Guardian of Atlantis (The Children of Atlantis) (17 page)

Raven frowned.
Was she sniffing
the air? Was she a Hellhound? That was all she needed
, another Hellhound chasing her
. Raven glanced over at Ethan and raised her eyebrow questioningly.

Ethan shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, blowing Raven’s
theory out of the water. If the woman
wasn’t a Hellhound, then why was she sniffing the air? What was she?

Agent Morrison turned, her nostrils still flaring. She kept turning until finally she faced Raven. “Raven Weir, why are you hiding back there?”

Raven gulped. There was no way she was going to sneak out of this one. Slowly she stood up. “Who says I was hiding? I’ve been sitting here drinking my coffee.”

“I honestly expected someone much older than you, but
it
doesn’t matter now. Give me the necklace, and I’ll make sure you are taken care of humanely.”

“Humanely?
I am not a stray to be disposed of.”

“Give me the necklace.” Agent Morrison held out her hand.

Raven cocked her head to one side. “Why? It’s not yours. This necklace belongs to me. It’s a family heirloom.”

“The necklace!
Now!” hissed Agent Morrison. She moved toward the table, stopping about six feet from it. “It’s in your best interest to give me the necklace.” Her tone sounded less threatening, probably because everyone was listening, but the underlying message was
clearly
deadly
in meaning
.

“If you really want it, come take it.” Raven sent the challenge, not really sure what she was doing, but knew she had to keep Agent Morrison busy. Ethan, from what she could see of him, signaled he had a plan. She just hoped it worked.

Agent Morrison’s hands, now hanging at her sides, were clenched into fists. A guttural sound, almost a growl, came from somewhere in her throat. The woman was poised to step forward, but it looked like something was holding her back.

A thought popped into Raven’s head. “You can’t take the necklace from
me
,” she said.

The left corner of Agent Morrison’s mouth made a strange ticking motion. “You’re not as smart as you think. There’s one way I can take my necklace off your pathetic little neck.”

“Your necklace.
This isn’t your necklace.
Nor is it stolen.”
Raven’s head bobbed back and forth. “You’re the thief. You’re trying to steal the necklace from me. Why?”

“You can hand me the
necklace and live a little longer, or you can die and I’ll take the necklace off you neck myself. The choice is yours, but either way I’m getting it.” She lowered the tone of her voice so that only Raven could hear her.

“Sorry!” said
Raven. “I have a very serious problem with authority. I don’t exactly listen ve
ry well.
Especially when someone’s
threatening my life.”

“GIVE ME THE
NECKLACE!” screamed Agent Morrison.

“No. Tell me why you want it so bad,” demanded Raven. She propped her hands on her hips.

Agent Morrison clenched her teeth so hard the muscles in her jaws tightened to the point they looked like they were ready to snap
. The woman unclenched her hands
then clenched them back into fists. Tiny red lines formed in the palms of her hands were her fingernails had dug into the skin.

Raven noticed Ethan and several other patrons of the coffee shop sniff the air. All who had sniffed turned toward Ethan and waited for him. Raven guessed they were expecting hi
m to tell them what to do. She
saw Ethan watching her.

“Just give it to me,” hissed the red haired woman.

Raven looked back a
t the agent. A huge smile covered her
face and she started laughing. “I’m not giving it to you, and you can’t take it from me. There’s not much left for us to talk about. So if you’re not going to leave, I will.” Raven
picked up her bag and swung
onto her shoulder.

“I told you. There’s one way I can take the necklace from you.”

Raven rolled her eyes.

“I will kill you and take it off of your cold body. The choice is yours.” A cold, deadly fury radiated from Agent Morrison. She seemed oddly thrilled at the prospect of killing Raven.

Raven kept the smile on her face, but kept silent.

“Which will it be?” asked Agent Morrison.

“Do you think a death threat’s going to scare me?” Raven hoped she sounded braver than she felt.

“It should. Humans seem to have a very strong aversion to dying.”

“Maybe if you were the first to threaten me, it might scare me. But you know, after the third or fourth death threat, they tend to lose their effectiveness.
Kinda
like when parents repeatedly threaten to ground you. Sorry, your death threat just doesn’t scare me. To be honest, it’s kind of pathetic.
You being a government agent and all.”
Raven shrugged her shoulders.
Human.
Raven latched onto the word. She chewed her bottom lip. Agent Morrison wasn’t a Hellhound and she wasn’t human.  What was she? 

