The Last Oracle (52 page)

His face broke the surface and he heard thunder as he gasped for air and then heard another wave and dove.
Don’t look back!

The rain began pounding down in large drops as the winds picked up. At least the lightning occasionally lit his surroundings. He surfaced and now finally free of the rough inbound currents, he searched for a sandy beach that he could safely swim to.

There was another flash of lightning and he saw something in the water. He stared and tried to get his eyes to focus and then he heard the voice.

“Alex!”

It was Caleb. Alex swam the short distance and found the boy clinging to a log. He grabbed at the log and tried to avoid touching Caleb. But the rough current made it impossible and soon he rammed into Caleb and noticed—
there was no electrical shock! 

“Caleb!” Alex cried in desperation. “Did you see Genni?”

“Genni is safe. I made sure Camille got out before I...”

Alex’s eyes narrowed, “Caleb did you,” He sucked in part of a wave and coughed it out. “Did you...make that wave?”

“Umm, yeah,” he said a bit sheepishly. “I told you that you didn’t have to worry! I’ve been waiting here a long time for you! Everyone else just rode it out.”

“Everyone else?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” Alex said unable to comprehend the events of the last few hours as he kicked his legs heading toward a sandy shore.

“Caleb?” It was time to ask the question and, although he was terrified to hear the answer, he had to know. He gulped back a tear. “Caleb...do you know? Did she...did Val...” He couldn’t finish the question.

Lightning struck and the rain began to pound even harder. In an instant, Alex found himself pleading,
“Do you know? Did she make it?”
Sobs began to overtake him.

Suddenly, there was a light moving toward them from the sky and Alex thought he heard the sound of an engine. But with the loud whistle of the wind and the crashing of waves, he thought it might be his imagination. A moment later, he heard a splash in the water near them. Then he saw the diver.

“They said you speak English,” The diver said.

“Yes,” Alex said, confused.

“Good! I am going to take the boy up first and then we’ll get you.”

Alex tried to think of how to avoid killing this diver with Caleb’s touch. But then the diver wrapped a harness around Caleb without any zapping sound or cries of pain, and in a moment, the boy was being pulled up into the helicopter.

“You’re next!” the diver said as the cable lowered for Alex.

A few minutes later, Alex was airlifted out of the water. He wondered what turn of fate had him being rescued from the sea during a storm such as this. As he was hoisted up into the helicopter, a hand reached out for him and Alex took it and was pulled into the darkness inside the helicopter. He busied himself with unfastening the harness when the lightning flashed and he saw the person responsible for the rescue—
it was Paolo!

As if out of his control, Alex wrapped his arms around Paolo and held him with relief, as if he was his long-lost brother. After some time, Alex shouted over the engines, “How?”

Paolo shrugged and yelled, “Evidently, I am an acquired taste.”

Alex wiped the water from his face and then stared at Paolo in disbelief.

“Cerberus and I played when I was a child.” When Alex’s eyes widened, Paolo shrugged. “All boys should have a pet, no?”

After a few minutes of taking in the situation, Alex said, “I don’t know about Val...” Then he noticed that they were heading northwest
toward Venice. The rain and the wind shoved the chopper around until a few hours later they touched down on the front lawn of the main house at Morgana.

Alex shed the blanket, jumped from the helicopter, and ran through the marshy grass to the trail that led to the cottage. The rain poured down on him as he arrived at the ginkgo tree. He felt the trembling deep within him as he realized that the light was on in the master bedroom. He rounded the porch and flew up the steps. He couldn’t bring himself to look in the bedroom window. Instead, he took three breaths and then pushed open the large wooden door—praying he would see her.

The great room was empty. He brushed his fingers through his soaked hair as he wiped the rain from his face.

“Val?”
He closed his eyes willing her to answer.

There was no response. As his hope began to fade, he glanced around the great room, searching for signs of her presence. Then he worried—what if she had floated out of Delos? What if she was stuck behind the adamantine gate, now barred forever? What if Hades took her because of his error of looking back at Shinsu?

With a clap of thunder, he willed those fears away and moved toward the bedroom. He couldn’t bear it if she was still there...dead. Bracing himself on the doorframe, he felt his heart pounding as he stepped around the corner and forced himself to look.

