by Brea Essex
He laughed. “Sorry, I guess I’m just sneaky like that. So, where are you two headed? Vacation?”
“Yes,” Zac lied with a perfectly straight face.
Ty cocked one eyebrow. “Mind if I join you? I need a change of scenery. Or is this a couples-only thing?”
“Singular couple. Just Rhiannon and me,” Zac said nonchalantly.
I noticed that I was nervously drumming my fingers on the table. I stopped and clasped my hands in my lap. “Sorry,” I muttered, although I definitely wasn’t.
Ty shrugged. “No big deal. Maybe I’ll just follow you.” He winked at me, but I didn’t think he was kidding. He peered at the book I had on the table. “Greek artifacts, huh? Planning a museum tour?”
“Pretty much,” Zac said.
Crap. Now he knew where we were going.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to see Athens this time of year. Maybe I’ll see you two there.”
This guy wouldn't quit! “We’re not going to Athens,” I said hurriedly.
“Well, maybe I won’t then. Have fun,” he said as he walked away.
Zac and I stared at each other for a long time after Ty left. “Do you think he’d really show up there?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” Zac admitted. “But I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I don’t like that guy. How does he keep finding us?”
“Who knows? Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind and comes back.”
“Want to take the book?” I asked.
“No, we have what we need.”
“Let me put it back then.”
“They’ll put it back.”
“But with the glamour, they won’t see it sitting here.”
“It’s a weak glamour. Once we leave the building, it will fade. They’ll find it then,” Zac threw over his shoulder as he headed for the door.
“Why can’t we teleport out of here?” I asked.
“Transport,” he corrected. “This isn’t some Sci-Fi show.”
“Oh yeah, it’s not Sci-Fi. We’re just living some crazy fantasy.”
He gave me a withering look. “To answer your question, I usually can’t transport out of buildings.”
“Why were you able to do it at the hospital then?”
“Because of all the death,” he said shortly. “The barrier between the dimensions is thinner there.”
As we were heading to the door, I sensed something. “Aislinn is here!”
Zac froze. “What?”
“I can feel her. She’s here.”
He swore violently under his breath. Grabbing my shoulders, he looked me in the eyes. “Where is she?”
“Here. Somewhere. I don’t—”
“Concentrate,” he ordered.
Closing my eyes, I tried to concentrate on my twin. I could feel her, but her presence was clouded, overshadowed...
“I can’t find her,” I said, opening my eyes. “I know she’s here, but I don’t know how I know that.”
“It’s okay. We’ll find her.”
We began to wander through the library, trying to find my sister. I felt as though I was trying to play a game of Marco Polo without having an answering echo. When her presence felt stronger, I assumed she was closer. But it would sometimes fade when I followed it. Maybe she was looking for me too.
I heard a crackling noise. “Is it getting hot in here?”
Zac coughed. “I think I smell smoke.”
Glancing around, I noticed a light in one corner of the library that hadn’t been there a moment ago. As we watched in horror, an entire bookcase burst into flames. One by one, the fire began to encroach on the other bookcases—and it was heading for us.
I stumbled to the side, shoved by Zac’s hand. “Run!” he ordered.
He looked horrified. The flames were reflected in his pupils, the dancing of the fire making his eyes look as if they were alive in and of themselves. They had dilated almost completely, engulfing his irises in a sea of black. I could barely make out a thin line of blue rimming the edge.
“Rhiannon,” his voice broke into my thoughts. I glanced down, noticing that one of his hands was pulling at my upper arm. “We have to go.”
“But my sister...”
He looked unspeakably sad. “I’m sorry. There’s no time.”
“No!” I couldn’t leave her there to die. I pulled free of his grasp and ran toward the blazing books. I could sense him running behind me, begging me to come back, but I refused to acknowledge his pleas. Aislinn was the only thing on my mind. At that moment, Zac didn’t matter. The fire didn’t matter. I had to find my sister.
Dark smoke was billowing near the ceiling, making it hard to breathe. I stared up at the smoke through narrowed eyes. I thought I could make out some shapes masked by the dancing flames. Red, glowing eyes pierced the clouds. Wraiths. I froze, and Zac ran into me, almost knocking me down. He grabbed my waist to steady me.
I couldn’t breathe. Between the oppressive presence of the wraiths, and the smoke filling the room, I felt as though I were suffocating. I gasped and choked, but only inhaled soot.
Zac picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I kicked and struggled, but he had a death-grip around me.
“What about Ash? I have to save my sister!” I wailed.
He ignored me and continued to carry me out of the building. Once we were outside, I noticed that the entire building was now engulfed in flames. I didn’t know how we had gotten out alive.
I didn’t have time to think about the fire itself and how we had survived. Still holding me, Zac transported us back to the place where we had stayed the night before. I began to fight against him again.
“Take me back!” I demanded, kicking him in the stomach. I punched him in the back, repeatedly. I was sure I was hitting his kidneys, but he remained motionless. When the fight drained out of me at last, and I began to sob, he placed me gently on the bed.
