by AR Colbert
Previously in The Lost Keepers
Everly finally ventures under the sea to the territory of Atlantis, with the help of Sean and Devon. While there, they are sidetracked by Sean’s mom, Claudia, who needs their help preparing for the upcoming convention.
Everly uses the excuse to gain access to a secret part of the palace, pretending to research for a big report while still searching for the lost piece of the tablet. But Sean’s father, Peter, doesn’t trust her.
After a confrontation with Peter, Sean and Everly are guided out of the palace by the ruler’s daughter, Anasasha. She is unhappy with her station in life, and she offers them the tablet on their way out with the hope that they will change the world.
Back in Porta Maris, the two pieces of the tablet are rejoined, and Driskell translates them, revealing half of the prophecy.
Chapter 1
"Gilgamesh!" Dom came barreling out of her room and hurdled over the back of the couch like a track star, landing with a neat little bounce on the cushion beside me.
"Huh?" Gayla wrinkled her nose from across the room, looking just as confused as I felt.
"The Epic of Gilgamesh. It's an ancient poem, and I think it might have a clue for us."
Dom had gone full blown Velma ever since I got back with the second piece of the tablet. I half expected her to pick me up from class in a modern-day Mystery Machine any day now. Between the two of us, we probably had someone poring over various ancient texts twenty-six hours a day, desperately searching for anything that could relate to the prophecy somehow.
And so far, we’d come up short.
“I’ll bite,” I said. “What’s your clue?”
“Okay, so Gilgamesh was on this journey to find immortality. But he didn’t, or at least, not in the physical sense. Of course his story lives on…”
“Get to it, Dom!” Gayla called out.
“Right. So as he’s dying and sad and stuff, the narrator says something about how eternal life wasn’t his destiny. His destiny involved the ‘power to bind.’” She lifted her brows pointedly in my direction before continuing, “and something about darkness and light for all mankind. Sounds serious, right? But there’s more. There’s also mention of a three stranded rope that cannot be broken… you know, like a braid.”
“This is good.” I nodded, thoughtfully. “I can see a connection… I think.”
“The prophecy mentioned a white braid of the powers that bind. And we know this is your destiny.” Dom pulled a folded up piece of paper from her back pocket and spread it out on the coffee table. She pointed at the words she’d scrawled out as she read the prophecy aloud, even though we all had it memorized at this point.
“The daughter of sea and sky,
together with the one who
ignites her heart, in her
centennial incarnation
shall form a white braid of
the powers that bind.
The Deliverer alone can wield...”
“But how does the rest of Gilgamesh come into play?” I asked. “Was he real? Maybe an old Atlantean?”
Dom furrowed her brows. “Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet.”
My phone chirped with a new message, and I took a peek while Dom folded her paper up again. “Hey guys, I’ve gotta run. Sean says Millie is freaking out at the apothecary and he needs some help.”
“Can we come?” Gayla stood and straightened her shirt. “I’ve been stuck in this apartment for weeks.”
“It’s been two days,” Dom corrected. “But I wouldn’t mind getting out, either. That cold front is supposed to roll in this weekend, so we should enjoy the sunshine while we still have it.”
The girls accompanied me down to Millie’s shop. It was a beautiful fall day, but I couldn’t relax as we walked the city streets. I’d managed to keep my aura covered in blue for a couple of weeks now, thanks to Tate and Millie’s magic pills, but it still felt like I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
There were always plenty of Keepers near the Columbia campus, and I found myself eyeing every one of them as we passed, preparing to bolt if they somehow discovered I wasn’t a normal Atlantean. None of them paid me any attention, though, which was a good thing. I wasn’t very fast on my feet.
Meanwhile, Gayla and Dom chatted about the upcoming convention and all the big names who would be attending—including Gayla’s dad. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about seeing him again. Rossel had disappeared after my little run-in with him at his warehouse, and Gayla’s dad was furious about it. As horrible as Rossel was, he was known as the greatest seer in the modern-day world, and Gayla’s dad paid good money to have Gayla apprentice under him.