His breath caught when he saw that it was empty. Alex searched the house and then recalled the hole in the ground that Homer had dug, and a sick panic rose within him. He couldn't bear to think of that. No! She was alive...she was up at the main house or perhaps she had gone somewhere else because of the storm. He walked back out onto the porch and stood there trembling.
Where was she?
Suddenly, the pain of the past few days overtook him and he fought back the tears that threatened to cloud his vision. He couldn’t believe she was gone from him forever. He couldn’t think that! His feet began to move on their own cognizance down the road and toward the family plot. With each step, his hope plummeted further.

Within minutes, he found that he was running. His speed increased as he passed the new homes for the oracles and beyond Mani’s house and then he slowed unable to take in the reality.

The hole had been filled and he sunk to his knees and clawed at the soil as he cried, “Oh, Val...”

He lay there for minutes and then he heard a voice, as if from a dream, “Alex!”

Turning his head slowly, willing it to be real, he saw her, still in the white gown as she had been on Charon’s boat. His heart pounded—needing her to be real. She took a step to him but his limbs seemed frozen...afraid that he might discover that she was still only an apparition. He noticed that she was soaked and then he glanced to her feet and saw she was barefoot.

She wiped the rain from her face. “I woke and you weren’t there...so I—”

Alex was on his feet. But he couldn’t bring himself to reach for her—terrified that the very real vision of her would disappear. He swallowed.

“Are you...real?” he choked. Tears filled her eyes and she nodded.

He released a short sob and still unconvinced he asked, “This isn’t a dream?”

She took a step toward him and took his hand in hers. She lifted it to her lips and caressed his hand. “Feel my breath?” she asked.

Alex nodded, feeling mesmerized by her touch, but still too uncertain to respond. Then she took his hand to her heart that was pounding as heavily as his.

“Feel my heart?” she asked.

He stood in stunned silence as the tears flooded his eyes and then he asked, “Are you...”

Valeria smiled softly. “My love, we are as we once
were, immortal symbolons with our eternity ahead of us.”

Alex pulled her into his arms and brought his mouth down on hers with an avalanche of joy and love and passion.

It was spring and the dogwoods and tulips were in bloom. Spring at Morgana was as beautiful as Valeria had always dreamed it would be. The family pictures hung on the walls and now there were more...considerably more. Alex had replaced most of her belongings, including her china, from museums and other collections.

But the most beautiful thing in the world was in front of her...it was her beloved husband—her symbolon—playing with their daughter, Genesis. Alex released his beautiful musical laughter, followed by Genni’s exquisite childlike giggles and Valeria decided that the combination had to be the most beautiful sound in the world.

Caleb and Tavish sat on the porch in front of a chessboard that they had been concentrating on for nearly an hour. Caleb reached down and brushed Charlie’s floppy ears. Charlie leaned his head into Caleb’s hand, grateful for the touch. When Genni cooed, Caleb rose and went to Alex. As he approached, Genni reached out her arms for Caleb.

“I guess she wants you!” Alex said as he patted Caleb’s back. He handed Genni to the boy who had previously been barred from most human touch, and tears sprang to Valeria’s eyes. “Use both hands, please,” Alex warned and Caleb complied.

“Hi, Genni!
I’m going to teach you how to play really cool video games when you get older. Some people call me Raiden. But you don’t have to...you can just call me Caleb.”

Paolo sat alone on the porch still brooding...he had been brooding for weeks. Valeria walked out the door and sat down next to him. He glanced over briefly and nodded.

“I owe you an apology...and a thank you, again,” she said.

“Be happy and live a very long life. That is all the thanks I need,” Paolo said with a wistful smile.

“I intend to.” Glancing at Caleb who was making faces at Genni—who would then giggle—and Alex, who had picked up his copy of
Walden
, Valeria smiled, perfectly content. “I am so sorry about Daphne.”

Paolo stared into the distance so that he could say the words without completely feeling them. “I had decided it was time to marry. She was not interested—I did not expect that. And now, she is gone.” His eyes flashed intensely, and with a sigh, Valeria watched as Paolo continued to battle his emotions.

“She wanted to go,” she said. Paolo shrugged and tightened his jaw. “Paolo, Daph wasn’t for you.”

The discomfort on his face was evident. “She was a good woman.”

“She
is
a good woman…but you don’t love her,” Valeria said.

Paolo swallowed and said, “I will never love anyone as I have loved you.” He glanced away and then, seeing Alex approaching, he instantly regretted his words. 

She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Yes, you will.” He looked at her in pain and then turned his head. “You
will
find love.” She leaned forward and he turned toward her. “You will love her far more than you ever believed possible.” Paolo tried to look away but her intensity pulled him back in. “She’s waiting for you.”

