Hearken (Daughters of the Sea Series) (29 page)

             
“Interesting how you claim to have no knowledge of Luna’s whereabouts, but still insist you’re not her.” Liam stepped closer to her with indignation swimming in his eyes.

             
“I’m not obligated to answer your questions
or
lead you to the crystal.” She lifted her chin in defiance. “I would rather suffer a hundred deaths than divulge its resting place.”

             
“We can arrange that-” Ricker began, but I silenced him with my hand.

             
“I believe I have someone who may be able to change your mind,” I remarked matter-of-factly. “So you’ll be coming with us regardless.”

             
“No!” she screamed as Ian and Ricker fought to hold onto her arms. “You are compromising its protection!”

             
“You should have thought about that before you compromised our security measures and stole the Key to Tribeca and the Book of Souls!” I spit at her.

             
“Careless fools!” she mumbled, and bit her lip so hard it began to bleed. Ricker promptly threw her to the ground so hard I could almost hear her skull crack. She went unconscious and I immediately backed Ricker up against the nearest wall. I tightened my hand around his neck and secured his head against the white stone, so that he had no choice but to look at me.

             
“Killing her is
not
an option,” I told him in a low, menacing voice. “It will be pretty difficult to get information from her if she’s trapped in the Underworld. From now on you’ll only restrain her – we don’t harm defenseless women.”

             
“She called us fools,” he choked out in defense of his rash actions.

             
“I don’t care if she calls you every curse word under the sun!” I felt my face darken. “Do
not
harm her unless directed to do so.”

             
I let him go abruptly and marched back to the group. Ian gently folded her in his arms and resigned to carrying her now-dead weight through the maze of caverns. Liam’s demeanor was rigid and he kept his eyes on her limp body. I would have to talk to him later to find out how he was doing. It wasn’t like him to be this reserved. Ricker commenced to pouting and refused to look me in the eye, but I felt no remorse. I couldn’t allow him to act that way without provocation. It wasn’t how the Sons handled themselves.

             
A sound in the distance brought me out of my thoughts and I met the startled eyes of Sean. He nodded carefully as if to confirm he had heard it as well. The group followed behind soundlessly as I led them deeper into the belly of the endless caverns.

             
Once we’d traversed almost every tunnel and cave within the caverns, I began to grow wary of the fading light filtering through the few holes in the ceiling. Once it became dark it would be almost impossible to find our way out. I was about to turn around when a felt an odd, cool wind blow across my face. After following it for several more yards, I stood in front of a small opening in the side of an unassuming sloped wall. 

             
The cool energy flowing through the delicate breeze was reminiscent of Luna’s cool essence. Or whoever she was. I glanced back at her still form and surveyed the opening with protective eyes.

             
“I’m going to go check this out,” I announced to them. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

             
I dropped to my knees and crawled through the narrow opening. It dropped slightly downward and I continued to follow along with nothing to guide me but my hands. A faint light could be seen up ahead, but that was all the light I was provided. As I got closer, the light grew brighter and I quickly spilled into a circular room that was maybe twenty yards across and immeasurably high. The only hint of a ceiling I could make out was a dark circle far above, with a tiny hole in the center; a single strip of fading sunlight shining through. The ray of sunlight fell perfectly onto the center of the floor I was standing on, but as I walked further towards the middle, I realized something was wrong.

             
The air pressure in the room was immense. It was as if something was pressing against my body from all sides, fighting to make my body implode. It made it difficult to breathe, and even more difficult to think straight. The little breath I was able to obtain was suddenly pushed out when I noticed extremely small pieces of something shiny floating all around me. They moved in unison, circling the lone point of light on the floor from the hole above. There were at least of a hundred of them. One in particular looked curiously similar to the crystal sliver given to me by Mom. I reached out to halt the movement of one and see if I could pick it out of the air, but as my skin touched it I realized it was as hot as the sun and cold as ice – all at the same time. I pulled my hand back and stared at the spectacle before me in awe. I forced myself to take deep measured breaths so I wouldn’t pass out from a lack of oxygen. 

             
Could
the crystal
actually be a thousand tiny crystals – all working as one? That couldn’t be right! It was as if the original had either exploded or had been-

             
“It’s been stolen,” a voice said behind me; making me spin around in preparation of having to defend myself. The voice belonged to none other than Liam.

             
“Seriously, dude?” I tried to calm my urge to hit him. “I told ya’ll to stay out there.”

             
“I’m not one of your Sons, Finn,” Liam snapped at me. “I answer to no one.”

             
Since he had a very valid point, I decided not to argue. Instead I considered what he’d just said.

             
“Do you think that’s what happened?” I asked him.

             
“I do,” he agreed, and stepped closer to the wall of circling crystal pieces. “I’ve done some homework on this crystal, and apparently it’s said to be about the size of a football. Even with the pieces of crystal still here, they wouldn’t amount to that size. I think these little fragments are the result of someone having taken the actual crystal.”

             
“Could be,” I surmised. “Maybe they fell off in the process of someone handling it or dislodging it.”

