“What’s too far?”
Scratching his head, Caleb said, “I guess like a mile would be too far.” He turned up toward the main house and yelled, “All right, we’re coming!” He rolled his eyes. “But sometimes voices work better.” He laughed.
Then, suddenly, Caleb frowned. “Uh-oh! Guess I’m in trouble for saying too much!”
Coming from the woods, Camille bounded down the trail, up the steps, and onto the deck. She smiled sweetly at Caleb. “Why don’t you go finish your chores?”
“See what I mean!” he pouted.
Camille smiled warmly at Valeria. “They aren’t quite decided on how they want to proceed. Alex doesn’t want you involved in that discussion. He doesn’t want to worry you.”
“Camille, what does all of this have to do with me?”
“Let’s walk,” Camille said. “Alex wants the opportunity to explain it all to you, and I need to respect that.” She glanced sideways at Valeria as they stepped off the deck. “Caleb told me that you wondered about our relationships.”
Valeria blushed. “I would guess that you are very much like a family, and that everyone else is…kind of an outsider. So, I just thought that because you are all so...unique that you probably keep your relationships within your—” Valeria realized she had headed down a conversation she didn’t want to finish.
Camille laughed softly. “First off, I don’t have any idea what Caleb was telling you about Lars and me. Lars is married to Ava. I think she is supposed to be here tomorrow. She’s my closest friend. And I can totally see us—you, me, and Ava—being the three musketeers!” Valeria flushed at being part of a friendship.
Continuing, Camille said, “Alex is a bit concerned. He’s afraid you will be overwhelmed by all of this…information, and want to leave.” She rolled her eyes. “We've all been telling him that you don’t seem that fragile.”
“I’m not fragile,” Valeria said defensively.
“That’s what we’ve been telling him. Lars feels a time pressure to jump into the real business.” Camille looked up at the house. “Looks like Alex won the debate for now. Let’s head back up.” They continued up the trail.
Valeria stopped. “Camille, my guess is that this is a pretty closed group.”
Analyzing the question before responding, Camille said, “Yes, we are. When you are the only ones together for thousands of years, you become very close. And we trust each other. We disagree a lot, but we do trust each other. And not to invalidate your reality, but mortal relationships of fifty years are considered short term for us.
“You can live with someone for twenty to fifty years and put up with all of their idiosyncrasies. But when you are around for what’s probably an eternity, you had better figure out how to communicate and how to respect each other. We are all we have. So, yeah, we’re close.”
Feeling defeated, Valeria nodded as Camille continued, “But, I’ll just say this. You are here. You know our secret. Val, you aren’t an outsider!” She looked at Valeria and in her animated voice added, “If I say any more than that, he is gonna be upset with me!”
Valeria gulped and pushed on. “And Alex and Daphne?”
“They are close. Daphne saved Alex’s life. And I think their relationship has kept him from being so lonely.” Camille stopped again. “But Alex brought you here.”
“Camille, why did he bring me here?” Valeria risked.
“I’m getting crap for talking to you about this. Come on, let’s go.” Camille picked up her pace and Valeria knew there was no more information to be had today on that subject.
Entering the main house, Valeria noticed a painting she hadn't seen before leaning against the sideboard in the dining area. Camille steered Valeria back to her seat in the living room.
Looking around at the expectant faces, Valeria realized that her brain had finally engaged and was now prepared to ask a few questions. She glanced at Alex. “If it's okay, I have some questions.” Alex nodded, pleased to see her so engaged. She tilted her head. “You are all true oracles?”
“Yes. It appears that we are the only remaining oracles.”
“And, all of the true oracles are …immortal?” Valeria asked, incredulously.
Alex gave the others a quick look before proceeding. “Well, true oracles are mostly immortal.” Valeria noticed that he failed to meet her glance.
“What do you mean mostly? Are there exceptions? I mean, really, have you all been alive for thousands of years?” It had finally hit Valeria and she didn’t know if she could believe it. There was dead silence in the room.
