“She’s amazing…” I grinned at him, contemplating the irony of her final resting place, “… apparently not very effective, but still amazing.”
“You wouldn’t believe how many ship wrecks are off the Outerbanks of North Carolina. It’s referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic.” His eyes seemed far away, “So much history…so many souls lost…”
“When I touched her, I saw a bunch of images…just like I experienced with the sea turtles.”
“You have an affinity for all things connected to the ocean, not just the animals,” he explained. I immediately reverted back to the memory of Nadia accusing me of violating her mind.
That’s when I remembered something else much less threatening.
“What about the coffee table in the living room? I felt something from it, too. Where did it come from?”
“This shipwreck,” he grinned and swept his arms out encompassing the whole wreck site.
“This shipwreck? It’s the wood from this ship?” I stared back at him.
“Pretty cool, huh?” he grinned.
“Very cool…” I said; inspecting a circular object below.
“After it sank, the Sons salvaged the wood from it. It had been sitting piled up in storage, so we decided to make something out of it. We’re good with our hands,” he winked at me and I rolled my eyes, even though I was highly impressed. I swam closer to the main skeleton and marveled at how large it had been. The spine of the ship remained hidden beneath the sand, but its ribs were massive. I swam inside what would have been the belly of the ship and imagined what it must have looked like. Out of the corner of my eye, something glinted in the sand. I kicked down further; zeroing in on the unknown object. I could tell that only part of it was sticking out, so I plunged my hand in the soft, forgiving sand and plucked it out.
“Wow,” I breathed in pure amazement. The stone fit into my hand perfectly and warmed as I gripped it. Its iridescent white color was enhanced by the tiny striations throughout. It was smooth and shimmered even more than my trace as I turned it back and forth in my hands. It was simply beautiful.
“Find some buried treasure?” Finn asked with an amused smile. His dark hair danced in the current and his deep blue eyes had swirls of light blue, courtesy of the ocean waters.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I arched an eyebrow at him and closed my hand around my find, putting it behind my back.
“I’ve already found my treasure,” he inferred with a wicked grin.
“You are so cheesy,” I shook my head at him and smiled.
“You like it,” he accused me.
“That’s completely beside the point,” I said at the same time a yawn took my mouth hostage.
I didn’t even know it was possible to yawn underwater. Finn came up behind me and hugged me; leaning down and kissing my cheek.
“I think it’s time to go back up to the beach,” he said with a suspicious smile.
Chapter 13
If I thought the breeze was chilly on my bare skin before swimming in the ocean, I obviously wasn’t thinking about what it would feel like after the fact. Still only wearing bra and underwear, Finn had wrapped me up in a huge, fluffy beach towel decorated with snowmen, which I found wildly ironic, and the icicles on the end of my nose had slowly begun to melt away. Huddled on the blanket with only my nose and eyes peeking out, I observed Finn emptying the mystery canvas bag of its contents. First to come out was a round Tupperware container. Next was a small black box, a corked bottle of liquid, and a small shot glass. If he thought I was about to do shots with him, he was sadly mistaken. I’d be asleep before I could set down the glass.
“It’s not what you think,’ he said without looking at me, but I knew he was referring to the highly skeptical look plastered all over my face. “It’s coconut milk…from the Fortunate Isle.” This time he glanced up at me and smiled knowingly. Relief washed over me, quickly replaced with curiosity and excitement. I had no idea what this was all about, but I couldn’t wait to find out.
He sat up straighter and something resembling devastation rushed into his eyes, “I have some bad news.”
“Okay…” I unwrapped the part of the towel cocoon covering my head; giving him my full attention. Coming in second to ‘we need to talk’ were conversations starting with ‘I have bad news’.
The devastation I saw in his eyes had travelled across his features, which caused my heart to break.
“The day you’ll have to take your journey to the Underworld will be November 2nd.”
“November 2nd…got it.” Sounded like a harmless date to me, “Why is that bad?”
“It’s the Day of the Dead,” he clarified, paused, and then took a deep breath, “it’s also my eighteenth birthday.”
“Your birthday’s on the Day of the Dead?” Realizing quickly that wasn’t the piece of information I was supposed to get out of his explanation, I hastily continued, “What does that mean for my journey?”
“What that means is that I won’t be able to go with you.” Yep. Definitely bad news. My heart sank to my feet and I felt the blood drain from my face.
“But…why not?” I asked slowly, even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.
“I’ll have to fast in solitude for two days leading up to the night of my birthday, which is when I’ll be required to kill my brother; making me the new Prime. So, I’ll be taken somewhere to begin fasting October 31st; All Hallow’s Eve - or as everyone else calls it - Halloween.”
“I can’t do this without you,” I declared, as an overwhelming dread began to fester in my gut.
“You’ll have to Pasha. I’m so sorry.”
“But I don’t know anything about the Underworld! I don’t even know what to do if, by some miracle, I do find the river and I definitely don’t know how to get past Persephone!”
“We have two weeks to prepare. I’ll make sure that you’re ready and my mother will be there that day to help you. She’ll be able to get you into the Underworld, but you’ll have to do the rest on your own.” As my own destiny began to fall through the cracks, I thought about the risks Finn would be taking.
“And what if your brother kills you first?” The festering dread had now morphed into hysteria and fear. “I can’t lose you, Finn.” I tried to push down the massive panic attack I could feel coming on.
“I can assure you that won’t happen. I’ve been working out.” He tried to make me laugh, falling short, “And that’s why I brought this with me.” He picked up the small black box and opened it carefully. He produced a bracelet of small black beads from the velvety lining inside.
“Give me your foot,” he instructed, and I stuck one leg out. Apparently what I thought was a bracelet was actually an anklet. He secured it around my left ankle as the beads glistened in the moonlight. The same pulsing warmth I had felt earlier from Finn’s beads began to flow up my leg; encasing my entire body and lifting my frenzy of emotions. Black onyx. “Since I can’t be with you, I wanted to give you something to remind you how important you are to me. I have no doubt you’ll be successful.”
“It’s beautiful, Finn.” Not to mention its protective energy was bringing my heartbeat back down to a normal speed.
“Just one more thing. We’re going to head back to Lorelei tomorrow, knowing how soon the date of your journey must be. However, we will begin preparing…tonight.” He reached for the bottle of liquid and I realized how old it looked. It was in the shape of a wine bottle, but had no markings or labels on the outside; just a single cork in the top. It had turned hazy with age and I noticed that Finn handled it with care. He shook it gently before uncorking it, filling the shot glass with the coconut milk, and handing it to me. Expecting it to have a milky quality to it and smelled just like well… coconut.