“I know. But we can’t take any chances.”
“Did you find her?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t have a clue who I am.” The complete unrecognition behind her eyes stabbed me right in the heart.
Ali sat up. “Oh man, that’s awful. I’m sorry.”
I took a deep shaking breath. I didn’t want this to be true. “There’s nothing we can do about that. She’s safe, and that’s what matters, but now we need to figure out why Bea took her memories.” Action was better than sitting here wallowing, though I really wanted to wallow.
“How do you know it was Bea?”
“She was the last one with her.”
“It could be some of the goddesses from the school.”
“Maybe, but Bea was acting funny when I saw her. She sent me right back to my vessel. There were things she didn’t want me to see.”
“But why would she take Liv’s memories?”
“I have no idea. But maybe we should go back to Grand Haven and see if we can find any clues as to where Bea went. If she took Liv’s memories, she can give them back.”
Ali stood. “I like this plan. Then I won’t have to sit here and do nothing while you and Melissa go do the fun stuff.”
I knew Ali was trying to lighten the mood, but I didn’t want it lightened. I wanted to have Liv by my side. For now, she was safe, and I just had to figure out how to get her back to my side.
Chapter Nine
Liv
My hands still shook even after we left the shop. That guy was gorgeous, and the way he stared at me... Almost as if I should know him. But if he knew me, he would've said something, right? But all he did was comment on my ring.
"Let's go get some ice cream before we head back," Josie said.
She looped her arm through mine and dragged me down the street.
I glanced at the mystery ring. I showed up at the sanctuary with nothing but the clothes on my back and a gorgeous sapphire ring on my finger. Where had it come from? Why was I wearing it? And most importantly, who the hell was I?
I was distracted even though I devoured the strawberry cheesecake. His face haunted me. Maybe I should’ve asked him if he knew me, but no, that would be weird. Especially because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to utter two words to him. He was incredibly hot.
“You’re quiet,” Josie said.
“That’s because you haven’t stopped talking,” I teased to deflect. If I told her I thought I might know him, she’d make us find him again and ask.
“Haha. I can’t wait for you to join me with the divines. I like you better than the rest of them.”
“Yep. And we’re going to be the fastest rising goddetts ever.”
“You betcha. And then we’re going to become goddesses in record time.”
I should be excited by the prospect. I wanted to be carefree with Josie and make plans to blow our peers out of the water, but I couldn’t.
Not with my past haunting me. I needed to know who I was.
The next day, after we entered the ballroom for the dance, a servant handed me a letter.
“What’s that?” Josie asked. “A letter from the mysterious man in town?” She wiggled her eyebrows. I made the mistake of telling her he looked familiar, and now she talked of nothing else.
I shrugged, moved off to the side, and opened it.
Dear Olivia,
I hope this letter finds you well. I’ve been wondering if I should send this or not. In the end, though, I decided you needed to be told the truth. You and I were close for many years, and I apologize for having to take your memories, but I cannot allow anyone to know of our association. I hope someday you will forgive me.
You came to live with me after your parents were brutally murdered. I raised you away from the world as I did not want you to become a target, but we were found, and I left you here to keep you safe. As long as no one knows who you are, you should be fine. Please don’t seek out information on your past or who you are. That will only lead to danger. Danger you can’t even begin to imagine.
Your mother had a gift. She was able to find Jinn who no one else could. Goddesses from all over the world would seek her out when they discovered a Jinn who was wreaking havoc and could not be caught.
She should’ve been more careful.
One night a Jinn hunted her down and killed her and your father. How he did it, I have no idea as Jinn cannot kill goddesses, but he must’ve had a special weapon. After I took you in, I kept a close ear to the ground to see if I could find the Jinn who did this, but all I heard were rumors that he discovered she’d left an heir and that he wanted her dead.
Please be careful and vigilant. Please, don’t try to find out who you are. I’m sorry for what I had to do. I love you and miss you fiercely.
Stay safe.
Gran
Rage filled every bone in my body. I clutched the letter in my hand and scanned the ballroom. The dance hadn’t started. My gaze landed on Lianna, and I marched up to her.
I thrust the letter in her face. “We need to talk.”
She looked down her nose at me. “That is no way to talk to a goddess. Try again and get your hand out of my face.”
I dropped my hand and took a deep breath. “Forgive me, Goddess Lianna,” I said in the calmest voice I could muster at the moment, though it would be hard not to detect the simmering anger. “I received a letter from the goddess who took my memories, and I think it would be beneficial for you to read it.”
I was actually pretty proud of myself for getting that out in such a refined manner. Maybe I was learning stuff here.
She held her hand out for the letter. I watched her eyes move across the paper, and her jaw tightened as she got farther into the letter. She turned to Kathryn, who stood next to her.
“Kathryn, you will lead the dance tonight. Olivia and I have things to discuss. After the dance, please gather the other goddesses and come to my office.”
Kathryn nodded and glided to the front. I followed Lianna as she moved swiftly from the room. She didn’t say anything until we got to her office.
I paced in front of her desk.
“Sit down, please.”
