Chosen (22 page)

              “Stasia?” a faraway voice called. “Stasia, wake up!”  I rolled over and searched for the source of the voice.  Zara peered down at me with concern marking her beautiful features. When I sat up, tears streamed down my face; I wiped them away with the back of my hand as a thrill shot through me.

             
“I did it!” I exclaimed; consequently opening the flood gates for what I had just seen to come pouring out. “My mom and Amphitrite were talking to Keto - she did something - and they were issuing the punishment - but Keto didn’t agree with it - she told them she was leaving the sisterhood!”

             
“Hold on, slow down.” Zara sat down on the edge of the bed. “Keto?  Amphitrite?”

             
“They were in a large room arguing about whatever Keto had done.  They told her she would be banished for one year and stripped of her title?  I didn’t know that Keto held a title,” I rambled.

             
“She was one of Amphitrite’s prefects of counsel,” Zara breathed, appearing caught off guard by my words. “But the exact events of Keto’s leaving have never been revealed by the Nereids.  All I know is that a Tyde - a descendent of Melite - was murdered on Keto’s command.  Or so she was accused.  Themisto was the prefect of customary law and had gathered the details of her punishment.  But Keto left the sisterhood before it could ever be carried out.”

             
“Amphitrite and Mom tried to talk her out of it.  But Keto couldn’t be convinced that the Nereids had not turned their backs on her.  They were so…poised and strong.  It was impressive.”

             
“What’s ‘impressive’ is your ability to access that memory,” Zara raised an eyebrow at me. “That happened several centuries ago.”

             
“I was thinking of Mom and Amphitrite and it just kind of…happened.” I smiled, but another question I’d been wanting to ask surfaced. “Can I ask you something?”

             
“Of course.”

             
“I know that the Nereids all have to Choose me before or during my Epiphany ceremony in order for me to become a Nereid, and therefore Leader of the Tydes.” I held my breath. “That being the case, does Keto have to Choose me as well?”

             
“When Keto left the sisterhood, she left all ties and any input as well.  She will have no bearing on your future as a Nereid.”

             
“Oh good,” I sighed. A weight lifted from my shoulders and I ran a shaking hand through my hair in relief. “The chances of Keto Choosing me for anything other than to be her slave are about as good as the ocean dislodging from the sea floor and floating away.”

             
“Careful what you wish for,” she chuckled. “You could probably make it happen.”

             
“So what exactly happens at my Epiphany ceremony?”

             
“It’s actually pretty spectacular, from what I hear.  As you know, once you are Chosen by all of the Nereids, you will become one of them. But the process of becoming a goddess is a little more intense.”

             
“Intense?”

             
“Have you ever been struck by lightning?”

             
“Almost,” I laughed.  “That’s how Mom’s house appeared to me on the Fortunate Isle.  One minute there was a field of wildflowers, the next - lightning struck the field and a house magically appeared.  Now that was intense.”

             
“You presence must have woken the house up.” She grinned at me wickedly and I got the feeling I wasn’t going to like what she said next. “The same will happen with you.  The goddess inside you must be...woken up.  Lightning tends to be the way it happens.”

             
My jaw hit the floor and I had trouble picking it back up in order to speak. “Lightning?  Couldn’t they just use an alarm clock?”

             
“I’m afraid ‘they’ are not able to choose.  Just as weather creates lightning when two forces within the atmosphere collide, your essence will create it when your own internal forces collide.”

             
“And who’s to say I won’t be burnt to a crisp?” I stared wide eyed at her as her face crumpled into laughter.

             
“I can promise you that will not happen.  You may not feel a thing.”

             
“
May
not feel a thing?!” I gasped. “So there’s a chance I
will
feel the twenty thousand volts of electricity as it fries my insides?”

             
“It’s only a slight chance,” she mused, as if I was being ridiculous.  She didn’t hold back her laughter as I chunked a pillow at her.

             
“I’m glad that you find it so hilarious that I’m going to be an extra-crispy-fried-Stasia in a month.  Don’t forget to bring the honey mustard sauce to dip me in!” I fell backward in a cloud of disbelief and stuffed a pillow over my face. 

