
“You didn’t mean to,” Sitri said. He looked like he was about to touch my arm, but then he pulled back, running his fingers through his dark hair. I noticed he’d taken a shower, and changed into jeans and a black T-shirt.
“I didn’t even have a plan,” I said, crossing my arms. “I just needed to make sure they were safe. I thought, maybe if we got the shears on our own, it would buy them a permanent place in Nevah, even though they weren’t magical. And now, she’s lost what little innocence she had left. I stole her childhood. It doesn’t matter if I meant to do it. It happened because of me.”
I pulled the shawl tighter around my shoulders. The fall air was chilly, but the scent of pine was refreshing. It made me homesick, I realized, but neither JDRI nor Nevah felt like a real home, and we’d just turned my parent’s house into sawdust. I’d never felt more disconnected. I wondered if I’d always be homesick, craving a place where I felt like I belonged, a curious homesickness of the soul that followed me wherever I went.
“It’s not your fault,” Sitri said, as if he could read my mind. He lifted my chin, and for a second time seemed to stand still as we looked into each other’s eyes. The intensity in his took my breath away. Shame, and something else – longing, aching. I felt it mirrored in my own body. My gaze fell to his lips, remembering the way he’d kissed me on the island of Kos. But that was before Athena, before I knew what he really was.
Stephanie’s voice came from the doorway, shattering the moment.
“Sitri, please take the child upstairs for some food. After that, perhaps a stroll on the grounds. Some sun would do her good. Kaidance, your presence is required in the family room.”
Sitri dropped his hand like he’d burned it on my skin, and I stared at his fingertips. It took me a moment to realize he’d touched me with his bare hands. I wasn’t even wearing my gloves. But there’d been no vision, which meant Sitri was safe, for now. I followed him inside and forced myself to look at Sarah directly, and smile.
“Do you recognize me know?” Sarah asked.
She looked so afraid and insecure, it broke my heart. I pulled her into a tight hug and held her for a few moments.
“I’d recognize you anywhere,” I whispered. “No matter what you look like.”
I wished Jessie was here, but I hadn’t seen her since we got back. She was probably still sleeping or sulking. Had it only been a few days ago, that we’d been in Greece? I wondered if she was still mad at me for Max’s death. That was my fault, too. I had to make a choice, and I chose Sitri. Somehow, despite our victory over Athena, I felt like I lost more in Greece than I came home with. I squeezed Sarah’s shoulder one more time, but lingered in the doorway with Sitri.
“What’s going to happen to her?” I whispered. “I mean, she’s not in any danger here, is she?”
“Today, nothing,” Sitri said. “Not without your knowledge. I promise.”
At least she’d be safe with him, while I walked into the lion’s den. My stomach rumbled and I realized I still hadn’t eaten. But it would have to wait. I’d been summoned by the queen of hell. It took me ten minutes to find the “family room” – there were dozens of large sitting rooms in the mansion. I wasn’t sure which one Stephanie meant until I heard voices arguing. I hesitated outside the doorway.
“We can’t trust anything she says!” Mist was yelling. “She’s dangerous, and a liar. What if she’s working with Zeus? What if she brought the shears back to kill you, to kill all of us?”
“You really think she’s some kind of assassin?” Tori asked. “She can barely walk outside without tripping over her own shoelaces.”
“She could be pretending,” Mist said.
“I think it’s clear the girl doesn’t have any combat experience,” Stephanie said. “But that doesn’t mean she’s harmless. It’s her recklessness and disregard for her own safety we should be concerned about.”
“She’s gotten closer to Zeus in the last twenty four hours than any of us have gotten in nearly as many centuries,” Able said, his steely voice silencing the others. “Also, she’s standing outside.”
I gulped, and then knocked on the door timidly. Alice opened it, looking as put-together as always, in a crisp yellow day dress. My eyes widened at the sight of her, somehow she’d changed her clothes and straightened up, and still beat me here from the infirmary. But she smiled warmly and I was glad she was here.
The room was filled with chandeliers, and large, curving tapestries met in a high ceiling. Green leather couches were grouped into small arrangements around low tables. Dion and Tori were reclining on one, looking like bored rich kids out of a Gucci commercial. Tori played absent-mindedly with a strand of Dion’s hair. Heph stood by the window, looking out over the grounds towards the ruins of the amphitheater and the woods.
