Fiery, flowing, beautiful. Terrifying.
The color of new blood.
Sera stared in horror as the colors of the deifyre shimmered down her arms and around her face. She looked more closely. It wasn’t entirely blood red. It’d barely been a summery gold until she’d sullied it from her trip to the Dark Realms, and now it was the color of the deepening sunset with intermingling hues of scarlet, copper, and orange.
In a fretful rush, Sera backed away until she was pressed against the door of the stall behind her. Clear silver eyes stared into hers, and a fat tear rolled down the girl’s face. Sera wiped it away hastily.
She was tainted.
The sigils on her palms tingled as if confirming what she knew. Distracted, Sera rubbed them together and winced at the sudden spark that streaked between them.
Everything slowed. She could see a single drop of water from the faucet fatten and then fall in impossible slow motion. The minute it splashed against the basin, she felt the room spin and the earth dropped out from beneath her feet.
She closed her eyes.
When Sera opened them, she was sitting in a field of yellow and orange flowers. It smelled of sunshine, grass, and summer honey.
Am I dreaming?
She glanced down at her arms and saw, with relief, that her deifyre had disappeared, and then noticed that she was dressed in a yellow and pink sari, like the ones her mother had in her closet. It was an odd choice of dress, but she loved the feel of the filmy silk against her skin. Her arms and feet were bare. A lock of hair curled into her face as she stood, and she saw that even though the fiery aura had disappeared, the scarlet and copper color of her hair had not changed. She tossed it over her shoulder with a sigh. If she was dreaming, she’d enjoy the peace at least for a minute.
Despite the thought that the meadow didn’t look like any meadow she’d ever been in, Sera felt no fear. She felt safe—incredibly safe. Enjoying the silence and the occasional chirp of birds flying overhead, she walked aimlessly until she came to a bubbling river. She waded in and stood in the middle of its stream, letting the water curl over her bare toes, drenching the hem of her skirts. Then she walked along the river’s edge for a while, noticing that the earth beneath her feet had turned from soft grass into crumbly sand.
Digging her toes in, she walked farther and saw something glistening in the distance. As she neared the glittering mass, she realized that it was the ocean. Laughing with joy, she raced to the edge of the breaking waves and jumped into them, not caring that the folds of her skirts hung in a sodden mess. She floated in the waves, feeling the sun on her face, and felt completely carefree.
Sera let the sun air-dry her as she strolled along the water’s edge. She saw someone sitting on the sand farther down the beach. The blue of his arms and back undulated in the sunlight, and she smiled in recognition.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, plopping down on the sand next to him, still smiling.
His smile was white and made something go funny inside of her. “Same as you, I’d expect. Running away.”
Her own smile faltered. “Is this a dream?”
“Do you want it to be?”
She scowled at him. “Do you always answer a question with a question?”
“I like people to find their own answers,” Dev said, laughing, leaning back onto his elbows. “Nice sari by the way. Suits you.”
Sera blushed at his sincerity, her eyes dropping to the light rippling across his lean chest. The tattoos flickered like blue-gold flame. She lowered her eyelashes and squinted carefully. To her surprise, she saw a line of gold undulate through one of the swaths of blue, and then one of the inner bands swirled into a circular shape just near his shoulder
“Your tattoos moved!” she shouted accusingly. Dev laughed again, a sound that made her laugh along with him.
“This is your world, Sera. I’m just visiting. Maybe they’re moving because you want them to.” Dev’s hair swung into his face as he leaned forward, and he pushed it back with one hand, sand flecking through the dark strands. He cocked his head and brushed his hand along the side of her hair. “So, you felt like a change?”
She ran a hand through it self-consciously, pulling it to one side over her opposite shoulder. “It’s red,” she said with a sigh.
“I like it.”
For an instant, her dream flashed into her head before she blinked it away. “Red’s not a good color. Ask anyone. It’s the color of … blood.”
