Hearken (Daughters of the Sea Series) (22 page)

“If we don’t keep walking, I might throw up,” Carmen choked out. “I don’t have a very good track record when it comes to bridges.” 

“Almost time.” Sebastian checked his watch once more and glanced down at the thin line of water far below.

“What exactly are we waiting for?” I asked slowly. My mind automatically calculated which direction would be shortest in case I needed to make a quick escape. I could probably scoop up Carmen and dart back the way we came in under five seconds. Unless I had to fight. Then Carmen would have to make the run back by herself. I widened my stance and felt the familiar hum within my body in preparation for whatever might happen next.

“You’ll see.” He seemed to be counting down the seconds on his watch. His white clothing almost glowed against the backdrop of the black cliffs and crevice. The moonlight glanced across his blonde hair; enhancing the blue of his eyes and the bronze tone of his skin. I reminded myself that demons were also beautiful, but that didn’t make them any less dangerous. It made them
more
dangerous. I wrapped an arm across Carmen’s waist to push her behind me and stepped towards him with purpose.

“I asked you what we’re waiting for,” I commanded through gritted teeth. “I expect an answer.”

His blue eyes sparkled with amusement, sending the frenzy of electricity behind my eyes burning with indignation. At the same time, a surge of energy flowed from my heart out to my arms and legs, pumped by waves of anger. When he simply smiled widely at me, I almost tossed him into the crevice below.

“Your eyes shine with a fire when you’re angry,” he expressed in Greek with a wink. “It’s breathtaking. Remind me to stay on your bad side.” I was about to show him exactly what my bad side would get him, when I heard what sounded like wings. Millions of them.

“Please tell me you hear that too.” Carmen’s big puppy dog eyes stared at me with uncertainty. 

“Duck!” Sebastian instructed. Carmen and I hit the dirt and covered our heads. The flapping of wings became louder and louder until I thought I was about to be carried off by a
flock of a thousand birds. I heard Carmen spewing every curse word known to man and decided to take a peek at what golden boy had decided to subject us to. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.

Chapter 21

Olivia

The darkness of night was suddenly replaced with a light so brilliant it hurt my eyes. It was all around me – illuminating my skin, my hair, the bridge and everything in between. It was as if the moon itself had shattered and was showering fragments down upon us. I tried to find Sebastian or even Carmen, but the storm of light was too bright. I tried to call out, but the fluttering wings were too loud. The sheer weight of the sound could be felt in my bones, and the wind created from the fluttering wings swirled up a wind so soft, it caressed my skin and left a residue of something resembling glitter. I wiped at my left arm and watched as a layer of iridescent powder cascaded from my fingers and showered onto my leg.

As the sound gradually faded, I was able to see exactly what had just engulfed us in a cloud of gold powder. Pairs of wings fluttered by my head and shot up and down at random. My first thought was butterflies, but these creatures were much too big to be butterflies. Their wingspan had to be nearly four feet. They were the size of birds, but agile as a bumblebee. Their size was overshadowed by their most redeeming quality, however. They…glowed. And what I thought at first was an opaque being, now seemed to shift and move more like smoke than an insect. Two glowing long trails drifted behind them, attached to the bottom of each wing. 

One in particular hovered just in front of me, and I reached out to touch it without thinking. It shifted slightly, became suddenly brighter and then shot up into the sky. Once gone, it cleared a direct line of sight to Sebastian. I gasped and felt my mouth drop. Standing with his arms wide, head back and eyes closed, he allowed the glowing butterflies to land on his shoulders, arms, and forearms. As if they knew exactly what to do, the butterflies hovered, fluttered their wings, and then dropped to a soft landing; lighting Sebastian’s already golden skin to a bright yellow. As the gold powder dusted off their wings and onto his skin, he seemed to transform into something more angel-like than descendant. 

When the butterflies continued their upward flight, Carmen and I were able to stand and slowly step towards him in awe. He smiled and lifted his head, slowly opening his eyes. When his gaze met mine, I couldn’t convince my mouth to close. All I could do was continue to stare at him like a madwoman. The creatures were the most beautiful things I’d ever seen, and their complete and utter trust in him shattered my previous menacing view of him. In the presence of those magnificent beings, he belonged among the ranks of the spirit world. As we watched, one by one the creatures lifted from his arms and disappeared once again into the night sky.

One in particular lingered on his wrist as he brought it in front of his face. The exchange reminded me of a boy and his dog - as if it was a pet he’d known his entire life. He stood completely still while the creature hopped lightly on his arm and inspected his face with eyes filled with magic. It opened and closed its wings just like I’d seen butterflies do hundreds of times. His other hand actually stroked what could only be its head, and the creature actually tipped forward like a dog getting his ears rubbed. Sebastian smiled warmly. 

“...like that star of the waning summer who beyond all stars rises bathed in the ocean stream to glitter in brilliance,” he murmured in Greek to the winged being as if reciting scripture. The glowing butterfly stretched its wings, but stilled once more. The gold glow of the creature mixed with Sebastian’s golden features so perfectly, it was hard to know where one ended and the other began. My nickname of ‘golden boy’ for him even appeared much more fitting now. Their simple exchange of greeting filled my heart with enchantment and wonder. 

He lifted his arm and the butterfly flapped its wings and soared into the sky; leaving a shower of gold powder in its wake. Sebastian watched it go with nostalgia, and then shook his head and body; sending a shower of gold onto the bridge and into the deep crevice below. 

“What,” Carmen said as she continued gawking at Sebastian with round eyes, “were those?”

“We call them
chrysá fterá,” Sebastian educated us with pride. “Or just chrysá. It means ‘golden wings’.”

“What
are
they exactly?” I pressed.

