Proven (Daughters of the Sea #1) (11 page)

"Yes, Father." I nodded in agreement.

F
ALLON

"We've got all night, you know," she crooned at me. The other witches snickered as she squeezed the invisible hold around my midsection even tighter. I groaned from the sudden inability to breathe and a new pressure encroached around my neck.

"Choking me..." I gasped with a wheeze, "isn't going...to help your cause."

"Probably not," she laughed at me. She leaned over my body and swept her dark hair over her shoulder with a menacing grin. "But it sure is fun."

"Naja, her face is turning colors," another witch informed her quietly. The reason Selene had tasked these four with overseeing me tonight eluded me completely. They were mean-spirited at best, but not evil. Not yet, anyway. The one named Naja seemed to be the makeshift leader of the four, barking out commands and eliciting pain on my body with a sick sense of entitlement.

"That's actually a nice change," a third witch added with disgust. "Her white skin was blinding me."

The smooth glass walls of our square room jutted into the star-studded night sky above without the confines of a ceiling. From my vantage point on my back, I could only count the stars and marvel at the full moon beaming translucent silver rays down upon us. Unfortunately, the binds created by the witches wouldn't allow the moon's light to reach my body. I was left longing for its energy and replenishing essence, so close but still light years away. I hoped against hope I could figure out how to escape before my energy was depleted fully.

"If we suffocate her, we won't get what she promised us," the fourth witch reminded them. She was the only one with a whisper of a moral compass. Or greed. Either of which I would take at that moment.

"You're such a buzz kill, Joselyn," Naja shot at her with annoyance. The pressure around my body loosened and I gasped for the air my lungs were screaming for. Each girl stood at the four corners of the room, signifying their specific affinity for the four cardinal directions and allowing them to join together in their magic. I guessed the room itself was on top of another building or cliff, since no other landmarks could be seen through the glass walls. The steely platform currently supporting my body was growing more and more agonizing by the minute and my back screamed at me to stretch. Mere inches from the floor, it was only long enough for my body. I couldn't help but wonder what this room was used for when they weren't torturing me. Sacrificial rituals came to mind as a likely possibility.

The severe draining of my essence over the last day or so had withered me down to an inept and vulnerable state, neither of which I was comfortable with. I sighed loudly as the witches set their feet and closed their eyes. This would be their fifth attempt in the last hour. If nothing else, they were persistent. The same chant echoed from their mouths in unison, joining as one and becoming twice as potent. I focused on a lone, hazy cloud meandering across the moon, lit momentarily by its shine.

Of light and sea, brought down to me

Come forth in spirit, come forth indeed

In wait, she lies, soul tethered in creed

In wait, she dies, lest a presence is seen

Of light and sea, brought down to me

Come forth in spirit, come forth indeed

In wait, she lies, soul tethered in creed

In wait, she dies, lest a presence be seen

"How are we supposed to know when it happens?" the witch named Joselyn pondered aloud.

"When she shows up," Naja answered to my left. "I seriously doubt she's invisible."

I smiled at their infinite ignorance. Moonlight drifted directly into my eyes and I almost burst into tears with the need to feel it. My body felt heavy and my mind had lost its sharpness. How long did Selene plan on pimping me out like this? They could chant for another three years, but my mother, Luna was not going to appear to them. With the exception of one place in particular, she had lectured me that we were never to be in the same place at the same time. Our heritage would be at risk. One of us needed to survive in order to continue the bloodline.

I felt the air pressure in the room shift drastically and each of the girls' attention turned abruptly behind me.

"You can't be serious," an irritated voice growled behind me. Her voice dripped with venom and my skin began to crawl. "Most powerful coven, my ass."

With no direct line of sight to our new visitor, I could only lay there and observe the witches visibly shrinking as their eyes widened in terror. I fought to see who had joined our little party, but she remained behind me. Her voice wasn't familiar, but it was apparent she was powerful and brought with her a commanding presence that could literally suck the energy out of a room.

"But it's still early," Naja whined, her face drained of color. "It's not even midnight yet."

"Consider this your first strike," the voice threatened them. "Now get out."

With sullen faces, the four witches vanished where they stood. Or...were standing. Well, that was new. I added that to my knowledge vault about witches. The crisp clicking of heels filled the now empty room as my newest visitor paced along the north wall, peering out into the empty night. Black leather pants clung to every curve and her blood red pumps announced every step. A cascading mane of golden hair reached her waist and swung in cadence with each over-exaggerated twitch of her hips.

"You can never trust ghosts to do what they're told," she complained matter-of-factly. "Sometimes it's just easier to do it yourself."

Ghosts? I shivered at the thought. The witches were dead this entire time? I suppose that would explain their vanishing ability, but it did little to help me out of my current unfortunate situation. Their binding remained intact and I was still unable to feel the moonlight saturating the room with a brilliant, pearly glow.

"I guess Mommy Dearest doesn't care about you very much." Her curt words bounced off the glass walls and reverberated against my heart. "Maybe I should increase the stakes."

"Who are you?" My question was thick with accusation and what I hoped sounded like boredom.

"Luna wouldn't allow her only child to perish." She ignored my question and tapped her chin in thought before pivoting on her heel and gesturing at me with a red fingernail. "How about we play a little game? You like games, don't you?"