Agent Morrison growled.

Raven raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t just growl at me?” Raven wished she had paid a little more attention to Greek mythology.

“I’m going to enjoy—”

“Are you a moron? I asked for a cinnamon mocha NOT
a peppermint
mocha!” Leslie yelled at Billy, the guy at the cash register.

“I don’t make the drinks. I just take the orders.” He picked up the coffee cup and turned it. “See this.” He pointed to writing on the cup. “It says peppermint mocha. You didn’t ask for a cinnamon mocha.” Billy raised his voice to match Leslie’s.

“
Arrrgh
!” screamed Leslie. She turned and threw the drink at the nearest table, hitting the man sitting there square in the chest. The hot liquid flew everywhere.

In seconds the whole coffee shop was a blur of commotion.

Screams.

CRASH!

Cups and dishes flying through the air.

Sounds of wood breaking.

Fists pounding on flesh.

CRACK!

Cinnamon, vanilla, coffee beans.

The scents grew until they were overwhelmingly sickening. They made Raven’s head hurt.

Agent Morrison went down to her knees, her head hanging down. Red hair covered all of her features. Her hands covered her ears.

Raven saw several other people on the floor with their ears covered. No one, other than Raven seemed to even notice their distress.

“Come on!”

Raven jumped when she felt someone grab her arm. Instinctively she swung her fist at the person. It made contact with a chest, but didn’t seem to do anything except cause her to yelp in pain.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but you’ve got to get out of here.” The person gave Raven a small shake.

She looked up to see
greasy-looking hair covering most of Billy’s face. The tips of fangs rested on his bottom lips. Raven gulped. Her eyes went wide.

“Go!” Billy shoved her toward a back doorway. “There’s a service entry in the back. Go past the restrooms and through the
Employees Only
door. You can’t miss the exit.” He pushed Raven in the direction he wanted her to go.

She stood there staring at Billy. Something yellow stuck out of his ear.

“Quit wasting time and go! I’ll make sure no one follows.”

“What about the guys in black?” asked
Raven.

“Don’t worry about them. They’re a little bit busy right now.” Billy grinned. “Now go!”

Raven nodded then turned and ran. She made it out the service entry and found herself in an ally. The smell of oil and trash filled the air. Grunts and growls drifted to her from her left.
Raven turned and ran in the opposite direction and kept running even after she was bl
ocks away from the coffee shop.

11

After dad died I used to daydream that sooner or later my real parents, the king and queen, would find me and take me home. Yeah, I daydreamed about being a princess.

In my daydreams, the woman I called mom would come along as my maid. I’d have cake and ice cream for breakfast, ride my pony in the afternoon, and play in my own personal swimming pool. Everyone want
ed
to be my friend. Every week, only the people nicest to me would come over for a really cool tea party.

As I grew older, the daydream slowly faded away until I totally forgot about it.

             
--Raven Weir’s journal

She couldn’t run anymore. Raven grabbed her side and gasped for air.  She glanced behind her. No one was following, but the shadows were longer and darker. Raven didn’t know how long or how far she’d run, but she knew it was late in the evening. It would be night before long.

Looking around to get her bearings, Raven realized she wasn’t far from the lake side of the city park.  She took off at a fast walk, but every so often she stopped and listened, making sure she wasn’t being followed. It didn’t take her long to get to the lake.

Raven sat down on one of the benches
lining the bank
. A fine drizzle twisted and turned in the wind blowing off the lake. Raven wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she’d been smart enough to grab a jacket. She stared at the water and listened to the gentle ripples splash against the shoreline.

And then everything she had run away from hit her
. Tears mixed with the droplets of mist
collecting on her face.

In her heart Raven knew something was seriously wrong with her mom. Someone was involved with her disappearance.
But who?
Zeus was obviously the number one suspect, but there were other possible suspects, almost too many when she thought about it. And then there were her weird abilities. They scared her because she
couldn’t control them. What she really
needed
was an owner’s manual. Raven
picked up the
pendant
and stared at it. The key codes to Atlantis were in her hands to protect. How was she going to keep them safe when she couldn’t protect herself?

