03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales (18 page)

“We can surf all day…” she said enticingly,
“And after the shoot too!”

There was no way I could resist that. I bit
my lip and started to plan out loud, “I suppose I could fly back to
San Francisco from Hawaii and pick up my car…”

“Yes! Yes! YES!” she screamed, jumping up and
down. “This is gonna be so sick!”

I looked up to see Evie coming towards us and
thought fast, “Don’t say anything to Evie. Let me break it to
her.”

“No prob,” said Shayla with a wink, stepping
forward to greet Evie.

I can’t explain exactly what made me keep it
from her, but I decided to wait until after the meeting to tell
Evie about the strange conversation I’d just had with Marissa.
Funny, I thought, the universe was giving me exactly what she’d
recommended– an immediate way out of Paris that didn’t involve
Evie. The synergy of two muses standing side by side must amplify
our strange power.

Evie congratulated Shayla, proclaiming her an
unqualified success. She gushed about the swimsuit shoot in Hawaii,
having just heard the news from Jacques. If two muses were better
than one, Shayla was guaranteed success. Evie embraced her goodbye,
wishing her the best of luck.

I hugged her too, whispering in her ear
instructions to pick me up at the hotel in the morning. Shayla
squeezed me hard, winked, and drifted off with a little band of
models that trailed after her worshipfully. Cruz would have loved
it.

“Shayla!” I called out after her, longing to
be going anywhere but where I was headed.

“What?”

“See you soon.”

The council meeting took place at yet another
grand hotel in Paris. This time, Boris escorted us in, and stood
stoically by Evie’s side as we took the elevator up to a suite of
rooms on the top floor. I thought about what Marissa had told me
and steeled myself. I closed my eyes and imagined I was already in
Hawaii, surfing inside the turquoise blue wave of my dream. At
least I knew relief was on the way, and I latched on to the
thought, rolling it around and around in the back of my mind like a
soothing strand of prayer beads.

The door opened and we passed down a long
hallway to find a woman standing in the threshold, waiting for our
arrival. “Your man will have to wait outside,” she told Evie, who
nodded to Boris.

He took a position opposite the door, his
arms crossed, “Da.”

My mouth was dry with dread as we stepped
into the room and looked around. There were about twenty women
seated at a conference table, leaning forward with an air of
excited anticipation. The power in the room was palpable, electric,
and my hair stood on end as I scanned their upturned faces. I felt
like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

A stunning red haired woman in a python print
dress stood, and approached us with a friendly smile.

“Darling Evie!” she said, her arms open wide.
Our eyes locked over Evie’s shoulder as they embraced, and
something inside me recoiled.

“Olivia!” Evie drew back and returned her
smile. It was clear that they liked each other.

“This is Marina,” said Evie, gesturing
proudly in my direction.

Olivia took both my hands and beamed at me
warmly, the very picture of sincerity, “It’s so good to finally
meet you.”

My eyes darted across the room to the seated
women. All beautiful, there were women of every different age and
nationality represented. Besides their unparralled good looks,
there was nothing obvious– nothing on the surface that would tie
them all together. However, the more I looked at them, the more I
could see that each one vibrated with the unmistakable force of
charm combined with power.

They were unusual, a formidable group. I was
surrounded by my own kind, and the more I looked, the easier it
became for me to recognize the magic each one possessed in varying
degrees. I realized that it really did take one to know one.

Some smiled welcomingly, some stared
intensely, but most of them wore an expression of eager
expectation. I saw Marissa seated in the group; her face was smooth
and impassive, but her eyes darted away from mine nervously.

“Please, have a seat,” said an elegant
looking grey haired woman, standing and gesturing to an empty space
at the head of the table. She took a place next to me as I sat down
numbly, still scanning all the faces. It felt like the first day of
high school all over again, but they were curious about far more
than just where I had come from.

“We’d like to welcome you to our little group
of friends,” she said, her hair reflecting silver in the overhead
lighting. She patted my shoulder soothingly, “I know it’s a
difficult adjustment to make. Each one of us here remembers our
first council.” The room filled with murmurs and nods of
sympathy.