"She's not going to appear," I retorted, unimpressed. I could only hope she couldn't hear the pounding of my heart jumping in my chest. "She was banished, remember?"

"Don't insult my intelligence," she growled at me, her face contorting dangerously as her eyes flashed in anger and I felt as if I were gazing at the devil herself. "You're going to make sure she shows up...or you'll die. And then your soul will be mine. Either way, I win."

"I have a feeling Selene might have something to say about that," I provoked. It worked.

"Selene is of no consequence to me." She closed the distance between us in seconds and placed a high heel on either side of my body. She leaned down and slapped me across the face with a cold glare. The sting radiated down my neck, but I forced myself to laugh instead. It almost felt good in a straightjacket kind of way. The wind was pushed out of my lungs when she placed a foot on my chest and the heel attempted to bury itself into my abdomen.

"...and neither are you," she threatened with malice and a suddenly shining smile. "Now. About that game I wanted to play."

"I'm not playing games," I spit at her.

"You don't get a vote," she scoffed. "This game's called...Burning Moon Child. The fun part is seeing just how long it takes for you...to burn." With that, she snapped her fingers and the floor erupted in flames. I could feel the heat beneath me, but knew the glass I was perched on wouldn't last forever. Nor would my skin.

She twitched away, seemingly untouched by the flames and raised her arms in celebration. "I knew this room was missing something! It was feeling a little too...cold." She laughed at her own horrible joke and disappeared from sight.

O
LIVIA

I yawned and rolled over, expecting to see a half-naked Sebastian sleeping next to me. Instead I was welcomed with frigid, empty sheets. I ended up on my stomach, face buried in the mattress.

"Furck mey lirfe," I mumbled. As the events of yesterday came crashing back to the forefront of my mind, I decided that if I could lie perfectly still, it might all go away. Unfortunately my oxygen began running low, so I grudgingly pushed myself up to a sitting position and squinted at the early morning light shining through the windows. The memory of Sebastian and Stasia's names in the Book of Souls threw a blanket of dread over my thoughts and I decided to get dressed and figure out what was going on.

With a fresh white skirt and white tank top, I stepped into the hall, only to realize I had no idea where I was in relation to anything else in the castle. Without Google maps, possessed trees threatening my life, or a trail of breadcrumbs, I was definitely on my own. Choosing left, I set off to find human interaction. Or breakfast. Whichever came first.

One sketchy spiral staircase, two dead ends, and three floors later I was no closer to finding anything remotely familiar. I ended up on the first floor in something like a sun room with a myriad of stained glass windows overlooking a lavish yard. A flash of red caught my attention and I squinted through the colored glass to no avail. The French doors amidst the windows were surprisingly unlocked, so I stepped outside into the most beautiful garden I'd ever seen.

My first breath of the garden air was comparable to a religious experience. Notes of vanilla, mint, rosemary, and sage drifted across my senses and my feet suddenly felt lighter. A playful breeze swirled around me; bringing even more heady scents that I wanted to roll around in. From my vantage point I could make out a stone path snaking through sculpted shrubbery, manicured flower beds overflowing with color, and scraggly thickets teeming with life. Honeybees leapt from bloom to bloom, feasting on their sweet nectar. Birds of every feather flitted above in the canopies of the various trees that shaded the garden beneath.

Intoxicated from the barrage of nature, I followed the stone path and passed row after row of beds. I couldn't figure out where the garden actually ended, as it seemingly went on forever in every direction. A laugh as light as the breeze blowing across my skin tickled my eardrums, and I peeked up like a meerkat. I crept along the path with what I hoped was stealth, careful not to disturb the immense beauty surrounding me.

Up ahead I spotted the tangled limbs of three gigantic live oak trees; branches so massive, they were forced to rest on the ground encircling the wide base of roots. Another melody of laughter much closer caused me to scamper behind a wall of towering bushes that encircled the three trees. Highlighting the middle of the wide circle was an impressive marble fountain that featured three curvaceous maidens pouring water from clay jars. Chunky blades of grass and curious daffodils craned their necks at its base as if to catch a glimpse of its intricate designs.

A figure emerged from a rustic stone building overgrown with ivy, nicely tucked away in the far end of the circle. His stark pants, bare chest, and blond hair flashed like a beacon amongst his green surroundings. Sebastian. I had every intention of standing to make my presence known until someone else emerged from the quaint building. Three someone elses.

With their manes of crimson hair against porcelain, milky white skin, I almost didn't notice they were completely naked. Their voluptuous bodies took the eye on a mesmerizing journey over wide, child bearing hips, healthy thighs and buttocks accentuated by full breasts and long necks. They each bore the type of body that ancient sculptures and paintings were created for. They were a breathtaking display of fertility and grace, extensions of the very garden they inhabited.

My mind flashed back to the day I'd met Maera and her two daughters; playing along a creek in the bowels of Atlantis, also stripped of any and all clothes. What was the stubborn aversion to clothes on this island?

I looked on with seething jealousy as Sebastian waltzed toward the fountain with leisure, followed by the three muses. To my surprise, the women began to sing. They each held a mirror image of the stoneware their counterparts held in the statue above them. With a poise that could make the most decorated ballerina weep, they commenced to dancing around the fountain as they serenaded Sebastian in words I couldn't understand.