No, it didn’t make sense. Bethany was reaching and I felt horrible for doubting Evangelia. This was all new – the structure of the empire and living out in the open, to her. She seemed genuinely interested in making a new life within the empire.
“Beth, you’re wrong.”
“I really hope so, or we’re all doomed,” she snapped.
“Let’s just give her a chance, alright? She deserves one. I think that, over time, you’ll see that I’m right. She seems to be trying to fit in.”
“Dandy!” Bethany cheered as she grabbed a hold of my arm. “So she shows up about a week ago, out of the blue – all stunning and innocent, sets her sights on her betrothed, needing instruction on something she naturally knows how to do – teleporting, and we don’t know if she’s plotting.”
“What do you mean by she knows how to teleport? Does she?” I asked in a hushed tone, as the sales girl smiled at me.
“She already knew how to when Evan started her lessons. I saw them in our ballroom the first time she came over.” Bethany said, with a raised brow. “She played the ‘damsel with no strengths’ perfectly.
“What exactly did you see?” My body broke out into a sweat and my mind raced with ideas. I saw the exchange of a kiss, a full embrace, and heard the whispers of sweet nothings.
“Are you sure that you want to hear this?” Bethany said trying on an extra-long strand of pearls. “I’ll take this as well” She handed the young woman behind the counter the necklace.
“You know I do!” I hissed.
“Alright, alright. Well, as I said before, she played the part. She would try to teleport and she would disappear for a second, maybe two. Then she would reappear.”
“And…” I spun my hand around in a circular motion so that Bethany would continue.
“When she reappeared, she would fall right into Evan’s arms. This went on for a while, with her pretending that she had no idea why she couldn’t teleport properly.”
“When in fact she was seeing herself in his arms, therefore that’s where she would land.”
“Where who landed?” Evangelia asked, innocently, as she stepped in beside me and peered over Bethany’s shoulder as if approving her choices.
“Hedea. She… uh lands wherever she points that beak.” Bethany said to save me.
Evangeline wore heels, yet I never heard her click her way over to us. Sneaky, little…
“Will you have the gown delivered?” I asked, noticing that there wasn’t a sales girl trailing her with a large box.
“No. Actually, I have a couple choices and would love it if you gave me your opinion.”
“I didn’t know that mine mattered.” I smiled and followed her to the spacious dressing room.
“Pick the least attractive one. No need to increase the chances of Evan ogling her.” Bethany whispered. “I’ll be in the shoe department.”
Evangelia insisted that I follow her into the dressing room. There were three dresses hanging on the dressing screen. She put on the first, a scarlet red ball gown. The second she turned around, I felt my stomach twist into a knot. I couldn’t allow her to leave the store with that one. I shook my head. I shook my head again when she floated over in the second one, a frilly lavender gown that looked as if it had been made for her.
Evangelia faced me, my eyes bulged, and I stopped breathing for a few seconds. If only I had been smart about this and waited until she put on the last one before passing judgment on the first two gowns. With this particular gown, she would be irresistible to every male attending this gala. Unfortunately, I was late in controlling my initial reaction and the expression on my face gave me away.
“This one is my favorite too.” Evangelia sighed and twirled three feet in the air.
“Well that’s the most hideous thing I’ve ever seen. You can’t dare to wear that.” Bethany said as she shut the door behind her. Evangelia grounded herself back to the floor. Her eyes widened and her face froze.
My jaw clenched in anger at Bethany, knowing exactly what she was doing. I was also ashamed of myself for having done the same thing.
“What’s your problem?” Evangelia asked as she glared at Bethany. I admired her guts to stand up to Bethany, immediately.
“I haven’t made up my mind about you and how alike you and your brother are,” she said and glared back at Evangelia.
“What have you got against my brother?”
Bethany paused for a second as her sky blue eyes clouded with a painful memory. She’ll never forget how monstrous he once was and falling victim to Victor’s gift of the Chameleon. I couldn’t blame her.
“I know your loving brother very well and here’s a bit of advice. Make your own choices, don’t fall prey to his agenda, unless… it’s yours, too.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Your brother is a power horde and he wants what doesn’t belong to him. You both are cut from the same boar skin your godly father drapes over himself.”
“I always knew there would be opposition against me and my brother from the empire.” Evangelia’s eyes burned with red and orange flames. “It’s why I never wanted any part of it.”
“Then leave!” Bethany snarled. Her crimson eyes glowed, brightly. “Go back under the stone where you two snakes had hid for so long.”
In the blink of an eye, Evangelia shifted into fire and Bethany was smothered within the flames. Bethany transformed into a water form as her pale chemise melted away in the blaze. She hoisted Evangelia over her head and the water doused some of the flames, exposing Evangelia’s skin. Then Bethany tossed her in the air. The dressing screen and the two dresses hanging over it caught on fire just as Evangelia smashed into the large, oval mirror hanging on the wall.
The deafening crash could be heard throughout the dress department. Ice cold water splashed everywhere as Bethany spun passed me. However, the fire starter was faster. She back-flipped over the siren and engulfed her with flames, again, and Bethany began to boil from the heat of the blaze.
