body and lifted her off the beach as if to separate her from the world around her. She was part of the earth, yet detached from it at the same time.
The light was so strong, it hurt his eyes and he had to raise his arm to shield them, but even with compromised vision, he and Amir both were able to see her body levitate. As Saoirse floated in the air, the light that emanated from her body rose above her until it was nothing more than a speck of white amid the darkness. When it had almost fully disappeared, it collapsed onto Saoirse’s neck, at the site of her ripped flesh, burrowed back within her body, and as it did, the wounds healed themselves, the ripped, torn flesh, the blood, all gone. Her skin was as clear and smooth as before.
When Saoirse’s eyes opened, they were her own. When she spoke, the voice was not. “She is not what you think she is.”
chapter 22
“It’s a girl!”
When Edwige heard Saxon speak those words, she was thrilled. After having two boys, she desperately wanted a girl. She wanted a daughter whom she could dress in frilly clothes, play house with, who would cherish her own treasured collection of dolls and stuffed animals. She simply wanted to enjoy an eternity of mother- daughter experiences. The moment Saoirse let out her first cry while being held in her father’s arms on the same sacred ground that housed The Well, Edwige knew her child was a blessing. The moment The Well spoke to her, she knew her child was, in fact, a curse.
“Because you broke your bond of love with your soul mate, because you have defiled the sanctity of The Well and of all the descendants of Atlantis,” the deep, richly textured voice began, “this child is your punishment.”
There were only two points of light in the cave, one rising from the mouth of The Well, the other shrouding Edwige’s face, which was wet with salt water and sweat. The rest of the space was draped in darkness, so Edwige knew Saxon and her daughter were spared the admonition. It was meant only for her to hear. “Your daughter will never belong to you in the purest sense. She will never become a water vampire like her parents,” the voice instructed, “until you atone for your sin.”
Edwige knew exactly what her sin was, but instinct, panic, made her proclaim her innocence. “No! I’ve done nothing wrong!”
The only response was a rippling sound, as if the water within the stone encasement sighed, heaved, causing a small wave to rise and fall against the curved walls. Leaning on her elbows, her legs still bent in the same position as when Saoirse was born, Edwige’s eyes narrowed and emitted a preternatural light that she hoped would break through the darkness and connect directly with her life force. “She is my daughter, created for you, created out of love!”
The ground underneath Edwige shook and she fell backward, clawing her webbed hands into the dirt for support. A wave crashed loudly against the inside of The Well, and the light that shone from it flickered. Edwige tried to find Saxon and their child within the blackness, amid the rumbling, but she couldn’t. She was alone. “I didn’t sin!” she cried out. “I was raped!”
“LIAR!!”
Violently, the earth rumbled and Edwige felt its angry vibrations assault her weary body. The light from The Well intensified, became dazzlingly bright, and grew until it grabbed hold of the light that illuminated her face. Edwige was never closer to The Well and she never wanted to be farther away. “This rape never took place,” the voice bellowed, each word carrying with it wrath and wind. “How dare you claim such a travesty occurred? How dare you compound your sin?”
Blinded by the light, frightened by the severity and the truth of the words, Edwige was frozen, unable to move. She could only repeat the lies she had uttered so many times before, the lies she convinced Saxon and all those who loved her were the truth. “Ciaran’s father raped me,” she declared, her whisper trembling. “He . . . he took me against my will.” Edwige waited for a response, she waited for The Well to reply, to forgive, condemn, anything. But there was only silence. Like a cornered animal staring into the expressionless face of its hunter, Edwige did the only thing she could, she fought back. “I did not break our covenant!!”
It was a wasted attempt. Once again the stream of light uniting Edwige to The Well was broken, the ground stopped shaking, the wind calmed. As the light from The Well receded, the voice was no longer enraged, but quiet, indifferent. “Edwige Glynn-Rowley, you are not what you think you are.” When the cave resumed its normal appearance and the natural light returned, Edwige could see Saxon holding Saoirse, her dimpled legs wiggling in her father’s arms, her blond curls like a flaxen crown, and she was relieved they had safely returned to her side. She was even more relieved that she was still the only one who could hear The Well’s voice when it spoke one final time. “And this child is not what you think she is.”
“Then what the bloody hell are you?!” Amir insisted.
Saoirse was no longer floating. The spell that enabled her to hover in midair had broken and she was standing on the beach, acting as if nothing remarkable had happened, as if she hadn’t just been possessed by a powerful, supernatural force. She acted as if her memory was concealed by the same shadow from the half-dark sun that cloaked her body. Brushing off sand from the back of her jeans, she replied matter-of-factly, “A human born of two vampires.”
A what?! Michael digested this information, this incredible news. He didn’t understand Ronan’s family history completely, and he acknowledged it was complicated, but he didn’t realize Saoirse’s parents were both vampires when she was born. If that was true, how could she be human? He had never heard of such a thing, never imagined such a thing could be true. It just didn’t make sense. If Saoirse’s parents were vampires, shouldn’t she be some sort of a vampire too? “Does Ronan know about this?” Michael asked.
What a stupid question, Saoirse thought. “Of course he does.” Then she realized how stupid her answer was. Obviously Ronan didn’t fill Michael in on why she was considered to be the special member of not just their family, but of their entire race. “But you know, it’s really not a big deal,” Saoirse lied, trying to backtrack from her initial snide comment.
“Sounds like a pretty big deal to me,” Michael replied, feeling even dumber than before.
Sometimes she wanted to strangle Ronan. He could be an absolute twit when he wanted to be. Couldn’t he see how perfect Michael was? Gorgeous and funny and loyal and exactly the type of boyfriend she hoped she’d find for herself one day, without, you know, being gay, of course. If Michael were her boyfriend, she’d treat him right. She wouldn’t keep any secrets from him, she wouldn’t turn their entire relationship into something shambolic! “I guess it all depends how you look at it,” Saoirse said, shrugging her shoulders. “But I am certain of one thing, I owe you a big fat thank-you.”
“What do you have to thank me for?” Michael asked.
“Not you, silly. Amir.”
Saoirse was so wrapped up in her own daydreams, her own concerns, she didn’t notice the glare that accompanied Amir’s response. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Saoirse confirmed. “You helped me find out something I never knew about myself.”
His sneer made the shadowlight appear darker. “What would that be?”
“Well, I always knew a water vamp couldn’t transform me,” she explained, fixing the barrette that had come loose in her hair. “Now we all know I’m impervious to the bites of regular vampires as well.” Watching Michael and Amir stare at her as if she were a three-headed alien, Saoirse thought she may have screwed up her vocabulary words. “Impervious does mean resistant, right? Can’t hurt me, can’t make me one of you.”
The questions grew inside Michael’s brain like building blocks, first one, then another. Why didn’t Ronan tell me this? Didn’t he trust me enough? Didn’t he think I should know something so important? It was difficult to think, difficult to stop the confusion, the anger, from distorting his face, difficult to not want to leave Saoirse here on the island by herself and find Ronan to confront him. But he couldn’t do that, not while Amir was still here looking like that, his fangs cutting into his flesh.
Amir had had enough. He couldn’t stand listening to this girl tell him he couldn’t do something, he couldn’t
