Bright Fire (Bright Fire Series Book 1) (8 page)

Chapter

21

We work on splitting the tasks in two parts. Lyla and Cass are going to research where to find Hermes and the sirens. Alec and I are going to see Endeis. Lyla isn't thrilled about being left behind, but it’s safer and she is good with research.

Cass asks to speak with me alone, and we walk upstairs to the sitting room. "I wanted to talk to you before you left for a few reasons. First," she says pulling a box out of her pocket, "I want you to wear this. It's a protective amulet and Endeis can be known to lose her temper. But don't worry it will keep you safe."

She opens the box and inside is a golden chained necklace with a purple stone. It’s gorgeous, and I’m afraid to touch it. "Here. Turn around and hold your hair up." I lift my hair, and she places the amulet around my neck, securing the clasp. I inspect it and notice an inscription. It’s in Latin:

est intus in praesidio

"It means protection is within."

"It's so beautiful. Thank you."

"You’re very welcome," she says, sitting back down across from me.

"Another thing we need to discuss, is your lack of a guardian. Legal guardian I mean."

"OK," I say cautiously.

"As you know, your mother wanted James to place you in my care, and I assume it says that much in his will. The authorities are probably going to be looking into the matter fairly soon, and I want to be prepared. As I was saying, technically I am assigned to be your next legal guardian, but I want to give you the choice before stepping in." She fidgets as she waits for my response.

"I don’t understand. You’re leaving it up to me? Either I become a ward of the state or have you take over custody?" I’m stunned.

"Essentially, yes."

"Oh well, thanks for that, I think. But I’ll take my chances with you." I smile.

"Well, OK then." She breathes a sigh of relief and stands up. "Then we are all set. Do you mind if I go to your house to get the paperwork?"

"Uh, sure," I say and I hand her the keys. "Don’t forget to lock up."

"Yes ma'am." She salutes me.

