by Kristen Day
“What do you want Morrison?” Noah growled, but the slight tremble in his voice gave him away. I could tell it wasn’t lost to Finn’s ears. He stepped even closer and grinned at him with malice.
“Finally met a girl that won’t fall for your bullshit?” Finn’s face turned sinister and his blue eyes flashed, “She deserves respect and that’s the one and only thing you’re ever going to give her.”
“Whatever dude.” Noah tried to blow off Finn’s threat, but he wasn’t fooling anybody.
Logan walked up and eyed Finn, “We got a problem, Noah?”
“Nah,” Noah quickly looked me up and down and then smirked, “It’s not worth it.” Anger shot through me at his insult and I moved in between him and Finn.
“Screw you.” I pushed him as hard as I could and surprisingly, he flew back, landing hard on the sand. Everyone turned to stare at me except Carmen, who was suddenly standing right beside me.
“Get your boy under control before I whip his ass too!” she stared angrily at Logan. “Nobody talks to my friends that way!” I looked down at Noah who was rubbing his chest, and I saw two hand-
sized bruises beginning to show. Did I really do that?
“She deserves it if she’s hanging out with ‘death boy’.” He helped Noah up off the sand.
When he turned back around, Finn tackled him, holding him down in the sand by his throat.
“Finn!” I called out to him. People were beginning to gather around us. “Come on…let him go, let’s just leave.”
“Stay away from her,” he growled at Logan, and looked up at Noah, whose face was drained of color, “or you’ll regret it.” He gave Logan a smile dripping with evil and released him abruptly, pushing his head back in the sand. Logan rubbed his neck where Finn’s grip had left a red mark.
Every muscle in Finn’s body was tense and I had a feeling he wanted nothing more than to kill them both. He radiated malevolence and my stomach turned to ice as I remembered his hands around another guy’s neck right before he pulled out an axe.
“Asshole,” Carmen muttered towards Logan before walking away. Willow ran over to us.
“Are ya’ll okay? What happened?”
Finn looked back at the two retreating guys, narrowing his eyes, “We handled it.”
“And I’m never talking to Logan again.” Carmen added.
“I’m sorry Carmen, I didn’t mean for-” I began, before she interrupted me.
“It’s not your fault he’s a loser, I’m just glad I was there to watch you shove Noah in the sand! Those bruises will be a nice reminder to him not to mess with you. Let me see those muscles!”
She squeezed my biceps and Willow’s eyes got big.
“You did what?”
“Finn!” Two dark haired guys holding surfboards waved at him. “You comin, man?” Finn took my hand, pulling me away from Willow and Carmen.
He searched my face urgently. “I have to go,” he said, his tone solemn, “be careful who you hang out with, Stasia.” Before I had a chance to argue, he walked away. I watched as he took his surfboard from one of the guys, jumped in the waves and easily started paddling out.
When I got back to our blanket, Carmen was telling Willow what had happened and I felt my defenses go up at Finn’s warning. I didn’t need a babysitter. I could take care of myself. And besides, Noah wasn’t the one who was standing on the same beach where Nicolet was killed. I watched as he dropped into a wave, whipped his surfboard around the top of it and rode it out like he’d done it a million times before. He dove into the water, retrieved his board and started paddling back out to do it all over again. Everything he did was so controlled and poised. And incredibly sexy.
When there was a lull in the waves, the three boys sat and talked on their boards. It made me wonder what the Sons of Daimon did in their spare time. I saw them in class and surfing but besides that they were a complete mystery. Each one had an air of darkness, but Finn outweighed them all in that department. I could see why Noah was frightened of him…I got the feeling he’d never lost a fight. It was the darkness he exuded that made him so volatile and intimidating. Something inside me told me he would stop at nothing to protect someone he loved and he would definitely fight for what he believed in. It was a level of intensity that would tear a normal person apart, but Finn carried it with confidence and grace.
