She was dressed in white ancient Greek clothing, her blonde hair pulled loosely into a chignon. Her face was like porcelain, pale and perfect. She was so graceful that every movement seemed like dancing. I stared at her agape for just a moment longer before she beckoned to me with a slender finger.
"Come with me," she murmured softly.
As if I could do anything else. I trailed behind her as she led me to a secluded alcove.
She laid a leather bound book on the table in front of her. As she ran her fingers over the rich oiled surface, electricity jolted around the book. I startled.
"Who are you?" I asked breathlessly.
"They haven’t returned all of your thoughts, Harmonia? That’s terrible," she sympathized, her eyes warm.
"Who are you?" I asked again.
"I’m Alathea. The goddess of Truth. I’m not supposed to be here. If they find out." Her voice trailed off before she steeled herself and spoke again. "I had to come because it pains me to have such lies and betrayal. You need this, Harmonia."
She gestured again toward the ancient book and tried to place it in my mind. It was definitely distinctive. Aged and tattered, it had clearly been around for awhile. Grape vines were embossed on the cover, twining around the spine and the back in an intricate design. But it didn’t jog my memory.
"What is it?"
"The Map of Souls," she murmured. A tingling ran up and down my back. A Map of Souls?
"You’re looking in the wrong place here," she continued, gesturing around at the library.
"Your answers lie within this."
She patted the book and as she did, tiny leather fingers lapped up from the cover and grabbed at her skin. She paid them no mind and turned back to me. As she did, the fingers were absorbed back into the leather. It was unnerving.
"Your answers lie within," she repeated and handed it to me. I took it with reverence.
"Guard it with your life," she cautioned. "Tell no one that you have it and certainly not Alexi. I risked much to take it and bring it. Do not disappoint me, Harmonia. You and I are as sisters. You will remember that with time. When you do, you must help me."
"Help you?" I stared at her in puzzlement until I registered a strange, cold feeling settling around me. It felt like a thousand cold hands were rubbing my skin. A vague low moaning grew into a wail, something that the library patrons did not notice.
Out of the back wall, two shadowy figures emerged, wearing long black robes and hoods.
They resembled grim reapers and my heart started skipping beats. They drifted quickly and with purpose across the main hall and within a minute, they had reached us, bringing with them a 20 degree temperature drop. I shivered.
"Yes, you will need to help me," Alathea said, holding her head proudly as they each grasped an arm. "Please."
The dark beings didn’t say a word, but they didn’t have to. Their mere presence was terrifying. They dragged Alathea back the same way they had come and disappeared into the wall. I stood in shock, clutching the book.
Now what?
My fingers trembled as they gripped the leather of the book and I felt the little fingers moving along the skin of my hand. My survival instructs kicked in and I did the only thing I could think of. I ran. I scrambled toward the reading nook and threw everything into my bag, flying as fast as I could out of the library and into the safety of my car. I sat behind my wheel, breathing heavily as I pondered what to do.
I had an overwhelming feeling that everyone around me was in danger while I was here.
So, I turned the key and started driving. I didn’t even know where I was going, but I needed to get far away from Pasadena while I figured it out. I drove straight out of the city through the congested traffic until I hit the highway.
And then I kept driving. I felt a strange pull luring me purposefully along the highway towards some unknown destination. I sighed and succumbed. I knew that it was best to just surrender and see what happened. I zoned out while the landscape flew past my car window. I didn’t even turn the radio on as I lost myself in thought. I could practically feel things shifting-the air seemed strange and electric. I was being nudged toward something catalytic and it was terrifying, just as the unknown always was.
My phone vibrated against the passenger seat and glancing over, I saw Gavin’s name on the screen. I was filled with trepidation. I wanted to talk to him, but he knew me inside and out. He would hear in my voice how upset I was and that would not work. He needed to remain in the dark. I let it go to voice mail. One minute later, he called again. I gulped and gripped the steering wheel. It was torturous not to pick it up, but I mustered up all of my available will power and once again let it slide into voice mail.
I looked into my rear view mirror and startled. Behind me, huge billowing dark clouds hovered ominously over Pasadena. They were much too large to be normal storm clouds and I felt the tension ratchet up into my neck. This. Was. Not. Good. The cloud wall grew larger by the moment, raging and bucking like a churning hurricane. No, this certainly wasn’t good.
That was not a normal act of nature.
There was a rest stop coming up on my right with a little café next to it, so I pulled off and parked. This was as good a place as any to contemplate what to do. The little restaurant’s faded sign called to me, so I grabbed my purse, locked my car and crossed the dusty parking lot to the café.
As I opened the door, the bells over my head jingled, announcing my arrival. I quickly scanned the room for an empty booth and surprisingly encountered a familiar face. My heart lurched into my throat. There was no way this was a coincidence.
