Kissed by Eternity (21 page)

He stood before me, heavy robes gently swirling in a wind I couldn't feel. In every other dream I'd been him. I'd never before seen his face, but I immediately knew who he was.

"The last High Priest of Atlantis," I whispered.

"One and the same. But you may call me Re." A broad smile made his perfectly straight nose crinkle and deepened the laugh lines around his eyes. In the weird half-light I couldn't tell if his eyes were brown or black.

"You're kidding, right?" Re was an ancient Egyptian solar god, not an Atlantean Priest.

"Hardly." His smile widened. "Where do you think most ancient human religions came from? Humans have always found it easier to equate technology and power with magic and gods."

True that. Even I, who knew better, found it easier to call what I did "magic."

I glanced around me at the desolate landscape. Not a scrap of vegetation anywhere. Barren rock formations cast long shadows even in the dim light.

"What is this place?"

"It is a rest stop of sorts. Between the worlds."

"Why am I here?"

"It's time."

My heart rate hit the stratosphere. I have no idea why, but I was afraid. "Time for what?"

"Why do you think the Heart of Atlantis chose you?"

I hated when people answered a question with a question. Re could give Tommy a run for his money, but I decided to play along. "Because I'm strong. I'm a Hunter."

That seemed to amuse him. "There is no human alive, Hunter or not, strong enough to channel all the powers of the amulet."

"I do." Granted, it'd been rough, but I was figuring it out. More or less.

"Ah, but you are not entirely human."

I shrugged. "So I've got some Atlantean DNA. Just means I was able to access the amulet in the first place. No biggie."

"Ah, but it's a very big biggie." Re stepped into my personal space. "Yes, the amulet needed an Atlantean to activate it, but it needed all the races to download."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

He touched my cheek with the tips of his fingers. Whisper-soft, as if I might run. "You, my dear Morgan, carry the blood of all the races of this world. And of mine."

I swallowed hard, trying not to freak out. What on earth did he mean? "I'm human." Maybe if I repeated it often enough, I'd believe it.

His smile was patient. "You are human. From one of the first families the Atlantean people met when we landed on your strange, new world. They did us many great favors, your family, and spent much time in the royal palace. The women of the clan were great beauties. Is it any wonder one of our royals fell for your ancestor?"

"The princess. The one you saved. The one I dreamed about. She was my ancestor, too? Not just Amaza?" I'd suspected it, but I wanted confirmation.

"Yes. Among others."

I stiffened my spine. I had to know the truth. "She is why I could access the amulet. And the other races?"

Re took a step back as if realizing his nearness made me uncomfortable. "Have you ever wondered why your mother named you Morgan?"

"I know why. She named me for my father."

He smiled. "Alexander Morgan had nothing to do with your naming except indirectly. He did, after all, get his name from the same place you did."

"What do you mean?"

"I was young and reckless once," a new voice broke in.

I whirled toward the newcomer. "Morgana."

She grinned, suddenly looking like her old self. Her sane self. Her plump red lips parted to reveal the tiny gap between her front teeth. Her almost sheer white gown draped perfectly around her slight curves. Apparently it knew better than to flutter in the breeze. That, or where she was, there was no breeze.

She waved her fingers at me. "A youthful indiscretion. What can I say?" She shrugged. "Your ancestor was delicious."

"Remember, Morgan," Re said, "the Sidhe and humans once lived together on your planet. Intermingling was common."

"Lots of people have Sidhe blood," I said. Not that most of them knew it.

"But how many carry the blood of the Fairy Queen?" He waved his hand, and before my eyes the scenery shimmered, changing from desolate landscape to a hospital room.

I recognized the woman in the bed. It was my mother. Younger, thinner, and full of both sadness and joy, hugging a baby to her chest. Me.

I swallowed hard, watching as my mother rocked me back and forth, whispering reassurances in my newborn ear. A tiny fist escaped the blanket, and she laid a kiss on my knuckles. "What shall I name you? Maybe after your father. He would have liked that. Alexis? Alexandra?"

Beside the bed I saw a shifting of light, sparkles twirling in the air forming a human shape. The shape bent down as if to murmur something in my mother's ear. A smile spread across her face.

"I know," she said to my baby self. "I'll name you Morgan."

As the image shimmered away, I stared at the Queen of the Sidhe. "It was you. You made my mother name me after you."

She smiled slyly. "As your entire line has been named after me since the day I gave birth to your many times great-grandfather."

"This land. Did you have anything to do with my name being on the deed to this land?" I demanded.

She smiled at me, and I knew it was so.

"Earth power." I swung back to Re. "She's the reason I can channel earth power."

He nodded.

"The rest?"

He gave the queen a look which had her stamping her feet in irritation. But she disappeared only to be replaced by the Marid.

"What the…"

He smiled at me. "Hello, Morgan."

"Um, hey. How are you…how are we…?"

"Related?" He seemed amused by my discomfort.

"Yeah."

"It's a rare thing for a djinni to spend time with a human, but your many times great-grandmother was something else. Strong. Intelligent. Shaman of her people. She was one of the first humans I met when we came to the New World. And I was hers from the day we met until the day she died."

I swallowed. "How many children did you have?"

"Three. But only one was mostly human and stayed with her mother. The other two were mostly djinn and came to live with me."

Something snapped into place. "Zipporah. She was your daughter…my aunt." I was pretty sure there were a whole bunch of greats attached to that, but whatever. I realized I'd been wrong. Zip and the Marid had never been in love with each other; they'd loved each other the way family does. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, little one," he said, brushing his knuckles gently along my cheek, "if you had known, you would not have been able to do what you needed to do."