Raven wiped her eyes. And on top of that, there was her growing attraction to Ethan
, and the more she was around him, the stronger it got
. He was cute, even if
he was a Hellhound.
But what would he say w
hen he found out who
her biological mother was? Would he still want her? If he didn’t, her heart would shatter.
She just knew it. Raven
dropped the
silver pendant
and stretched out her hands in front of her. She wondered just how much
she was like her mother. How much
of a monster she was. It was obvious she had abilities no one else had, even though she couldn’t control them. But why were they
just
now showing up?

“It’s not fair!” Raven curled her hands into fists and hit the top of her legs.

“Life is never fair. You have to take it and twist it to fit you. Force it to give you what you want. Otherwise you’re just one of the billion cattle plodding away, just existing with what life gives you, and moaning about how it’s not fair.”

Raven jumped up off the
bench and whirled
around to face the person who spoke.

No one was there.

Laughter filled the air.

Raven turned in a circle looking for the person or whatever was the source of the voice and laughter. Nothing stepped out of the dim light. “Only cowards hide in the shadows,” she taunted.

“Brave words for such a young woman.
Or is it a false bravery covering up a child’s fears?” The low drawl drifted out of the dark shadows. Low, earthy, with a hint of menace, it sounded like a combination of the monsters from the old black and white movies she watched every chance she got.

“Bravery.
Fear.
There’s little difference between them. At least I’m not the coward hiding in the shadows trying to scare people. That’s fear.
As for bravery?
That’s telling you to go stick your head in a toilet and flush.
To your face.”
Raven stood her ground, not because she was brave, but because there just wasn’t really any place she could run to for cover. An
d she was tired of running.

One of the shadows moved closer. “You should be more careful with that mouth of yours. It’s not very respectful and it will get you into trouble.” The voice was definitely male.

“Like I haven’t heard that one before,” retorted Raven. She looked around for something to use as a weapon. But as usual, there was nothing she could use. She wondered if she would be able to even access some of her power to protect herself, but wasn’t very hop
eful about it.

Laughter filled the air again, making the hair on the back of Raven’s neck stand up.

“This is ridiculous,” Raven mumbled to herself. She half expected someone to jump out of the shadows. “Show yourself or leave. The choice is yours.” Raven forced her voice to sound tougher and braver than she really felt. “I don’t care either way. I’m just really tired of this stupid game you’re playing. It’s way to cloak and dagger for me.”

“I take it you are challenging me.”

“I haven’t challenged anyone. I’m just giving you an ultimatum. Show yourself or get out of here and leave me alone. The choice is yours,” said Raven. “Besides you’re not much of a threat. Cowards never are.”

“You don’t even realize what you’re doing, but you are challenging me. Maybe it’s just in your nature. Your mother always challenged me even when she didn’t realize she was doing it. And you’re mouthy just like the human who raised you.” A shadowy figure moved toward Raven. “I truly doubt you could stop yourself even if you tried. Being a, how do you say, royal pest, is too much a part of who you are. But
it
will be dealt with soon enough.” A very tall man stopped a few feet f
rom Raven.
His face partially hidden by
the shadows.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Raven’s knees shook with fear and she knew she should
probably
run, but she doubted she would get very far. She hoped the man didn’t hear her knees knocking together or
sense
any of the fear she felt.

Lightning flickered across the sky in a weird
criss
-cross pattern. None of which was natural. It continued, faster and faster until the entire sky lit up, revealing the most handsome face Raven had ever seen. And then it was gone, leaving Raven wondering if she had really seen the face or not.

“You really don’t know who I am? Do you?” He sounded disappointed even shocked at the thought.

“Should I?”

“Yes.” The man held up his arms toward the sky. The lightning danced and twisted, creating fantastical shapes and intricate patterns before it rushed down toward him, coming to rest in his hands. The light from the two lightning bolts illuminated them.

“Show off.” The words were out of Raven’s mouth before she could stop them. She bit her bottom lip. She knew exactly who she was talking to—the self-appointed, high god of Olympus himself.

Zeus grinned. His face took on a more boyish look.

Raven blinked her eyes.

He didn’t look anything like the Greek statues and pictures she had seen. The artists definitely had it wrong. Zeus looked more like a model who had just stepped out of a magazine ad. Dark brown, almost ebony hair fell down past his shoulders. The breeze lifted the strands, making it flow around his face. Raven couldn’t tell exactly what color his eyes were, but she knew they were dark, most likely dark brown or even ebony like his hair.