Jade was sitting in a booth at the back, her hands restlessly toying with her cell phone, an anxious look on her lovely face. I didn’t even think as I made a bee-line for her, dropping unceremoniously down into the seat facing her. She looked up in surprise.
"Macy! You came. I’m not crazy," she murmured uncertainly.
"That’s probably debatable," I replied wryly. "But no. You’re not crazy. What made you think you were?"
"If I told you, you would definitely think that I am. So, let’s just say that I felt like a drive."
"Or you could tell me the truth," I persisted. "Trust me, Jade. I am quite familiar with crazy."
She stared at me a moment, her eyebrows pulling into a knitted frown. I could tell that she desperately wanted to share it with me, but she just wasn’t sure if she should. But our invisible bond was still there as strong as ever. Even if she couldn’t see it, I knew she could feel it. She innately knew she could trust me and she finally sighed.
"I had a weird dream. A woman came to me and told me that I was more important than I knew, that everything was going to change and I was going to be at the heart of it. She said that I was not what I thought I was and that I should stay with you, that you would keep me safe."
"And so how did that bring you here?" I asked, trying my best to be patient.
"She told me to come here. She said to start driving and to go with my instincts, that she would lead me to you. And now here you are, just like she said."
I swallowed hard, trying to swallow my instant unease.
"I’m not crazy, am I?" she asked, her face developing a calm expression. "You’re here, just like she said you would be."
"Yes, I’m here," I murmured. "You’re not crazy. Did the woman tell you her name?"
"Yes. It was an odd name Alathea."
Alathea had gone to Jade before she brought me the Map of Souls. And somehow, thinking of the two things in such rapid succession made me realize that they were connected. It just effortlessly clicked into place. Alathea wanted me to know who Jade was. And the Map of Souls could reveal that, so she had brought them both to me. The answer was within my grasp.
I could barely breathe as I mumbled to Jade that I would be right back.
I stumbled out to the parking lot and dragged the book out of my bag. Leaning against my car, I opened the book, ignoring the fingers that grasped mine. The book contained intricate family trees that seemed alive. The names morphed and changed before my eyes as I turned each weathered page. My fingers numbly found Jade’s name. I traced it backward through the millennia, my eyes widening as I saw who she had been in each life. And then I came to the first name. The beginning.
I could feel the pulse beating in my temple as I stared in apprehension at the letters on the page. The name was startling. Unexpected.
Aphrodite.
Jade was my mother.
Chapter Nine
Nothing made sense.
Aphrodite was entrapped in mortal form, too. So, that would mean that the rest of the gods probably were also. For what reason? The gravity of everything slammed into me and I had to force myself to concentrate. My goddess of a mother was sitting in a run-down, dingy diner in a ripped vinyl booth patiently waiting for me to explain to her who she was and why she was so special. A sudden feeling of déjà vu washed over me. In Alexandria, it was left to me to tell her that she was Cleopatra and that she was going to lose Egypt and die by her own hand. That was not a pleasant conversation.
And now here I was again. Same situation, different day. I was going to have to tell her that she was an Olympic goddess entrapped in mortal form. How did one go about that conversation? I took a shaky breath. Carefully. The answer was carefully.
I tucked the Map of Souls back into my bag and trudged back toward the diner, each step bringing me one closer to the reckoning. My birthmark did not hurt. And suddenly, I was furious about the fact that it ever did. The Moirae had entrapped me, used me as a tool and had placed some sort of spell on me so that I experienced intense pain every time I did something they didn’t like? That was not right and I briefly wondered how to go about getting it removed.
But I would have to ponder that later. As I reached for the door, I glanced once again toward Pasadena. The heavy black clouds were still rolling over the city. And I knew, without any doubt, that I needed to get to Gavin. My Cadmus. After I explained to Jade, he would be in danger. Which meant maybe I should wait until I returned to tell her. I needed to somehow make sure that I kept Gavin safe. I suddenly felt so lost. Without Ahmose, I had no one to advise me. I was all alone and it was a horrible feeling.
I rushed back into the diner and slumped into the seat across from Jade. She watched me in anticipation, certain that I was going to change her life somehow. And I would. Just not right this second.
"Jade, can you trust me? I have something very important to tell you, but it is of utmost importance that I get back to Pasadena first. Can you trust me?" I asked her again.
She stared at me wide-eyed and nodded slowly. I noticed that her knuckles were white as she gripped her phone. Jade was my mother. It was a breathtaking revelation. I had been guiding her into making horrible decisions for herself for two millennia. That knowledge was killing me as I stared at her. The Moirae were truly sick. And I suddenly knew, with every ounce of my being that they were the enemy here. I needed to somehow contact the Keres.
The old saying the enemy to your enemy is your friend suddenly made a lot of sense.