I took a minute to read the room, trying to gauge how much trouble I was in. The whole family was here; the last of the Greek Pantheon – gods of the ancient world. Able and Stephanie sat in tall-backed chairs, with golden lion heads carved into the armrests. They almost looked like thrones. Sam was tinkering lightly with a g
rand piano in the corner, while Mist paced next to him, her arms crossed. Alice sat down across from Tori and Dion, and began pouring tea from an antique porcelain set.
She passed me a teacup as I sat down beside her, then smiled as she added a handful of sugar biscuits to my plate. The silence pulsed with energy. I think even the windows were vibrating, like they might burst outwards. When I first arrived at Nevah, I thought they were simply a family of aristocrats – beautiful and elegant – forgotten by time in this classic mansion.
When I realized what they really were, the remaining survivors from Mount Olympus, those who survived Zeus’s coup and cover-up, and what they really wanted from me, I’d run away. But I wasn’t just some orphan anymore, I realized. Nevah wasn’t just a temporary shelter. It may not be home, but it was all I had.
“Kaidance,” Able said, “First we need you to tell us exactly what happened after you left Nevah. Sarah’s life depends on your honesty.”
My skin crawled at the open threat, and I resisted the urge to throw my teacup at Able’s head. I took a deep breath and held it, before letting it out slowly. I didn’t have any reason to keep secrets, not anymore. Sarah’s safety had to come first. I thought the shears would buy her protection, but that’s before we knew who she really was. Now I wasn’t sure it would be enough.
Looking around the room, I realized how much I knew that they didn’t. These gods, that traded on information and secrets. No wonder they were uneasy having me back in their house.
“I found out that Sarah and Jessie were in danger,” I said, frowning at Able. I didn’t point out that he knew, and hadn’t told me, so it was really all his fault. He got the point, and looked away. “I had to save them.”
“But why free the torch?” Dion asked.
“He was going to be executed, right? I didn’t want that to happen. Plus, I needed help.”
“But he tried to kill you,” Tori said. “How did you know you could trust him?”
“I didn’t,” I said. I bit my lip, so I wouldn’t say something about how I couldn’t trust anyone at Nevah, especially not Able. I saw a few looks of surprise, and I wondered how much Able had told them about my disappearance. When we got back, he told me to keep it a secret; everyone assumed Puriel had kidnapped me, when actually I was the one who’d decided to leave.
I was sure someone would bring up Matt, the minotaur Puriel had killed on the way out. I felt a sting of remorse at the memory. That had been my fault too.
“But why not just bring them back here?” Alice asked, “Where they’d be safe?
“I didn’t think you’d accept them,” I said quickly. “You already treat roots like second class citizens. You tolerate me because of whatever powers I have, but I wasn’t sure if you’d let them stay. I thought, if I could get the shears first, then I’d have more bargaining power, and I could convince you to let them stay.”
Able frowned and creased his brow, but didn’t speak.
“Go on,” he said finally.
“We found someone in Seattle, a trader of knowledge. He gave us a clue to the location of the shears, a painting in Italy, but at a price – five years.” I didn’t mention the conditional favor, assuming I got my full powers. I’d deal with that later.
“You signed a deal with a watcher?” Dion asked, looking surprised.
“Yes, but I thought it would be five years from the end of my life. I didn’t think I’d miss it, Sarah and Jessie were more important.”
“That was stupid,” Mist said. “Everyone knows not to trust watchers.”
“Yeah, well, we realized our mistake in the lobby, when we were surrounded by hunters.”
“How did you get away?” Alice asked.
“Someone saved us. A seeker and her friends.”
“Witches,” Stephanie said, spitting the word like a curse.
“Hackers,” Heph said, looking curious.
“How did you get to Europe?” Able asked.
“We flew, on the minokawa beasts. We found the painting, but were attacked by hunters. Then Sitri found us.”
“And he didn’t bring you home right away?” Shit, I wondered what Sitri had told them. I didn’t want to get him in more trouble.
“I convinced him to get the shears first. We knew where they were. A cave, on the island of Kos.”
“The Temple of Poisedon,” Sam said. “I’ve been in that cave a dozen times. I never found anything.”
“We had help from the daughters of Triton,” I said. “You had to go through the well. And I had to make a sacrifice first. There was a message, on the back of the painting. Only those who live without, can look within.”
My fingers reached towards my neck out of habit, even though I knew the clump of legos I usually wore wouldn’t be there. It was the only thing I had left to remind me of my brother, and now it was gone.
“So, you found the Fates?” Tori said. There was a spark in her eye, and my pulse spiked when I realized it was hope. She didn’t know the Fates were dead. None of them did, I realized, except Able.