“And blood is the color of life.”
She stared at him, then looked quickly away. His eyes were suddenly too penetrating, too knowing. “You always seem to have an answer for everything.”
“Not everything,” Dev said modestly.
“Can we talk about something else? Or do something else? Since this is my world, I mean?” Sera said, drawing aimlessly with her finger in the sand. Dev put his hand over hers to stop the movement. Confused, she met his eyes and flushed as the gritty sensation of his sandy fingers sliding between hers overwhelmed her senses.
“I am yours to command,” Dev said with a bow of his head. “What do you have in mind?”
Dev’s eyes were very golden then, like the color of warm toffee. She wanted to bask in them and leaned forward unconsciously. He met her halfway, and the kiss was just as sweet as she’d remembered. She fell into it as easily as a stone would fall through water, lost to everything but the exhilarating feeling of falling. When Dev pulled away, Sera was breathless—and mystified.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, noticing her changed expression.
She pressed a hand to her lips. “Why does that feel so familiar? It’s like I’ve known you forever.” She struggled with the words. “When I think about you, I feel safe. I mean, I know we’ve only known each other a few months but …” she faltered again. “It’s like I know you or something.” Sera stared out at the ocean, her voice a whisper. “This is a dream, right?”
“It’s whatever you need it to be.”
She turned to him. “In this world, then, I want you to be honest with me. Can you do that for me?” Dev nodded. “If I did live in another lifetime like you said, did we … were we … together?”
A smile spread across Dev’s face that made her knees turn to water. “Yes.”
“How together?” Sera pressed.
“Together, together.”
Blushing furiously, she glared at him with suspicious eyes. “You’re just a figment of my imagination, aren’t you? I really don’t know why I keep thinking about you when I have someone perfectly normal who cares about me,” she said more to herself than him. “But why would I see you, of all people? Why you?”
“When did you see me?”
“I went there, you know. Xibalba. It changed me. But I’m still me. I don’t know what this is, whether it’s a dream or it’s real or whether I love you or Kyle, or shouldn’t love anyone at all. I’ve known Kyle for a long time, but I feel like I’ve known you for even longer. You and Kyle are the exact opposite of each other. But you’re the one I saw, not him.” She doodled in the sand again, unsurprised when he lay his hand atop hers to stop the movement.
“Why do you keep doing that?” she snapped.
“You’re drawing a portal.” Her gaze dropped to the marking that matched the one on her right palm. It throbbed and she clenched her hand into a fist.
Dev drew her hands onto his lap, careful not to touch the sigils. “You have to control these. They are both powerful and will pull you to do different things.”
“What do you mean?” she said, scuffing the sand with her foot, erasing the half etched marking.
“They brought you here when you touched them together. A place between the light and the dark,” Dev said.
“I don’t understand.”
“You are bound by all three realms. That’s why you come here—to escape them, to find peace. This has always been your place, yours alone. But if you unknowingly draw a portal, then others may be able t
o come here too.”
“Why are you here, then?”
“You brought me here a long time ago.”
“No, I didn’t—” She started to speak and he placed a finger against her mouth.
“Why is that so hard for you to believe? . . .. You have a Sanrak mother. You are immortal. Yet you can’t see what is right in front of you. You love me, Serjana, as I love you. We always have since the beginning.”
“How is that even possible? I didn’t know you before—” She shook her head in denial and stood, walking to the edge of the water. The sun had begun a slow descent toward the horizon and a riot of colors blazed across the sky. The water shimmered fiery gold.
Sera knew what Dev said was entirely possible. After all, she was a goddess. She turned back to Dev, who was watching her with an enigmatic expression. “Are you Sanrak, too?”
He didn’t answer but came to join her where she stood. “No. I am something else, like you.” Sera clamped her lips together and returned her gaze to the sun and the water, sinking into each other’s embrace. Light into dark. The metaphor of her life.
“Do you come here often?” she asked after a while, and then cringed at her corny choice of words.
