Chapter 7

7

Is that a disco ball?

Vega blinked the room into focus, the ceiling above her coming into full view after a few seconds. Her heart rattled in her chest as she shot up to a sitting position. She gasped, trying to remember where she was.

The walls were covered with fake wood panels better fitted for the 1970s, the carpet a red color that reminded Vega of her mom's old velvet car interior. The comforter underneath her was fuzzy and yellower than the sun on a hot summer's day.

Vega felt like she'd been sucked into a different decade.

She turned on the bed, eyes landing on the gorgeous stranger sitting at the end, watching her. Oh. My. God. I found Arlet.

"What did you see?" Arlet's brows furrowed, the confusion evident on her face. She held a glass of wine, and suddenly, that was all Vega could focus on.

"Oh good, wine." She wobbled when she stood, righting herself on the bedside table.

"Vega, what did you see?" Arlet asked her again.

Vega watched the red wine bleed into a paper cup made for to-go coffee as she poured herself a hefty serving. She met it to her lips, the bitterness a welcome taste.

Vega held up her finger before Arlet had the chance to speak again. She chugged the wine down to the last drop, refilled the cup, and finally spoke. "I don't know. This one was fuzzy. It…" Vega paused, trying to gather her thoughts. "There was a fire. A house, a huge house, more like a mansion. It was engulfed, and there were little fires everywhere else in what looked like a city. I was looking down from a mountain." She turned her attention to Arlet. "That was my home, wasn't it? I remember that view. My bedroom overlooked a lake with snow-capped mountains in the distance."

Arlet gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Vega didn't know her, but it felt weird to see someone who seemed to be so sure of everything look so befuddled.

"What?" Vega barked, moving towards her, the wine bottle still in her hand.

"You're really remembering. I can't…" Arlet snatched the bottle from Vega and topped off her glass. Her plump lips met the rim, and she chugged with vigor like Vega. "This has never happened before. You've never had dreams of your life."

Vega hadn't taken her eyes off her—she watched Arlet's every move. "I need you to tell me everything. Starting with how the hell you can afford a bottle of wine this expensive."

Priorities.

Arlet's brows had yet to unfurrow. "Really? That's the first thing you decide to ask?" Vega shrugged her shoulders, waiting, and Arlet continued. "I stole it."

Vega choked on the wine in her mouth. Am I supposed to trust anything this thief says?

"Don't give me that look." Arlet pointed her finger, making Vega relax the muscles in her face. "I'm not here to get a job, settle down, and start a family. I'm here to get you and go home."

Home .

The word made Vega look down at the flimsy cup between her hands. She leaned against the old desk behind her. "What's it like?" She looked up from her cup. "I've seen it, or at least some of it, but I don't know it."

Arlet's face was so warm, her eyes had a way of looking right into Vega's soul. Arlet smiled at her, eyes going distant while the world of Tolevarre came into focus.

"There are twelve territories. One for each original god."

Vega twirled her hair with one hand, the other gripping the paper cup like it would jump out of her hand if she didn't hold on with dear life. Her lips parted with a breath, ready to ask a question.

"Hold the questions for the end. I've done this speech a few times and can usually answer all of the questions you're about to ask."

Vega nodded, urging her to go on as she pulled herself up on the desk, legs swinging back and forth like a child on a too-tall chair. She was already mesmerized, and Arlet hadn't even started yet.

"How much do you know about the Roman gods this time around?"

Vega shrugged. "As much as anyone else knows about Roman mythology. That no one likes it as much as Greek mythology."

Arlet didn't hide her laugh, shaking her head as she shifted, pulling her legs underneath her. "What if I told you the gods were real?"

"Were?"

"Were. The tales have been misinterpreted here, but to this realm, they aren't real. To ours, it's the reason we exist. Remus and Romulus were sons of Mars, and like the silly men they were, they couldn't agree on where to put the Roman capital. Tragic, yes. How will they ever decide?" Arlet feigned worry, placing her hand over her heart. "Naturally, the answer was to kill the person who disagreed with you. Romulus plotted to kill Remus, but Remus found out. He knew he couldn't stop his death from happening, but what he could do was be one step ahead of his brother. "

Vega sipped her wine, listening with intent like it was story time at the local library.

"Remus found a way to curse the gods when Romulus killed him, linking his life to theirs. When he died, they all died. Their powers had to go somewhere, and they ended up inside the mortals of Rome. Before the power completely dispersed itself, it created our realm, Tolevarre, a place where people like us can exist without worry." The fairytale continued. "It's been thousands of years since the beginning of our kind. We have powers as small as shifters who take the form of a bird, to a select few who can do things like control storms, manipulate what you see, turn into a dragon, or kill you with nothing but the air around you."

