this mysterious book...”
I looked up at him in shock. “How did you...?”
Unless Chance had managed to change form, too?
Antonio started laughing. “Oh, Miss Evers, if you
could just see the look on your face.”
I flushed. “Chance?”
“Not quite – but if I wanted to be, I'm sure I could
take on that form. But I am not such a great god as he. I'm
but a minor entry in the pantheon – cursed with trying to
serve as guardian and mediator to fire and water alike.
Pilumnus is my name. And I believe you know my charges
already. The fire god – Mars. And the water god – Neptune.”
“Neptune! Varun is..”
“Of course, technically speaking, in their original
incarnations Mars and Neptune are a lot older than I. So
Chance uses that as an excuse to get out of his chores.
Speaking of...” Antonio looked up. Chance was coming
through the door.
“I'm so sorry!” Chance raced into the room,
enveloping me in his arms. “I should have been there to
protect you. I was afraid if people saw me near you, they'd
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start to suspect – who it was I thought you were. I thought
it'd be better if I stayed away.” He pulled me in for a kiss.
“Then it's true,” Antonio said. “You think she's Vesta.
Then what about the stones?”
“What stones?” I turned to Chance.
“Uh,” he said sheepishly. “I didn’t tell you. To
undergo the sacred test, to fulfill the prophecy – you'll need
the five hidden stones of Vesta. We've already found one.
The book. The real book – not the false one of Jana's.” His
voice faltered when he said her name. “We'll have to verify
them. I'm not going to risk any mistakes this time.” He
looked at me with worry in his eyes.
“I'll call my men on the other sites,” said Antonio.
“You know what they say in the hotel business, Miss Evers?
Location, location, location. And it just so happens I've been
scouting my locations precisely with Olympians in mind.”
“If Mac really is Vesta,” said Chance, “the stones
would come to her.” He turned to me. “They'd feel your
presence. These aren't ordinary stones. Dig a hole in the
middle of China and bury them there – it wouldn't matter.
They'd come to you if your power summoned them. And
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leave if you repelled them. Such is the way of the stones.
Like that book.”
“But the book's gone!” I cried. “My attackers – they
took it.”
Chance and Antonio looked at each other gravely.
“Whoever took your book must have tricked it into
thinking he was of Vesta's line,” Chance said. “And that
spells trouble for us. Whoever's powerful enough to do
this..”
“Would be powerful enough to use the book for his
own ends.”
“Or maybe the person who took it was the real
Vesta!” I said. “Maybe it's not me.”
Chance and Antonio looked concerned. “Who
knows?” Chance said. “But either way – we're running out
of time. Things are getting serious here. We need Vesta back
if we want to stop the world from going under – only she can
summon the sacred flame to stop the Erosion. Whether that's
you – as I hope it is – or whether it's not.” Chance took my
hands.
As we touched, I felt the longing once again take
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hold. At once my body ached to be his queen, his love, his
bride – to be who he said I was. I wanted it to be true; I
wanted those visions, those callings, to be real. I wanted to
make him happy, to end his suffering, to share in his love.
“If you don't have the book,” said Antonio, “you
should be safe. Leave the sleuthing to us, Mac – we don't
want to drag you into this more than we already have. And
Mac?”
“Yes?”
“Tell nobody what you saw.”
And so I did what Chance and Antonio had said,
trying to forget about the book and Vesta and the prophecy
and magic. Part of me just wanted to run away – to focus on
school and on my upcoming swim tournament – to be
normal. Yet in Chance's absence I felt as if I were suffocating
for lack of him, as if I needed his strong, lithe body beside
me to be able to breathe.
I hadn't seen much of Varun lately; ever since I'd met
Chance by the Greek temple I felt that I wouldn't be able to
face Varun without confessing to him that something was
going on between me and Chance, and I couldn't bear the
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thought of seeing the pain in Varun's eyes.
So when Varun came up to me right before the swim
tournament, I greeted him with a mixture of happiness and
trepidation.
“It's been a while,” Varun said sadly, “I haven't