             
“I like barbeque sauce myself.” I heard her laugh again, and felt her attempt to pull the pillow off.  I held on as tight as I could.  Death by smothering sounded much better than death by electric shock at this point.  Her voice trailed away as she left the room, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the lightning strike…”

             
“Go ahead…laugh it up…” came my muffled threat through the pillow.  When I heard the light switch and the click of the lock on the front door, I knew that Zara had left the guest house to return to her home up the path.  I lay there like that for some time before the whirling sound of the ceiling fan faded and I drifted off to sleep.

             
I vaulted off of my bed when an explosion erupted beside me and my hearing blinked in and out. That’s when I noticed I wasn’t on the bed anymore. By some small miracle, I hadn’t catapulted myself right off of the cliff that I now found myself poised at the edge of.  A couple chunks of limestone flaked off; falling fifty to sixty feet to their death into the angry water below.  Vertigo spun my world around, and I closed my eyes tight in an effort to right my equilibrium before I fell to my own death.

             
“Afraid of heights, are we?”

             
Every time I heard that blood curdling voice, it seemed like an emery board was being dragged across my eardrum. If I had my way she’d never speak again.  Unfortunately, at the moment my way wasn’t an option.  I spun around to face my mortal enemy, whom I already knew was standing behind me.  With her golden hair piled on top of her head and her off-the-shoulder bronze sweater bringing out the golden specks in her skin, she looked radiant in the setting sun.  By the looks of the cliff we now stood on, I deduced that we were back in Cyprus.

             
“What do you want, Nadia?” I met her gaze with impatience.  It was a rhetorical question, but somehow I knew I would get an actual answer.  I was right.

             
“To kill you,” she smirked at me.

             
“How’s that working out for you?” I asked with heavy sarcasm.

             
“All in due time, love,” she chuckled. “All in due time.  Right now, we need to talk.  You need to know something.”

             
I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. “Enlighten me.”

             
“I really don’t want any hard feelings.  Killing you is nothing personal.  Strictly business.”

             
“Comforting.”

             
“Keto wants you dead because she wants your position, and therefore your power - not to mention, leverage over the Nereids.  But I digress.” She began to pace. “Selene wants you dead because your father betrayed her.  You are the product of that betrayal…and a mutt.  I want you -”

             
“What does my father have to do with any of this?”

             
“Stop interrupting!” she snapped at me. “As I was saying…I want you dead because Keto owes me. So you see; it’s simple math, really.  Either way…you die.”

             
“I really don’t care about the corrupted deals you’ve conspired.  And I hate to bust your bubble, but I’ll be around for a very, very long time.”

             
“Which brings me to my next point.” She stepped towards me, and I waited for the red devil horns to pop up on her head. “I deserve to be Queen of the Underworld, not my mother.  If you help me get rid of her…I’ll make sure you don’t die.”

             
“As tempting as that offer sounds,” I pinched my nose in annoyance. “Not only no, but hell no.”

             
“Whatever,” she shrugged.”It’s your funeral.”  She twitched away, but stopped mid-step and twisted around with a sneer. “And just to warn you…your helpful, accommodating new Maven Zara is anything but. I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her.  But that’s just me.”

             
“Have you been spying on me?”

             
“What kind of Underworld princess would I be, if I didn’t have a pair of eyes watching you?” She cackled at me and slid within inches of my face. I stood my ground.

             
“We’ll be coming for you.  Soon.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before her golden eyes hardened again.  “It’s a pity you’re paying for the decisions of your parents.  But, as you’ll learn, dear Anastasia: Karma’s a bitch.”

             
With a wink, black smoke shot out from her hands, pushing me right off the cliff before I knew what was happening. As the ocean below raced up towards me, I hastily concentrated on getting my soul back to my body.  As I continued to fall and the rocks below became larger and larger, I began to panic.  I did the first thing I could think of…I shot my energy out to the sea and summoned it back to me with as much force as possible.  I closed my eyes and braced for the excruciating impact of hitting very large and very solid boulders.