I walk back downstairs, smiling from ear to ear. Everything is falling into place.

~~~~

"
Don't
worry." Alec looks over at me from the passenger side of the car. I wish everyone would stop telling me not to worry. It only makes me worry more.

"I’m not worried." I force my fingers to stop twisting together.

"Liar." He laughs. "What has you so worried and don't lie again, because your feet are about to punch a hole through my floor board."

I work to keep my legs still. "Honestly, I think it's just the idea that we are going to meet a centaur. I mean, seriously; a half-human, half horse. That doesn't freak you out?"

"You can control plants and bring people back from the dead. That doesn't freak me out."

"Well, it should," I grumble.

After another hour of driving, we are officially in the middle of nowhere. We are driving down a two lane road surrounded by trees. It’s like we are in the beginning of one of those lost in the woods horror movies. “How much longer?" I hate riding in cars.

"About 15 minutes." As if on cue, he turns to the right and heads down a gravel road. The trees hang over us like an earth made tunnel. It would be beautiful if it weren't so dang creepy. My anxiety is rising with every roll forward. For all I know Endeis could be a crazed savage beast. Or psycho killer like the ones that killed my parents.

I internally rant for several minutes until the tunnel of trees breaks. I catch a breath in surprise. I know people say that, but literally I stopped breathing. It isn’t just that the centaur’s home was like out of a dream. It’s that the home is actually a house. Well, a mansion really, but an actual man-made house.

Chapter

22

The driveway is one of those wrap around fancy affairs you see at high society parties. Complete with a breathtaking fountain. Along the edges of both sides of the driveway are statues of mythological creatures. This can’t possibly be the place. "Alec, what are we doing here?"

He puckers his eyebrows. "We are here to visit Endies."

"Ooook then." We stop at the arch of the driveway, and an elderly man in a suit opened my door. Holy crap! It is a real live butler. I didn’t think they had those anymore. "Good afternoon. Endeis is in the tea room. Follow me." He strides away. I stand still for a second and have to walk faster to catch up with him. I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t stop staring at him. No way would I ever see a butler in person again. "Is something the matter Miss?"

"No. Uh, sorry." I look down blushing.

We walk into the tea room. A woman is sitting at the table. "Hello, I am Endeis." She stands up and walks toward us. The first thing, I notice, is that she has two legs not four, but two. I’m gaping at her lower half. She clears her throat.

I snap my head to attention. I really need to work on my etiquette skills. "Oh, sorry. I am Dell, Delfia, and this is Alec." She looks over at him and eyes him up and down, obviously liking what she sees. Seriously, cougar much? Not that I care who is interested in him. I keep trying to convince myself.

"Hmm." She smiles and walks back to her chair. "Sit," she motions to one of the six chairs around the table.

I pull out a chair and sit down. Alec takes the chair next to me and farthest from her. Involuntarily my face holds a smug smile. There’s an awkward silence for a while, so I speak up, "You have lovely statues lining the driveway." I want to be polite to make up for acting like a buffoon earlier.

"Yes, Medusa and I are close friends." My face pales and the shock on my face must be comical because she busts out laughing. "Good lord child, those aren’t really creatures frozen in my yard. They are just regular statues, I promise."

She’s still laughing and says, "What can I do for you? I assumed there is a reason you are here. Cass was a little vague on the details." I get the impression that she doesn’t like Cass.

Alec talks before I have a chance, "We are here to obtain weapons from you." He shifts in his chair under her gaze. "Please," he adds before quickly looking to the ground. There’s something about this woman and the way she’s ogling him that is unsettling.

"And why would I help you?" She’s looking at me now, twiddling her thumbs back and forth. I’m getting the sensation like I’m in the principles office, even though I have never been in one.

What is her problem?
"I don’t know why you would help us, but I know why you should. I am the Bright Fire in which the prophecy tells will take down the dark one." I sit up straighter.

"My dear, I know who you are. Cass briefly filled me in on your… dilemma." She runs a nail along the table. "The thing is…" She’s toying with us, and I have a sense that things are about to heat up. "I don’t particularly want to help you. Did Cass tell you anything about me?" She cocks her head to the side like a cat playing with food. I know something is wrong because Alec is as tense as a snake ready to strike.

"No." His jaw is clenched tight causing him to spit out the words.

"Well, well, this is a surprise. That prophetess usually can’t keep her trap shut. Maybe after years of ridicule and being called a liar have taught her a lesson." The glee in her voice at Cass’s curse rubs me the wrong way.

I open my mouth to retort, but Alec grabs my wrist and slightly shakes his head in warning. "You see my father, Chiron, and I were the best of friends. He's the reason I have such an eloquent home and the civility most centaurs do not possess. He was gifted, brilliant, my life and then he was taken from me." She slams her fist on the table causing Alec and me to jump.

"I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what this has to do with us," I explain.

"My father was murdered by your Uncle, you stupid little brat!" The sound of her scream reverberates through my bones.

It’s like watching a perfectly choreographed scene. One second she’s this elegant woman, the next she has transformed into this four-legged beast. She is undeniably majestic and still quite beautiful, but the rage contorting her face ruins the prior eloquence.

She looks more like an Amazonian queen than a centaur, well her top half anyway. Her long billowing red hair goes down to the small of her back, just above where her body changes. There is a leather strap around her forehead with a small purple pendant dangling from the center. She has on a brown leather bra with matching arm cuffs. She could have been the star at any Comicon event in the world.

Alec tries to grab his knife from his boot, but Endeis is faster. She swiftly takes a whip from one of the cuffs on her arm and wraps it around his neck. All this, before he even reaches his boot.

"Alec!" I scream. His hands fly up to his neck and try to claw at the whip. In one swift jerks, she yanks it back sending him twirling through the air like an ice skater doing a triple axel. He lands against the wall. He hits the floor with a thud and doesn’t get back up. I turn to run to him.

"Move and you die." She’s pointing a bow and arrow at my throat.

I stay rooted where I am.

Chapter

23

"As I was saying." She flips her fiery hair back. "Your uncle killed my father. Now as payback to Zeus, I am going to kill you, for ordering the attack that lead to his accident." she grins maniacally.

"Seriously? That’s your game plan? I am almost 99% positive that Zeus doesn’t even know I exist. Even if he did know, obviously. he doesn’t care because my family was murdered by Hades’s favorite McNasty twins and have I had any help? No! So good luck with that plan." If I ever do meet Zeus, I am pretty sure I’ll slap him.

"Well then, you will just have to satisfy my rage until I get my hands on that puny Hercules’s neck." She backs up a few paces and aims the bow, pulling back the string. I close my eyes, heart hammering in my ears.

Nothing. I open them. Her face is a mix of frustration, curiosity and flat out hatred. She aims and fires again. This time, with my eyes open, I can see the arrow coming, and it just drops about 6 inches from my nose.

"What are you doing?" Her nostrils are flaring with rage by the ineffectiveness of her arrows.

I’m just as stunned as she is. "I don't know I swear."

She tosses her arrows aside and runs towards me, and backhands me. It feels like my jaw was hit with a metal bat. My head snaps back, and I catapult about twenty feet backwards. She comes at me again with her front legs reared back. She pauses with her hooves midair, and she looks more like a ceramic knick knack than a deadly beast.

"Where did you get that?" she says, backing up and placing her legs back on the ground.

I’m still disoriented from the hit and seeing more than one of her, so I might be talking to thin air for all I know. "What?"

"That amulet! Where did you get it?" There is a hint of sadness creeping into her rage-filled voice.

"Um…" I wipe my eyes to clear away the fog, but it was no use. My brain is scrambled. "Um."

"The necklace, where did you get it?" she persists.

"Cass … Cass gave it to me for protection because that's what the inscription means." My arms give out, and I fall back. "I just need a minute. I can't… It's all…" She places her hand on my forehead, and I flinch, trying to resist but I can't move. Slowly, the tendrils of fog are being pulled back, and my head begins to clear.

I open my eyes. "How did you do that?"

"You’re welcome," she says. "My father was a master of healing arts, naturally he taught me," she says with pride.

"Thank you but why—"

She cuts me off. "You have something precious to me, seeing as I cannot take it from you. Even if you were dead, the logical choice is to keep you alive."

"Not that I'm not grateful, but why couldn’t you take it from me if I were dead?" Why do I care? It’s keeping me alive. I should just shut my trap and get moving.

"Because, the inscription on it binds the power of the amulet to the owner. Until it is given to another person, the amulet stays bonded to the one it is meant to protect."

"But if I die, then who gets it? It seems silly to make such a valuable item useless if a person dies. I mean, I could have crashed and burned in the car today?"

"If you die, it reverts back to the previous owner or your offspring. I assume you have none, so it would go back to Cass." She looks from me to Alec.

I shift uncomfortably. "No, not yet" Wait what? Confused I shake my head. "I mean, no."

She laughs a little. Her mood swings make bipolar disorder look like the common cold.

"How do you know so much about the amulet?"

"It was my father’s. He gave it to Cassandra after Apollo had made it clear he had intended to harm her because she did not reciprocate his affections. Naturally, my father being a stargazer and seer, took pity on the prophetess." She spits the last word like it is poison in her mouth.

So is this why she hates Cass. Obviously I’m not on her Christmas mailing list. She must be miserable. It’s not lost on me that the very thing, which could have saved her father, is dangling around my neck right in front of her. "I’m sorry." It doesn't seem like enough, but it is the best I can do.

She says nothing, she just stares at the amulet. She perks up, "I’ll make you a deal. I'll help you with your quest in exchange for the amulet."

I look down at it, picking up the purple stone in between my fingers. It matches the stone on her forehead, and I understand its significant to her.

I look up to confirm the stones match, and I see a full human again. I pause only for a second. I figure if I keep my composure she'll take me more seriously. "OK.” I instantly feel guilty. Cass gave me this amulet for protection, and I don’t want her to think it doesn’t mean anything to me. But I'm sure she will understand. I mean we need Endeis’s help, and this seems to be the only way to get it.

