black pencil skirt, and leaned down stiffly to turn up the gas a notch; sending the bright flames dancing higher.
As the dim light caught her face I gasped. It wasn’t Nadia. I had somehow brought myself to none other than Priscilla’s house! Too bad GPS didn’t work in reveries. My sense of direction was greatly amiss. I was about to begin concentrating on Nadia again, when a knock came at the door.
Priscilla briskly made her way to the other side of the room and swung open the door. I slapped my hand over my mouth to squelch any sound that might try to seep out.
“Nadia! So nice to see you again!” Priscilla cooed, instantly reminding me of Lexi. Nadia slid into the light of the fire dressed in a deep purple silk blouse and black skinny jeans, topped off with zebra print peep toe shoes. Her dark hair was braided down her back, and the disparaging look on her face did nothing to help slow my pulse.
“Priscilla,” she greeted her; annoyance heavy in her tone.
“Sit down, sit down…” Priscilla suggested cordially, but Nadia ignored the offer.
“I’m only going to ask this once. Does she know?” Nadia stated; boiling madness stalking just below the surface of her calm facade. I immediately assumed that they were talking about me and held my breath.
“I’m working on it, but I haven’t been able to-“
“Answer the question,” Nadia gritted through her teeth, but then laughed. “For a second there I forgot who I was talking to. Let me try again.” Her features darkened and twisted into something terrifying. I pressed against the wall at my back as she pointed at Priscilla. “Give me a straight answer or I will end your pathetic, useless life.”
“She doesn’t know,” Priscilla whimpered.
“Perfect,” Nadia’s features returned to mysteriously beautiful as she stealthily glided across the room and stood before Priscilla, who cowered in her presence. Something about the scene playing out before me was off. Priscilla was much older than Nadia, but in the scheme of things Priscilla was nothing more than a pesky eyelash to the Princess of the Underworld. Power always succeeded age.
As she continued, the telltale evil smoke began to waft up from her skin and slowly tether around the room, unbeknownst to Priscilla.
“It doesn’t surprise me really. He’s always been such a gentleman,” she rolled her eyes, “I, on the other hand, look forward to crushing her simple, wretched dreams. It will weaken her further.”
Was she talking about Finn and me? Anger heated in my veins and my fingernails pressed into skin as my fists balled up at my sides.
“We must make sure she doesn’t find out about the Sacrifice,” Priscilla inserted carefully.
“And what of Natasha?” Nadia implored, as she absentmindedly picked up a mermaid figurine and inspected it. Natasha? She had to be talking about us. But why? And what Sacrifice?
“She’s been too busy with the details of his upcoming fast and fight.”
“Let’s make sure it stays that way.” She raised a perfectly waxed eyebrow at Priscilla, inferring that she was delegating that responsibility to her. Suddenly she furrowed her brow and glanced around the room curiously. I froze in fear and tried to remember how to leave. A connection.
What could I connect to?
“Priscilla. I do believe we may have a visitor…” Nadia’s eyes scanned the room meticulously, looking for the presence she sensed. My presence. Sheets. My body was in bed. I closed my eyes and thought about the cool, soft feel of them on my skin. The room started to spin wildly and I landed hard. My eyes flickered open in panic, but miraculously I found myself back in my body sitting up in bed breathing hard and shaking. That was way too close. And extremely disturbing. What was Finn not telling me? Nadia had said it would crush me!? Wouldn’t it dawn on Finn that maybe he should warn me? Or Natasha? If it’s that dire, why hasn’t she told me? What did Nadia know that I didn’t? If it had something to do with my journey, which was, in fact, seven days away, I deserved to know! And what sacrifice did they not want me to know about?
A sacrifice I would have to make? Feelings of betrayal and mistrust crept up into my heart. But I couldn’t let myself overreact. Natasha cared about me. She wouldn’t betray me. Would she? Would Finn?
4:00am came and went. 5:00am. 6:00am. The more time that went by, the more desperate and anxious I became. Unable to lie still any longer, I decided to get up. I opened my closet and pulled down the valise that my mother had left me. ‘Valise’ was just a fancy word for chest, but this chest was anything but ordinary. I ran my finger over the intricate designs and unhooked the latch. I pulled out the onyx stone and anklet Finn had given me on the yacht. I secured the anklet around my leg, noticing how the stone warmed in my hand, even causing my trace to shimmer and brighten. They both immediately soothed my soul. In search of more comfort, I latched my mother’s aquamarine necklace and my own triskellion necklace around my neck, and then slid her ring on my finger. All three warmed at my touch and sent waves of courage through me, pushing away my fear.
I slumped onto my bed, allowing my legs to hang off the edge, and closed my eyes. I clutched the stone against my chest and concentrated on centering myself. I was strong. I was smart.
I would make it through this just like I had everything else in my life. I just needed to take action based on fact; not assumptions. Assumptions were the seeds of poison that destroyed lives. My foster dad, Charles Whitman, always said that assuming makes an ass out of u and me. At the time I had laughed and brushed it off; but now it was all too true. I had to stay true to what I knew. I needed to listen to that other sense that was strong within me. It wouldn’t steer me wrong. I needed to talk to Finn. Tonight. I’d ask him to come over tonight. If I could make it through my Monday classes.
And that was one massive if.
I thought about my mom and whether or not she’d been through something like this. Who did she trust? Who did she not trust? Did she go through a lot of pain in her life, or was it smooth sailing? For some reason I wanted to know. I felt closer to her now, but the consequence of that was knowing just how much I truly needed her. All I had were things. Just things.