             
Instead of breaking every bone in my body, I landed with an immense splash several yards
above
the rocks.  I had done it!  As the water rushed back out, it swept me with it.  I held on for the ride and easily lost myself in the arms of the sea. Nadia’s warnings wrapped around my mind and refused to release it until I regarded them with rigor. Could I trust Zara?  And if she wasn’t who I thought she was…then who was she?  The fact that they would be coming for me was no surprise.  That did little to calm my nerves, however.  The last thing I wanted to be was a sitting duck.  Luckily, I felt somewhat safe in the cottage.  I would just have to hole up there until the rest of eternity.  I could live with that.

             
And why had she mentioned my father?  He had betrayed Selene? I had no idea what was true and what wasn’t, but I was sure of one thing...I didn’t trust Nadia.  She was only messing with my mind, and I couldn’t afford to let her get into my head.  That would be the fastest way to get myself killed.  As my thoughts continued to go in circles, I sank deeper and deeper.  The ocean got darker and the fish got larger, but I simply closed my eyes and gave my body over to the currents.  I was tired of thinking.  I was tired of fighting.  I was tired of looking over my shoulder.  For a little while, all I wanted to do was sink.

             
What must have been hours later, I felt a warm darkness in the distance.  Not just any warm darkness.  Finn’s darkness.  Knowing that he wasn’t swimming in the endless abyss I was floating in, I relaxed and concentrated on my bedroom.

             
Once back in my bed, I tried to open my eyes but couldn’t.  As I fought to catch my breath, I realized something was very, very wrong. 

              Panic singed my veins and sent my thoughts into a tailspin until I realized that the pillow was still sitting on top of my face.  As self-effacing laughter bubbled up, I hurled the pillow across the room and rolled over.

             
“If you didn’t want me here, you could have just told me.  No need to start throwing things.”

             
“Finn!” I threw myself onto the other side of the bed and into his open arms.

             
“I should stay away more often, if that’s the greeting I’m going to get every time,” he chuckled.

             
“Don’t get any ideas,” I warned him.  With his warm darkness surrounding my heart and his strong arms surrounding my body, you could have told me the zombie apocalypse was knocking at the door and I wouldn’t have cared.  Not even a little.

             
“I was going to wait until this afternoon to return but…” he paused.  I peered up at his handsome face and his gaze locked onto mine with intensity. “Every part of me…was craving every part of you.”

             
“Every part?” I grinned up at him, my reverie and Nadia forgotten in the passion I now found pulsing in his deep blue eyes.

             
“Every part,” he confirmed with hooded eyes.  At his tantalizing words my body came alive, and I wanted nothing more than to feed the craving I could feel in his touch.  His fingers slid beneath my hair and around to the back of my neck, as he brought his lips down to mine without hesitation.  The warmth of his mouth as it moved against mine only incited the insatiable need growing within me. 

             
In one swift movement he was on top of me, his hot lips against my neck, threatening to unravel me completely.  His teeth gently nipped at my skin, before he licked the same spot and covered it with his mouth.  The alternating sensations scorched my body; sending me reeling with pleasure.  Before I knew what was happening, my shirt was stripped off, followed quickly by the rest of my clothes. 

             
He leaned back on his knees and tugged his shirt off, as I allowed my eyes to run over his strong shoulders, chest, and abdomen.  Craving the feel of his skin on mine, I hooked a finger around the belt loop of his jeans and yanked him down on top of me.  He caught himself inches away from my body, leaving me sizzling with desire.  His eyes took mine hostage as he slipped his hand around to the small of my back with excruciating slowness.  Still holding my gaze, he pulled me against him before slowly pressing his full weight on top of me; kissing me hungrily.  Suddenly his hands trapped mine at my sides, as he painstakingly trailed his mouth down my body.

             
If I thought that his hands felt good, I was anything but prepared for the heat his mouth would elicit on my skin.  For fear that I might explode with need, I tried to wiggle out of his grasp; but was rewarded with a crooked grin and a wicked sparkle in his eyes as his lips continued to caress my stomach, my sides, and my legs.  As his mouth headed back northward, it covered the tender skin of my chest and I closed my eyes and heard myself moan.

             
As the intoxicating fog of longing and rapture enveloped us, I could no longer tell where I ended and Finn started.  The world exploded as our bodies melted together over and over; overlapping the powerful essence in our souls and intertwining the love in our hearts.  As time slowed and my pulse returned to an acceptable rate, Finn wrapped me in his arms and secured me in a blanket of love and darkness that filled my heart to capacity.