“They live within the island, but since they’re nocturnal, they only become active at night. They feed off of the moon’s energy,” he explained. “They belong to the trees.”

“Belong.to.the.trees,” Carmen repeated slowly with obvious doubt. I noticed her mouth twitch in an effort not to laugh in his face. Sensing her budding sarcastic comment, he frowned.

“We all do,” he emphasized simply, and then continued to walk across the bridge as if we hadn’t just been attacked by a swarm of oversized glowing butterflies. “Time to go,
kyries.”

After what seemed like the longest hour of my life, we finally came to something resembling civilization. We followed Sebastian through a thicket of bushes and into a sprawling courtyard glistening beneath the light of the moon. I couldn’t identify any of the flowers
overflowing onto the courtyard’s stones, but they were all a shade of metallic and seemed to revel in the moonlight. Whether it was silver lilies, golden roses, or bronze poppies, they all reflected the moon rays streaming over them with a precision that almost hurt my eyes. 

We continued walking through the courtyard until we started seeing figures milling about, talking or sitting and reading; all wearing white. Several glanced up at us, but for the most part no one noticed we weren’t from Atlantis. 

“What’s with the white clothes?” I asked Sebastian. “Do Atlanteans not believe in color?”

He chuckled and his eyes swept the figures we passed gaily. “We don’t have the ability to dye fabric here. Our only option would be natural dyes, which would be taken from the native plants, and we would never misuse nature in vain. You have a different opinion?”

“It just seems like white would get pretty boring.” My eyes automatically drifted down his body and I forced myself to meet his gaze instead. “But I suppose it does have a certain…regal quality.”

“I like the simplicity of it,” Carmen agreed with a nod. “Getting dressed in the morning would suddenly get a lot easier.”

“I’m glad we have your approval.” Sebastian smiled at us with a hint of sarcasm glowing in his blue eyes. “I’ll be sure to send a certified letter straight to Atlas himself.”

“Are you
trying
to be a smart ass, or are you just naturally offensive to everyone you come in contact with?” I snapped at him. That’s what I got for trying to make conversation.

“Yes,” he answered vaguely with a satisfied grin. I fought back the urge to strangle him as we followed him down a worn stone path. He stopped abruptly and turned to face us.

              “Here we are,” he announced as his eyes slid downward; settling on a dark opening in the ground. The opening was created by a robust, stone staircase disappearing into the depths of the earth. Somewhat similar to subway station entrances in big cities, it was underwhelming and rather hidden. Vines and overgrown shrubbery masked its man-made characteristics; making it even more sinister while immersed in moonlight. If you didn’t watch where you were going, you could easily stumble down it without realizing it. The entrance itself had a low arched ceiling with the word ‘Vivliothí̱ki̱’ etched into the rustic gray stone that was barely visible from years of erosion and negligence. The musty smell drifting up made it evident that the entrance had been there for a very long time.

             
“Viv-leeoth-icky?” Carmen pronounced slowly and then grinned with anticipation. “That sounds kinda creepy. What is this?”

             
“A library,” Sebastian stated plainly. He cracked a smile and a giggle escaped my lips at the disappointment dripping down Carmen’s face when she frowned.

             
“Well they should just call it that, then,” she grumbled.

             
“Vivliothí̱ki̱ is the word ‘library’ in Greek,” I translated dryly and waited for her reaction. She put her hands on her hips.

             
“I knew that.” She lifted her chin, walked past Sebastian and I with narrowed eyes, and stepped down into the dark staircase. She turned around and raised her eyebrows with impatience. “Are y’all coming or what?”

             
“After you, my Brazilian beauty,” Sebastian directed at me in Greek with a regal bow and an equally non-regal smirk.

             
“I told you not to call me that,” I threatened, and strode past him down into the shadowy library entrance. The pitch black was unsettling and I reached out to find some kind of railing, which was conveniently nowhere to be found. Just when I thought I would have to resort to crawling down the stairs on my hands and knees, a light lit up behind me. I twisted around with astonishment, which I quickly masked with indifference.

             
“I think your hand’s on fire,” I indicated; unimpressed, although internally, I was relieved that we finally had some light. It was amazing what the risk of falling to one’s death on a damned staircase would do to your anxiety level. “You might want to get that checked out.”

             
“How’d you do that?” Carmen implored, while getting a closer look at his hand. After further inspection it wasn’t that his skin was literally
on fire
…it was as if he’d stolen a sphere of light from the sun and was carrying it around in his palm.

             
“Magic,” he answered cryptically, and then proceeded to change the subject completely. “What we’re walking down into right now are technically the catacombs of Atlantis.”

             
“Would that be similar to the Catacombs of Paris – an underground tomb?” I asked with a shiver. Underground graveyards weren’t my usual haunts. No pun intended.

             
“Correct,” he answered with a hint of surprise in his voice. Apparently he hadn’t pegged me as the academic type. “The Romans were the first to construct what we know as catacombs, and our ancestors adopted that as well. However, this particular catacomb hasn’t been used for centuries. It has been converted into a safe keeping house for our ancient manuscripts and books.”

             
“So, no skeletons lining every wall?” Carmen surveyed the walls with dread, but I saw the sliver of enthusiasm in her eyes.

             
“All the remains have been moved to the center of the island – to a newer catacomb constructed about two thousand years ago.”

             
“Sounds cutting edge,” I joked dryly. 

             
“That doesn’t make this place any less creepy,” Carmen mumbled, and then lowered her voice to imitate the quote from the movie ‘Silence of the Lambs’. “
It places the lotion in the basket
…”

             
I don’t know whether it was the dank underground tunnel ruffling my nerves or her perfect rendition of the movie, but I busted out laughing and couldn’t seem to stop. Carmen started giggling too, and before long I had tears streaming down my face.