Raven shook her head. She now understood why there were so many stories of women throwing themselves at him during ancient Greek times.

The grin on Zeus’
s
face disappeared, replaced with a strange, leering smile.

Chills crawled down Raven’s spine.

Zeus laughed. “So you do know who I am.”

“
Hhmmm
.
Let me guess.” Raven tapped a finger against her lips. “You’re a magician from Vegas and you’re here on vacation.
Or just visiting relatives.
Either way, you can’t handle not being in the middle of the spotlight.
So you’re roaming the city looking for someone to entertain with you light show. And I’m the lucky candidate.
”

The smile left Zeus’
s
face leaving a chilly cold look, bordering on hatred, in its place. “I believe you have
something that belongs to me. I want it back
.”

“Something that belongs to you?
I don’t even know y
ou. So how can I possibly have any
thing
belonging
to you?”

Zeus slapped his hands together forcing the two small lightning bolts into one large one, causing Raven to jump, startled by the raw anger fueled power pouring from Zeus. He glared at Raven, and she braced herself, knowing he was going to throw the huge lightn
ing bolt at her. She
closed her eyes. Faci
ng Jay, the rogue Hellhound, had been
so much easier, thought Raven. At least all he wanted to do was kill her, but Zeus, she wasn’t sure, though she got the idea he liked toying with his victims.

Zeus let out an angry roar. He hurled the huge lightning bolt
into the night sky. I
t crackled
and exploded, sending an eerie light through the clouds.

Raven stared at the light show until it faded away then turn her attention back to Zeus. “I guess I’m supposed to say WOW.”

“The act you’re pulling doesn’t work with me.”

A wave of angry energy blasted Raven, forcing her to step backwards.

“What act are you talking about?” Raven raised her hands and her eyebrows in a questioning gesture.

“Pretending not to know what I’m talking about. It doesn’t suit you, Raven Weir.”

“I’m not pretending. I don’t know what you want or what you think I have!” Her voice squeaked. “I don’t know what anyone wants. I just want my life back.” Raven threw her hands up, frustrated with everything. “Wait a minute! How did you know my name?”

The boyish smile Zeus had used earlier slowly returned to his face, except for his eyes, which narrowed and glittered with the anticipation of a predator stalking its prey and knowing exactly what bait to use to capture it. “Is that all you want, your life
back?”

It wasn’t so much the words but the almost sinister tone that grabbed Raven’s attention
and made her think
. Was
it
really all she wanted, her life back?
But which one?
The one before her dad died? The one before Suzanne disappeared. Or what about the life she had never known, one that included Douglas and Suzanne Weir? Which life did she want?

“I can give it to you, a life with your mother and your
father,” whispered Zeus. “If i
t’s what you truly want. It can be yours.”

“Mom and Dad?
Alive and all of us together?
”

“Yes.” Zeus stepped closer and w
aved his hand in front of Raven’s face.

Her eyes glazed over.

“Hey, pumpkin.
What’s my beautiful birthday princess doing over here all by herself?”

Raven turned around.
“Daddy?”
She blinked,
and
rubbed her eyes.

“Come on. Go get dressed. Your friends will be here in a little bit and you don’t want to keep them waiting. Do you?”

“My friends?”
Raven stared up at her dad. His sun bleached blonde hair stuck out wildly; long overdue for a haircut but haircuts were never much of a priority for him as they were with her friends’ dads. His glasses slid down until they were barely on the tip of his nose. Smile lines surrounded his mouth, emphasized by the tan that always lasted way into the winter months.

“Elizabeth, Leslie, Mary Jane, and the rest of your classmates.
Everyone you invited. They’ll be arriving soon.” Her dad smiled at her.

Raven ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you,” she whispered.

He laughed and hugged her back. “Go get dressed. Your mother’s putting
up the finishing touches
in the backyard.”

Raven released her dad. “I’ll go help her.”

“You go get dressed. I’ll help her.”

“But—”

“Go. Get ready for your party.” He winked at her. “Besides your mother would skin me alive if I didn’t help her.”

Raven smiled. She walked up the stairs of the front porch.