             
“Pasha?”

             
“Hmm?”

             
“What do you see in our future?”

             
“Besides death and destruction?” I smiled at myself, although it was the undeniable truth. He shifted on his side to face me and searched my eyes.

             
“Besides death and destruction,” he pressed with true curiosity. “What do I have that I could possibly offer a goddess?” I kissed him gently on the lips before answering with a smile.

             
“Eternity.”

-----

              The next morning, my little cottage was filled to the brim with people.  Natasha, Elina, Finn, Phoebe, and Zara were all gathered in the living room awaiting my return.  After my pathetic excuse of claiming that my stomach hurt, I had holed myself up in the bathroom.  I needed to think. My strict training regimen hadn’t included any scream-at-the-top-of-my-lungs time.  Apparently I would have to sneak that into the schedule any way I could.

             
Not wanting Nadia to ruin my magical night with Finn, I hadn’t brought up my reverie to him.  Now that it was time to begin training with my essence from the Present plane, I was beginning to feel like my best option would be to throw up and fake my own death instead.  Nadia’s words were on a continuous loop in my mind; torturing me without end.

             
Not only was she still tormenting my sleeping hours, she would soon be tormenting my waking hours as well.  They were coming for me.  Soon. Time was quickly running out.  I stared myself down in the framed bathroom mirror for a couple more minutes, until I’d counted every eyelash and aquamarine strand of hair.  Sighing to myself, I flushed the toilet (to put a nice conclusion on my charade) and shuffled back into the living room.  Natasha and Elina were discussing the many uses of ginger root in the kitchen over coffee, Zara and Phoebe were giggling about something in a book and Finn was leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed; probably trying to drown out all of the chatter.

             
As soon as I entered the room he turned his head and gave me a confident grin, which sent my heart fluttering.  I cleared my throat.

             
“I need to tell everyone something,” I proclaimed grudgingly.  They all discarded their own pursuits in favor of listening to my announcement. “I had a reverie last night…and Nadia was there.” Someone cursed under their breath but I kept going. “Among the always-cheerful conversation about sunshine and unicorns, she informed me that they were coming to kill me.  And it would be very soon.”             

             
I noted Finn’s darkened features and his suddenly steely eyes.  He was at my side in a split second. “What else did she say?”

             
“Just her normal death threats and blackmail,” I shrugged. “I just wanted to let everyone know so that we could prepare and be watching our backs.” The fact that Nadia had told me she ‘had a pair of eyes on me’ made me shiver.  I met the concerned gaze of Zara and wondered if Nadia had just been messing with my head, or she really
wasn’t
who she appeared to be.  Everyone began to talk at once until Zara stood.

             
“First and foremost, it is imperative that Stasia learns to harness her essences so that she won’t be at too much of a disadvantage, if and when they decide to show up. Nadia has a history of manipulation, so I think we should take her words with a grain of salt.  She could just be trying to scare us.”

             
“It would be wise to err on the side of caution,” Natasha spoke up.  Elina nodded her head in agreement. 

             
“I agree,” Finn advised. “She may be manipulative, but she’s also deadly.  We do know that Keto and Selene are extremely powerful, and we have to be ready.  I’ll hand pick my best Sons to stand guard, and I think we should enchant the house once more to make sure the shield is still in place.”  He gestured toward Natasha.

             
Zara directed her attention to me, “Today we’ll concentrate on the most important aspects of your essences, and the abilities that’ll help the most if you have to face Keto, Nadia, and Selene before your birthday.”  I noticed she was using the word ‘if’ a lot.  Did she not believe me?  Or was she underestimating Nadia?

             
Finn faced me with consternation, “I’m going to talk to Dad and get you some guards.  You can sense if Nadia’s near.  Just make sure you’re feeling the area out for any sign of her.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He cradled my downtrodden face in his hands and a tenderness softened his eyes as his voice dropped, “I won’t let anything happen to you, Stasia.  No one will get close to you without having to go through me first.  And if they try, they’ll regret it.” I couldn’t miss a macabre severity flash in those tender eyes as he disappeared out of the door.  Zara took his place in front of me.

