Fire Stones

Chapter 19

“Mac? Mac” A voice was calling me from thousands of miles away. A voice filled with pain – filled with love. “Mac?”

I opened my eyes groggily. My whole body ached. Pain was shooting all over my body – especially through my neck.

“Thank heavens!” A face had buried into my chest, a pair of lips was fervently kissing my shoulders and neck. A face I knew well. Chance. “You’re alive!”

It all started coming back to me – Haven’s face, her arms around my neck, that octopus-creature that was or wasn’t Haven choking the life out of me…

“We found you in the sea.” It was Varun’s voice. He too was standing over me. I could see tears in his eyes. “Tied up. Dead.”

“Dead?”

“Varun noticed you were missing from the party,” said Chance. “We went out to look for you – Varun went into the water. When we found you, you weren’t breathing. You were blue and pale – there was no heartbeat.”

“I don’t understand.” I didn’t feel dead.

“You were so cold…” Chance was shaking with pain. “But I – but we…we knew you couldn’t be dead, Mac. We knew neither one of us could live without you.”

“And then Chance saw it – that you were still wearing it.”

“The necklace,” I breathed.

“Yes, the necklace!” Chance held me close. “The one that protects the wearer from death.”

“Thank God it worked!” Varun leaned down to embrace me.

“We lost you for a while there, Mac, but Vesta’s stone brought you back to us. We knew you wouldn’t give up –we knew how strong you were. Too strong to give up.”

“Was it Brandon?” Varun asked. “Was he the one who attacked you?”

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. “No – he was only a pawn. An assassin – sent by Haven. She was the one who attacked me.”

“Haven!” Varun looked shocked.

“She’s not a siren after all,” I said. “She’s Salacia – the Sea Goddess. And she thinks that she and you – that you’re her destiny, Varun. And that I was getting in her way with you.”

Chance glowered but said nothing.

“That’s ridiculous!”

“She’s allied with Abzu now – and Brandon too.”

“There’s something else,” I said. I knew both Varun and Chance had suffered enough tonight, but they deserved to know the truth. “Haven was the reason Jana died. It wasn’t either of you. She tricked Jana into believing she was Vesta. She planted fake stones. She convinced Jana that she was Vesta. It wasn’t Chance, Varun.”

“No – it was my fault,” Chance sighed. “I was so desperate to find Vesta, I must have overlooked the obvious. The stones were faked.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Varun cut in, and Chance looked up in surprise. “I know now what it’s like to want to believe someone’s your destiny. It was Haven who did this, not you.”

“I was so blind…” Chance and Varun made eye contact – and I saw in their eyes something that was, if not fully friendship, then at least understanding.

Chance sighed. “If Haven is Salacia – then the situation for Fire – and even moderate Water – is dire. With her and Abzu working together, there’s no way we’ll be able to slow the Erosion.”

“Maybe not,” said Varun. “Haven’s desperate – it’s why she acted. Because she’s afraid – that it really is Vesta. That she’s about to Awaken.

“We need to get Mac some rest.” Chance scooped me up to his arms, as lightly as if I were a child. I still felt so weak, so light-headed. His arms around me, his warmth, the musky smell of him all gave me comfort.

I could see Varun stiffen alongside him, but he said nothing, only reaching out a hand to touch mine. “You get better soon, Mac,” he said at last, his voice controlled yet trembling. I could see the pain in his eyes – I could feel the intensity of his love boring into me.

Chance brought me back to the cottage, lying me down on the bed. He kissed me tenderly, gently. I kissed him back with passionate roughness, but he pulled away, smiling. “Don’t want to hurt you any more tonight,” he said, taking my hand and pressing it to his lips. “God, I love you, Mac. I didn’t want to show it too much in front of Varun – I didn’t want to hurt him – but when I thought I lost you, it was the worst moment of my life. Worse than when Vesta left. It tore me apart.”

“Don’t worry, Chance.” I eked out a smile. “I’m back now. And once I get some rest, I’ll be in fighting form to kick Haven’s ass all the way back to where she came from.”

Chance laughed, kissing me on the forehead. “You get some rest,” he said. “I’ll lock the front door – stay safe!” I closed my eyes, smelling him on my pillow, drifting into sleep.

When I woke up, I was feeling better. The ache had largely subsided – but I felt something new in its place. A strange, tingling feeling coming from the necklace I was wearing. A sense of power – of conviction. I was Vesta – Vesta’s power was running through my veins. Four stones I had collected – all four stones.

Only one left to go.

And I knew exactly where to look. I walked over to my dresser, where the Book of Vesta was stored. I put my hands on the book, and it opened automatically, flipping to a page I had never seen before. A sketch of a Greek temple, enormous and marble. My heart began to race.

“Take me there, Vesta,” I whispered aloud. “Take me to the last stone.”

Instantly I was flying – just as Chance had done – through the air, my intuition carrying me. The air whipped my face; the cool breeze healed my wounds. Aeros vanished beneath me – I was flying over water, going faster and faster. I had never felt so alive.

Before long I started to slow down, gliding down towards earth – facing the very temple I had seen in my book. It was in ruins now, but still beautiful. The inscriptions were in Greek lettering – but I could just make them out. ARES – was carved into the the temple. My heart leapt. The Greek name for Mars. I looked up in surprise. There, on the altar, lay the last stone, the garnet. It glimmered a brilliant purple.

So Vesta truly loved Mars. She had made her choice – the last stone was left at Mars’s temple, a reminder of how much she cared for him.

I put the stone in my pocket and started flying back to Aeros.

It was time to Awaken.