“Whenever I want to be with you and cannot.” His words were soft, and Sera felt as if he’d given her far more than just words. “I’ve looked for you for a long time.”
“Why?”
“Because I lost you once. I cannot again.”
Sera leaned into him, resting her head against his warm chest and listening to the steady drum of his heartbeat. It felt perfect. She didn’t move, not even when he tucked a marigold behind her ear and kissed the top of her head.
Maybe this was a dream. A dream of a perfect place. Somewhere that she could escape the real world and everything that had turned inside out within it—somewhere where she was free of everyone else’s secrets. Maybe, for once, she could pretend that she was happy, here with Dev. His laugh distracted her.
She scowled up at him again. “What, you can read my mind now?”
He laughed harder. “No, but I can see from your face that you are trying to convince yourself that this is not real.”
“Isn’t it? You said yourself before that it was a dream.”
“No,” Dev corrected her. “I said that it was whatever you needed it to be.”
“So, it’s a dream.” Dev leaned in, gave her a hug, and started to walk away. Sera followed him confused. “Where are you going?”
“Back to the real world, even though it’s been a wonderful afternoon. If we’re gone more than five minutes, the teachers send a search party. And maybe you’re just not ready.”
“Wait, five minutes?”
He stopped. “Time flows differently for us here. Days here are mere minutes in the Mortal Realm. If you needed to, you could come here for weeks at a time and only be gone for an hour.”
“How do I get back?”
A smile. “The same way you got here, I’d expect.” His smile turned into something sad. “Give it a chance, Sera. Trust yourself. Trust in us, you always have. I won’t ever fail you.”
You did once.
Sera had no idea where the words had come from, but there they were, as stark as day. She blinked and Dev was gone. She touched her palms together and the same spark spun between them, and then she was staring at herself in the bathroom mirror at school.
A deafening banging on the door claimed her attention, then loud voices.
“Sera! You in there? It’s Beth. We’re opening the door!” A jangle of keys banged against the door. She tugged her T-shirt and her shade around her just as Beth, the janitor, and Kyle burst in.
“Hello! A little privacy please!” Sera cried. She glanced at her watch, stunned. Had she imagined it all? “I’ve only been in here five minutes. Can’t a girl use the bathroom?”
“Are you all right?” Kyle asked, his eyes narrowing. “Who were you talking to? Beth said she heard voices.”
“I’m fine.” Sera let her hands fall to her side and walked past Beth and the janitor out of the bathroom. Kyle started to say something to her, but Sera just pushed past him, her face strained.
“Everything’s going to change, isn’t it?” Sera said as he caught up to her.
Kyle stared at her. “It already has.” He reached for her hair and frowned before gently brushing the side of her face with his fingertips.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, it’s just a bit of fluff. It’s gone now.”
Sera didn’t notice Kyle crush the stray marigold petals in his hand or the flash of rage that darkened his face.
CONFRONTATION
Kyle looked at his phone to check the time—thirty minutes of English to go. He glanced over at Sera, who sat staring into her textbook as if in a trance. She’d been silent for most of the day following the episode in the bathroom. Kyle knew that something had happened, but he didn’t know what. After seeing the marigold petals, he’d bet his last dollar on it having to do with that neighbor of hers, but Sera was safe, and that was all that mattered. At least that was what he kept telling himself. He knew Sera would tell him when she was ready.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. A text message from Jude.
—Need to talk now. Out front.
The wings on his head stretched taut in silent warning. He stared at the phone and looked over at Sera. He couldn’t risk waiting and then meeting Jude with Sera in tow, so he made a decision. He’d deal with Jude and then meet Sera back at school when they were done. He packed up his stuff and dropped a note on Sera’s desk as he walked past, letting her know that he’d meet her out front after class.
“Mr. Knox, we still have thirty minutes of class,” the teacher said.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Kyle said over his shoulder. “Carry on.”
