Guardian of Atlantis (The Children of Atlantis) (12 page)

7

I know mom loves me, but over the years I’ve caught her watching me with a strange look on her face. I guess she was expecting me to sprout horns or something. For years I ignored it.  But as I got older it became harder to ignore because it wasn’t just the way she looked at me anymore. It was something about the way she acted around me.

One day it hit me.

Mom was protecting a part of herself from me. I realized
,
even
though she loved me, she also, feared me for some strange reason.

And I never felt more alone.

             
--Raven Weir’s journal

“Wake up. Wake up, Raven Weir.”

“Don’t shake me. It hurts,” Raven grumbled.

“You have to wake up.” Someone shook her arm again.

“Leave me alone. Let me die in peace and quiet,” she pleaded in a tired voice. Her brain desperately clung to the pain-free sanctuary even though it was slowly slipping away.

“I can’t. Wake up. Now!” demanded the person des
troying her haven from the pain floating around the edges of the darkness like a vulture.

A wave of power wrapped itself around Raven
and tugged her out of the darkness
.

“Go away!” Pain poured back into her consciousness. She moaned.

“Sorry. I know it hurts, but I can’t go away. And I can’t let you die. You’re
too important to everyone. Raven, you’re too important t
o me. So
open those beautiful blue eyes and look at me.
”

Raven forced her eyes open.

Inky bl
ackness filled her vision, and she
wondered if she had dreamed up the person shaking her. 

Black
hair was plastered her face. Instead of
moving it with her hands, she
turned her face up toward the black, starless sky, letting the rain push aside the strands of hair stuck to her skin. The simple motion sent sharp needles of pain down her back, forcing her to suck in a deep breath. Shivers raced through her body,
making her stiff muscles hurt
with a
n even greater intensity than before she had fallen asleep.

“Come on. We’ve got to get out of this rain. You’re soaked and cold to the touch. And now you’re shivering.”

Raven felt a hand caress her cheek. She swung at it, but her arm wouldn’t cooperate. For her efforts, she ended up lying on her back. A new way of agony shot through her. “Get away from me,” she forced out between her chattering teeth.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” The voice, definitely male, was warm, gentle and familiar, but Raven couldn’t quite place it.

“Everyone’s out to get me. How can I trust you?” Raven sorted through her memories for the voice, but even her brain screamed, protesting the memory search was just too much on top of the pain it was already processing. “You’re probably out to get me too.”

“I’m not out to harm you.
Just the opposite.
I’m here to help you.
”

“Can’t trust you.
Can’t trust anyone.”
The pain filled Raven’s
senses, overload
ing her br
ain to the point it threatened to again
shut down.

“You trusted me this morning when I gave you the keys to my jeep.
You were supposed to have gone to Sam’s house.
”

“Ethan?”

“Yeah, it’s me. We’ve got to get you someplace dry so you can warm up.”

“Ethan, why are you helping me? You’re a Hellhound. Hellhounds hate me.”

“I guess you haven’t met the right Hellhounds,” said Ethan.

“But why should I trust you?” asked Raven.

“I won’t hurt you. Y
ou’re special to me in more ways than you realize.”

Raven felt his hands on her shoulders, his warm breath on her cheek. Gently he pulled her back into a sitti
ng position. Not thinking, she
moved her injured leg. She gasped, as wave after wave of fire shot through it. Warm tears ran down her cold face.

“Son of—
Who
did this to you?” Anger rolled through every word Ethan spoke.

“And what are you going to do? Go beat him up?” Even though she couldn’t see him
and she was in a lot of pain
, she gave Ethan a defiant look.
“Been there.
Done that.
If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy.” Raven spoke through clenched teeth.

Low growls rumbled from deep within Ethan. He moved to Raven’s inju
red leg. Bending down low
over it, his nose almost touching the wound, Ethan sniffed.

“
Eew
!
Quit that.
Eew
! That’s just gross!” Raven would’ve pulled her leg away from him if it didn’t hurt so much. “Are you sniffing my leg?”

“Yes,” he said.
“It’s trying to heal, but the wound is filled with poison
.” He sniffed again. “I think it’s spreading.”

“Poison?
And it’s spreading? That’s just great! Am I dying or will I just lose my leg?” Raven snorted. “I don’t know which is worse.”

Ethan chuckled.

“Oh, you think that’s funny. I’m not joking.” Raven swung a fist in the direction she figured his head should be. She missed. “How is it you’re h
aving no trouble seeing
, and me, I can’t see anything?” The surge of pain made her regret swinging her fist, but not for the reason she struck out at Ethan.

“Night vision.
Night vision gives us an advantage over our prey. Hellhounds are the ultimate killing machines. Nothing wasted when we kill,” said Ethan rather matter-of-factly.

Raven shivered. “No wonder. What about the poison?
Is it like snake venom?
I’m dying aren’t I?”

No answer came.

“You’re just afraid to tell me,” taunted Raven.

“I don’t understand it, but y
ou should already be dead.”

“Dead?”

“Hellhound
poison kills humans
and Atlantians extremely quickly and it doesn’t take very much
.
It’s worse than the venom of a coral snake. Just a pen drop is enough to cause death. Hellhound poison
will even kill the gods but slowly
and painfully
, if not treated.”