             
“It’s definitely gone,” he mused and turned back to the opening.

             
“Liam,” I called to him. He turned expectantly. I contemplated him for a second before speaking. The circles had darkened beneath his eyes, and the disconnect I sensed within him was worrisome. I knew my friend needed time, but I couldn’t help but think something else was going on in that brain of his. “You know you can talk to me, right? I worry about you.”

             
“Save us both the trouble,” he droned, as all emotion drained from his face. “And don’t.” With that, he turned and disappeared inside the tunnel. I followed him with a heavy heart.

             
Upon returning to the tree house several hours later, we were able to escort our new captive inside under the veil of night. A bright moon shone down on the waters of the lake, but everything was completely still in the houses surrounding it. I reached out to Stasia mentally to feel what she was feeling. All I registered was calm, and I hoped that meant she was sleeping soundly under the care of Amphitrite. 

             
I intended to check on her after I figured out what to do with Luna. I was beginning to crave her tender touch and the light that shone in her eyes when she looked at me. I wanted to see her smile and listen to her voice as she talked me down from the pillow of anger and fatigue I was currently sitting on. But I also knew she was hurting. I knew the immense pressure she was under, but that only meant she needed me - almost as much as I needed her.

             
The shrill voice coming from the living room notified me that our guest had finally awakened to find herself still under our command. I walked into the house and shut the door behind me before nodding appreciatively to Ricker and Ian, who had forced her into the arm chair. I extended her binds to encompass her entire body as well as the chair, so that she couldn’t wiggle out at any point.

             
“We think the crystal has been stolen,” I informed her as I sat down on the couch. “Any idea who might have done that?”

             
Her eyes widened and she looked at me with accusation clear on her face. “I told you this would happen! You don’t understand what you’ve done!”

             
“Then why don’t you enlighten us?” I crossed my arms and glared at her darkly. She closed her eyes, which had conveniently changed from violet to light blue, and took several deep breaths.

             
“I’d like to ask
you
a question first.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Where is your bride-to-be? Where is your Anastasia?” Without a single conscious thought, a powerful cloud of energy blasted from my body and threw her, along with her chair, against the far wall.

             
“Speak of her again and I will kill you,” I growled at her crumpled form lying partially beneath the overturned arm chair. Just then, the door swung open and my mother walked in. She gasped and stared at me with wide eyes.

             
“Oh, Finn!” she crooned, and ran to the overturned chair. “Honey, what have you done?!”

Chapter 29

Olivia

             
“The Spanakopita for me, and the lady will have the Youvestsi,” Sebastian informed our waiter. “And we’ll take your finest bottle of Domaine Mercouri Red.”

             
“I think I can order for myself,” I hissed at him after the waiter walked away. “I’m not helpless.”

             
Instead of a quick-witted response, he leaned forward on his elbows and seemed to search my eyes for something. He cocked his head to the side, causing his mass of blonde hair to fall that way as well. He slowly smiled at me.

             
“When was the last time you allowed a man to take care of you?” he asked curiously. “
Really
take care of you?”

             
“I don’t
need
a man to take care of me,” I responded icily.

             
“Don’t you?” he asked with a presumptuous grin, and popped a piece of bread in his mouth. Was this guy serious? I needed to keep count of how many times he insulted me and start charging interest.

             
“Is it possible for you to have a conversation without insulting me?”

             
“I’m simply telling you what you already know,” he came back casually. “You taking it as an insult is simply an added bonus.”

             
“How else am I supposed to take it?”

             
“I’m just trying to help you out,” he offered.

             
“I don’t need your help! Or anything else that you have to offer, I might add.”

             
“I bet I could change your mind.”

             
“What? With another insult?” I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes. “Your romantic acumen is astonishing.”

             
“Ouch.” He laughed and then set down his white linen napkin, leaned forward and took my hand in his. I almost pulled it away, but decided at the last minute that I enjoyed how warm his hand was. He cleared his throat loudly.

             
“Hey girl.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and curled his lip up to deliver his best James Dean impression. “Are you a sauna? ‘Cause you’re uncomfortably hot.”

             
I pressed my lips together in an effort not to smile, and shook my head to let him know it hadn’t worked. He thought for a moment longer and assumed the pose once more.

             
“Hey Girl. If you were the last Pringles chip in the can, I’d go elbow deep in your tube to get you out.” This time I couldn’t help the bout of laughter that took over, and I dabbed tears from eyes before they rolled down my face.

             
“That escalated quickly,” I sputtered between laughs.

             
“Okay, okay last one,” he guffawed. “If this one doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will.”

             
“It better be good,” I snickered. I noticed he was still holding my hand, and his thumb had begun to rub my palm. A shiver went down my spine as I looked down at our entangled hands. I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip and looked at me with feigned intensity.

             
“Hey Girl. Are you an antiperspirant? ‘Cause if you are, you’re probably one of those cheap knock-off brands.” He leaned forward, winked at me, and lowered his voice. “’Cause you’re making me sweat.”