             
“Let’s get started,” she instructed; her tone urgent.  She swiftly piled the contents of my valise back inside it.

             
“I don’t think you’ve explained what the keys actually do?” I questioned as she snapped the lid closed.

             
“Once you’re done with all of your lessons, I’ll explain their significance,” she justified. “The keys can’t be used until you have mastered the art of combining your essences.  You’re doing exceptionally well, but we aren’t quite there, yet.”

             
Several minutes later, Natasha, Elina, and Zara were standing watch on the beach as Phoebe taught me how to dig deep trenches in the sand with a single finger, how to create a sand tornado, and even how to shave off a layer of skin (or six) with what she called a ‘sand-blaster’.  I practiced creating larger and larger balls of spinning sand, as well as catapulting them down the beach with my mind.  As I was able to increase their speed and size, they did more damage to whatever they happened to collide with.  By the time I was finished with my sand lesson, the beach looked like a mine field. 

             
“Now that’s what success looks like!” Phoebe high fived me as we admired my handiwork. “I can tell you one thing, though: the crabs are none too excited about our little experiment.”

             
“How can you tell?” I asked curiously.

             
“The very pissed off crab snapping his claws at you kinda gave it away.” She pointed at my feet.

             
I jumped back as I noticed the large crab for the first time.  He was circling my feet like a boxer in a ring fight; occasionally rearing back on his hind legs to snap his claws at me.  I bent down cautiously and sent some positive energy his way.  His claws stilled, as he was momentarily stunned by the foreign energy.  Thankfully, he calmed down before calling in reinforcements or slicing my toes off one by one.

             
“I’ll fix it, promise,” I reassured him with understanding.  I decided to try something I’d seen Phoebe perform, when she had covered up the turtle eggs we’d buried after the hurricane.  I swept my hand back and forth over the sand, and pictured the holes in the beach filling in and becoming smooth sand once more.

             
“Perfect!  You’re a natural!” Phoebe cheered before pretending to wipe off her hands nonchalantly. “My work here is done.”

             
“And ours is just beginning.” Zara’s ominous tone and close proximity made me jump.  How’d she sneak up on me like that?  She sent me a warm smile and her blue eyes sparkled with excitement, as I tried to decide if I should continue to trust her.  Seeing as how she was the instigator of my training regimen, I figured I didn’t have too much of a choice if I wanted to be prepared to fight. “Your next lesson is going to blow your mind.  Brace yourself.”

             
I locked eyes with Phoebe, whose mischievous grin crept across her lips in a slow progression; I could tell she was having trouble trying to contain her excitement. 

             
“Are we done on the beach?” Natasha inserted, glancing around protectively. I peered at the ocean and wondered if Nadia’s ‘eyes’ were lurking around.  As the hair on the back of my neck rose at the thought, Zara nodded and we all headed back to the cottage at a quicker pace than normal.

             
As we approached the path to the cottage I could already see two very tall, very businesslike Sons standing watch outside of the door.  They were staring off into the distance, with perfect posture and stiff hands clasped around a long sword hanging at their sides.  It would appear that I had my very own version of the Queen’s Royal Guard keeping watch outside of my little Buckingham Palace. I couldn’t stop myself from giggling when they refused to acknowledge our presence.

             
“Don’t forget to breathe,” I poked fun at them as we passed through the door and into the living room.  I heard a hitch in one of their breaths as Phoebe tickled his stomach and chuckled.  We were met by an indignant Finn pacing the living room.  His steely glare easily settled on Zara as we filed inside.

             
“It’s been nearly three hours,” he accused her.  His jaw flexed as he continued, “You should not have left her vulnerable for that amount of time!  You know what’s at stake.”

             
“We wouldn’t have let anything happen to her, Finn,” Zara brushed him off calmly. “You need to trust us.”

             
“Don’t tell me who I should and should not trust.” Finn’s face darkened and his voice took on a threatening tone. “I trust my instincts and I know first-hand what Nadia and Keto are capable of.  They are not to be underestimated!  One missed step or misguided decision and it’s over.  There is no room for error.” I looked at Natasha to see her reaction, but she was simply beaming at him with pride.  She remained silent and I realized that above all, Finn was the Prime of the Sons; powerful, courageous, and scary as hell.