The sight of Kira walking along the beach pulled me from my thoughts. We hadn’t talked since the candlelight vigil. Instead of a bathing suit, she was barefoot and wearing a yellow strapless sundress. A long necklace of freshwater pearls hung from her neck and her blonde hair was swept up on top of her head. I jogged down the beach to greet her and her face lit up as she saw me coming.
“Look at you!” She glanced down at my bathing suit and beamed with pride, “We’ll make a beach bum out of you yet!” I embraced her in a hug and was hit with the scent of coconut and something fruity. I noticed the cup she was holding. It was filled to the brim with a slushy yellow concoction. A bright pink straw poked out. She winked at me.
“Come on, let’s take a walk and catch up.” We walked down by the water and she handed me the drink. It was definitely alcoholic and probably the best thing I’d ever tasted.
“Mmm…what is it?” I asked her, as I stole another sip. It tasted like a Caribbean vacation in a glass.
“Malibu coconut rum and pineapple juice. My favorite. I was hanging out at Banana Cabana with everybody and just needed to get away, so I decided to take a walk on the beach. It always helps clear my head.”
“How’re you holding up?” I asked cautiously.
“The best I can I guess,” She took a long sip; “They came and took all of Nicolet’s stuff. That was really hard. But, I hid a bunch of it so I could keep a part of her. I know somebody else will have to move in, but I’m hoping they’ll wait a couple of days. I don’t know if I can handle that yet. Her absence is unbearable, but having someone else in her room, her bathroom….” She looked so devastated, I wished there was something I could do to make her feel better.
“If you ever want to stay with us, just let me know. You’re always welcome.”
“I might take you up on that. It’s just so quiet at home since….” she sighed. “I just don’t understand how this could have happened. She wouldn’t have killed herself. I know she wouldn’t have.” The sadness in her face gave me new motivation to figure it out. If for no other reason than to give Kira closure. Nicolet didn’t kill herself. She was murdered. And I was going to prove it.
“What if she didn’t?” She looked up at me, startled by my question, “Is there anyone you can think of that would want to hurt her for any reason?”
She shook her head fiercely, “Definitely not, everybody liked Nicolet. She didn’t have any enemies.”
“Was she acting weird or anything?” I tried to dig a little deeper.
“Not really….she was always going on and on about some sort of conspiracy theory stuff, but I was used to that with her being a history major and all.”
“What kind of conspiracy?”
“I’m not really sure to be honest, she never really explained it. But I’d see her reading books and writing things down in that notebook of hers. I tried to find it yesterday to see if there may be something in there to tell me why she did what she did, but they had taken it with the rest of her stuff.”
I remembered the piece of paper she gave Willow and wondered if there was more meaning behind the mystery words than we thought. If she was into conspiracy theories, maybe she was killed because she was getting too close to the truth. I needed to get my hands on that notebook.
“Do you know what they would have done with her stuff? Maybe we can find the notebook?”
“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say they sent it back to her family in Savannah.” She glanced at me worried, “You don’t need to worry yourself about this, Stasia. You’ve got enough on your plate as it is. You need to concentrate on your classes and making a ho
me here at Lorelei. If there was some sort of foul play, I’m sure the authorities will pick up on it and investigate it.” She changed the subject back to me, “So tell me how things are going with you! How do you like your roommates?”
“Oh they’re wonderful, Kira. You couldn’t have put me with three better girls.”
“I had a feeling you’d like them. Any guys caught your attention, yet? I bet their knocking your door down…” she grinned at me.
“I’ve seen a couple cute ones, but…” I decided to keep Finn a secret and go with the old cliché, “I’m keeping my options open.”
“Uh huh, I know how it is. You don’t have to explain it to me,” she nudged my arm.
“No really! I haven’t met anybody yet!”
She just smirked at me. “So what about abilities? Do you have any questions, yet? I feel so bad that we haven’t gotten to sit down and talk yet. When things calm down we will.” I knew she was eager to help me, but Isadora and Priscilla’s conversation about questioning her kept repeating in my mind. I didn’t want Kira getting hurt. Or worse, killed.