I turned to Evie for reassurance, but Olivia
had her by the arm, and was leading her out of the room, “I’m sorry
darling,” Olivia purred, “But I was out-voted on this one. You’ll
simply have to wait in the next room while they ask her a few
questions.”

So that was the plan. They would question me
independently to try and trip me up. I was happy that Evie and I
had gone over the details so carefully. When Olivia returned she
took a seat at the head of the table opposite me. She nodded and
smiled reassuringly.

Then the questions started. The first thing
they did was thrust a stack of tabloids in my face.

“They seem to think that you’re a shape
shifter,” a gorgeous blonde said, point blank. She looked familiar,
and I realized that I recognized her from a spy film I once
saw.

“They’re wrong,” I stared her down, “I’m
not.”

“Then how do you explain these?” another
woman asked.

“They’re tabloids,” I replied, “They make up
stuff.”

A stunning brunette sporting a priceless
emerald necklace narrowed her eyes at me, pointing a squared off
nail to a blurry image on one cover that showed a flash of tail,
“Explain that!”

“Haven’t you ever heard of Photoshop?” I said
dryly, “Apparently there’s an alien bat baby out there too.”

There were a few snickers around the table
and the brunette looked annoyed, “That’s quite a coincidence, isn’t
it? You being an actual hybrid...”

“Stranger things have happened,” I said with
a shrug.

“It defies logic,” said an exotically
turbaned woman, craning her graceful neck to get a better look at
me.

“I lost my top in the helicopter crash,” I
said, rolling my eyes, “I think that sort of made mermaid the
obvious choice… I suppose they could have given me shark teeth
too.”

Now some of them openly laughed, and I
started to relax a little bit.

“What about Peter?” A petite Asian woman
asked, her shiny black hair gleaming like Nerissa’s in the overhead
lights, “What were your dealings with him?”

My heart began to race at the mention of his
name and I took a deep shaky breath. “He believed the stories they
printed, and he kidnapped me. It was terrible… he was completely
obsessed...”

She leaned forward in her seat, “It makes no
sense. He knew better than anyone that a muse cannot be forced to
perform.”

I met her luminous grey eyes soberly,
“Surely,” I said, “You’ve had to contend with an unwanted admirer
at one time or another?”

There was another murmuring of agreement that
rumbled through the room, and I knew that I had done it. They all
understood how their powers could be unpredictable at times,
inspiring the wrong kind of passion in the wrong kind of
person.

The first blonde shook her head angrily,
accusing me in a loud voice, “He claimed that you were working with
him. I think you had him killed to silence him.”

“Now, now, there’s no call for that kind of
nastiness,” said Olivia from the end of the table. She beamed at me
maternally, and Marissa’s warnings flashed into my mind. Snake in
the grass, I thought.

I met the blonde woman’s gaze directly, “The
wealthy family he convinced to help him did it. They wanted a muse,
and he promised to deliver me. They supplied the location, and when
it didn’t work out they got rid of him to cover it up.”

She nodded slowly, keeping eye contact,
“She’s telling the truth.”

“How did you escape?” a wide eyed young woman
with white blonde hair asked from the seat next to Marissa. She
seemed excited by the prospect of a kidnapping, almost as if it was
a fun thing that should have happened to her.

“I got lucky,” I replied with grim finality.
It was the truth, and I could see them exchange little meaningful
glances amongst themselves. I knew that no further explanation was
necessary; they were all lucky women. They relaxed in their chairs
and I realized that it was over. I felt a little foolish for
getting so worked up about it. That had been easy.

There were no questions about the mermaids
kidnapped along with me, so clearly no one knew about them. Either
that, or someone was keeping it a secret. I glanced at Marissa and
then Olivia, uncertain as to which one I should trust. I wondered
who Peter had spoken to on his last fateful call.

Olivia beamed at me, standing up, “If there
are no more questions, I’ll go get Evelyn now.”

