The Prophecy of Shadows (25 page)

“About thirteen or fourteen hours,” she said. “But you’re feeling better, right?”

“Not the greatest, but I’ll survive.” I brought my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “I feel more like I stayed up all night partying as opposed to healing three people—including myself—who were close to death, and staking a monster with a stalagmite.”

Kate pushed her hair behind her ears and laughed. “The others will want to know that you’re okay,” she said, serious again. “I’ll call them in a minute—do you want some more water?”

“Yes.” I nodded and licked my lips. My throat and tongue were still so dry that it felt like I could drink a bathtub full of water if she placed one in front of me. “Thanks.”

She walked out the door and gently shut it behind her, leaving me to reflect over everything that had happened. At least Darius had made Becca forget everything so I wouldn’t have to get her involved in all of this. But that creature had managed to get its hands on her, and there was no reason to believe that anything else that escaped Kerberos would be less merciful towards humans—especially the humans closest to their enemies.

I lowered my head to balance it on my knees. How was I supposed to be ready for this? The others had known about their powers for all of their lives. I’d just learned about mine a week and a half ago. Now I was expected to fight in an age-old battle with creatures that had far more experience than I could ever hope for. If the prophecy was right, and this is what I was supposed to do, then fate had a funny way of dealing with things. Because people are supposed to
train
for battle before entering it.

Apparently I wasn’t going to get that opportunity.

The door opened again, and I lifted my head, forcing a smile when I met Kate’s eyes. She carried another glass of water—this one bigger than the first. I grabbed it and gulped it down.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, placing the empty glass on the nightstand. “The water helped a lot. Thanks.”

“No problem.” She sat on the end of the bed and leaned against the wall, her legs straight in front of her so her feet hung over the edge. “I called Darius,” she said. “He said to come over to his house if you were feeling up to it. He’ll call the others, too. He wants to talk with us about the Book of Shadows. It was … well, he’ll explain when we get there.”

“Was there something wrong with the Book?” I asked.

“Darius just wants us all together to figure out what to do next,” she said. “From what the harpy told us, we’re going to have bigger challenges ahead than a treasure hunt for the Book of Shadows.”

“What did the stuff that the harpy said even mean?” I asked, trying to recall the specifics. “Something about a demigod and a typhon. Isn’t that some kind of giant wave?”

Kate looked down at the bed, chewing her bottom lip. “We should wait to get to Darius’s so he can explain. But first, you need to eat. My family was hungry and didn’t want to wake us before they went to brunch, so we can just have breakfast here.”

My stomach growled, and I stretched my arms, a rush of energy returning to my system. “I’m ready,” I said. “We’ll have breakfast, and then we’ll head out.”

“Okay.” She studied me and pushed herself off the bed. “Remember to keep an open mind about what Darius is going to say. It might sound strange …” She paused and looked down at her hands. “Well, I’ll let you decide for yourself. Come on.”

The front door to Darius’s house was unlocked, and I followed Kate into the great room. Darius sat in a red armchair, and Chris, Blake, and Danielle were on the matching couch. They watched me with relieved looks on their faces—even Danielle’s.

Chris jumped out of his seat before I had a chance to say hi. “Nicole!” he said, motioning me to join them. “Take my seat. I can sit on the floor.”

“Thanks.” I walked over to the couch, trying not to look at Blake as I sat down. His kissing me in the cave had changed everything, but I had no idea what it meant for us—if it meant anything to him at all. Because as far as I was aware, he still hadn’t broken up with Danielle. I needed to talk to him, without everyone else listening. But for now, I scooted as close to the side of the couch as possible, balancing my elbow on the armrest and trying not to look at him.

Chris sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table, the Book of Shadows placed on top of it. The leather cover was aged and ancient, and the yellowed paper wasn’t all the same length, making it look like one of the old novels in my grandfather’s library. However, the Book was bigger than a novel—it was closer to the size of a dictionary.

Blake’s eyes met mine, and I sucked in a breath at the intensity of his gaze. “I’m glad you’re doing better,” he said. “We were all worried about you back in the cave. I thought … well, I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

My skin tingled at the depth of concern in his voice. I would definitely have to figure out how to talk with him—alone—later. But for now I managed a small smile and turned back to Darius, who studied me with equal worry.

“Yes, we’re all glad you’re okay,” Darius said.

I crossed my legs away from Blake and looked at the Book. “So, what’s in the Book?” I asked, resisting the urge to reach forward and open it myself.

“Before we get to that, we need to talk about what the harpy said to you.” Darius looked at Danielle and nodded once. “What were her exact words again?”

“I don’t remember her
exact
words,” Danielle said. “But she said that Typhon was rising, and that he needed to ‘return to his true form.’ And …” She narrowed her eyes at me. “She called Nicole a demigod.”

“Aren’t we all demigods?” I asked. “We’re descended from the Greek gods.”

“We’re
witches
,” Danielle clarified. “The diluted god blood in our veins enables us to access energy to perform magic. But each generation gets weaker if the god blood is mixed with human blood, until the ability to do magic disappears completely. If we keep our blood pure, the magic we pass down will stay strong. That’s why we’re encouraged to marry other witches and not spend much time with humans. But a
demigod
is the direct offspring of a god and a mortal. Half god, half human. It’s different.”

“So if I’m a demigod, then one of my parents would have to be …” I trailed off, unable to say it out loud.

“One of your parents would have to be a god,” Blake finished my thought. “And you’ve never met your bio-dad, so it’s possible.”

“So you’re saying my bio-dad’s a
god
?” I looked at Darius for confirmation. He stared back at me, his eyes serious. “That’s ridiculous.” I laughed. “I didn’t develop my powers, or even
know
about them, until I got here. If I were a demigod—” I paused, shaking my head at the word. “I would have realized it earlier. Right?”