“I’m so sorry, Rhiannon. I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”
Despair washed over me. “It’s my fault,” I whispered.
He sat next to me on the bed. “It’s not your fault.”
“If I hadn’t contacted her...”
“You had no way of knowing that she would come looking for you.”
“You knew. You tried to warn me.”
“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I should have warned you before you made contact with her—in fact, I never should have encouraged you to make contact with her at all.”
I could feel my heart shattering as I realized my twin was likely dead. I couldn’t imagine living the rest of my life without her. “I have to go back and look for the body. Our parents will want it.”
Zac shook his head. “Absolutely not. Maybe after the flames die down and everything has cooled.”
“But then there might not be anything left!”
“It’s better than you dying, too,” he replied quietly.
“Maybe I deserve to. She certainly didn’t.”
His arms came around me and he held me gently, as though he was afraid I would break. “Don’t say that, Rhiannon. Don’t leave me. I need you.”
I pulled free of his embrace and glared at him. “You only need me to help with your research.”
He jumped up, obviously angry. “If that’s what you think, then go! You sure don’t seem to be aware of the fact that I’m in love with you.”
I sucked in a breath. “You love me?”
“Yes, you stupid girl. I love you. I know I just met you, but I can’t live the rest of my life without you.”
How should I have reacted to that declaration? I was pretty sure that I loved him too, but it seemed silly to say it—it was way too soon. I had accused him earlier of putting a spell on me. Now I wondered if I had inadvertently done the same to him. I couldn’t say it back. Not yet.
He pushed my hair out of my face. “I understand. I hope that one day you’ll be able to say it back. I know I have the worst possible tim
ing. You just lost your twin, your other half. Nothing could replace her... not even me.”
“So, where exactly are we going in Greece?” I asked Zac in an attempt to distract myself. I needed to try to ignore the sudden death of my sister and concentrate on the task at hand.
“We can start at Olympus.”
“Where’s that? I suck at geography.”
“The northeastern part of Greece, on the border of Thessaly and Macedonia.”
“That’s all Greek to me.” I laughed at my own pathetic joke. Zac didn’t find it very funny. “I mean, I still don’t really know where that is. Come on, where’s your sense of humor?”
“It left with my body.”
Oh boy. How to respond to that? “Sorry. So, how are we getting there?”
“Plane.”
“I get that. But what airport are we leaving from? Is there more than one flight?”
“I think I can transport us to New York. From there, we can fly into Athens via Paris. It will be a shorter trip than leaving from the LAX airport.”
“Via Paris? Wouldn’t that be a lot more expensive?”
“Glamour, remember?”
“Oh yeah. We’re not paying.” I still felt really bad about that.
“Unless you really want to leave from here and be in the plane another eight hours or so.”
“No, that’s okay,” I said hurriedly. “We’ll leave from New York.”
He laughed. “I thought you would agree.”
“When do we leave?”
“In the morning. Try and get some sleep.”
I lay down on the floor with Zac next to me. I curled toward him and drifted off to sleep.
Seven
I woke, feeling as though I was suffocating. Five identical shadowy figures surrounded me. They had the forms of men, but I knew they were not. Before I could move, the one closest to me moved. Its arms shot out, and I felt fingers wrap around my throat. I gasped for breath as its thumbs pressed deeply into my windpipe. My vision began to swim. My arms flailed as I tried to reach up to pry the shadow hands from my neck.
“Z-z-zaacccc,” I croaked. Where was he? I tried to reach for him, but he wasn’t there. I had thought that he had been asleep next to me.
It felt like I was falling down a tunnel. I heard a hollow roaring in my ears. I choked and gasped as I struggled to breathe. I had to stay conscious! One of the figures held down my kicking legs. I heard a weak “oof” as I made connection with it. It wasn’t as “shadowy” as I had thought.
The one with its hands around my throat shook me and banged my head against the ground. A crack sounded, and I felt sure that I was bleeding. I tried to shriek my pain, but all that came out was a sickening rattle. That was going to hurt worse later—if I even made it to later. It banged my head once more as I got purchase on its fingers. It wouldn't let go, so I dug my fingernails into its hands. It loosened its grip slightly, and I sucked in as deep of a breath as I could manage before it tightened its fingers around my throat once more.
Just as I was losing my fight to remain conscious, Zac appeared. He pulled his sword from its sheath on his back and began to take out the wraiths one by one. They never knew what hit them as he plunged his weapon through their shadowy torsos. They evaporated and disappeared. All that was left was the one with its death grip on my neck. My eyes bulged as Zac approached it. It was loathe to leave me without finishing what it came to do, but at the same time, it didn’t want to be destroyed by Zac. Before it could fight back, Zac swung his sword like a baseball bat, twisting his body and shifting his feet as he lopped off its head. It too began to evaporate, and I shot upward, coughing and gasping for air.
Zac returned his sword to its sheath and knelt down next to me. Worry clouded his eyes. “I’m so sorry I left.”
