Goddess Secret (3 page)

“How’re you doing, Ellen?” Calli asked as she approached.

“Couldn’t be better.” Ellen’s eyes flashed over to Adin. “Ready for college life?” she asked him as she stepped to his side of the table.

Gods, it was like she’d found Legacy’s fresh wound and doused it with salt. The mentioning of Adin’s college was a sore subject right now. She and Adin hadn’t even talked about the specifics of his school. Legacy looked away from Ellen while Adin rubbed her knee and answered the noisy skank.

“Yes.”

“Met any of your new classmates yet?” she continued.

Salt? Wrong. Ellen was stabbing that wound with a rusty knife. Legacy sighed, and Adin squeezed her knee.

Luckily, Zach chimed in. “Yeah, we both met a lot of people during orientation.”

“You’re going to Adin’s school?” Legacy asked Zach incredulously. This news caught her by surprise. Zach looked at her, but Calli didn’t give him a chance to respond.

“Adin didn’t tell you?” she asked. “Zach told me after he got back Friday night. We didn’t go to the banquet because he had family in town for the holiday weekend. But I figured Adin would’ve mentioned this.”

Legacy tried not to hyperventilate. She didn’t want to talk about Adin’s college or meeting new classmates, but she seriously didn’t want to talk about the banquet itself. She looked at Adin, and he stroked her face and watched her eyes while he answered Calli for her.

“We haven’t had time to talk about that yet.”

“Ellen, have you decided what you’re going to wear tomorrow?” Calli suddenly asked, and Legacy immediately knew what she was doing—diverting the unwanted attention away from Legacy. Gods, she loved her BFF. Attention from Calli was always Ellen’s primary objective in life, so it worked. Ellen talked about fashion, and Calli acted eager to be listening. When they finally left their table, Calli’s eyes flashed to Adin and then to her.

“It’s bathroom time,” Calli said, not giving her a chance to respond as she grabbed Legacy’s hand and pulled her from the booth. Once they were inside, Calli looked in the bathroom stalls to make sure they were alone.

“What’s going on?”

Legacy sighed, shaking her head. “There’s a woman who wants Adin.”

“Er, wants him how?”

She pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows. Surely, Calli didn’t need her to explain
that
.

“Um, there’re a lot of chicks that think Adin’s hot. Girl, you shouldn’t be surprised by this.”

“Remember talking at the salon on Saturday, and I told you what Lissa told me?”

“Yeah, but she told you a lot of things.”

“She said that my destiny wasn’t clear because I haven’t decided which route I want to take in my life.”

Calli nodded.

“She said that I think I might know now, but that I can’t decide until other factors come into play. Well, one of those factors started playing.”

“I’m not following, Legacy.”

So she guided her. Through all the sordid details. “I just feel sick about this. What am I going to do?”

“Maybe you don’t have anything to worry about,” Calli said while rubbing her arm, trying to comfort her.

“I don’t want to be bonded to River, but I am, and I know that I am. It will be the same for Adin and Venus. I know it. I can
sense
it.”

“Venus? What the hell kind of name is that anyway? Unless she’s a helluva tennis star, she can’t pull that name off.”

“It’s the Roman form of Aphrodite, which you know is the Greek goddess of love. How can I compete with that, Calli?” She shook her head. She couldn’t.

“You don’t have to compete because you’ve already won.”

“But Adin is going to be bonded to her like I am to River.”

“Well, you don’t want to be with River like that. You like him being just a friend. Maybe that’s all Adin will have. Besides, if this chick is all into love, she could be eaten up with herpes. Adin’s smart enough not to get linked to that disease of a woman named Venereal.”

She snorted at Calli’s disease reference. “Her name is Venus Dionne.” Then Legacy busted out laughing.

“No way! She really is a V.D.”

They both got lost in the hysterics of the situation until Legacy’s stomach was aching and tears were leaking…for a much better reason than that of late.

“How is Adin taking this?” Calli asked as the laughing became chuckles and she started primping in the mirror.

“It’s been hard for him because it’s been hard for me. He said he doesn’t feel anything for her at all.”

