Fire & Flood (Mythverse #1)

Book 2 Chapter 22

22

After class, Themis meets me in the hall and asks me to follow her. I want to check on Tina, but I can’t exactly use that as an excuse.

“Edie,” she says once we’re in her office. “This is for you.” She hands me pair of portal keys.

“What is this for?” I ask thoroughly confused.

“Those will get you to Greece and back. To find your mom.”

This is the day for me losing all control of my vocal cords. Apparently also my eyes. They’re filling up with tears, and I don’t know how to thank Themis.

“I know that there’s no way Zee will send you now,” Themis says. “Not with Maddox running the show. All missions are approved by her and your mom isn’t a priority. Maddox is more interested in killing than rescue missions.”

“You don’t agree with her view, do you?” I ask, relieved that Themis hasn’t caught Maddox fever.

“No. I don’t. But many here do.” She hands me a school pack. “There is some food, some money, and as long as you’re wearing this, you can speak and understand modern Greek. There’s also your old cell phone. I spelled the GPS to bring you to your mother.”

I hug her, but she’s rigid as a board.

“I can’t thank you enough.”

She gives me a squeeze—one that feels a little more like being crushed due to her amazing strength—and then releases me.

“I’m not doing this just for you,” she says. “Your mother and I…we were close once. I raised your dad as my own, and mothers are protective of their sons. She had to win her way into my heart after she claimed his. No easy task.” She raises an eyebrow at me.

“I bet not.”

Themis clears her throat, back to business.

“You have to go alone,” she tells me. “And I don’t think you should bring your mom back with you. I understand you need to see she is unscathed. However, she’s safe where she is now. Safe from the monsters and safe from…well, from here.”

“There are no monsters with my mom? Did you get new intel?”

She shakes her head curtly. “I have my own sources. I don’t know everything, but…please, Edie, let your mom know that you are well and return to us. We need you.”

I turn to leave but she stops me. “Tell her I miss her. And that I am sorry about your dad. Tell her…tell her I will watch out for you as best I can.”

“I will,” I promise.

I make my way to the portal, determined not to get waylaid.

In the distance, I catch sight of Nico and Maddox. They have a crowd gathered around them, most of them chanting something about monster blood making the grass grow.

Several feet away Cassie stands alone, wearing a clearly homemade sandwich board and banging a drum with each word as she counter-protests, “End the war! Live in peace!”

I feel like I should join her. She looks so alone. But at the same time I don’t know if I believe in her message any more than I do Maddox’s.

Pretending not to see any of them, I turn my head and hurry to the portal.

At least all the protesting is a good distraction.

I won’t have any tag-alongs or team members. I’m going in alone this time, and it feels like maybe that’s the way it should’ve been from the start.

I throw the portal key into the fountain and step through the glowing space between the pillars. Into the freezing nothingness. When I take the next step, I am on a bustling city street.

Finally—Greece.

I immediately pull out my phone and open the maps app.

I’m in Athens.

Last year I was devastated when I realized I wasn’t going with my family to Greece. What would have happened if I hadn’t gotten sick? Would my dad be alive? Or would we all be dead?

I shake my head. I can’t play the ‘what if’ game right now. I have to find my mom. Who is apparently on a small island off the coast.

I hail a cab and tell him to take me to somewhere I can rent a boat.

I want to be alone with my thoughts, so of course the cabbie tries to make small talk.

“American?” he asks.

“Yes…on a school trip,” I say, realizing I forgot to have my uniform spelled to street clothes.

“How long are you in Athens?”

“Not long. I’m taking a side trip. We were given the day to explore.”

“You speak very good Greek,” he tells me approvingly. “Are your parents from here?”

I start to say no, but then I realize I have no idea where my bio parents were born. My mother’s name is Greek so she could be from here—she could even be from Athens. I shake my head and answer with shrug.

“I just picked up the language easily,” I tell him. I don’t add from a magical spell.

At the docks I shove money at the cabbie and I guess it was a lot because he thanks me profusely. Finding a boat is harder than finding a cab. A lot of the fishermen ignore me, while others seem super sketchy. One shouts, “I’ll give you a ride, pretty girl.”

I realize that with the time difference it’s almost dark. Who needs a boat? As soon as the sun sets I’ll just fly.

