Guardian of Atlantis (The Children of Atlantis) (22 page)

“Wait.”

“I—”

“Just wait.”

Raven nodded, though she really didn’t understand why she was agreeing to wait.
Her heart felt like it was shattering.

Ethan turned to
the two groups. “I’m the alpha
of this pack. If anyone wants to challenge
me
, do it right now.” He looked at the teens gathered and waited, giving anyone who wanted to
challenge him a chance to step forward.

No one did.

Ethan nodded. “Raven Weir is my mate, and what she says is true. We are one pack, not two separate packs. And we will fight with Raven Weir. We will be her protectors. If anyone has issues with this, step forward now.”

The teens looked at each other.

Some whispered.

Some nodded.

Some shook their heads.

Pauline Ryder stepped forward. “I pledge my loyalty to this pack and to Ethan Knight, my alpha. I pl
edge to protect Raven Weir,
Guardian of Atlantis and mate to my alpha.” She bowed her head and bared her neck to Ethan.

The tall blonde from Jay’s group stepped forward. “I’m Sheena
Windwalker
. I too pledge my loyalties to this pack and to the protection of the Guardian and mate to my alpha.” She bowed her head and bared her neck.

Soon every Hellhound present had pledged his or her loyalty.

Raven watched in awe.

Ethan grinned at Raven. “There will be others, not just Hellhounds, who will help.”

Raven chewed on her bottom lip, not sure what to say or even think. She just nodded.

“I will go with Raven to her house,” volunteered Sheena.

“As will I,” added Pauline.

More volunteered to go with Raven, while others offered to take care of Jay’s stone statue.

The mention of Jay’s statue brought a wave of regret and remorse over Raven. It made her sick to even think about what she was capable of doing, but to actually see the evidence was almost too much.

“You did what you had to.” Sheena looked down at Raven. “You saved the lives of a lot of Hellhounds tonight.”

Raven frowned. “What do you mean?”

“After Jay killed you and
Ethan, he would have killed every
Hellhound
standing here
,” Sheena said softly.
“Because none of us would have given our loyalty to Jay.
Not even those who followed him were loyal to him.
They just thought he was the stronger alpha.
”

Raven felt her stomach churn. Even though others believed she had done the right thing, she was having a hard time believing it. She didn’t think her conscious would ever be clear or clean. Raven wrapped her hands around the pendant hanging from her neck. It grew warm. She stared at the lake.

“Are you ready?” asked Ethan.

Raven blinked. “Just have to get my bag.”

“I’ve got it.” Billy handed Raven the bag she had left under the bench when Jay attacked her.

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“My jeep is in the parking lot.” Ethan gestured toward the other side of the park.

“Okay.” Raven, surrounded by
a pack of
teenage Hellhounds,
followed
Ethan down the sidewalk in the direction he had pointed.

“Leslie, Ari, and Bree.
Where are they?
Are they safe?
” she asked Ethan when they got to the jeep.

“They’re at Leslie’s house. They weren’t very happy with you,” he said.

“But they’re safe?”

“Safe? Yes.
Happy?
Definitely no.”
Ethan opened the door for Raven. “Okay, next stop your house.” 

14

The attic room was special.

For several months before my birthday, Dad spent a lot of time working in the attic. But I wasn’t even allowed to go i
n there to help him. He told me
the day I was able to go into the attic by myself would be a very special day. And the secret of the attic would be mine to take.

And he was right.

             
             
--Raven Weir’s journal

“You have to wait until Ethan says it’s clear,” said Billy. He sat in the driver’s seat of Ethan’s jeep, ready to get Raven away from her house i
f Ethan or anyone else checking out the house decided it wasn’t
safe.

Raven rolled her eyes. “I might as well be under house arrest,” she grumbled. Even though they were just teens too, the Hellhounds were taking the whole protecting her thing way too seriously. It was worse than with Leslie, Ari, and Bree, who were angry with her and Ethan because they weren’t there too.

“Better safe than sorry,” said Pauline from the backseat.

Raven turned her head to look at the girl. “I know you didn’t just say that?”

“Well, it’s true.”

Raven shook her head. “You sound so like my mom.”

“Which one?”
Pauline’s hands immediately covered her mouth. “I didn’t mean to say that.” A panicked look covered her face.

“The one who’s going to take away your puppy snacks for being mean to me.”
Raven grinned at her.

“No one’s taking my
puppy
snacks!”

“You
wantta
bet?”

“Be nice or I’m not
gonna
share with you either,” said Pauline.

“Hey, both of you settle down.” Billy glared at them before turning his attention back to the house.