“Do not tell me that...”

“She is lost...like I was...like you are. And when you see her, your life will be transformed, as mine has been. She is waiting for
you
, Paolo. Don’t give up.”

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as Alex sat down next to Valeria.

Paolo rose, unable to meet their eyes, and mumbled, “I am going for a walk.”

Watching Paolo’s sudden exit, Alex said with a hint of concern.
“Everything all right?”

“Paolo needed a bit of direction.”

“What’s new?” Alex said with a laugh, as he pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her temple.

Walking through Central Park, Valeria wrapped her camelhair coat tightly around her waist and then linked her arm around Alex’s. He walked beside her, pushing the stroller where Genni was fast asleep. The leaves were brilliant shades of gold and reds.

Valeria no longer had “birthdays.” She had stopped aging and healed immediately from any malady—as they had discovered one afternoon when she sliced her finger with a knife and the cut healed within seconds. But today, they were walking from Alex’s birthday surprise for her—he had purchased the apartments on either side of Valeria’s former brownstone on 95
th
and Columbus and converted it into a home large enough for the entire family.

The crispness in the air, the brilliantly covered trees, and the view of the architecture over the reservoir never failed to thrill Valeria. She brushed a gloved hand over Alex’s. As they turned on to 5
th
Avenue, Rosendo was working his booth and selling his brother’s paintings.

“Hey, Rosendo!”
Alex said with a friendly wave. Rosendo was helping a slew of customers, but stopped and stared as he recognized Valeria from two years before.

“Holy...” he said, and then a customer demanded his attention, New York style, and he went back to taking her money.

A few blocks over, they turned into the restaurant with the green awning. Valeria picked up a sleepy-eyed Genni as Alex folded up the stroller.

Inside Sarabeth’s, they went to the table in the middle of the crowded restaurant and joined Weege, Kenny, and their little boy, Morgan. Lars and Ava, Mani and Lita, Tavish, Paolo, and Caleb were all there, too, and there were still a few empty seats.

Valeria gave Alex her coat and then sat Genesis in the high chair. On the other side of the table, Kenny held Morgan, who seemed entranced with baby Genni.

“
Whadaya say?” Kenny said, wearing plaid ill-fitting pants and a polka dot shirt.

Morgan raised his hands and said, “
Hubabuba!”

Kenny shined with pride as he said, “He’s a chip off the old block!”

Alex pulled the wool scarf from around his neck and handed that and their coats to Katie, the waitress who
still
couldn’t seem to keep her hands off Alex.

Noticing this, and Valeria’s near-irritation, Alex kissed his daughter’s forehead, and then pulled his wife into his arms followed by a lingering kiss that made Valeria’s knees weak and brought a blush to her cheeks. He pulled away a few inches and offered her a playful wink. Valeria noted that his timing had been spot on as the waitress—now with her jaw hanging open—stood directly in front of them with two pots of coffee.

“Sorry, just can’t keep my hands off my wife!” Alex said, as the corners of his mouth turned up in the delicious smile that Valeria so loved.

With a smug grin, Valeria said, “Is that coffee for us?”

The waitress mumbled a polite, “Yes.”

Valeria pointed to the pot and said, “Caffeinated, please—and make it a large one!”

Camille and Jonah entered and joined in on the festivities. Katie returned and took their orders and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Valeria noticed that Caleb suddenly looked more like a young man than the boy from before. He had sold the rights to
The Third Triumvirate
and was wealthy in his own right. She stared at him for a minute and realized that he had a few whiskers.

“Better teach Caleb how to shave,” Valeria said to Alex, loudly enough for Caleb to hear.

Brushing his hand along his jaw, he nodded, and then lifted his arm in a victory fist. “Shaving!
Yes!
”

Glancing around the table, Valeria took Alex’s hand as she thought about how deeply connected she was to this beautiful life.

Genni said, “Mama” and Valeria pulled her daughter from the high chair.

“Hello, beautiful girl!” Valeria said.
Genni’s face lit with a marvelous smile—which Valeria was certain came from Alex. Then Genni pressed her face to Valeria’s leaving a slobbery kiss. Valeria laughed and then said, “I love you too! Are you hungry?”

“No,” Genni responded, but nodded her head as her eyes got wide. Alex laughed his musical laugh and then reached for the diaper bag.