Vega shivered as the squall over Lake Michigan roared outside the motel window. "So who are we in the grand scheme of things?"

As if Arlet knew that question was coming, she smiled. "We're descendants of the original bloodlines. Our parents ruled the Curia. Our old government, remember?"

Vega nodded, recalling what she'd been told this morning.

Arlet kept going. "Their parents, aunts, uncles, so on and so forth, ruled before that. It's kind of like our version of royalty. The more power you have, the higher you rank in society."

Vega squinted. "Sounds kinda like here."

Without missing a beat, Arlet continued, "Not everyone believes that. There are plenty of us who are fighting against that ideology. But…" There was a slight pause. "No matter how strong someone might be, sometimes they still want more. Marlena wasn't the first to try and overthrow the Curia, just the first to succeed."

Vega didn't know what it was like to have a family, and it seemed she didn't have one to go back to either. "What happened to her?" That was Vega's luck—finding out she had a sister, something she'd always wished for, but she turned out to be evil.

Arlet shrugged her shoulders. The oversized sweater she wore engulfed her small frame. Her throat bobbed when she swallowed. "She was jealous."

"Of?"

"You."

Vega cocked her head. "Why?" She twirled the new ring on her finger aimlessly. Arlet watched her do it.

"Because you got to live carefree, go and do as you pleased. She's the oldest, the one who was destined to take over your parents' Curia seats. Both of your parents held seats from different families, and your sister was going to be the first to hold two. She's a conundrum because she was born with both of your parents' powers. Your father was Aeris-born, his power descending directly from Jupiter. He controlled the wind. Your mother was Amora-born, a descendant of Venus. Her power was invisibility. There aren't many people who get two powers, but Marlena got both."

Vega tried hard to control the look on her face, the one broadcasting her hesitancy like a billboard on a busy highway. "And somehow she was jealous of me?" Vega scoffed.

"She's not the only one who got two powers. You did too, and yours outshone hers. You somehow didn't get an ability from either of your parents. You got the control of lightning, a power our people haven't heard of in hundreds of years. And even before that, lightning wielders were rare. Later on, everyone thought you got your dad's wind too, just like Marlena, but it wasn't just that. You can control the weather—create it. There's never been a power like yours. But it wasn't just your powers. You got to have fun, grow up, live a normal life, and make most of your own decisions. She had structure, day in and day out. Her free time was few and far between. Your parents weren't as innocent as they made themselves seem, but they didn't deserve what she did to them."

Vega put the wine down, her palms starting to sweat. "What happened to them?"

Arlet averted her gaze. She was stalling—a bad sign.

She didn't wait for Arlet to speak, beating her to the punch. "She killed them, didn't she?"

Arlet looked up apologetically. "Yes." The word was a whisper.

"Hmm." It was all Vega knew to say. She couldn't remember any of this happening, and yet it sat heavily on her, a sadness creeping up for the girl who could. "Am I the only one who's cursed to forget?"

After taking the last sip, Arlet put her empty cup down on the nightstand. "Directly, yes, but it affects us all." There was hurt set deep into Arlet's face.

"I'm sorry for everything you've been through." Vega might not fully believe what Arlet was telling her, but it was clear Arlet held on to a lot of grief. She spoke about these events like she could remember every little detail.

Arlet chuckled. "You've been through it too."

She didn't want to feel sorry for herself—she'd done that enough in her life. She looked down at her hand, eyes landing on the new jewel sitting where her gorgeous emerald-cut engagement ring and matching wedding band used to be. "Whose ring is this?"

Arlet pushed herself off the bed and walked forward, grabbing Vega's hand. Vega stopped fidgeting with it when Arlet's fingers fluttered over the cool metal. "Yours."

"Did you give it to me?" Vega asked.

Arlet let go of her hand, shaking her head. "Someone else who used to love you very much gave it to you."

Vega glanced down at it, amazed at the way it looked in this light versus her apartment. The sparkles inside swirled, reminding her of the Milky Way. "Are they dead too?"

"Might as well be." The grumble reverberated off her chest, and Arlet's face changed, void of any emotion as she backed herself up to the bed.

"And the brand?" Vega took her eyes off the ring, lowering to the inner part of her wrist where the marking was most noticeable against her pale skin .

"There are four of us who have it from the night you summoned Remus."

"I'm sorry, I what?"

"Yeah, Remus, from tonight's history lesson? You summoned him. The demigod our people have to thank for their existence. It was badass. He bonded us. It's why I can find you." Arlet held her chin high, a big smile on her face.

"How is summoning a half-god even that cool?" Vega asked, unimpressed.