“Tell them,” Able commanded. “They need to know.”
“By the time I figured out how to go through the well, the Fates were already dead. Zeus had gone through before me. I’d shown him the way. He possessed Sarah’s body, and he killed them through her.”
Dion sat up suddenly, practically shoving Tori off the couch. She gazed at the table with stunned expression. Heph turned away from the window to stare at me. There was a silence, as even Sam’s fingers stopped hitting the piano keys. I had their full attention now, but I wasn’t sure I wanted it.
“And the shears?” Alice asked.
“They weren’t there. I don’t know if they ever were. When we came back up, Athena was waiting for us, along with a dozen leeches and hunters. She’d already killed the minokawa. It was an ambush.”
“And you defeated Athena?” Mist scoffed, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
“No, it was Puriel. We fought, but she was too strong. She broke my arm before I could even touch her thread. But there was so much energy, so much magic... Puriel swallowed it all and became a leech. He risked his life to save us.”
There was a pause, as the family considered this new information. Finally Alice broke the silence, by taking a sip from her tea, which seemed to break the spell.
“Incredible,” Tori said. “Who would have thought, after all this time, a torch, a mutt and a half-breed.”
“Watch it, sister,” Stephanie said.
“So wait,” Heph said, trying to keep up. “That’s when I picked you up and brought you back here. That was the night before last. I put Puriel in chains and left him in the cell downstairs. What’s happened since then?”
“You didn’t let that torch out again, did you?” Tori asked with a smirk and a teasing look in her eyes. “Even after what happened to Matt? You did, didn’t you. How absolutely delicious.”
“He didn’t deserve to be there,” I said. “And I needed his help. I had a dream, I went after the shears. And I brought them back.”
I thought they looked surprised before, but their expressions of shock this time were almost comical. Dion’s jaw fell open, while Alice actually spit out her tea.
“They’re here,” Able said quietly. “In my office.”
“Athena is dead,” Alice said slowly, with a look of disbelief, “and we have the shears?”
“Then it’s finally time,” Heph said with a far away expression.
“Time for what?” I asked.
“For this to end,” Mist said softly, gazing out the window. The sun was just breaking over the jagged line of trees on the horizon. There was a softness in her eyes I’d never seen before. For the first time she looked her age, like an insecure teenager, barely older than me.
“What about Sarah?” I asked.
“What about her?” Mist snapped, her hard edge returning instantly.
“Sarah is a daughter of Zeus,” Stephanie said. “A direct descendant. The fi
rst in centuries. He used her body to kill the Fates.”
“And you brought her back here?” Tori said.
“It gets worse,” Able said, standing up. “Last night, by retrieving the shears, Kaidance consummated the deal she’d struck with the watcher in Seattle. He claimed his five years, but took them from Sarah.”
“That’s why she looks older?” Alice said. I nodded.
“With the added years, she’s come of age, which means she can access her powers. Apparently, lightning, like her father. She nearly destroyed the East Wing this morning.”
“Zeus has already used her against us once,” Mist said. “Keeping her is not worth the risk.”
“She should be protected within the compound,” Heph said. “I don’t think Zeus can get in, even that way.”
“But he could be watching, listening,” Tori said. “Using her for surveillance. Couldn’t he?”
“I don’t think so,” Heph said, rubbing his jaw.
“Sarah stays here,” Sam said sternly. He didn’t even look up from the piano, but nobody challenged him. It was surprising to see someone so young command so much authority, but then he was a direct heir to Zeus. I knew he was fast, I wondered how strong he really was.
“Heph will make her some iron sheaves,” Sam continued. “Zeus won’t be able to possess her, not without considerable damage, not for very long anyway. We don’t have to discuss our plans with her, and we can keep an eye on her. But she stays here. She’s family.”
“Fine,” Mist said. “But now what?”
“Now,” Stephanie said, in a cold voice that sent shivers down my spine, “we prepare for war.”
2
The sun was fully up now. No sense in going back to sleep, not after the plotting session I’d just had with the family. I needed to find Jessie. We hadn’t talked since the argument on the way home, where she’d accused me of killing Max. I didn’t even know how to resolve that one, but now there was Sarah to deal with. Jessie and I had practically raised her. I didn’t know how she was going to react to Sarah’s sudden aging, but we’d find a way through it. We always did. At JDRI, Jessie had always been our warrior, while I was the weak and frail one. I guess we were both getting used to our shifted positions.