“I’m sure he’s up in Olympus with King Baerius,” Gayla said, twisting a lock of platinum blond hair around her finger. “He’ll be back when it’s convenient for him. But I guarantee he’s not gonna be giving me any more lessons—not after what Everly did to him.”
“I think he got off pretty easy, all things considered,” I said as we walked up to the front door of the apothecary. “He did throw a dagger at my face, after all.” Some smug little part of me smiled inside, knowing that I was still in possession of his weapon. It had served me well so far, and I had no plans to give it back any time soon.
A faint hint of lavender and tea tree oil hung in the air outside the entrance of Millie’s shop. Abby was probably making bath bombs again. The bells on the door chimed when we walked through, and at first I wasn’t sure if anyone was around. “Hello?”
“Oh, goodness. I love lavender but that’s so strong it’s making my eyes water.” Gayla gently rubbed moisture from her lower lids, careful not to smudge her eyeliner.
“Hey.” Sean popped up from behind the counter, followed by a red faced Abby.
I grinned. “What were you guys—”
Millie cut me off, busting through the curtain from the back room with an armful of towels. “Here, let me help!”
“No.” Sean held out his arms to take the towels and stop my aunt from stepping behind the counter. “You’ve done enough.” He shot a glare in my direction before dropping back behind the counter.
Millie let out an exasperated sigh as she noted me and my roommates at the front of her shop. “Hi girls. Sorry about the smell. I just knocked over an entire shelf full of essential oils. The big jars.” She grimaced.
“We hardly noticed,” I lied with a smile. “But you look pretty frazzled. Do you need some help here today?”
“Help?” Millie giggled, a slight craze gleaming from her blue eyes.
“Yes,” Sean said shooing my aunt toward the door. “She could definitely use your help. Millie’s been put in charge of the welcome dinner for Maximus and Gloriana this year. They’ll be coming up for the convention next week, and normally my mother would host a fancy dinner for them the night they arrive, but this year…” He trailed off.
Claudia had basically been ousted from Keeper society after what happened to her husband in Atlantis. She’d been curled up in her bed, lights off, barely even eating unless Sean was there bringing her food. And his dad, Peter, had disappeared entirely. Not a soul knew where he was, except maybe Claudia, but she wasn’t speaking. Not coherently, anyway.
“Gotcha. Well, put me to work. What can I do?”
“Abby and I can manage the shop,” Sean said, dropping his chin. “Since I’m not taking part in the convention this year. But I’m sure Millie could use your help with planning the dinner.”
“Ooh, that happens to be my specialty.” Gayla stepped forward and looped my aunt’s arm through her own. “Let’s get you home and see what you’ve got figured out so far. We’ll make this dinner so good they’ll want to stay o
n dry land forever.” She gently guided my aunt back to the door as she spoke.
Dom scowled in Gayla’s direction for speaking so carelessly in front of a human, but Abby didn’t seem bothered or confused by her words at all. She must have been too distracted with cleaning up the oily mess on the floor to notice.
“Okay.” Millie nodded. “Thank you. But are you sure you guys can handle things on your own here?”
“We’ve got it under control,” Sean said. “Between me and Abby and the rest of the staff, I don’t think you’ll need to come in all week. Take your time, try to relax, and come back after the convention. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”
Millie hesitated by the front door before finally nodding again. “Alright. I appreciate you girls offering to help. There is a lot to get done in a very short amount of time. Let’s go.”
Chapter 2
Dom and Gayla took turns helping me at Millie’s house over the next week. She was uncharacteristically frazzled. My normally calm, cool, and collected aunt had turned into a tornado, bouncing from one idea to the next and leaving a trail of destruction in her path. But my roommates handled it with grace.
