“It hasn’t happened in nearly a century, since the thirties,” Ander said, “but that was a very bad situation. When a girl begins to show signs of the Tearline, she becomes a kind of vortex. She piques the interest of more than just the Seedbearers.”
“Who else?” Eureka wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Ander swallowed. “The Atlanteans themselves.”
Now she was even more confused.
“They are evil,” Ander continued. “The last possessor of the Tearline lived in Germany. Her name was Byblis—”
“I’ve heard of Byblis. She was one of the owners of the book. She gave it to someone named Niobe, who gave it to Diana.”
“Byblis was your mother’s great-aunt.”
“You know more about my family than I do.”
Ander looked uncomfortable. “I have had to study.”
“So the Seedbearers killed my great-aunt when she showed signs of the Tearline?”
“Yes, but not before a great deal of damage was done. While the Seedbearers try to eliminate a Tearline, the Atlanteans try to activate it. They do this by occupying the body of someone dear to the Tearline carrier, someone who can make her cry. By the time the Seedbearers succeeded in murdering Byblis, the Atlantean who had occupied the body of her closest friend was already invested in that world. He stayed in the body even after Byblis’s death.”
Eureka felt an urge to laugh. What Ander was saying was insane. She hadn’t heard anything this crazy during her weeks in the psychiatric ward.
And yet it made Eureka think of something she’d read recently in one of Madame Blavatsky’s emails. She picked up the translated pages and thumbed through them. “Look at this part, right here. It describes a sorcerer who could send his mind across the ocean and occupy the body of a man in a place called Minoa.”
“Exactly,” Ander said. “It’s the same magic. We don’t know how Atlas learned to channel this sorcerer’s power—he’s not a sorcerer himself—but somehow he has managed it.”
“Where is he? Where are the Atlanteans?”
“In Atlantis.”
“And where is that?”
“It’s been underwater for thousands of years. We can’t access them, and they can’t access us. From the moment Atlantis sank, mind channeling has been their only portal to our world.” Ander looked away. “Though Atlas is hoping to change that.”
“So the Atlanteans’ minds are powerful and evil”—Eureka hoped no one was listening at her door—“but the Seedbearers don’t seem much better, killing innocent girls.”
Ander didn’t respond. His silence answered her next question.
“Except Seedbearers don’t think we’re innocent,” she realized. “You were raised to believe that I might do something terrible”—she massaged her ear and couldn’t believe what she was about to say—“like flood the world with my tears?”
“I know it’s hard to swallow,” Ander said. “You were right to call the Seedbearers a cult. My family is skilled at making murder look like an accident. Byblis drowned in a ‘flood.’ Your mother’s car hit by a ‘rogue wave.’ All in the name of saving the world from evil.”
“Wait.” Eureka flinched. “Did my mother have the Tearline?”
“No, but she knew you did. Her entire life’s work centered on preparing you for your destiny. She must have told you something about it?”
Eureka’s chest tightened. “Once she told me never to cry.”
“It’s true we don’t know what would happen if you really cried. My family doesn’t want to take the chance of finding out. The wave on the bridge that day was meant for you, not Diana.” He looked down, resting his chin against his chest. “I was supposed to ensure that you drowned. But I couldn’t. My family will never forgive me.”
“Why did you save me?” she whispered.
“You don’t know? I thought it was so obvious.”