Raven giggled which set Pauline to giggling.

“Will you two cut it out?”

“Awe, Billy! You know I love you.” Pauline leaned forward and patted his shoulder, causing Billy to turn a couple shades of red.

Raven looked at him. She raised one of her eyebrows, questioning the redness in Billy’s face. “Sorry Billy. But definitely not what she said.”

“Thank the gods,” he grumbled, refusing to look at Raven. “Just keep it down.”

“Yes sir!” Pauline gave Billy a mock salute as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Raven covered her mouth with her hand to hide the smile and hopefully stifle the giggle.

Billy let out a sigh of aggravation. “Why did I get the babysitting job?”

“Because you’re so good at it,” said Pauline.

“There’s Ethan.” Raven sat up and pointed. 

“About time.”
Billy rolled down his window as Ethan walked up to it.

“The rain’s washed out any scents, but we searched the front and backyard. The back door was open. No one’s been here as far as we can tell. But no one was watching the place while we were at the park.”

“I’m not surprised the door
was open
. I wasn’t exactly worried about making sure it was closed at the time
,” said Raven.

Ethan nodded. “The kitchen’s a disaster. What happened to the wall between the kitchen and the hallway?”

“Somehow I managed to create some sort of energy field. At least that’s what I think happened. I remember flying through the wall and Jay went through the middle of the kitchen table.” Raven shook her head slightly. It seemed like so long ago.

“The only scents inside are yours and Jay’s. And they’re faint.”

“What about my mom?
Anything on her?”

“Sorry.
Nothing.”

“How’s that possible?”

“I’m not sure. But if there’s anything, we’ll find it.” Ethan didn’t sound very hopeful. “Let’s go find what you’re looking for.”

Raven got out and followed Ethan to the back porch. The ground around the porch was filled with cuts and missing chunks of grass. Raven looked at the backdoor. Going into the house would never be the same.

“Are y
ou okay?” asked Ethan.

“Yeah.
I’m fine.” Raven climbed the steps and went in the house.

Calling the kitchen a disaster area was an understatement. Broken dishes and the remnants of spoiled food were everywhere. Muddy paw prints in a variety of sizes covered the tile floor. There were even some prints on the broken dishes. The kitchen table was definitely beyond repair. As for the wall between the kitchen and the hall, Raven had no clue how she was going to fix that.

“What made the prints?” asked Raven.

“Various rodents and small animals,” said Ethan. “Don’t worry, they’ve already been removed.

Raven shuddered at the thought of rodents in the house
, and she definitely didn’t want to know exactly how they were removed
.

“Don’t worry about this,” said Pauline. “We’ll get it cleaned and fixed up.”

Raven nodded. “It’s just strange seeing this. I mean, this is my home, but it doesn
’t feel like it. It feels odd, l
ike I’m in someone else’s house. I just don’t know how to explain it.”

“Where should we start looking?” asked Ethan.

Raven chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. “The night aft
er dad’s funeral, mom packed
and we left to
wn. I don’t know what she took
or what she left.”

“Is it possible the journals are gone too?” Sheena’s boots crushed some of the broken shards of glass.

Raven thought. “The day of the funeral and even the day before it were really crazy. Mom spent a lot of time in the study. And she—”

“And she what?” asked Ethan.

Raven walked around the mess and
went down the hall to the garage
. She stopped in front of the closed door. “Mom took several boxes down to the basement.”

“The basement?” asked Pauline.

“Yeah, unlike most people in Texas, we have a basement and it’s full of junk.” Raven glanced at the others and shrugged. “Mom and Dad were different. They liked dark m
usty places, especially dad. I
t’s probably why he was always going on archeological digs everywhere.”

“Or was he looking for something.” said Ethan.

“It’s possible.” Raven shrugged her shoulders.

“So we need to start looking in the basement. Do you remember what the journals look like?” asked Sheena.

“There should be several of them. The covers are tannish brown leather, and each one has a strap and buckle to keep it closed.”

“Do what?” Billy looked at Raven with both of his eyebrows raised up.

“Yeah, I know. They look just like the ones the archeologists carry around and write in. You know,
like
in the old movies.” Raven smiled. “He even had one of those
hats like some of the guys
in the
old
movies.”

“Okay, so to the basement.”
Billy shook his head. “I hate basements. Too many things can hide in them.”

“You’ve watched too many horror movies.” Pauline punched his forearm. “Where’s the basement?”

“You have to go through the kitchen to the garage. There’s a trap door by the washer.”

“
That’s really great. We’re going down into the ground
through a trap door
,” grumbled Billy.