And Gayla wasn’t joking when she’d said party planning was her forte. She knew all the best caterers, florists, decorators and event planners in New York City. But in the end, Pierre won out. He was one stubborn Frenchman, and he refused to allow some unknown catering crew into his kitchen. So on the big night, it was me who wound up in the kitchen with him instead.
Dom and Gayla each had other plans that night, so I found myself stuffing goat cheese into green olives by myself, while Jeeves organized a bar cart and Pierre sauteed something that smelled delicious on the stove.
“This has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done,” I said to no one in particular. So maybe it wasn’t the weirdest thing. I mean… I’d sliced off a part of the Kraken. But it definitely ranked up there as one of the weirdest human things I’d ever done. I shoved the last bit of cheese into a greasy olive and licked the remainder off my fingers.
“Ew!” I shuddered. “I will never understand people who eat goat cheese. Goats are like the total opposite of fancy. My friend Hattie used to have goats. Her favorite was named Jack Sparrow. He used to jump on the trampoline with us and eat Froot Loops right out of our hands.”
“Stories like this are exactly why you are not invited to the dinner.” Pierre swiped his hand through the air at me.
He was only halfway right about that. I wasn’t invited to the dinner—but it wasn’t my stories that would embarrass my aunt. It was more about my association with Sean and his family. Being involved with that lot down in Atlantis had marked me as a pariah just as much as them, at least in Gloriana’s eyes.
It left me wondering how Millie got tapped to host the dinner, being my aunt and all. Sean explained that she was one of the most well-respected Atlanteans in New York. Her wealth and propensity to do the right thing were enough to outshine my youthful indiscretions. But the pressure of getting everything perfect enough to erase my connections to the Bratton family was almost too much for my poor aunt to bear.
I peeked out of the kitchen when Jeeves greeted the non-royal family a short while later. The glamour placed on Jeeves and Pierre after the Olympian attack still held strong, and they were under the impression that Millie was hosting some big-wig’s family from the pharmaceutical association—the same pharmaceutical association that she’d told Abby and the rest of her staff was hosting the upcoming convention.
Gloriana stepped through the door first, overdressed as usual. Jeeves, always the gentleman, said nothing about the woman’s strange attire. Anasasha was next, wearing a similar full length gown as her mother, but in a pretty pale mauve, as opposed to her mother’s deep navy blue. I held my breath as Jeeves greeted the patriarch of the family next.
Maxwell’s voice was deep and silky, like a late night radio DJ. Jeeves stepped to the side, welcoming the man into Millie’s home, and as he entered I was shocked to see that his head barely reached the butler’s outstretched arm. Now Jeeves was a big guy, literally college-linebacker-huge. But Maxwell was… not. I couldn’t explain why, but I’d expected the leader of Atlantis to have a bit more of a commanding presence. Especially with that voice.
“Maxwell, Gloriana! How wonderful to see you!” Millie strutted down from the top of the stairs, looking elegant as always. “And Anasasha, you’ve grown into such a beautiful young woman.”
“Thank you.” Anasasha dipped her chin in thanks, and when she looked up her gaze snagged on my doorway. I tensed, ready to pull back into the kitchen, but there was a kind curiosity in her eyes. I smiled at the girl, instead.
Jeeves turned back in my direction after showing them into the dining room, so I quickly jumped out of the way.
“Welp… looks like you guys have it all under control here,” I said, snatching a lobster crostini off the hors d’oeuvre plate before Jeeves picked it up. “I’ll be outside if you need me!” I dashed off toward the back courtyard before they could object. The prep work was all done, and I knew they would be fine without me. Besides, I needed to get a better view of the dinner.
I settled onto the cold cement of the patio and wrapped a blanket over my shoulders to keep out the evening’s chill. Lemon Drop and Tiny Tim, Millie’s mastiffs, quickly found their way to my sides.