I wouldn't have been able to attack him or release him from Albrecht's spell. I wouldn't have been able to allow Zip to die. I closed my eyes against the sudden tide of sadness.

"You're the reason I can channel Air."

He nodded, his smile filled with pride. "The best I've ever seen a human wield it. You are truly my granddaughter."

The lump in my throat grew impossibly larger as he'd wrapped me in a hug. It was like being hugged by the Hulk. Only, you know, a red one.

As I wrapped my arms as far around him as they'd go, he disappeared. "Bring him back."

Re waved his hand. "There will be time for that later. For now, you need to know a few more things about your heritage."

Another figure shimmered into view. I stared, mouth open. "Drago?"

"Hey, kid." He crossed massive arms over his black biker jacket, looking as badass as ever.

"Oh, gods, don't tell me we're related. That's so gross."

He grinned at that. "We are, but don't worry. It's on my mother's side so you're not related to Inigo. Much," he added with a wink.

I groaned. I guessed even if Inigo and I were related, there were a couple hundred generations between us. Still, that had such a major ick factor.

"How are we related exactly?"

"Something like a thousand years ago one of my dragon ancestors got jiggy with one of your human ancestors. Had a kid." He shrugged his massive, black leather clad shoulders as it were a normal, everyday occurance.

"Thanks. That's very specific," I said drily.

"Point is, we're very distant cousins and because of that, you can channel Fire."

"And you didn't think to mention this earlier?"

Drago stabbed a finger in Re's direction. "He told me not to. Said you weren't ready yet. I guess you are now, and you know what I know. See you at the party." And with that he flashed out. No shimmer for big, bad dragon boy.

Holy frakk. I was part dragon. I didn't think my mind could take anymore.

My brain was whirling in so many directions I needed to sit down. Scratch that. I needed to lie down.

Before I could so much as find a comfy rock, another person shimmered into view. "Eddie?"

He beamed at me. "I have waited a long time for this moment, Morgan Bailey."

"But…but…" I sputtered to a stop, reigned in my quickly scrambling brain cells, and tried again. "We're related?"

"Unfortunately not." He seemed truly saddened by the fact. "Your ancestral line died out over one hundred years ago. Or rather, the part of the line that lived underwater did. There are still a few of you roaming about above the surface." He led me over to a cluster of rocks perfectly shaped for sitting. "You are the first of your line born in a century with the ability to channel Water. That was why I was sent. To mentor you and help you when the time came."

I sat and stared at him at a complete loss for words.

"Don't worry," he said, giving my hand a squeeze. "You are mostly human. You just have extra sprinkles." His eyes twinkled, and I laughed.

"Oh, Eddie, what am I going to do?"

"What you were born to do, my dear." He leaned forward and gave me a fatherly kiss on the cheek. "Now I must go prepare. I will see you soon. And don't worry. I've got someone to help keep the queen in check." And with that he was gone.

I sat there staring into the distance, mind racing. It was too much to take in. Finally something broke through the crazy.

"Sharai was right. I wasn't meant to keep this power forever, was I?" I asked, turning to Re.

He watched me intently, waiting.

"I was simply meant to hold it," I continued. "It's why I am the Key."

Still his impossibly dark eyes watched me.

"And every key was created to open a lock."

I knew what I had to do.

Chapter 26

"Are you well, Morgan?"

I blinked, staring at Sharai for a long heartbeat. "Yes, fine." How long had I been out of it? The dream had felt so real, but everyone was going about things like nothing unusual had happened.

She jumped to her feet. "Come. There is much to do." She whirled and strode toward the rest of the group, her long hair swinging purposefully.

I stared at her retreating back. I now knew for sure I wasn't a Sunwalker. Jack was wrong. And I was sort of relieved, but sad, too. The whole living almost forever thing wasn't something I was ready to face even though I knew Inigo would outlive me by a few hundred years at least. I didn't even want to think about that. But my abilities…

I shook my head. We had bigger demons to fry. I hauled myself to my feet and went to join the others.

Sharai was in full princess mode, ordering everyone about. They were setting up a circle reminiscent of those Emory and Kabita had created, but much bigger and more involved. When she finally had everyone arranged to her satisfaction, she waved me over to stand in the middle of the circle facing her.

By now the sun had long set and the moon had slid high in the sky. The princess's face was cast in shadow.

"The amulet," she said.

Frowning, I pulled the amulet from under my shirt. The blue stone in the center glowed softly in the moonlight.

Sharai held out the grimoire. "Place the amulet in the setting."

I carefully pressed the amulet into its place amidst the gold filigree. For a moment nothing happened, and then, as before, a beam of brilliant blue light shot from the stone to the heavens. It was as if it were lighting the way…somewhere. I started to remove my hands from the book, but the princess trapped them there with her own. We stood there, the book between us, hands touching as the stone grew increasingly brighter.

The princess began to murmur in ancient Atlantean, her eyes fixed on the shining stone of the amulet. I didn't know the words, so I focused on the sound of her voice. Around us the others began to chant. It was the same three words over and over. Again in Atlantean. I really needed to get Eddie or somebody to teach me that damn language.

Beneath my fingers, the gold filigree grew increasingly warm. Hot, even. It felt like it was burning my skin. I tried to pull away, but Sharai was surprisingly strong. She held my hands in place. I couldn't help wiggling at the discomfort. Forget discomfort—downright pain.

It felt as if the heat was burning a hole through my flesh. I whimpered and something rose within me. Flames danced along my skin, but I hadn't drawn them. The Fire was reacting not to me but to the princess. What the hell?