“Nothing specific, no.” Her face showed her disappointment, so I asked one question that seemed safe enough. “I’d really like to know what my trace means so I can figure out who I’m descended from.”
“Well I’ve been doing some research on that because it’s obviously rare and I knew you would eventually begin to wonder. But I couldn’t find a trace like yours documented anywhere. The only thing that I may have figured out is that the trace’s swirls are made up of seaweed.” My mind automatically went to the sea weed reaching for me and surrounding me. I looked down at my trace and ran my finger along the three swirls in the shape of an upside down triangle. It would make sense I had a connection to it. “but that doesn’t tell us anything, except that the Daughter you’re descended from has a connection with seaweed. However that’s pretty common among the Nerieds. What’s interesting about yours is the fact that the seaweed isn’t the whole trace; it simply makes up the design of your trace. It’s only a part of it. I’m not really sure what that means. But I promise I’ll keep trying to find something.” She gave me a supportive smile.
“Do you think it’s because I was gone for so long? Maybe it just morphed in to something new since I was never around any other Tydes?”
“No, that wouldn’t happen. The design of your trace can’t change once it’s there,” Kira said and shook her head.
“Do they just magically show up or are we born with them?”
“It’s beneath the skin at birth, but barely visible until that part of your body is exposed to the particular item you’re connected to. Once that happens, it’s sort of…triggered, and it shows on top of your skin. Usually a child’s parents will expose them and bring their trace out at a young age. So I’m assuming your parents did just that while you were still a baby.” My parents. That was a foreign concept.
“Are we born with our abilities? Willow told me they reach maturity at eighteen, but do we always have them?”
“Yes, but they don’t start to come out until about age fourteen or fifteen. Sometimes it can be younger though, or older. Have any of your abilities started coming out yet?” she asked. Getting the feeling she knew more than I thought she did about my abilities, I decided to give her a little bit of information, hoping that would satisfy her for a while.
“I was able to manipulate water a little bit in my Oceanic Experience class but that’s about it.” I tried not to make it sound like a big deal.
“Well I have a feeling your abilities will start to show themselves very soon, so whenever you want to talk or practice, you know how to find me.” She gave me another supportive smile but remained thoughtful. I felt bad for not confiding in her, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. If Isadora was grilling her for information, the best thing I could do was not give her any…for her protection and mine. I could only hope I was doing the right thing.
Chapter 19
Later that night, we gathered around the TV watching the Weather Channel while Hurricane Faye churned closer and closer out in the Atlantic. Classes had been cancelled for Monday since the eye was supposed to make landfall mid-morning. The weather was forecasted to go downhill swiftly overnight as Faye approached. According to Carmen, the shield around campus kept the storm surge out, but the full force of the wind and rain would still hit us. The Weather Channel had meteorologists stationed up and down the coast, but not on Bald Head. We’d have a front row seat anyway, so we didn’t need to watch a meteorologist getting blown around on television to know what was going on outside. I had to admit, I was a little bit giddy, having never been through a hurricane before. Dee had called an hour ago worried out of her mind. I couldn’t explain the shield around campus, but I told her there was nothing to worry about, that the school had been here for centuries and we’d be fine. I thought I calmed her down, but I was still expecting several more hysterical calls tomorrow.
“What about this one?” Phoebe skipped out of her room. She’d been trying on dresses all night, parading around the living room for our opinions. Ian had, in fact, asked her to the Ball and after spending the entire day with him, she announced she was no longer creeped out by him. Finn still hasn’t asked me and I wasn’t real optimistic that he was planning to. Especially since he’d never been to one. But maybe that’s because he had never had someone he wanted to ask. Who am I kidding, there’s no way he’s gone through school without a girlfriend. Instead of picturing Finn with another girl, which inadvertently made my blood pressure rise, I tried to concentrate on Phoebe’s newest dress. It wasn’t my style, but somehow it worked for her. It was bright pink, strapless, and very short. From the waistline, it puffed out in several layers giving it a very 80’s look.