Outside, Jude had a new convertible parked right in front of the entry doors and stood leaning against its side. “Took you long enough. I was almost going to come in and find you. You know how much I love teenage angst.” He laughed but it was an empty sound. “Get in, let’s take a ride.”
“What’s up?” Kyle said, stalling for time. He really didn’t want to leave the school grounds with Sera still in the building. He knew the Ne’feri would look out for her, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Jude pulled a packet of cigarettes out and lit one.
“Smoke?” Kyle shook his head. “You hear about Damien?”
“No.” Kyle kept his mind closed, mindful of Jude’s nearness. He knew Jude couldn’t mind-read, but he wasn’t taking any chances. “Why?”
“He and Marcus went to take the last of the Fyre to Azrath and something got to Damien. I mean it had to have been something powerful. The kid was strong, and now I can’t even reach him.” He tapped the side of his skull. “You hear of anything?”
Kyle felt something cold slide along his bones. Jude was baiting him. “I’d tell you if I did, you know that.”
“So, where’ve you been the past couple days, Kyle?” Jude winked at him. “Slumming, I heard? You sure you didn’t see anything?”
“Look, I don’t know what happened to Damien. The kid was a loose cannon, you know that more than anyone.” Kyle flung his backpack on the ground and leaned on the car next to Jude. “Someone or something came after me and Carla too last week. The house was a mess and it stank of demons. Not to mention the Daeva being on the warpath.” He shrugged. “Just being careful. I mean, we’re at the end now, right?”
Jude shot him a measured glance. Kyle held his stare squarely. He felt the wings draw tight against his skull and shoved back against it. Jude would have to do a lot more than that to intimidate him. He straightened his shoulders, tucking his hands into his pockets.
“Yeah. Everything’s getting there,” Jude said after a while, taking a long drag on his cigarette. “So, you staying at your girlfriend’s house?”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
Jude smiled. It was an ugly smile. “Yeah
, I know. Saw her with some other dude the other day. Kid had blue tattoos. They looked real cozy together,” Jude said slyly. His words had the desired effect.
“That’s her neighbor,” Kyle gritted. “They’re friends.”
A laugh. “Yeah, they looked like friends to me, especially when he had his tongue down her throat.”
“You saw wrong.”
“Did I?” Jude hopped over the side of the Mercedes and slid into the driver’s seat. “Get in. Let’s go pay blue boy a visit and see, shall we?”
Kyle felt a fury like nothing else spiral through him. He knew that Jude might be lying but he’d seen the marigold petals earlier himself. Sera was lying to him. Somehow, they’d been together. If Sera wouldn’t give him the answer, maybe Dev would. He hopped over the side of the car door, tossing his backpack in the seat behind him. The Ne’feri would make sure that Sera was safe. He had a score to settle.
They drove off, heading to Knightsbrook Academy. The more Kyle thought about it, the more he fueled his anger. She’d lied to him. Had she been with Dev? The more worked up he became, the more he could feel Jude’s pleasure, almost as if he were getting off on Kyle’s own emotions. After the few short blocks to the private school, Kyle was riled to the point of no return.
“Wait here,” he told Jude.
“Where’re you going? Can’t you see him from here? What kind of half-assed ability is that anyway?” Jude sneered.
Kyle scowled. “It detects energies, Jude. The kid is human. And so is almost every other kid in here. It doesn’t work like that and you know it.”
Kyle slipped into the school and walked down the hallway. He wanted to confront Dev, but he also didn’t want Jude interfering and making things worse than they had to be, especially if any of it got back to Sera. A voice near the cafeteria made him whirl around.
“You are looking for me.” Dev was staring at him with a curious expression, his head cocked to one side. Dressed in a button-down Oxford shirt and tie with bone-colored trousers, Dev wore the bland uniform with a careless nonchalance that was at odds with most of the students at the exclusive private school.
Alpha Goddess Page 17
