Varun turned to me, taking my hands in his. “You
look like her – I won't lie. But you're different. More
thoughtful. Jana was...she was elemental. A force. Beautiful.
Proud. She wanted power more than anything in the world;
she wanted to be special, to be great. She acted like a Queen.
She was, in a way, at school…with Haven following her like
an eager puppy dog. She wanted to be a god when she wasn't
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– and so she died...” He sighed. “You seem a bit more down-
to-earth. I feel like I can trust you.”
He leaned in and kissed me. “And you don't taste like
her, either,” he said. “You taste sweet – a little salty – like
the ocean in the morning.”
“Is that a good thing?” I laughed.
“That's a very good thing,” Varun pulled me closer.
“Listen, Mac, whether you're Vesta or not – you're somebody.
My uncle doesn't summon anyone to Aeros without a reason.
You're special, whether you believe it or not. You could be
Vesta – goddess of fire. You could be a seer, a mermaid, an
embodiment, anything at all. You could even be a water-
goddess...”
“A water-goddess?” My eyes widened in shock.
“It makes sense, doesn't it? Vesta's book vanished –
meaning you might not be from her line after all. You love
to swim. You love the water. You've even impressed Haven
– and the fact that she's taking an interest in you has got to
mean something. It's not many girls that could survive a
mermaid attack, Mackenzy. You heard the siren's call
without having your ears bleed – a call that makes most
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mortals scream in pain. If you have a connection to the water
– if you have a connection to me...”
“To you?”
Varun kissed me again. “Chance is the Fire King, the
God of Fire.” he said. “But me – I'm one of the water clan. I
don't believe in the Erosion – I believe in peace and balance,
water and fire combined. But you don't see me anywhere
near an open flame, do you?”
“Then you're...”
“That first time we met, Mac – you felt a connection,
didn't you? You felt it, too.”
I remembered the feeling that made me shiver when
Varun touched me for the first time – like ocean waves
lapping over me. A feeling of safety. Of calm. “Yes,” I said.
“I felt it.”
“That could be a sign, Mac. A sign that you're one of
us, that you're like me.” He pulled me closer. “I don't know
what you are, Mackenzy Evers, but I think I'm falling hard
for you.”
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Chapter 17
I was falling for Varun, too. The more time we spent
together, the more I grew to feel safe with him. When I was
near him, letting him wrap his warm, muscular arms around
me, I felt protected. Mermaids and sirens couldn't get at me
– not when Varun was around. Every day after school Varun
met me after swim practice, taking me for walks along the
beach, explaining to me more and more about the history of
the island, about the legends of Embodiments. He certainly
wasn't trying to push me away, I thought. Rather, he was
thoughtful, intelligent, doing his best to answer my questions
and to ease me into the life of a student at Aeros Academy.
He explained to me all about the different kinds of Olympian
I could find at Aeros – not only truthsayers or sirens but a
whole host of creatures.
“But the fire-creatures don't know their true identities
yet,” said Varun. “Not without Vesta.”
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“You mean me,” I'd said.
“We don't know that...”
But Varun's insistence that I wasn't the goddess Vesta
didn't quite convince me. As much as what he said about my
connection with water was true – my love of swimming, of
the ocean, of its salt and blue expanses – I felt an equally
strong, if not stronger, connection with fire. And, if I were
truly honest with myself, with Chance.
I hadn't seen Chance since that day I found the book,
and we kissed. He was once again conspicuously absent
from class, a fact that made me both disappointed and
relieved. As much as I craved his touch, as much as I longed
to see him again, I wasn't sure how to reconcile my
developing relationship with Varun with my feelings for
Chance. Whether or not Varun and I were officially a couple
– whether or not we'd defined the relationship as exclusive,
I didn't think Varun would be too happy to hear that his
newest girlfriend was doing exactly what his old one had
done: falling for his hated cousin. But at the same time, I
wondered if I'd be able to resist Chance if he came near me
again. My hunger for him was so great, so strong, so all-
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consuming, that I knew no matter what I tried to tell myself,
I'd be weak at the knees whenever Chance returned.
At last, a week after I'd last seen him, Chance turned
up at my locker when I arrived at school.
“I heard what happened to you,” he said gravely,
foregoing any kind of introductions or pleasantries. “In the
ocean, last week.”
“Varun saved me,”