“I demand you both to stop!” I yelled, just as the shop girl walked into the dressing room. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she let the gowns slip out of her hands and onto the floor.
I slammed the door with my mind, trapping her in the room. I was certain that the sight of fire and water battling each other was shocking, but what had to be beyond comprehension was that both elements were in the shape of human beings. Suddenly, the shop girl looked up at the ceiling. A black smoky fog sifted through the crack between the ceiling and the base of the chandelier.
“Oh my god! The building is on fire!” The shop girl screamed, but I knew better.
The Apolluon shadows rolled down the walls like a theatre curtain. The opaque vapors moved rapidly, snaking their way through the dressing room. My body trembled and my temperature rose. My fingertips burned for a second as the lightning crackled and shot out of them in elongated, crooked, thorny rays and nearly blinded the sales girl. She shielded her eyes with her arm. Oddly, she didn’t scream. She just shook uncontrollably and cowered in the corner.
The Apolluon hissed and swerved trying to avoid being torched by the lightning. The hissing sound began to sound more like words. I couldn’t be certain due to the banging and kicking on the other side of the dressing room door, but I believe the demons said, “Di…vin…ity, di…vin…ity.”
I forced the heat out of me and more bolts surged to the ceiling. The shadows recoiled back through the tiny space in the ceiling and back to wherever they came from. Once they were gone, I caught my breath. Strangely, there was a pounding in my head and the walls were coming closer. I held my head in my hands. The detached feeling only lasted a moment or two. Meanwhile, Bethany and Evangelia peeled themselves off the wall – where they had stayed in order to be clear of the Apolluon’s deathly path.
“Are you two satisfied?” I asked, with a raised brow.
“I– I’m sorry, Delia,” Bethany whispered.
“I am too, Cordeli
a,” Evangelia added. I glared at them, wanting to slap them both, severely.
The sales girl reminded me of her presence in the room when I stepped back into the puddle on the floor. At first I thought it was from Bethany, but remembered that the water was a part of her and that the siren never left a drop behind. I doubt she knew that she had an accident. The poor mortal sat with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her, utterly shaken.
I knelt down in front of her and she flinched, closed her eyes, and began chanting words that I assumed was some kind of prayer to the fictitious god these mortals always referred to.
“Open your eyes,” I demanded, lightly. The sales girl kept her eyes shut and shook her head violently.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I promise Elizabeth, is it? Now do as I say, and open your eyes, sweetie,” I said in a firm whisper. The banging on the doors had increased in a serious attempt to break it down.
The sales girl nodded slowly, confirming that her name was Elizabeth, and opened her eye.
“Good. Now listen to me carefully,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “When you came in here, the room was empty and for some reason, unknown to you, the door wouldn’t open. You don’t know how the mirror got smashed, you don’t remember seeing any of us enter this dressing room, and you don’t remember seeing the dark shadows. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, I understand,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head up and down as the Glamour seeped into her mind and erased everything she saw. She’ll be better off and won’t need to see a professional about the nightmares that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
“When you came into the dressing room…” I said, prompting Elizabeth.
“It was empty and I couldn’t get the door open and I have no idea why.”
“Good,” I said as I ignited my bolt and transported my disciples out of Lord &Taylor.
We all went back to our respective homes. I needed some air to clear my mind. I stepped out onto the terrace and squinted against the bright sun as it warmed my face. I sat at the patio table, leaned my head back, and shut my eyes. After a few minutes, Sun Paw stepped out onto the large patio.
“Miss Cordelia, Mr. Victor is here to see you.”
I rolled my eyes. I needed some time to myself. I didn’t want to see another disciple until the gala tonight, but I couldn’t shake the desire to see him.
“Thank you Sun Paw, please ask him to come out here.” Sun Paw nodded and left.
I closed my eyes and Victor’s face appeared. His mesmerizing, steel gray eyes and that devilish smile that always made me blush, instantaneously. The butterflies in my belly woke up and started to flutter, with the thought of him. I heard the click-clack of his shoes against the tile in my sitting room. I opened my eyes and my heart thumped against my chest, violently. Automatically, I had to calm my rapid breathing.
“How are you?” Victor asked. He pulled up a patio chair and sat across from me. Clouds were in his usually clear gray eyes and his breathing seemed labored. Something wasn’t right.
“Good. And you?”
“I have a few things to tell you,” He said and cleared his throat a couple times.
“Oh?” I had no idea what he wanted to tell me, but if his expression – furrowed brows, overcast irises, and a frown – was an indicator, then I didn’t want to know.
“Before you do, I want to ask you something? The day the elders were smothered, did you teleport Evangelia to the mine, or did she travel there on her own?”
“What?” Victor looked at me with a puzzled expression. I knew that my question was out of left field, but I figured I’d get a better reading of his thoughts and an honest answer if he weren’t prepared. “Why?”
“No reason. I just always wondered.”
“We teleported together. Lia was unable to teleport on her own, at the time, but you already know that.” Victor said, cocking his head to one side, and I realized that Beth was wrong.