“You guys weren’t invited either, huh?” I held the blanket out for Lemon Drop. She looked like she needed a cuddle buddy. But Tiny Tim was too distraught over being locked outside to care about the blanket. He let out a whimper and pawed at the back door.
“Shhh! You’re gonna get me caught, Tiny.”
Are we really resorting to lying with the dogs now? A flutter of wings announced Al’s arrival behind me.
“They’re better company than birds.”
He scoffed—a sound I could only hear in my mind. How’s the dinner going so far?
“They’re just sitting down. But Millie did a fabulous job preparing everything. I’m sure it’ll be great.”
Then why do you feel the need to sit out here in the shadows and watch them?
“I just want to.”
Al had been particularly thorny since I returned from Atlantis. He did not approve of my tactics for acquiring the tablet, and I did not approve of his lecture about Kraken safety. I also found it hard to believe that this feathery friend of mine had no further information about the prophecy.
He’d supposedly been my sidekick in every incarnation over the last 12,000 years, yet he couldn’t so much as take a guess at what the prophecy meant. According to him, there were long spans of time where we were apart. He was only able to find me in each life after my powers began to manifest.
You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?
I shrugged.
So be it. But you sitting out here in the cold watching them eat dinner is absurd. Either march inside, tell them you’re the Deliverer, and get this show on the road… or leave them be. You’ve got better things to do than watch through a window like a sad little puppy.
Tiny Tim whimpered again as if that was his cue. His giant paw hit the door a little louder this time, and everyone inside looked up at the noise. I pressed myself up against the courtyard wall, trying to stay out of sight as Millie stood, apologizing profusely. Then Anasasha stood as well, with one hand raised. There was some brief discourse between her and Millie, but I couldn’t see their lips well enough from where I sat to know what was said. Then Anasasha walked this way.
Be careful, Al’s voice called out in my mind, followed by the sound of him flying up to a higher perch.
Anasasha paused on the other side of the door, her eyes quietly scanning the darkened courtyard until they landed on me. Her mouth twitched into a smile, and she grabbed two leashes from their hooks on the wall inside.
“Hey pups!” Her raspy voice was light and carefree as she stepped onto the patio and greeted Millie’s dogs. “Need to go for a walk?” She cast a
quick wink in my direction before attaching the leashes and tugging the dogs toward the gate.
I followed, keeping the blanket held over my body in a dramatic sweep low across the courtyard until we stepped out onto the chilled Manhattan street that led us to Central Park. We must have been a sight to behold: one girl who smelled like goat cheese and olives wearing a fuzzy blanket around her shoulders like a cape, and the other dressed like a princess, armed with two massive beasts on leashes. People in Oklahoma would have gawked at us. But in New York? No one batted an eye.
“Hey,” I said once I was sure we were out of earshot. “Did you know I was outside?”
“I suspected.” Anasasha grinned. “It’s what I would have done in your shoes. But I was glad to see you. I haven’t heard any big news since you left. How are… things?”
She wanted to know why we hadn’t taken action with the tablet yet. I did make her a promise, after all, and it had been a few weeks with no major strides.
“Slow going,” I admitted. “We only have half of the story right now. I’m not sure what steps to take next.”
Anasasha nodded. “Well, all of the Keeper leaders will be here for the convention. Perhaps you will find a way to get the rest of the story soon. How’s Sean?”
“He’s good.” He was better than good. Almost running into a death trap in Atlantis had given Sean a new lease on life, and he was living it to its fullest. For the first time ever, he allowed himself to flirt with Abby, relaxing his guard and finally enjoying her company. He didn’t even care about his dad missing. In fact, I suspect his father’s absence actually removed some of the weight from Sean’s shoulders.
But obviously I wasn’t going to tell Anasasha all of that. “Were you okay after we left? It was kind of chaotic.”
“Oh yeah, I was fine. The guards suspected it was Peter who set off the alarm, and they never even noticed I was missing. There’s been a search for him since the day you left. They think he stole the tablet.”