I didn’t listen. “He killed my parents.” Anger surged and my vision went spotty. I wanted to punch something.
“I gathered that. Please. Sit down, and we can talk about what this means.”
“It means the Jinn killed my parents, and I’m going slaughter them.” If that Jinn hadn’t killed my mom, my whole life would’ve been different. They had to pay.
Lianna gave me a tight smile. “Oh, we’d all like that, but we can’t kill them. Not without a Djinn.”
“Well, then I have a mission. How do we find a Djinn?”
“Trust me. We’ve been looking for thousands of years. Ever since Bast lost him.”
“Fine. Then let me talk to Bast. She can tell me how to find a Djinn, and then we’re going to kill them all.” The Jinn took away my mother and father. It was his fault my memory was eventually wiped. He was responsible for everything. I was going to find him and exact my revenge.
“Not find one, dear, make one.”
I finally sank into the chair. “How do you make a Djinn?”
“With the elixir of the gods, but we only get that once every thousand years, and Bast stole ours three thousand years ago and disappeared.”
“What about the elixir that has come since then? You’ve had two more times to get it.”
Lianna frowned. “Bast is the only one who can obtain it. The rest of us aren’t allowed.”
I stewed. Right now, I wanted to kill every last one of those bastards. They murdered my parents. They were going to pay.
“Fine. You said our job is to trap them. When can I do that? I don’t see the point of being in this stupid school. I’m learning nothing about how to catch a Jinn.”
Lianna threw her head back and laughed. “You think this is easy? The Jinn are incredibly sophisticated, and unless we do things perfectly, t
hey get away.
“You learn the art of discernment so you can identify them. Persuasion because that’s what it takes to command them to go into a vessel. You have to be convincing. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s not just the words, but how you say the words. Weapons so that you can slow down a fleeing Jinn. Defense, because they sometimes attack. Seduction and dance so that you can lure a Jinn into a trap. Magic is the final ingredient. Without magic, you cannot find them.”
“Fine. How long until I can be taught how to catch them?”
“Pass all your tests. If you are serious, I can have you start going out on hunts to observe.”
“I’m serious.” This was the only thing that mattered now. I had to become the best goddess I could so that I could avenge my parents.
“Show me. Pass at least two tests this week, and you can go on the next hunt.”
I hadn’t expected her to be so accommodating. “Okay then. Thank you. May I go?”
I wanted to escape to my room and think in peace about what this meant. I pushed against the chair, ready to stand.
“Just a moment longer. We need to discuss your mother.”
“What about my mother?”
“It says here she had a gift and that goddesses everywhere sought her out.”
I sat up straighter. It did. I hadn’t thought about that in my anger.
“That’s right. Does that mean you know her?”
“No. I’m sorry. Jinn who are that brutal are typically only hunted by first or second-generation goddesses. I’m not privy to that information. Lila said you are closely descended from Bast. Is it possible she was your mother?”
“Ha. My mother. A Goddess Mother. Hardly.”
“But you wouldn’t know. You have no memory.”
“Except the woman who signed the letter did so as Gran.” I wished I felt something at that. Gran is an affectionate term from grandma, but it meant nothing to me. Maybe she was my grandmother. Maybe she wasn’t.
“That doesn’t mean anything. Goddesses can look any age. Another goddess could pose as a grandmother and not actually be your grandmother.”
I gulped. “Does that change anything?”
“Yes. A lot. That would make you a second-generation goddess and very powerful. We’d need to take you to see the older goddesses.”
I gulped. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I had a plan now, and anything else would derail it.
“But you don’t know anything. I’d rather not involve other goddesses. What if they try to take me away? I want to stay here where I can learn how to hunt Jinn.” I perched on the edge of my chair. My mind flashed back to that movie and the dead girls. “If Bast was my mother, she’s now dead, and we have no way to make a Djinn, and I can guarantee you that my sole purpose now is to find out how to kill the bastards who murdered my parents.” I might not remember my mom and dad, but they were my parents. Not only that, this was the Jinn responsible for my memory loss. If not for him, Gran wouldn’t have felt as if she needed to take them away.
Lianna peered up at me with a steely gaze. Two weeks ago that look would’ve terrified me, but now, I wasn’t scared of anything. Revenge filled my heart. Maybe I couldn’t kill the Jinn, but surely there were other ways to end him. I knew the goddesses weren’t telling me everything here.
Lianna had admitted she didn’t know things that older goddesses knew. Maybe I should take her up on the offer to meet with the ancient ones.
No. I had to learn what I could here first.
“Be careful, Liv. Revenge is a dangerous game.” Her voice held a hint of caring, but her face was stern.
I snorted. “Yeah, tell me that after a Jinn kills your parents.”
She shook her head. “You’re dismissed. Prove to me you’re serious, and you’ll have your revenge soon enough.”
Chapter Ten
Gabe
Three hours later we still didn’t have a plan to find Bea. Melissa brought me a cup of tea. "Sweetie, it's not the end of the world," she said.
"She was my soul mate, and now she's gone. It's definitely the end of my world.” How could Liv not know who I was? This was awful. I loved her so much it hurt, and she had no idea who I was.