“The Head Elders block the powers of a demigod until they’re ready to use them, or until their powers strengthen enough to overcome the spell,” Darius said, his gaze unwavering. “To keep the young demigods safe, the Head Elders don’t tell anyone outside of their inner circle about who they are. The birth of a demigod is uncommon nowadays, since the gods don’t come to Earth as often, but it happens. Blocking their powers lowers the risk of a young demigod losing control and seriously injuring people without meaning to. Let’s go back to how you accidentally blew up that glass the other day.” He paused, and I pictured the moment. “Now imagine a two-year-old demigod having a temper tantrum. It’s safer for you to not know about your powers until you’re mature enough to control them.”

“So let’s say the harpy was right and I
am
a demigod,” I said. “That would mean you must have some idea who my father is. Right?”

Darius nodded, a smile creeping up on his lips. “I’ve been thinking about that,” he said. “You’re a fantastic tennis player, which means you have good aim. Your friends tell me that you get intuitions about things, and that those intuitions are usually right. Your special ability is healing. I looked up your mother on the Internet because I was curious to see which god might have been attracted to her, and found that she’s a singer and an artist. Which would likely bring her attention from …” He looked around and waited for one of the others to complete the sentence, like we were in class instead of talking in his living room.

“Apollo,” Kate finished, her mouth wide open. “You’re the daughter of Apollo.”

I thought about the little bit of Greek mythology I’d learned during the past few days. “The god of the sun?” I asked.

“Among many other things.” Kate leaned forward and explained, “Apollo’s mainly the god of healing, archery, music, the arts, and prophecy.”

“Healing makes sense,” I said, sitting back in the couch. “Archery could explain why I have good aim.” I flashed back to the fight with the hound and how easy it had been for me to shoot the monkey bar through its heart. “I’ve always liked music. I’ve taught myself a bit of guitar, but I’ve never taken a lesson.”

“You should try,” Chris said. “Maybe you’ll be the next Hendrix.” He played a few notes on air-guitar, breaking some of the tension in the room and making everyone laugh.

“Okay,” I agreed. “But is there any way to prove this? I’m going to have a tough time believing it without any proof.”

Darius shook his head. “It’s only a theory. We may or may not get proof in the future, but as of now, everything is pointing in the direction of you being a demigod.”

“So I’m a demigod.” It sounded ridiculous when said aloud. “Let’s say that you’re right. Is there some kind of rule that gods can’t visit their kids? Because I’ve never met my bio-dad. It would’ve been nice to have him in my life growing up, and he’s immortal, so he must have had time. Does he even care that he has a kid?”

“The gods are busy,” Darius said with a sigh. “It’s not that they don’t care—”

“It’s common for the gods to ignore their children,” Danielle interrupted. “The only way for a demigod to get a god’s attention is to do something spectacular, like Perseus who slayed Medusa or Hercules who killed some of the most dangerous monsters out there. I doubt that grabbing a book and killing a random harpy is going to cut it.”

I waited for Darius to say she was wrong, but he remained silent.

“Is that true?” I finally asked. “The gods ignore their kids?”

“He’s not ignoring you,” Darius said gently. “I’m sure he’s just very busy. And now there’s a war going on. Perhaps he’ll speak with you sometime in the future.”

The smug smile remained on Danielle’s face. “Doubtful,” she said. “Anyway, what’s going on with the Book of Shadows? Any change since last night?”

Darius gave me a half-hearted smile and looked back at the Book. “Not that I know of,” he said. “But I haven’t looked at it again since you first brought it over. Perhaps it will change if Nicole gives it a try. Since she was the only one who could lift it off the podium, maybe she’s the only one who can access what’s inside.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

Darius motioned towards the Book. “Look for yourself.”

I lowered myself in front of the coffee table, balancing my knees on the floor and leaning over the Book. While the plain leather cover resembled something from hundreds of years ago, there wasn’t a scratch on it. It was like it had been transported through time, never touched by human hands.

I reached for it and was surprised by how warm it was—like it was alive. The cover opened easily, and I held my breath in anticipation of what I was about to see.

A blank page stared back at me. I flipped through a few more pages, and they were all the same.

“There’s nothing in here.” I looked up at Darius, waiting for an explanation.

He sat back in his chair and focused on the Book. “Which means nothing’s changed.”

“So this Book of Shadows is supposed to help us save the world, and it’s empty,” Chris said. “How’s that helpful?”

“The gods must have a plan,” Kate said. “Otherwise, why would the prophecy lead us to the Book?”

Darius placed his hands in his lap, looking around at all of us. “All will be revealed in time,” he said. “Leave the Book of Shadows with me. If there are any changes, you five will be the first to know.”

“So we just go home?” Danielle asked.

“Yes.” Darius nodded. “I want Blake to study the book he received in his clue and start making those weapons. Judging from the trials you five just faced, they will be necessary. The rest of you should do whatever you can to help him. I’m going to devise a special training program so you all can learn to use your new powers to the best of your abilities. I need a few days to talk with the Head Elders and figure out exactly what’s going on here, and in the meantime, I put protection spells around the school and your houses to stop monsters from getting inside.”

“That creature got to Becca so easily,” I said. “Even with the protection spell up, it could have just waited for her to leave the house and gotten her then. How are we supposed to stop them?”

“By getting to them first,” Darius said, completely serious.

My head spun with a million thoughts a second. The Book that was supposed to help us save the world was empty. The portal to Kerberos had weakened enough that monsters were escaping. And then there was the other thing the harpy had said…