“Maybe if you were Cindy Lauper,” Carmen wrinkled her nose at it. Willow smacked her arm and gave her a look. Carmen shrugged her shoulders innocently, “What? She said to be honest.”
“She’s right, it’s a little much. Maybe something longer wou ld be better...” Phoebe thought out loud and then disappeared back into her bedroom.
“Did you guys hear that Keto was planning to visit Lorelei, but had to wait because of the hurricane?” Willow asked.
“Keto is who the Sirens are descended from, right?” I said, proud of myself for remembering something.
“Yep, and she’s the leader of the Nerieds now. And therefore the leader of both the Tydes and Sirens. So she’s kind of a big deal.” Carmen told me.
“We’re doing a paper on Thetis and Kymo in History and one of the girls said that Thetis used to be the leader? What happened to her?”
“Willow, you want to take that one?” Carmen deflected. Willow looked up from her laptop.
“Well, Thetis could never get the Sirens and Tydes to stop warring with each other and it finally got to be too much for her, among other things. So, she actually ended her own life. Keto took over after that because she was the second strongest Neried, and Thetis’s only child had been Achilles, who was killed forever ago in the Trojan War.”
I read about Achilles in 9th grade, but the only thing I remembered was that his mother had dipped him in the River Styx in order to make him immortal, by holding on to his heel. Therefore, his heel was the only part of him left unprotected. That very heel is how he was killed, which is where the term Achilles Heel came from. I definitely didn’t think there was any truth behind it. Boy was I wrong.
“If Achilles’s mom was Thetis, why wasn’t he automatically immortal?” I asked Willow.
“His father was human. I can’t remember his name though.”
“So, how did Thetis kill herself if she was immortal?”
“There are ways,” she answered cryptically.
“I heard when Keto visited the House of Eudora in England, she was magnificent. She held a huge party and even talked to the students. That’s almost unheard of,” Phoebe said from her bedroom. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Isn’t
she known for being deceitful though?” I asked, “That’s what Kira said.”
“That was just her reputation because of things that happened a long time ago. I think she’s a great leader,” Phoebe gushed, as she gave up trying on dresses and joined us.
“I don’t like it. The Goddess of sea monsters (aka Sirens) should never be the leader of the Tydes. It’s just not right if you ask me.” Carmen crossed her arm and glowered at Phoebe. “Our new Maven’s a Siren, too. I don’t trust her one bit.”
“Priscilla?” I asked.
“Yep. She became Maven a year ago after Vanora left. She was transferred to another school.
In Australia maybe? Something like that.” Carmen shrugged.
“Was Vanora a Siren too?
“She was a Tyde. I don’t know why they transferred her. Everyone loved her here because she actually cared about us. She was very involved with everything. Unlike Priscilla. She’s always MIA.” Willow explained to me.
“Milking Innocent Animals?” Carmen sneered. Phoebe snorted and I almost spit out my Mountain Dew.
“No! Missing In Action!” Willow coughed, choking on her own laughter. We laughed so hard we started crying, and then spent the next hour coming up with everything else M.I.A. could possibly stand for.
After the giggles subsided, I followed Willow into the kitchen to make cookies. I grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and noticed that my trace was shimmering and changing colors more than usual. That was the last thing I remembered before it happened. The world tilted and everything went black.
I was standing on a long boardwalk facing the ocean. The first thing I noticed was the all consuming darkness. The second thing I noticed was lightning flashing. From its brief sparks of light, I could see the turbulent waves, mere feet from the boardwalk. A sign in the sand nearby was already half way under water. The blades of grass on the dunes were completely bent over in the wind and I could tell it was raining sideways, but I didn’t feel either of them. A piece of bright orange tape caught my eye, so I kneeled down to get a closer look. There were four stakes connected by the orange tape, creating a square. I could see writing on the tape and I tried to make out what it said. It read