“Val, I want you to know that every one of us in this room went through a period of adjustment when we came to understand the secrets of our own mortality—or rather, immortality. Most of us didn’t have anyone to discuss it with. So, if you have doubts, there is no one in this room who wouldn’t understand.”
Lars jumped in. “This isn’t a comfortable topic for us to discuss with someone…”
With a sardonic laugh Daphne added, “Lars is being nice. He means we don’t discuss this with outsiders.” She glared at Alex, as if he had broken an agreement.
“Well, if that’s all true, then why doesn’t anyone else know?” Valeria asked.
Lars spoke, “Valeria, we choose for others not to know.”
“Why hasn’t anyone recognized you? I mean, why is it such a secret?” she continued to challenge.
Daphne and Tavish glanced at each other, sneered, and nodded.
Lars went on. “Great questions! We spoke of the purges earlier. After we lost many of our own kind, it became clear that we needed to stick together and that it was better if we stayed under the radar.”
Daphne spoke up again. “Which is why Alex’s little obsession with you has been such a pain in the—”
“Daph!” Camille admonished.
The comment took Valeria by surprise. Alex was obsessed with her? Certainly, if Daphne believed that, it would explain her behavior. She noticed Alex was glaring at Daphne in more than irritation, more like anger.
Tavish spoke up. “Camille, whether you and the rest like it or not, Daphne has a valid point,” he said with a strong Scottish accent. Then he lifted a finger toward Valeria. “Her arrival here, and letting her in on this, puts us all in danger!”
Valeria didn’t like the way Tavish said her.
Lifting her arm to calm the situation, Camille soothed, saying, “Look, we’ve discussed this, and Valeria is already a part of what's going on. We all decided that this was the best way to handle the situation.”
There seemed to be an unspoken discussion occurring. Valeria noticed what appeared to be flashes of anger between Tavish, Daphne, and Alex. Camille and Lars seemed to be attempting to calm things. Caleb was just enjoying the show.
Daphne stomped across the room. “Well, some of us agreed─and some of us were ignored.”
Approaching Daphne, and then turning toward his family, Alex pleaded, “Please, give me a chance to do as we agreed! Let me give Valeria some history. I think we can resolve all of this!”
There seemed to be some agreement and Alex took Valeria by the arm. “Beautiful, I’d like to show you something.” They walked to the large painting in the dining room that Valeria had noticed when she’d entered.
She studied it. It was a picture of a young girl with brown curls, her face lit up as she looked into the face of a boy. The colors were vibrant, with a deep blue sky in the background that matched some of the prisms in the children’s eyes. Their hands came together and there seemed to be an energy between them. The painting had a joyful feeling to it; perhaps it was the expressions on the children’s faces. Valeria looked at the boy and then again at Alex.
“That’s you!” she said. Alex nodded in expectation. She looked at the little girl. She wanted to get it. Suddenly, it hit her. “Oh! That’s…what did you say her name was? Cassandra?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Take your time. Notice anything else?” She took a deep breath. The
re was something nagging at her that she just couldn’t quite put together.
“I don’t know, Alex. What is it you want me to see?”
He glanced down in barely missed disappointment. Valeria feared that he was about to discover that she was not as bright as other people seemed to be. He shook it off. “Nothing, Val. It was just a…”
Studying the painting again, Valeria realized something. “It's interesting that there is a painting of the people from the vision in my head.”
Lars spoke up. “Val, take another look…anything else familiar to you?”
Alex shot Lars a glance and said silently, Lars, drop it. She doesn’t see it. But I feel like she is so close! I want to try one more thing. And then I think we should break for the night and let her put things together in her own time. She will, you know!
Lars shrugged and said silently to Alex, This is your show. We are here to help. But Alex, we are running out of time! We need to be spending our time solving the problem─not helping her to identify it.
Without missing a beat, Alex responded to Valeria. “That’s fine. I just thought you would like to see that the picture in your head was…not just in your head.”