“Then I think you shouldn’t worry about it.”

“It’s going to happen. I didn’t feel anything for River in the beginning either.”

“Well, wait until it starts to happen before you freak out. You don’t want to be miserable while you sit around waiting for some woman to fall in love with your boyfriend. That’s your man, sista-girl.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right. I just hate the thought of some woman moving in on my boyfriend!”

“Well, maybe we need to find out a cure for V.D., so she can be eradicated.”

She smiled at Calli. “I think that’s a good idea.”

As she thought about this, she felt her mood shifting. She still hated the idea of Venus, but instead of feeling sorry for herself, dwelling in a pit of despair, she felt determined. If she found out what she could about Venus, then she could also be the one to take action rather than just reacting to what happened to her. Adin was hers, and as far as she was concerned, he was going to stay that way.

They walked out of the restroom, and Legacy felt as if she were a new woman. She was smiling and laughing. When her gaze met Adin’s, his eyes shined.

She scooted onto the booth beside him and briefly kissed his lips before nestling up against him. He stroked her face and looked at her, and she just smiled at him. He sighed and hugged her.

“Thank you,” he whispered, but he wasn’t talking to her.

“I just reminded her what was hers,” Calli said.

Adin pulled away and looked into Legacy’s eyes. “Forever.”

* * * * *

That night Legacy dreamed the same dream from the night before—the one about lightning glittering down from the sky—but also dreamed about the beach again. She and Adin were in Florida, and the red warning flags were out while a storm brewed in the Gulf. Adin wanted them to evacuate before the hurricane hit, but as they started to run, Medusa appeared—but she didn’t have a red herring this time; Legacy had already discovered the meaning in that. Medusa had been distracting her from her weather abilities before, but now she knew that she was linked to the weather.

Medusa stared at them before speaking. “Everything isn’t always as it seems.”

Then her wavy hair turned into snakes, falling all around her. The snakes started to come for them just as the hurricane made landfall. As the hurricane hit, it turned into River. River threw himself in front of the snakes.

“No, Mom!” he yelled, and the woman screamed so loudly that the ground trembled.

River turned to Adin and yelled, “I will tear you apart!” Then River turned back into a hurricane and started charging for Adin.

Legacy woke up on the first day of school thinking about her dreams. She couldn’t understand why she would have these dreams again, but she knew it must mean something.

Since she woke up early and Lissa wasn’t up, she got ready for school. She put on a new skirt outfit that she and Calli had picked up at the mall last week while Adin was at orientation.

Orientation
. Just the thought of that altered her mood. She’d rather think about the dreams she’d just had than think about that misery. At least the dreams would give her something familiar to focus on.

She headed downstairs to think on it. She must have sat in silence for awhile because the sun arose and illuminated the living room without her conscious knowledge until it was already sunny. But she came up empty on any revelation.

“Good morning, Legacy,” Lissa said as she walked into the living room. “Do you want me to cook you breakfast before school?”

“Sure, if you have time. If not, I can just eat a bowl of cereal.”

“How about some egg whites and turkey bacon?”

“Sounds good.”

After Lissa cooked breakfast, they both ate in silence. When they were finished, Lissa watched Legacy as she cleared the table. She then pulled out some dried leaves and began crushing them. Legacy frowned at her, but didn’t ask her what the heck she was doing making a mess on the table.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lissa obviously knew there was something wrong with her.

“There’s not much to say. You were right before when you said other circumstances were not present.”

“You met Venus, didn’t you?” Lissa asked with her head down.

Of course Lissa already knew about her. “Yes,” she sighed.

“Just remember that you have the free will to be with whomever you choose.”

Legacy nodded, but didn’t agree. If she did have the free will to be with Adin, then this prophecy with River wouldn’t exist and Venus wouldn’t be here. Lissa continued crushing the leaves. “Okay, what are you doing?”

“Oh, this?” She motioned toward the pulverized remnants. “Adin’s grandma gave me some Laurel leaves.”