I nodded my head, trying to indicate that it was okay. I couldn’t speak yet.
“I heard you call,” he told me as he enveloped me in his arms.
When I finally caught my breath, I leaned back and looked at him. “N-next t-t-time c-could... you c-c-come a l-li-little f-f-fas-faster?” I managed to choke out.
He nodded. “Of course.”
“I don’t think I can sleep anymore.”
“Want to leave now?” he asked.
I didn’t trust my voice. My throat felt bruised. I gave him an almost imperceptible nod of my head.
“Are you sure you’re up for a trip?” he asked worriedly.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “It needs to be done.”
He stood and helped me to my feet. “Hold on tight,” he murmured in my ear, and he wrapped me in his arms.
I did as he asked and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt a shifting and when I opened my eyes again, we were standing in the middle of Times Square.
I tipped my head back and stared at all the lit billboards. “It’s exactly how I pictured it,” I said.
He smiled at me. “Good.”
“How much time do we have before we have to be at the airport?”
He squinted at a giant clock that towered over the square. “A couple of hours, I think.”
I grinned. “Then let’s explore!”
“Seriously?”
I play-slapped his arm. “Hey, this may be the only chance I have to be in New York.”
“It’s not like I can buy you any souvenirs,” he said.
“That’s okay. I don’t need souvenirs. I’ll remember.”
We wandered around for an hour or two, until Zac insisted upon getting to the airport. “I know we don’t need to check in or whatever, but I don’t want to miss the flight,” he explained.
I sighed. “I wish we were going to Europe for fun, instead of for a life-or-death mission.”
“I’ll tell you what: if we survive this, I’ll take you back—after I get my body back,” he amended.
“Promise?”
“Of course I do. I’d do anything for you, Rhiannon.”
I took his arm, and he transported us to the airport just as the flight was beginning to board. We snuck in at the end of the line. Luckily, the flight wasn’t full. We could sit in seats instead of having to hide in the cargo hold like I had been afraid of.
“Are they going to notice that these seat belts are buckled? Because I don’t want to leave them unbuckled and go flying through the air,” I said.
Zac laughed. “We’ll wait until the flight attendants do their checks and when they head back to their seats, we’ll buckle the seat belts. When the light goes off, we’ll unbuckle. Simple.”
It sounded simple to me. We did as he had suggested.
I slept the majority of the flight. Before I knew it, we were landing in Paris.
Eight
We had a few hours to waste, so we decided to go to sightseeing. We saw the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, and what I had been waiting all my life to see—the Eiffel Tower.
When we arrived, we climbed to the top. As soon as we reached the summit, Zac dropped to one knee, grabbing my hand. “Marry me, Rhiannon.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I asked you to marry me.”
“I’m eighteen.” It sounded like a lame excuse, even to my own ears.
“So what? So am I. The Zayin don’t exactly live that long. It’s a dangerous job. I want us to be together while we can.”
The truth was, I wanted to say yes but I was terrified. “What about your body?”
He stood, coming close and gathering me in his arms. “Do you think I actually need my body to be with you?” He flashed me a smile. “But we can wait until we find my body to marry. I’m sure you will want your parents there.” He brushed my hair out of my face. “So what do you say?”
Feeling overwhelmed, I nodded. “Yes. Absolutely yes!”
He scuffed his foot against the ground. “I wish I had a ring to give you.”
“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “I don’t need a ring.”
“Yes, you do. You deserve a ring. Unfortunately, your ring is with my bod
y—hopefully.”
“How do you already have a ring for me? You didn’t meet me until after you lost your body.”
“It was my grandmother’s ring,” he explained. “It was passed to me when she died. I’ve been holding onto it all these years... for you.”
That was quite possibly the sweetest thing I’d ever heard. “We’ll get it when we find your body.”
“I promise that will be soon.”
“It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I can wait.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t seem like you’re much of a patient person.”
I crossed my arms across his chest and frowned at him. “If you’re going to be like that, I won’t marry you.”
A panicked look crossed his face. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Of course I’m kidding.” I didn’t understand why he looked so panicked. “I’ll still marry you. I wouldn’t take a promise like that lightly.”
“Good,” he whispered as he bent his head toward mine.
As I kissed him, I began to wonder what I had just agreed to. I had told a man I barely knew that I would marry him. My sister’s death had certainly changed me. I knew I shouldn’t wait. I wanted to be with Zac. Even though I had just met him, I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I never could have made it through the trauma of my sister dying without him. Then again, if it hadn’t been for him, my sister and I never would have been in that library...
I broke off that train of thought before it went any farther. It wasn’t his fault, and I didn’t need to blame him. I should have been blaming myself instead.
Zac pulled back from me a little, as if he sensed my distress. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I answered a little too quickly.
“No, you seem upset. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
I stared at the ground. “I was just thinking about my sister. I can’t believe she’s dead.”
He looked pained. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that. I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you.”
I shook my head. Nothing would ever make it right. “It’s not your fault. Let’s just concentrate on finding the Helm and stopping this Necrovorst guy.”