He would have to take the steps he had hoped to avoid. But it was the only link that he had to her and the only way that he could think of to move things along. Still, he felt that it was a bit of a risk—he could see that she was starting to feel the connection between the two of them. Alex didn’t want to abuse those emotions as leverage to get her agreement. This was such a dangerous game and she needed to understand the risks and make decisions because it was the right thing to do. But Alex was torn. Even if Valeria agreed to do what was needed only for him, wouldn’t the results be the same?
No, he decided. She needed to make the decisions intelligently, not because of her feelings for him. He would push the envelope only far enough to help her understand their connection, but no further. He hoped that his heart didn’t betray more than he intended.
Valeria felt his frustration. “Alex, while I appreciate seeing the painting—and it really is beautiful—I don’t understand what I have to do with any of this. I’m not an oracle. I don’t have any powers. I’m just a…” Say it! He may as well know what he is probably already thinking. “Alex, I’m just a very ordinary girl.”
He looked at her and flinched. “Well, first off, there is nothing ordinary about you!” He swallowed and looked away. “Secondly, this actually has quite a lot to do with you. Primarily, your role with Aegemon; he has a great deal of interest in you.”
Valeria laughed it off and then looked back to Alex. “Me? Why?”
“Well, for one reason, and there are several, Aegemon knows you will lead him to us,” Alex said gently.
“I still don’t understand. Is there something you haven’t told me?” Valeria challenged.
Alex glanced at Lars and then Camille and said, “There seems to be some…conditions of immortality. Some of them, we are still trying to understand. We’ll talk more about that later. But right now, let’s resume where we left off this morning.”
Gathering his wits about him, Alex led her back to the loveseat. “We were talking about Cassandra.” He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Aegemon saw that even at Cassandra’s young age, there was no question that she would be a great beauty. Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam of Troy and if Cassandra and Apollo wed, Aegemon’s services would no longer be required. Aegemon went to the king and told him in secret that the cards said that Cassandra’s visions would save Troy in a great war—as long as she remained a virgin.
“Most of the gods were prone to fits of rage, with devastating effects! However, despite what was written by historians, Apollo did not care to interfere in the lives of mortals. Apollo also knew that Cassandra, being a princess, would have an arranged marriage before she was twelve.” Alex’s eyes flashed over to meet Valeria’s. He moved toward her and sat on the ottoman in front of her. He needed closeness, despite his pounding heart.
“Apollo also knew that Cassandra’s symbolon would be searching for her and he would find her…eventually. He would never give up!”
Valeria raised her eyebrows. “Symbolon?”
His face softened into an expression she had not seen on him. She tried to read its meaning as he leaned in toward her and said in a low voice, causing her heart to flutter, “Her soul mate.
“In Greek, it means two halves of a whole—neither half feeling fulfilled until they are reunited.” Alex’s eyes locked onto Valeria’s with a wistful smile that played on the edges of his mouth. He took her hands and she could feel his breath as he softly murmured a phrase in Italian, leaving her frozen as the rest of the room spiraled into a blur and it was only the two of them. As he moved even closer to her, she was aware that her pulse was racing at an indecent speed. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she was cognizant enough to know that everyone in the room, including Alex, would be able to tell. But she couldn’t seem to turn away. She felt the weight of his stare and had a most irrational desire to touch his face. She found herself leaning in toward him.
“Oh, my God! Mind if I just vomit here?” Daphne chirped, as she got up from her seat; although, Valeria barely noticed, unable to take her eyes from Alex’s face.
Abruptly, the front door flew open and an athletic woman with short, spiky, blond hair made an entrance. “I’m here!” she announced, ready to be cheered and adored. The family responded appropriately and rushed to her; everyone except for Daphne, Valeria, and Alex.
“I’ve missed you, baby!” Lars smiled. Ava slinked her Columbia jacket off, revealing lean, muscled arms. She had a deeply tanned face that accentuated her eyes and teeth, as both seemed to take up most of her impish face. Lars grabbed her around the waist and swung her around, planting a kiss squarely on her mouth.