“I’ll feed her,” he said, pulling out a small mason jar of blended kale and strawberries from the diaper bag. Valeria put Genni back into her high chair. Genni pounded the tray excitedly waiting for her food.

Paolo was sitting between Tavish and Caleb when he glanced up, his eyes widened as
they followed a young waitress across the room. She had jet-black hair pulled into a ponytail and the tiny body of a dancer. She gracefully moved from table to table with a sparkle in her eyes. Valeria recognized her immediately.

“Oh,
my gosh! Weege, didn’t that girl work for us?”

Before Weege could answer, Paolo was out of his seat and approaching the waitress.

“What do you need? Out of coffee?” the dark-haired waitress asked.

Paolo glanced at Valeria and she saw that he had the strangest look on his face—as if Cupid’s arrow had finally struck. He leaned down and whispered in the girl’s ear and the waitress jerked her head back in amused irritation.

“I’ve heard a lot of lines, buddy, but that one takes the cake! You have my tattoo do you?” she said, and then raised a delicate brow as her eyes sparkled with a playful mischievousness. “So, is that your best attempt to hit on me?”

“No. No, I...” Paolo shook his head, feeling a bit confused by her response. Women didn’t respond this way to him, except for Valeria. “Have we met before?”

“Nope,” she said, and then took a deep breath. “And it takes way more than a pretty face and a cheesy line. But, look—I’ve got a job to do, so why don’t you sit down, Romeo, and I’ll bring out your breakfast while you think of something interesting to say—and preferably not a pick-up line!” Paolo just stared at her and she released a joyful giggle, shook her head, and veered back toward the kitchen.

Valeria glanced to see if her husband had caught the exchange, but he was completely absorbed in running airplanes filled with strawberry and kale into his daughter’s open mouth.

When Paolo returned to the table, his face was lit with a silly grin. “Bellisima...” he muttered under his breath.

“I guess that’s better than bella,” Valeria joked.

Alex glanced at Paolo’s face and his love-struck smile, and then to the back of the waitress as she headed into the kitchen. Then he said, “Sorry, beautiful. By that look, I would guess that Paolo’s over his crush on you.”

Suddenly, Weege said, “Nicky! That’s her name!”

Valeria nodded. “That’s right! She was a runner for me a few years ago. I really liked her.” Valeria smiled playfully. “Paolo, trust me, Nicky will give you a run for your money!”

“Which one was she?” Alex asked.

“Right over there,” Valeria said as she pointed to the corner. Suddenly, Alex’s jaw dropped and the color drained from his face.

“What professor?
A student? Is there something you want to tell me?” Valeria teased, as Genesis reached for her. “Just a minute, baby girl.”

Valeria took a wet wipe and began to clean
Genni’s face and hands.

“Can I hold her now?” Caleb asked. When Valeria turned back, she noticed that Alex seemed frozen as he watched the waitress, Nicky, pour coffee and move from table to table.

“You know that I was just teasing you.” When Alex didn’t respond, she asked, “What is it?”

Nicky smiled pleasantly when she reached their table.
“More coffee?”

Alex bit his lip. “It can’t be,” he said under his breath, and then he stood.
“Antonia!”

“I’m sorry?” Nicky said, clearly confused. “Do I know you?”

Alex lowered his brows and continued to stare at the girl. “It’s me...Alex.”

Valeria’s eyes widened and she smiled at Camille.

Nicky’s bright blue and green eyes lit with humor. “Sorry, my name is Nicky,” she said, and then she noticed Valeria. “
Val,
hi!” Nicky hugged Valeria warmly.

“Weege is here, too,” Valeria said.

“Weege! Did Valeria ever find out that you were reading her journals?” Nicky teased. “I never told!” she laughed as Weege began to defend herself.

“She left ’
em there! What was I supposed to do?”

All Valeria could do was laugh. She laughed a lot lately. She noticed Alex was still staring at Nicky.
“So...Antonia? You don’t mean...
your sister?
”

Alex raised his eyebrows and nodded. As their food arrived, Alex watched the lovesick expression that washed over Paolo’s face and laughed at the irony that they might just be brothers again, after all. There were questions that would need to be answered. Had all the lost oracles been reincarnated? Could they recover their immortality as they had with Valeria’s?

There would be some more explaining to do, to help Antonia remember, but with his symbolon, and Genni next to him, all he could feel was a deep joy that permeated every fiber of his being. Alex wrapped his arm around Valeria in contentment. His family had never felt so complete. 

∞