"Stop being dramatic." Ali plopped down next to me. "You wooed her once, and you can woo her again."
"I don't want to woo her again. I want her to remember what we had. Plus, even if I tried to start over, she's not going to give me the time of day. I'm a Jinn. Surely they’ve already told her lies upon lies about us.”
It would be impossible to recreate the love we had. Things like that never happen twice.
Ali rolled his eyes at me. “You know, not everything they tell her about us will be a lie. Ninety-nine percent of it will be true.”
Melissa laid a hand on his arm. “Not helping, dear.”
“Maybe not, but I’m not going to let him lay on the couch and pout. This is a good opportunity."
"For what?" I asked.
"To hunt Samir without distractions. Liv's safe, and she doesn't know who you are. We can hunt down Samir, kill him, and then you can come back and figure out what to do about Liv."
It made sense. It really did. Liv was protected, and Samir was still out there. But...
"The longer I wait, the less chance I'll have at winning her back.”
No. I had to fight for her. The only way that would happen was if she remembered me. Hunting Samir was pointless. Liv would consume me.
Ali and I had argued about how to find Bea, but maybe instead we just needed to go back and see what breadcrumbs she left.
“We’re going back to Grand Haven,” I said.
“What? Why? You just made us move up here.”
“Not to live, but to gather information on Bea.”
“Samir should be our focus,” Ali warned.
“Well, we aren’t closer to finding him either. Will you at least come with me to gather intel?”
Ali sighed. “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go. It’s better than seeing you sulk around here.” He stood and offered his hand. I took it, and he pulled me off the couch.
“There’s nothing here.”
We’d been searching Liv’s house and workshop for the past hour. Which was pointless because nothing was left, but we had to try.
“I know. I don’t know what else to do,” I said.
“Okay, I have an idea.” Ali pulled out his phone and sent a series of rapid text messages. He smiled at the phone. “Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“We’re going to meet Penny and Scarlett at the ice cream shop.”
We walked the two blocks to the beach in silence. I didn’t want to accept that Liv was really gone, but there was literally nothing left of her here. My head raced through the possibilities. I didn’t know how this was going to end. Everything seemed so hopeless.
A figure leaning on a tree caught my eyes. I focused on him. It was Samir, and he was staring right at us. I hit Ali and pointed. His eyes widened.
“What should we do?” he asked in a low voice.
I kept my eyes trained on Samir. “He still has the sickle hidden somewhere, right?”
“Yeah, most definitely.”
“We should kill that bastard,” I muttered. This was all his fault.
Ali shrugged. A truck passed in front us, and when I was able to see the tree again, Samir was gone.
I let out a breath. “Now what?”
“We aren’t prepared to do anything about him. Let’s stay on track. He’s watching us. That’s all. He’ll show up again, and we’ll be able to take him on,” Ali said. An hour ago he was all gung-ho on finding Samir, and now he was acting like a chicken.
We rounded the bend, and Penny flew at Ali. Scarlett stood back, eyeing me warily. They both wore black bikini tops and short shorts, which was odd because they looked just like every other girl out there. Usually they stood out.
I approached Scarlett, leaving behind Penny and Ali, who obviously did not know the meaning of
get a room.
“Hey, Scarlett, how you been?”
She stared at her nails. “I’m fine. Why are you guys back?”
“Just trying to see if we can find out what happened to Liv.” I was intentionally vague. I wanted to know what she knew.
“Who’s Liv?” she asked.
“Liv, your best friend?”
Her eyes welled with tears. “My best friend died, and her name wasn’t Liv. It was Nora. You’re so insensitive.”
Ali and Penny came over, and I immediately turned my attention to Penny. “Do you remember Liv?”
Penny shook her head. “Who’s that?”
I met Ali’s eyes. “Did you know they didn’t remember her?”
“No. I didn’t ask her about Liv,” Ali said.
“Who is Liv?” Scarlett asked, glaring at us.
I bounced on my toes. This was pointless. We had to try something else. “Ali, we’ve got to go.”
“I know.”
I was halfway down the block before he caught up with me. “Where are you going?” he asked.
“To see how widespread this is.” I turned the corner and looked up at the giant Victorian mansion that was the one house I never wanted to visit. I stormed up the stairs and pounded on the door.
“Whose house is this?” Ali asked. Before I could answer, the door swung open. A very pretty brunette stood there. She was probably Melissa’s age, but looked like she took pains to make herself appear younger.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“Yes. Is Dylan here?”
“Hang on. I’ll get him.” She shut the door.
“Oh yeah, you’re desperate,” Ali said with a smirk.
Heavy footsteps pounded from inside the house. Dylan opened the door and slipped outside. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“We want to know what you remember about Liv.”
“Everything. What happened to her? No one else remembers her. Not teachers at school, not her friends. No one.”
I let out a breath. At least he remembered. “She’s safe at a goddess sanctuary. But she has no memory of anyone. We came to see what you knew.”
The Glowing Sands (Sons of the Sand Book 3) Page 5