“I’ll protect you from the monsters down there.” Pauline smiled and winked at Billy. “And at least I’m not wearing high heels and a prom dress.”

“Hu
h?” Billy frowned at Pauline.

“You know. The girl in the heels and dress is always to first one who gets killed in the movies.”
She wrapped her arms around Billy’s.

“Get off of me.” He tried to pull his arm out of her grasp.

“Just go look in the basement. Sheena, go with them to make sure they actually look.” Ethan shook his head. He turned to Raven. “Is there anywhere else we should look?”

“We should definitely look in the study. It’s a mess, but there might be something there. It’s off the living room.
French doors.
You can’t miss it.”

Ethan gestured at a couple of teens whose names Raven didn’t know. T
hey immediately
took off toward the study
.
“Anywhere else?”

Raven sighed. “I keep thinking there is, but I can’t remember where. It’s got something to do with something mom said.”

“What?” asked
Ethan.

Raven paced as she thought. “What was it she told me? What was it?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I was so upset and so many people kept coming to the house. I was scared.” She stared into the open study.
“The gray lady.
I was scared of the gray lady.”

“The gray lady?” asked Ethan. Confusion filled his voice.

“The gray lady.
She appeared here after dad died. She was even at the funeral. Mom said I—” Raven’s eyes lit up. “We’ve got to go upstairs.” She pushed past Ethan.

“Wait.” Ethan called after her, but Raven was already gone. She was halfway up the stairs when he caught up with her. “Where are you going?”

Raven paused. “We have to get to the attic.” At the top of the stairs she sprinted down a hall.

“Would you wait up?”

Raven stopped at a door at the end of the hallway. Standing on her tippy toes, she reached for the top of the door frame. “Yes!” She pulled down an old skeleton key and held it up for Ethan to see, then put the key into to the lock
and turned it
.

The click echoed down the hallway. Leaving the key in the lock, Raven opened the door. The musty smell of old air greeted them. Raven put her hand inside the door to her left and flipped a switch. Light suddenly filled the small, dusty space, revealing another set of stairs.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s been up here in years.” Ethan looked over Raven’s shoulders.

“I was probably the last person in the attic.” Raven pushed cobwebs out of her way.

“Why were you in the attic?”

Raven stepped on the first step of the stairs. It groaned in protest. “Until mom made me go to the funeral, I hid up here in my special place that dad made for me. Mom let me stay here for a long time. I remember she brought a box up here. Then she made me go downstairs and she locked the door and put the key up on the frame. That was the last time I ever came up here
, until now
.”

Ethan nodded and followed Raven.

At the top of the stairs, Raven flipped another light switch. The air was warm and musty. The room and everything in it was covered with dust and lots more cobwebs, but Ethan was amazed at what he saw.

The entire wall in fro
nt of him was covered with
an elaborately detailed painting of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Even the people in the painting looked real enough to walk right off the wall an
d carry on a conversation. He
turned to his left and found himself looking at the ocean complete with dolphins swimming around a pod of humpback whales.

“Totally awesome!”

“Not bad is it? Behind you are the Pyramids of Giza and over there is the Temple of the Moon at Teotihuacan.” Raven gestured to the other two walls. “Above us is the night sky and below us a desert.”

Ethan looked up. “Orion’s constellation is the in the center.”

“Neat. Isn’t it?” Raven looked around at the cushions and oversized pillows strewn everywhere. “I used to send hours up here, reading, drawing, daydreaming as I stared at the paintings. I always wondered what the people at the Temple of Apollo where thinking.” She sighed. “It seems like a life time ago.”

Ethan walked up to the ocean scene. “I can’t get over all the detail. It must have taken whoever painted this, months to do it.”

“I don’t know how long it took dad to do all of this, but it, this room, was my present for my fifth birthday.” Raven moved to stand beside Ethan. “I would pretend to play tag with the dolphins and when I got tired, Mel would let me ride on his back.”

“Mel?”

“Mel, the huge humpback whale in the center of the pod.”
Raven grinned. “You know what the best part was?”

“What?”

Raven looked up at the painting
. “Mel would take me down to
look at the ship wrecks at the bottom of the ocean. I wasn’t afraid because I knew I was safe with him and I could breathe underwater.” Raven suddenly frowned.

“What’s wrong?” asked Ethan.

Raven stared at the ocean scene. “The merpeople never would play with me. I knew they were there in the shadows watching, but I think they were afraid of me.”

“Merpeople?”
Ethan’s eyebrows arched up and he sounded almost like he was laughing at her.