“You’re right, I’m must have forgotten.” I nodded. We stared at each other for a long time. His thoughts we all over the place and he was worried, but it had nothing to do with Bethany’s suspicions. I decided to drop the notion of Evangelia plotting revenge against the empire.
“Look, Delia I did something really bad and I… uh… must tell you or it’s going to kill me.”
“I’m listening,” I said, bracing myself because when Victor did bad things, it wasn’t like the usual small crimes that most demigods committed, like a little magic outdoors. Victor’s bad deeds usually involved corpses.
“I tricked you into giving me my powers back.” His eyes froze and my heart did too, and then it cracked in a million pieces.
“What?” I sat straight up in my chair and held his gaze. Suddenly, Victor looked much smaller.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. Tell me what you mean,” I demanded through clenched teeth.
“I took some bad advice. I knew it was wrong at the time.” He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “On the night you and Evan went to the opera, I set myself up to be attacked by the werewolves.”
I shook my head. I needed the information to sink in, but for some unexplainable reason, it made no sense to me. His thoughts were a jumble of prayers to every Olympian for forgiveness from them, but more so from me. He couldn’t go on anymore without telling me the truth.
“I knew the risks involved – I could die and the empire would be weakened. I knew that you would send Evander and a team to find me,” Victor said as he ran his hand through his hair. “I knew you would have no choice but to save my life and fortify my powers if I was near death.” He understood that he deserved punishment, whether by the hand of the gods and / or by me.
“I also sacrificed my sister. It was inevitable that they would fall in love.” His hands were trembling, but he kept his eyes trained on me.
“I wanted you so badly that I was willing to hurt you just to have you. I’m a selfish, cheating, son of a vicious god, and you deserve… better.” He felt that Evan had won my heart, fairly. I grabbed at my chest, instinctively, and he grabbed at his. We were both trying to stop the pain, which was the result of his thoughts of ending his pursuit of me. I continued to read his mind.
“You should be with who you want to spend an eternity with. It shouldn’t be forced on you,” he said and stood up. “I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you.”
“Why didn’t you trust me? I had told you that I was going to restore your strengths soon. You didn’t have faith in me so you went behind my back and then you made a fool of me.” I said through quivering lips.
“I’m so sorry.” Victor stared into my eyes.
“I know you are.” I looked down at my hands.
“I don’t know what else to say.”
“You’ve said enough.” I said, somberly, and held his gaze. “I’ve been trying so hard to trust you, but you make it so damn hard.”
“I know.”
“Does Evangelia know what you did?” I couldn’t imagine how she felt if she knew.
“Yes, and she isn’t speaking to me.”
“That’s understandable.” I nodded.
“Is there any way that I can make it up to you?”
“No. Nothing. You are selfish Victor, and I know that it’s the one part of you that will never change.” Victor sighed, deeply and nodded. “But you have changed in some ways. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to tell me. I can’t believe that you did. ”
“I had to. I’ll do anything, whatever it takes to make it up to you if you give me the chance.”
I took a moment to think about all that Victor had done. He could be the vilest person at times and the most valiant. With him it was always complicated.
“I’ll consider it.”
Victor grabbed my hand and fell to his knees.
Thirty - Cordelia
Opening Night
Every Ischero had been invited to the opening. New York’s high society w
ould never miss the opportunity to meet wealthy newcomers, especially silver barons of the west. We didn’t know what to expect, therefore we prepared for anything. We also didn’t know who else would be attending. We expected the usual roster of elite families – the Vanderbilt’s, the Rockefellers, and the Astor’s. There was even talk of the Mayor of New York City making an appearance.
I chose an ice blue gown embroidered with crystal beads and appliqued with cutout layers that resembled angel wings. I chose to wear my hair down and secured it with a diamond barrette. Luckily for Evangelia, and not so lucky for me, she had been wearing the stunning white gown when she transformed into flames, so she teleported out of the dressing room with it on.
The Rolls Royce limousine arrived and Evan stepped out of it in a tuxedo suit that seemed molded to his broad build. His hair was slicked back behind his ears and he looked like a gift from the gods. During the short ride to Park Avenue, I couldn’t get my mind off Athena’s message – someone’s work would be revealed tonight. I had an idea of who she spoke of, but since we’d already discovered the Apolluon shadows, which were now able to hunt indoors, the evolved Apolluon vampires who lived civilly – if that was even possible, and the numerous Lykanos packs.
I stared out the car window and hoped that I would find my parent’s hearts, bodies, or both soon. I hated the fact that we’d be wasting time at a hotel gala instead of searching for them. Although it was a full moon tonight, and every streetlight at every corner was lit, something about this evening seemed grimmer than most other nights. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I didn’t sense any Apolluon or any other onerous entity, yet something was nagging at me to look closer.
“I think I’d rather be wearing a dress,” Evan said.
“What?” I turned to look at him.
“I’m kidding, just kidding. I’ve been trying to get your attention. I’ve been rambling on and on, the whole way, and I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said. Are you alright? You seem preoccupied.” Evan squeezed my satin-gloved hand.
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