I rolled my eyes at him and pushed his shoulder playfully. He smiled and wrapped me up in his arms. I could smell his woodsy scent mixed in with the sand and the sea, as I breathed him in and closed my eyes. He smelled like a warm summer breeze.
“I’ve dreamt about you,” I blurted out for no apparent reason. I felt the need to explain further, “I mean…I see you sometimes, in my dreams. Carmen told me they could be reveries.”
“Is that how you do it?” he asked. I looked up in surprise at his words.
“You can…you actually do see me?” I whispered in disbelief.
“Your soul shouldn’t be visible to anyone in reveries, even me.” His dark blue eyes brightened as he watched me closely. “But you’ve always just…appeared. Then poof, you’re gone again.”
As my real world and my dream world suddenly collided, I felt slightly off-kilter. And not in a good way.
“I thought you recognized me the first day I was here, but I wasn’t sure. And you saved me….” I wasn’t sure how to finish. He probably knew I could breathe under water then too. Why did he go to all that trouble if he knew I wouldn’t die? “Why’d you save me if you knew I could breathe under water?”
“You didn’t know you could breathe under water, plus I knew you were scared.” he grinned at me, amused by my question.
“I wasn’t scared,” I retorted.
“I must have imagined that look of sheer panic on your face then,” he mocked me and I thought about how many looks of sheer panic he’d seen on my face in my reveries. No wonder he recognized it so quickly. How humiliating.
“The seaweed wrapped around my legs and wouldn’t let go! Then all the fish…” I noticed how hard he was trying not to laugh. I sat up and put my hands on my hips, “I hope some seaweed attacks you someday so you know how it feels.”
“I’ll be sure to keep my seaweed machete on me at all times,” he laughed.
“Not funny. You are officially banned from my reveries.” I suppressed a giggle. I mean, who gets attacked by seaweed? Me, that’s who.
He watched me for a moment, thoughtful. “Did you have one today?”
“No…” I recalled the entire day. No dreams. No blackouts. “Why?”
“Just wondering how frequent they are.” But something told me that wasn’t why he wanted to know. He looked at the ocean in deep thought.
“I don’t understand how we could see each other in my reveries before we even met,” I said, willing him to share his thoughts with me.
Instead, he stood and pulled me up with him, tucking me in his arms. No matter how many times he touched me, it always felt like the first time. His skin sizzled against mine.
“The first time I saw you, I knew I would never be the same.” He leaned down, lips inches from mine, “I didn’t know if you were real. But then I touched you. Felt that you were really here and I knew you’d finally come back.”
“Come back?” I whispered as he leaned down to kiss me. My question was lost to me as my entire body caught fire.
Chapter 16
I listened to my phone beep for close to ten minutes, hoping I’d be able to tune it out and go back to sleep. I finally gave up and reached for it on my nightstand. Kira had texted me wanting me to call her. I threw the covers back over my head and stretched my legs, still smiling from last night.
I had probably slept with a big goofy grin on my face too. Good thing I didn’t share a room with anyone. Finn had walked me back to Maren and then walked the short distance to Rostrum, right next door. Knowing he was so close brought another smile to my face. My heart pounded as I pictured him lying in bed sleeping; covers gathered around his waist, bare chest, messy hair…
A loud bang in the kitchen made me sit straight up in bed. I opened my door and saw Carmen bending over, cleaning the floor as curse words flew from her mouth.
“Shhh! You’re going to wake up Stasia!” Phoebe shushed her from the living room.
“It’s okay, Stasia’s already awake,” I smiled as I sat down on the couch.
“How’re you feeling? You missed an awesome movie last night!”
“Worst. Movie. Ever.” Carmen muttered from the kitchen.
“Actually, I started feeling better after you guys left and I went down to the beach.”
“By yourself?” Carmen looked up from her mess.
“Well…” I hesitated.
“You were with Finn weren’t you?” she accused me.
“Finn?” Phoebe squeaked, “As in Finn? Like, THE Finn?”
“Yes Phoebe, THE Finn. And he’s not cursed, you guys, he’s Chosen.” I began to back pedal.
I knew this wouldn’t go well.
“Chosen or not Chosen, he’s cursed. I heard that anyone who gets involved with him will lose their soul.” Phoebe whispered, her eyes wide.
“They won’t lose their soul, it’s held captive in the Underworld,” Carmen corrected her, “and their body will stay here, never to be reunited.”
“Just an empty body, not really dead, but not really alive either,” Phoebe added, grimacing.
“I seriously doubt that’s true, you guys.” I shook my head at them. They were starting to sound like a bad sci-fi movie.
Willow’s bedroom door swung open and we all turned to say good morning, but stopped short when we saw the defeated look on her face. Her eyes were red and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Willow! What is it? What’s wrong?” Phoebe ran over to her.
“She’s gone.” She stared at us blankly.
“Who’s gone?” Carmen handed her a tissue.
“Nicolet. She’s gone.”
“What? How do you know? What happened!?” Phoebe cried.
“Who’s Nicolet?” I asked. Willow’s watery eyes shifted to me and her tears began to flow steadily.
“She’s a graduate student here,” her face crumpled, “was a graduate student here. I…I just met with her two days ago. I didn’t hear from her yesterday, but I thought…I just thought….” Her sobs took over and Phoebe held her tightly, gesturing for Carmen to get more tissues.
My phone rang, so I ran back to my bedroom to grab it. It was Kira.
“Hey Stasia,” I heard something heavy in her voice, “I’m sure you guys have heard already, but I wanted to call and talk to you.” She sniffed and I knew she’d been crying. “One of the graduate students, my roommate…..she passed away. They found her. They think it was…a suicide.” Her voice caught on the last part.
“Oh, Kira, I’m so sorry.” I instantly felt horrible for not calling her back sooner.
“It doesn’t seem real. I just don’t understand.” She was silent for a moment, “Is Willow alright? Nicolet was her mentor.”
“She’s really upset, but we’re taking care of her. I hope you know I’m here for you too, Kira.”
“Thanks Stasia, that means a lot to me.” I could tell she was crying again, “I wanted to let you guys know there’ll be a candlelight vigil for her on the beach at sunset.”
“We’ll be there.”
That night, we made our way down to the vigil. A dark shadow had descended upon the entire school, as word of Nicolet’s suicide circulated. The rumor was that she had been missing since yesterday morning and a couple of Tritons had found her body this morning near a boardwalk on the north side of campus. Her wrists had been slit.
A massive group of people had converged on the beach for the candlelight vigil, each holding a small hurricane vase with a tea light inside. The whole beach flickered and came alive as the collective glow brightened with each new arrival. Lining the beach in both directions were much larger hurricane vases with candles running parallel to the ocean. They’d been secured in the sand just out of the reach of the waves. A beautiful ornate white table had been placed in front of the row of candles, acting as a memorial. It was overflowing with beautiful exotic pink and orange hibiscus blooms and topped with several large picture frames. More colorful bouquets littered the sand below as people brought their own dedications.