I walk along the beach until I find a less populated area. Settling on the sand, I watch the setting sun. It’s so beautiful but I can’t enjoy it. I’m about to see my mom, and I have no idea what it’s going to be like. Joyful, obviously. But, to what extent? Does she even know Dad is dead? Am I going to have to tell her? And what happened to Mavis? Themis obviously knew something, and she didn’t send me after Mavis—just Mom. Somehow the two got separated, and having to tell me all about it is certainly going to be painful.

Especially if Mavis is dead.

“No,” I say out loud. “She’s not. She can’t be.”

When it’s finally dark enough to shift into my dragon form, I jump into the air and spread my wings, flying higher and higher. The warm air is lovely. I head toward the island where my mom is waiting.

When I get there I circle a few times. There’s a tiny village and a lighthouse. I land on the far side of the island and make my way up a cliffside path. Checking my phone, I walk straight to the lighthouse and the small cottage that connects to it. When I get to the door I pause. According to the information on my phone—this is it.

With a shaking hand, I knock.

I hear voices inside. A deep one and several high-pitched ones. A boy opens the door, he’s only about eight or nine. When he sees me his face scrunches in confusion. “Who are you?”

“Kostas, don’t be rude,” a familiar voice says and suddenly she’s there. My mother stands next to the boy, a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes?” she asks. She looks at me expectantly and I burst into tears.

“Oh dear, come in, come in.” She hustles me inside.

“Who is this?” a burly man with a beard asks.

“I don’t know. She was at the door. Maybe she’s lost?” My mom guides me toward a kitchen table and gestures for me to sit.

“How do all these lost women wash up on our island?” he asks with a smile on his lips. He leans in close to me. “You, did you fall in the water? Do you know who you are? Do you know your name?”

“Edie,” I whisper. My mother gives me a strange look, then shakes her head.

“Well. Let’s get Edie some tea, maybe add some sambuca?” she tells the man and he nods and goes to the kitchen.

Mom gives me a nervous glance, then a weird, polite, smile. A smile you use on a stranger.

“Don’t you know me?” I ask, my voice cracking as tears start to form.

“No, honey. Are you lost?”

I shake my head. “I’m not lost. I thought you were.”

She kneels next to me. “Do you know me?” she asks quietly.

Before I can answer a cry comes from another room. My mother hustles away and comes back carrying a baby. She coos at it and smiles.

“She’s only one month old,” she tells me, showing off her baby girl. “My pride and joy!”

The world falls out from under me.

I open my mouth to tell her she’s my mother too, but the words won’t come out.

Instead, I hear myself say, “I heard there was a woman with amnesia living here.”

“I hate that word,” she says. “Amnesia. So silly.” She makes a face and shakes her head. It’s such a familiar expression of hers. When we say something silly or that she finds absurd.

My whole chest squeezes with pain.

My mother sits next to me, the baby on her shoulder.

“But yes, that is apparently the proper term. I washed up on shore over a year ago. Kostas found me and his father took me in. I had no memory of who I was but…well, one thing led to another.”

“Did you try to find out who you were?” I ask. “Before you had some random guy’s baby?”

She doesn’t catch the mix of fury and despair in my voice. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to.

“Of course, I tried for months. But, no luck. Finally, I decided. Enough. I like it here. I’m happy. I don’t need to remember my other life to know this is where I belong.”

The man—my mother’s new husband—sets a mug of tea in front of me and I sip it. It’s hot and tastes of licorice.

“Do you know my wife?” he asks. “Do you know who she is?”

They all stare at me expectantly, even the little boy. I down my tea and get to my feet.

“No, I was just out walking and got a little lost. My family has a boat. I should get back to them before they worry.”

“Yes, of course,” my mother smiles. “Do you want Kostas to guide you? He knows every inch of this island!” She beams at him proudly and the little boy blushes.

“No, I’m good. Thank you for the tea and for…”

I stop. I have no idea what to say.

“Good-bye.”

I flee, waving a hand over my shoulder, desperately needing to get away from the house. I run all the way back to the beach before I once again burst into tears.

I sit in the sand, not caring when the tide comes in and soaks me. I’m just about ready to leave when a voice behind me calls my name.

“Edie…?”

I turn and almost fall into the water.

Standing before me on the beach is my sister, Mavis.