“I didn’t know you could count that high,” Ricker applauded her cynically.
“Ah, young love…” Finn snickered under his breath.
Chapter 15
If you took a snapshot of my last forty-eight hours, it would probably resemble a head-on collision. I felt like a solid mass of twisting emotions, spiked by moments of pure joy and searing anger; the resulting aftermath leaving me numb with the task of making sense of it all. We had retrieved Finn’s soul, freed Carmen’s mind, and mended Ricker’s heart - but the shadow that continued to hover over me had only grown heavier and darker with each passing moment. The knowledge that Nadia was out there, scorned and vindictive, had me looking over my shoulder every other minute.
I knew that she was to blame for the torment Carmen had been subjected to for the last five days, not to mention what she had put Finn through for an equally exorbitant amount of time. Each hour that went by without any retribution added to my already long list of things to worry about. How much of Finn’s essence had she been able to obtain? And what was she planning to do with it? What had begun as simple annoyance had rapidly intensified into a raging fury; demanding to make her pay for what she’d done. It begged to bestow a slow, agonizing death; eradicating her evil intentions and actions that have hurt so many. But I knew that wasn’t who I was. Acting out of bitterness and revenge would make me no different than her.
I desperately wished that my birthday wasn’t a month and a half away. She was stronger than I was, even without Finn’s essence. I had no way to overpower her. And most frighteningly, she knew it. Whatever she was planning, it wouldn’t be long before it would come to fruition. She wouldn’t wait for me to become immortal, like Keto had vowed to. Nadia was incapable of integrity. She was more into the whole stab-you-in-the-back-and-kick-you-while-you’re-down kind of thing.
Although I knew that a confrontation with Keto was also imminent, the simple fact that she would allow me a fair fight was the only thing that kept me from buying up the entire US Naval fleet of battleships and drawing up battle plans. I also had the sneaking suspicion I would need her to
‘Choose’ me along with the other Nereids, which complicated matters even further. At this point, all I had were a lot of questions and even more assumptions, not a lot of facts or definitive answers - the very reason I wanted nothing more than to throw up.
Fortunately, the fear of Finn watching me regurgitate my entire breakfast was keeping my gag reflex at bay, along with the welcoming Mediterranean Sea that I now found myself in. After returning to the house, Carmen had devoured half the contents of the kitchen and had then slipped into a deep sleep. It had been decided that we would celebrate by staying one more day, and then would go out to dinner in Paphos later that night. I was excited about getting out of the house and actually getting to see Cyprus and the House of Eventide. Not to mention, I was aching to resume any and all normal activities.
In lieu of dinner, Finn had insisted that we leave on the excursion he had planned for us as soon as possible. So after scarfing down a ham and cheese sandwich, I threw on a stark white bikini before we retraced our steps to the beach, and left the oxygen breathing world behind. The water was chilly, but I barely noticed. Swimming off of the shore of Cyprus during the day was a completely different experience than swimming during the night. The mysterious, serene underwater paradise of twilight had changed into a sparkling, picturesque wonderland, teeming with energy and life.
“So where are we going?” I quizzed Finn for the hundredth time.
“I thought we’d do a little skiing on Everest,” he provoked with a mischievous grin. “You in?” I cut my eyes at him, but did my best not to let my eyes linger. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how mouthwatering I thought he was, but there was no denying how much I had missed him. Having him beside me now, I wanted to drink every part of him in before another evil princess tried to steal him away from me again. The possibility of losing him forever had only served to intensify my growing feelings for him, and had firmly secured his place in my heart. If I’d thought that I needed him before, I had no idea the profound effect that his absence would have on me. He had become as much a part of me as my left arm, and I could no longer imagine my life without him. Nor did I want to.
The sky blue swim trunks that hugged his waist blended in with the turquoise hues of the sea, but they inevitably drew my attention to his tan skin and dark hair that danced in the current. The sun’s rays filtering through the surface above flitted across the shape of his muscular arms as they propelled him forward. The swirling blue tones of his eyes teased me with piercing confidence as he shot forward. Forcing myself to focus, I pushed myself harder and easily matched his pace. That smug confidence dripped down his face the second I passed him, and I couldn’t stop the victorious smirk that spread across my lips.
“I win!” I touted as I went by. In response, he clasped my ankle and yanked me backwards, winking at me as he swam past. Unfortunately, the ten year old within me emerged and called him out, “Hey! That’s cheating!”
“I like to think of it as being resourceful,” he called back to me, and gained even more speed.
Deciding to let him win so that his ego would stay intact, I observed the scenery unfolding beneath me. The sandy bottom below was now dotted with huge limestone boulders; beautiful, lime colored grass growing on their tops and sides. They swayed in rhythm to the currents, and I fought the urge to go to them. Their energy was sharper than the typical seaweed that I was used to; it had a more vibrant presence, and I could sense the frenzy that flowed through my veins without actually touching them. Keeping Finn in my sight, I dove down and wove between the large stone boulders, skimmed my fingers along the soft surface of the sandy bottom, and marveled at the beauty of the sunlight that shone through the turquoise water; bouncing off of the pale landscape. I bent sideways and shimmied between two particularly close pieces of stone, and then emerged on the other side triumphantly.
“We shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
I let out a yelp at the close proximity of Finn’s low voice. “She who?” I asked, once my heart rate lowered to less than a hundred beats a second.
“Aphrodite’s Rock,” he stated flippantly, and started swimming toward shore. Aphrodite’s Rock was a she? I took off after him in confusion and noticed the rocks that dotted the bottom were increasing in size, some of which were breaking the surface above. Finn moved toward one in particular and shot up along its side. I followed him until his feet disappeared from the water completely. When my head broke the surface, I realized why. He was now perched on top of the massive rock that extended up from below. Using my sub-par rock climbing skills, I clumsily maneuvered my way up the limestone wall and settled in beside him with shaking arms.
“This is Aphrodite’s Rock?” I asked as I inspected our underwhelming sitting spot. It was only about eight feet wide and rose maybe ten feet off the surface of the water.
“No,” Finn chuckled and pointed off to the right, “that’s Aphrodite’s Rock.”
“Oh,” I breathed in amazement. Two crescent-shaped white beaches joined together, creating a point where a massive white limestone rock looked out over the sea. It was a rough half dome about the size of a five-story building, its vertical cliff facing the sea. With the tide in the process of coming in, the entire back half of the rock was still visible sitting atop the rocky shore. Behind it, the shore gave way to a rocky hill sloping upward towards a road that followed the winding coastline.