~~~~

Her
eyes light up. I can't tell if it's because I agree to give her the necklace or because she's interested in battle strategy. "So child, tell me what you need." 

My nose crinkles as she says the word child. "First, I would love it if people would stop calling me a child, kid, toddler, etc. I'm sixteen." 

"Yes, but to someone who has lived as long as I have, you are a child. Nevertheless, I will work on it." 

"Thank you." I think about what it is I need from her. Considering this is in Alec's realm of knowledge, I need him. "I also need you to heal Alec; he can tell you what we need." 

She nods and walks over to him, placing a hand on his forehead. He stirs and pops straight up in warrior mode. "Easy, I'm not going to harm you.
Again
." 

He eyes her for a second, the distrust plain on his face. "And why should I believe you." 

She strains to smile cordially. I can tell she does not like his blatant disrespect. "Because, Dell has something I desperately want, and I have something you both need. Thus, I have decided to cooperate." 

"Hmph." 

"Shall we." She motions to the table that is in ruins at this point and redirects her hand to the couches. They seem to be the only furniture standing upright. 

The room starts to spin as I stand up, and I have to force the bile down. I slowly make my way to the couch, testing the stability of my legs as I go. So much for composure. 

"Ok
guardian
, what is it that you need from me?" She gets impatient fast as he is thinking about it. "Sometime this century. I can almost see smoke coming out of your ears." 

I bite down a laugh. I'm pretty sure this woman has serious mental issues.

He glowers. "It's not that simple. We have a lot riding on this, and I doubt you want us to come back." He has her there. 

"What is it, exactly, that you need to accomplish? Mind you, I know the basics, but I don't know everything. What is your plan?" She perks up again, and now I know her excitement is from the talk of battle strategy. 

I speak up, "We need to steal a harp from sirens as a way to lure Hades away from Persephone. I want to avoid him at all costs. I am not certain I could take him on full force. Even with Alec backing me up. But just in case we also need weapons as a backup strategy." 

"Well, I agree with you there, you are much too young to take on a millennia-year-old God of pure hate." She's shaking her head, and I'm a little incensed, but don't argue. "For your first task, I advise that he does not go with you." She holds her hand up to stop him from arguing. "I say this because sirens are vile creatures who prey on the male species. They may look all pretty and sweet, but it’s just a glamour. They will suck your soul out in an instant. Literally." She turns to me. "You may have a fighting chance because, while they are vicious, they are also quite stupid. I have a few weapons to help you with them. Hades will prove to be a bit more of a challenge. Come with me."