“I’m human. Why am I not
dead?” whispered Raven.

“Are you sure you’re human?”

“Why would you ask that? Yeah, I’m sure! What else would I be? A Hellhound?” snapped Raven. “Douglas and Evelyn Weir are
my
paren
—
” Raven quit talking in the middle of the word.

“No you’re not a Hellhound.”

Raven thought she heard regret in his voice and for some strange reason, it
both hurt and
angered her. So what if she wasn’t a Hellhound. What was the big deal?
Why would she want to change into a big, smelly monster?

“You’re feverish.” He put his hand on Raven’s forehead.

Raven knocked his hand away from her. “Go away and leave me alone.
Let me die in peace.
”

“Can’t do that.
What were you saying about Douglas and Evelyn Weir?” Ethan’s voice was gentle.

“They’re my parents. That’s what I was saying.”

“And what
is it
you’re not saying?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Raven folded her arms.

“Raven?”

“They weren’t my real parents. I’m not sure who my real parents are.” She wasn’t ready to admit who she thought her biological mother was.

“It’s obvious you’re not human,” said Ethan.
“This wound is hours old. If you were human,
we wouldn’t be talking. Y
ou’d be dead.”

“
But
I’m human,” Raven whispered.

“No. You’re not.” Ethan sounded absolutely sure.

“I’m human.”

“No. I’m not even sure you’re
even Atlantian.
Because if you were, you’d still be just as dead.”

“I’m not what?
Atlantian?
As in Atlantis Atlantian?”

“Yeah.”

Raven groaned.

“Are you okay?” concern filled Ethan’s voice.

“No,” snapped Raven. “The pain’s horrible.
I wish I was dead.
And you’re telling me I’m some sort of freak. Not human or even Atlantian. Gee thanks.” Raven folded her arms across her chest.
“Just what I wanted.
To be a bigger freak than I already am.”
She rolled her eyes.

“
You’re not human.
Or Atlantian.
Or even Hellhound. But you’re not a freak.”

“Everyone’s trying to kill me and demanding the key
codes
to Atlantis. It’s ridiculous. You’re all crazy.
” The fever and pain made Raven whimper
. “And now I’m dying from Hellhound poisoning.”

“Everything I know tells me you should be dead, but your body’s fighting th
e poison.” He chuckled. “And the fever is definitely making you fussy
.”

“Don’t laugh at me or I’ll—”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll punch you in the nose.”

Ethan chuckled again.

“I’m not joking.”

“I know you’re not. Just like I know you’re not a freak.”

Raven felt a hand on her arm. Warmth soaked into the spot Ethan touched, making Raven realize how cold she was.

“You’re the one everyone’s waited for. You are the Guardian of Atlantis.” A deep reverence filled Ethan’s voice.

“No. There’s no way! I can’t be the guardian of anything. I can’t even keep track
of my schoolwork or even
my mom. I don’t know anything about guarding Atlantis.
Besides Atlantis is not real.
It’s a myth like everything else.”

“Atlantis is not a myth. It was real.”

“Key word—WAS. And that’s the number one reason on my list.”

“List.
What list?”

“You know.
A list of the reasons why I’m not this guardian thing.”
Raven smiled weakly.

“It doesn’t matter
how many reasons you put on your
list. Like it or not, you are the Guardian of Atlantis,” declared Ethan. Anger slowly replaced the awe he had felt just minutes before.

“No way!”
Raven shifted her position. She was rewarded with a wave of pain that made her stomach churn in protest. She swallowed several times. With her stomach empty, Raven knew the dry heaves would be even worse than throwing up.

“It was Jay. Wasn’t it?” asked Ethan, changing the subject.

“Jay was what?” Raven felt the anger coming off of Ethan.

Ethan growled.

Raven smiled before she could stop herself. Maybe he did care, at least a li
ttle bit.

“Jay attacked you.” The words came out with snarls leaving no doubt about Ethan’s hatred for the rogue, Jay. The red glowing eyes staring back at Raven cinched it.

She blinked and shook
her head thinking maybe she
just imagin
ed
them, but the glowing red eyes were still there. She realized she was possibly in as much danger now as she had been from Jay because both were powerfully strong Hellhounds. “It was Jay,” she said quietly.

“He’s dead.” The words didn’t sound human. “I don’t know why he hasn’t already been dealt with. He’s a menace. Jay should have been put down as soon as he showed the first rogue tendencies.” Ethan’s voice sounded more and more animalistic. “I should have dealt with him
myself.”

“If you’re going to shift, I’d rather it not be around me.” Raven tried keeping her words as calm and emotion-free as possible, but h
er voice quivered partly from
fear but mostly from the pain radiating throughout her body.

A few seconds later the red, glowing eyes disappeared. “I didn’t mean to scare you. You, I’ll never hurt. My job is to protect you. Care for you, which I’ve already failed to do.” Though his voice was back to normal, it was
still
filled with
anger and now
regret.

“Okay. Protect me.
Right.”
Raven didn’t feel too convinced though.

“I don’t know how you managed walking this far.”

“Too scared to stay where the danger was.”

“There’s no way you’re walking out of here now.” Ethan shifted to a new position.