“You will not touch her,” Finn threatened. Dorien made the mistake of lunging at Carmen, who was lying on the bed silently watching the encounter with a half-cocked grin on her face. Finn caught his arm and twisted it behind Dorien’s back. I heard a sickening crack, and then Dorien cried out in pain. Charon entered the room, and he and Finn easily carried Dorien out the front door and launched him onto the street; leaving the rest of us standing around speechless and trying to pick our jaws up off of the floor.
“How did he know…?”Phoebe asked where she stood beside me with wide eyes.
“I have no idea,” I whispered. Guilt flooded my soul. I should have known! I should have protected her!
“He is the Prime.” Suddenly Natasha was behind us. “It is in his nature to sense intent to harm.” I could tell by the smile on her face that she was immensely proud of her son. Feeling us talking about him, Finn looked up and met my eyes. His darkness reached out and enveloped me in warmth just as his crooked smile sent my heart racing. He released me from his grip as Charon pulled him aside. I turned to Phoebe.
“Where’s Ricker? And Willow?”
“They went to get coffee for everyone. Tina went with them.” Her eyes got wide. “Do you think she was in on it?”
“I have a good feeling we’ll find out when she returns.” Talking about Tina reminded me of yesterday’s Gathering, mainly afterwards. “How did I get home and undressed last night?”
“Tina and Dorien brought you back, and then Tina helped me and Willow get you undressed and in bed. We figured you wouldn’t mind waking up next to Finn.” Phoebe grinned widely at me, happy with herself.
“You were definitely right about that,” I attested as Charon and Finn came back inside the house.
“I need everyone in the kitchen,” Charon announced firmly.
“Go put on some clothes,” Natasha directed Finn, who caught me staring at him. A smirk formed on his lips and he winked at me. He knew all too well the effect he had on me. My face instantly heated, and I fought to stop the blushing before Natasha turned her scrutiny on me as well.
No such luck.
“Your face is a little red, dear,” Natasha informed me with a knowing smile; which only made it that much worse. She patted me on the shoulder and followed Charon into the kitchen. I looked around for the nearest rock to crawl under, or at the very least a sharp object to stab my eyes out with.
“Where is he?! He has answers! Bring him! Bring him!” We all stopped dead in our tracks as Carmen began to screech again. I had no idea what ‘him’ she was referring too, but I could definitely tell that her voice wavered and obtained that same unearthly undertone. It didn’t sound as if she were the one actually speaking. Natasha entered her room, followed by more yelling and then finally deafening silence. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Natasha emerged, frowning as she tucked the sleeping remedy into her back pocket.
“Finn senses the beings within Carmen and I believe he may be correct in his assessment,” Charon paced as we listened. “With that being said, Oreithya will be here very soon to visit with Carmen. I believe a purification ritual is in order first…” He nodded his head at Natasha. Oreithya.
It took a moment for the reason why I knew that name to click in place. She was the Nereid that Carmen is descended from; raging waves. I didn’t remember meeting her at the gathering. A shot of insecurity hit me out of nowhere. She must be one the Nereids who was not completely convinced that I belonged with them. She must have a reason for questioning my worthiness. I tried to shake those self-deprecating thoughts from my head and forced my attention on Natasha.
“Elina will be arriving momentarily,” she informed Charon, and then addressed everyone else. “I will need another Wiccan to assist in the ritual. I’ve known Elina for a very long time.”
“Is there anything we need to get for you?” Finn bounded back down the stairs with a shirt on and wrapped an arm around his mom’s shoulders nonchalantly. The outward display of the love and devotion he had for his mother tugged at my heart.
“I believe Elina is bringing everything we should need.” She grinned up at him appreciatively.
“I thought I was bringing everything we needed?” Ricker had appeared, holding a tray of steaming coffee cups. An annoyed Willow and Tina shuffled around him to set the rest of the coffees down on the counter. “I would’ve been back quicker if it weren’t for these two betties slowing me down,” he complained in a hushed voice and yanked his thumb at Willow and Tina with a snicker.
“Somehow I doubt that,” Finn sneered.
“Well it’s about time Sleeping Beauty woke up!” Ricker gave Finn the one-arm-fist-to-the-back guy hug, followed by a real one from Willow. “I’m just glad Stasia showed up so I didn’t have to wake you up with a kiss!”
“Where’s Dorien?” Tina asked, glancing around.
“He wore out his welcome,” Finn retorted darkly. I could tell by his inaction that he didn’t see Tina as a threat to Carmen’s life, which was a relief. I was really becoming fond of her.
I recognized a fangirl moment building in Tina’s eyes as she caught sight of an awake and alert Finn Morrison, Prime of the Sons, for the first time. Thankfully she collected herself, but I suspected she had only suppressed it momentarily. “What did he do?”
“I believe your friend was under the impression that Carmen is possessed by a demon. He was misguided in his thinking,” Charon answered sternly, sending Finn a look to let it drop at that. “I was just briefing everyone on our plan to help her.”
“How do you know it’s
“Demons are innately evil. Those of us connected to the Underworld can sense evil from a great distance. I can assure you that what has taken residence in Carmen’s mind is not evil.” Charon began to pace again.
“You kicked him out because he was wrong?” she pressed.
“No, we kicked him out because he wanted to kill Carmen,” Finn answered plainly.
“He…wanted to kill her?” Tina gasped, her eyes wide with shock. Charon shot Finn another look to silence him.
“He believed the demon would harm the island,” Charon expounded patiently. “He wanted to rid this world of the demon by killing Carmen. Unbeknownst to Dorien, if it were a demon, getting rid of it would pose a greater challenge than simply disposing of Carmen.” The way he said ‘disposing of Carmen’ made my skin crawl.
“I’m so sorry,” She shrank back in disgust, obviously ashamed of Dorien. Her distaste of his intentions made me like her even more. “I had no idea.” Charon gave her a sympathetic nod to let her know she wasn’t on the chopping block, and then confronted the rest of the room.
“When Elina arrives, she and Natasha will need to prepare Carmen’s room. Only a select few will be allowed in during the ritual. Any more than that would surely enrage them further. I expect everyone else to remain in here, but be available if needed. Understood?”
We all nodded in agreement and then Natasha handed out cups of coffee. The cups were about half the size of normal coffee cups in America, and I peeked in mine with curiosity. It had a layer of foam on top and appeared to be a lot thicker than American coffee.
“Greek coffee looks like sewer sludge, but it does the trick,” Ricker explained with a shrug; leaving the kitchen to check on Carmen.
“Does it taste like sewer sludge?” Phoebe scrunched her nose at Finn as she tried to swirl the thick liquid around in her cup. Ricker walked back into the kitchen with a petrified expression that froze his blue eyes.
“Carmen,” he managed. “She’s gone.”
Chapter 13
“Gone? She’s not in the bed?” Natasha looked up in alarm. Ricker’s eyes shifted back into the room before answering; his eyes stalling on something.
“…and the window’s open.” As understanding dawned on all of us, we abandoned our coffee and ran outside like a herd of wild horses. After searching the exterior of the house and up and down the street, there were still no signs of Carmen to be found.
“Where would she go? She doesn’t even know her way around!” Ricker gestured frantically.