That was it? No further explanation? Legacy took a deep breath. She didn’t even want to try and guess what Lissa had up her sleeve. She had more pressing things to talk about. “What do you know about Venus?”

“Legacy, I don’t want to talk about her. You must not lose focus on what’s really important here. You need to prepare yourself for your ascension. You have no idea how important it is that you reach your eighteenth birthday.”

“I know. I’m trying to stay focused.” She already felt like her conversation with Calli yesterday had helped. But that help was related to the idea that she would find out about Venus. If Lissa wouldn’t provide that information, she knew a Greek god informant who would.

River was going through his own changes, and in a matter of six weeks or so, he would ascend. Legacy knew he had a lot on his mind because of his impending birthday, but she also knew he couldn’t deny her anything. He was in love with her, and he believed that they would be together as long as Adin was alive. She hoped the prophecy wasn’t literal. She didn’t believe that she and River would be together, especially not with Adin alive. That thought seemed ridiculous to her. But because of the prophecy, River was eager to answer whatever questions she had. She guessed the prophecy did have its perks.

“I’m going to school. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

Legacy walked out of the house and got into her car. On the way to school, she noticed that it was unseasonably cool outside. She didn’t understand why, but she should probably pay close attention to the weather from here on out. It was part of who she was. She needed to embrace the beauty and the power that the weather provided.

When she pulled into the parking lot, she parked next to Calli’s car. Ellen and Kate were also parked by her car. Gods, they were trying to claim those parking spots on the first day since they hadn’t parked next to Calli last year.

She got out and walked over to the median where the three of them were standing.

“Hey, Legacy!” Calli yelled, and started walking in her direction.

“Hi,” she said to Calli as she approached, and then they both walked back over to Ellen and Kate. “Hi, girls,” she said with a feigned smile on her face.

“Hi, Legacy,” Kate said. “That’s a beautiful outfit.”

“Thanks, I like yours too.”

“We all look good, don’t we?” Ellen offered, and Legacy was a little surprised that Little Miss Stuck-Up included her in that compliment.

“Yep,” Calli said.

“Oh my! Who is
that
?” Ellen shrieked, and they all turned around.

River was walking up from the parking lot. He smiled and waved at her, and she waved back at him.

She turned back to Ellen, and yeah, Little Miss Stuck-Up’s mouth was opened. “That’s River Rysaor. He lives next door to Calli. I got a job at his mom’s store over the summer.”

Ellen’s eyes stayed locked on River, but as soon as Legacy responded, she glanced at her. “How lucky for you,” she mocked.

“Hi, Legacy,” River said, coming from behind her.

She turned to the side to look at him, and he put his arm out to hug her as he approached. Instead of a one-armed side hug, he stepped in front of her and put his other arm around her too, so that he could hug her completely.

“Hi, River,” she said as she stepped out of his embrace.

He walked to Calli and gave her the side hug that Legacy had been expecting. “Hey, Calli. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. This is Ellen and Kate.” Calli gestured toward the girls, and River shook each of their hands.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m River.”

They both smiled at him. She thought they were both too stunned to actually speak. It reminded her of the first time Calli had met River, and Legacy giggled.

“What?” River asked, stepping back over to her.

“It’s nothing. Do you want me to show you around?” she asked, still tickled.

“
You
can show me anything you want.”

“Hmph,” Ellen mumbled at River’s comment.

River looked at Ellen and smiled, and then he winked at her while he put his arm around Legacy’s back to lead her away from the crowd. “C’mon, Calli,” River ordered.

Legacy pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, but Calli didn’t. She was obviously just as tickled about this encounter as Legacy was. She giggled as she stepped over to River.

“See you girls later,” Calli said as they turned to walk away.

“Why did you wink at her?” Calli asked, laughing.

“Well, it was either snap at her for her rude behavior or toy with her. I figured the latter would be more entertaining.”

“You got that right,” Calli said with a chuckle.

They made their way to the cafeteria to get their schedules. Since Calli had grabbed hers earlier, she stayed away from the crowd. River and Legacy stood in line to get theirs.

“So are you nervous about going to a new school?” she asked River while they were waiting their turn.