When we were safely in the elevator, relaxing
under Boris’ watchful eyes, I asked her, “Aunt Evie, do you know
which of them Peter called?”

“Olivia,” she said, “Luckily for us.”

“Why?” I asked.

“She’s been wonderful,” Evie beamed, “And she
told me you did a spectacular job defending yourself.”

I paused, dying to tell her everything, but
curiously unable to, “Olivia … how well do you know her?”

“She’s one of my dearest friends,” Evie
smiled, “We’ve been in close contact for weeks now, and she’s been
advising me as to what to have you say. It’s been a great comfort
to me throughout this whole ordeal.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BLUE HAWAII

I was nervous as we sat down to breakfast the
next morning, for I still hadn’t mustered up the courage to tell
Evie about the warning I’d received. It was possible that Marissa
was lying, but why? The fact that Olivia was advising Evie on
dealing with the council was creepy. It also confirmed to me that
there was more going on with her than met the eye.

“Aunt Evie, what happened to Peter’s mother?
How did she die?”

“Oh, it was a terrible tragedy!” She shook
her head sadly, “She was driving late at night and her car went off
a cliff. She must have fallen asleep at the wheel. All they found
was a burned out shell.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I
tried to remember where it was that I’d heard there were no
coincidences in the universe. I thought about Marissa’s allegation
that Olivia had been behind Peter’s evil scheme to breed hybrids
and a cold chill passed through me. I remembered her warm smile and
looked down at the goosebumps rising on my arm. What if it was the
truth and Evie didn’t believe me? I decided to break it to her
after we were both safely back home in San Francisco.

Evie had just poured me some coffee from an
elaborate silver service when the front desk called to announce
Shayla’s arrival.

“Send her right up!” Evie said with delight,
hanging up the receiver with a pleasant smile, “She must be on the
way to catch her flight.”

I bit my lip, “Uhm… Aunt Evie, I’m sorry I
didn’t mention it last night, but I agreed to go with Shayla to
Hawaii… she really wants me there…”

“Of course she does!” Evie smiled
understandingly, “Jacques told me he’d have her back by the
weekend, so I suppose we can finish up our little vacation
then.”

She chattered on, rattling off lists of all
the shops, restaurants and runway shows that Shayla was scheduled
to be in.

I interrupted her, “I’m sorry, but I decided
to go straight home from Hawaii.”

She sighed theatrically, looking at me with
disapproval. Her brow knit together, “Marina, dear… surely that
boy
can wait a few more days.”

Her tone irritated me, “His name is
Ethan
, and I can’t wait… I want to go home.”

“What about shopping?” she asked in
dismay.

“I don’t need anything.”

She scoffed, “You don’t have one au courant
look from this season! You’re in serious danger of falling out of
fashion. Honestly!”

She was deadly serious, I realized with
amusement. The time I spent in Aptos had given me a whole new
perspective on Evie.

She pursed her lips and looked at me
skeptically, “Darling, don’t you think you’re getting a little too
involved? Seventeen is much too young to settle down.”

“I love him,” I said defiantly.

“Sweetheart,” she took on a condescending
tone, “The odds that you’ll end up with your first love are slim to
none… astronomical really.”

“I don’t think so,” I dropped the bomb,
“We’re going to get married.”

Her eyes widened in shock, and she steadied
herself, “Marina, is there something you need to tell me? Are you…
in trouble?”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, “What is
wrong
with all of you people? Ethan has always been a
perfect gentleman!”

Evie arched an eyebrow at me, “A gentleman is
simply a patient wolf.”

“Why are you so cynical?” I asked in
frustration.

She let out a little exasperated gasp, “It’s
all my fault. Your father and I overprotected you. We should never
have sent you to Aptos– I had no idea you would turn out to be so
impetuous!”

I smiled sarcastically, “It was
your
idea for me to start dating.”

“I certainly didn’t think you’d want to marry
the first one that came along!”

“What if the first one is the right one?”

Before she had a chance to respond Shayla
arrived at the room. Evie got up to let her in, offering her some
coffee.