Alex’s eyes were still focused on Valeria, until Daphne walked by and wacked his arm with her magazine. “Knock it off, will you?” He shrugged repentantly at Daphne and took a deep breath. Then he winked at Valeria and rose, holding out his arms to hug Ava.
Taking Alex’s arms, Ava pushed him back as her head tilted and her eyes narrowed for a full assessment under her critical gaze. She noticed the look in his eyes and the slight flush to his face. She glanced briefly toward Valeria and then back to Alex with a hint of mischief. “A bit heated up, are we?”
Only Ava could embarrass him! “Just uh…” He shook his head at Ava’s lack of a filter. But it was also one of the things that he loved about her. And it was good that she was here. He shook off the embarrassment and gave her a hug. “Ava, come and meet Val.”
“Val, this is Ava.”
“Nice to finally meet you!” Ava smiled. She pulled a sealed package from her backpack and handed it to Tavish. “Tav, here’s Mani’s package.”
“So, I can see a request from Mani has more pull than a request from your husband!” Lars joked. “But if that’s what it takes to see my wife, I’ll be employing it more often!”
“Ava, I’ve missed you!” Camille said, as she hugged her friend.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“Any luck on this trip?” Camille asked hopefully.
“Not this one, hon. But I know we’re getting closer!” She gave Camille a confident wink. Valeria noticed that Camille seemed more subdued.
Pulling his wife into him, Lars gave Ava a kiss appropriate for a homecoming. That was the last straw for Daphne! She threw down her magazine. “Ava, I am happy to see you but I have had about enough of all of this!” Then, she stomped up the stairs. Alex barely noticed the door slam.
Looking up the stairs in amusement, Ava glanced back to Alex. “Evidently, Daphne’s not taking this well.” She laughed as she shot a glance toward Valeria. Alex shrugged as if he wasn’t going to answer the question. Then Ava began looking around with concern. “So…uh...” She looked at Lars, troubled. “No fatted calf?”
Lars affectionately retorted, “There would have be
en, if someone had given us a better ETA!” With an accusatory glare, Lars touched Ava’s forehead with his own. She kissed him lightly and turned around.
“Tavish, you usually do a better job on my ETA,” Ava said, in mock irritation. Tavish grumbled something that sounded like an insult. Ava laughed loudly and hugged him around the neck, which Tavish almost seemed to tolerate. Then she stepped back and scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “Well, you have my ETA now! Where’s the barbecue?”
Tavish narrowed his eyes at Ava. “The usual?” Valeria noticed Tavish’s attempt again at a smile.
Camille smiled at Valeria who seemed a bit lost. “Would you like to come with me? I’m going to fix a couple of salads for lunch." Camille glanced up the staircase as if she was trying to find Daphne. “Daphne will want to be part of this,” she said.
A door flew open upstairs. “No! Thank you!” Then the door slammed again.
Camille smiled at Valeria. “Alex and the rest of them will be tied up in business until dinner. Come keep me company!”
Although Valeria was glad for the distraction, she wasn’t ready for the moment with Alex to end—despite the fact that she knew it would be best if she kept her mind occupied. She knew that, without distraction, she would replay that moment numerous times and convince herself that Alex meant more than he actually had. And that would be an unwise assessment for her to make. It would only cause her heartbreak and dissatisfaction with David and, most importantly, it could create problems for Alex.
CHAPTER 9
The afternoon light filtered into the enormous country kitchen, as Valeria sat on a stool slicing her fourth zucchini on the tiled island. She wasn’t much for zucchini but, at this point, she was more than a little hungry.
“You don’t usually like zucchini, do you?” Camille asked over the tomatoes she was slicing. Valeria shrugged, cursing her lack of a poker face.
“Well, I’ll bet you’ll like this!” Camille winked and then focused her attention on the living room.
“Caleb! I mean now!”
“Just one more minute! I’m almost done!” Valeria heard Caleb’s distracted voice.
The Sibylline Oracle (The Sibylline Trilogy) Page 9