Arlet crossed her arms and ran her hands up and down softly, comforting herself from the memory. "Because you're smart. You knew he was our best chance at getting revenge. Marlena wanted the powers." Arlet tensed. "She summoned the twelve original gods. You know, Jupiter, Mars, Venus—the whole lot. We didn't know that then, not until later. Your sister was never stronger than you, but she's always been more cunning and willing to do whatever it takes to prove herself worthy, powerful. Your plan was never to get the powers from the other gods. You wanted the chance to bond the people closest to you, to fight together with whatever Remus was able to give us."

Vega raised a brow. "And what did Remus give us? Seems like we got the short end of the stick if Marlena is in power and we can't figure out how to break a curse after fifty-five years. And I mean, why even bother if she's going to win in the long run anyway?"

Thunder rattled the windows, shaking the pictures on the walls following her question.

"No." Arlet's voice was steady, sure of herself. "Remus knew what he was doing when he bonded us. He wouldn't have given us what was left of himself if he didn't think we could defeat her. All of us have different bonds. I can find you here. The others can't, but they can feel you when I make contact. That little tug you felt, we can all feel that. I was changed the most by the summoning. I never had an ability. My dad was from Vates, land of the seers. My siblings could see like him, but my mom was from a family of priests and priestesses in Oro, land of our temples. They're really into the whole live, laugh, love thing."

Arlet threw up a peace sign, lightening the mood a tad. "My mom could manipulate light, but she wasn't the most powerful in her family. I guess one of the kids was meant to be more like her." Her voice held a ghost of sadness. "But all I got from her was her beautiful hair."

Vega looked up from her scar. "But now?"

"Remus gave me a power no one has ever heard of. It's like he took whatever power I was supposed to get from my parents and combined it."

Vega was at the edge of the desk in anticipation.

"I can manipulate like my mom, but not light. I manipulate what is seen."

Vega's eyes grew a little wider. "You can make people see what you want them to see? Like, what's not actually real?"

"Yep," she said, popping the p .

"Are you doing that right now?"

She chuckled. "No. Our powers don't work here, or you'd be toasting people left and right."

Arlet poured the rest of the wine into their cups and threw the empty bottle into the trash. Vega could picture them sitting up all night, laughing while drunk on good wine. But maybe that was because she was lonely and wanted a friendship like Arlet painted all of her life.

Vega was still convinced this was all some fucked-up fever dream and she'd wake up wishing she could move to a realm far, far away from here. But that doesn't explain the dreams.

"There has to be a reason behind it all, huh?" If only Vega knew she was always the one trying to get to the bottom of everything, the one to ask the question, Why?

"Sometimes things just don't have a reason, Vega. They just are. I think this is one of those situations. Maybe Remus saw that. Maybe he knew something was coming and wanted us to have a fighting chance. There are so many reasons I've settled on over the years, but nothing with solid proof. I've given up worrying about how it happened, deciding to accept that it simply did ."

There was so much she wanted to know—needed to know—but how could she in one night? Vega didn't even know where to begin with the torrent of questions floating around inside her head. "This is insane sounding, you know that, right?"

"Absolutely." The answer was honest and quick.

"You've been doing this for fifty years?"

"Fifty-five, almost. Minus a few weeks," Arlet corrected.

"How old are you?" Vega fired back.

" We are seventy-five. You're nearly three months older than me." Arlet winked.

She didn't let her mind rest too long on the age thing, because what the fuck …"Why?" Why would someone risk their life for me? Especially after being defeated continuously.

Arlet didn't ask what she meant—she knew. "Because you never would have given up on me if it were the other way around."

Vega's skin warmed, tingling with the honesty in her answer.

"What would happen if I said I didn't believe you and wanted to stay here?" Vega asked.

"You won't. You never have. If this weren't true, then how would you choose to explain the dreams, the tug at your heart that led you here?" Arlet's eyebrow raised.

That tug in Vega's chest made her get off the desk and abandon her cup of wine. She sat next to Arlet, their legs touching when the mattress shifted under the new weight.

Vega reached out and grabbed Arlet's right wrist, pushing up the sleeve of her sweater to inspect the raised brand on her wrist. Vega's fingers grazed over the skin gently. "Who are the others?" Vega was nervous to ask.

"Khort Fera and Bridger Dimico."

Bridger Dimico. "Bridger." Vega hadn't realized she'd said the name out loud until she watched Arlet's eyebrows draw together.

"You've dreamed of him." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, tonight before I came here when I got stuck in an elevator. I think I've seen him in dreams before—before meeting you. He just never had a name."

Arlet choked on her wine, coughing through a laugh. "You got stuck in an elevator?"

"I also slapped my husband across the face in front of a bunch of firemen, but I don't want to talk about it," Vega deadpanned.

"Oh honey, you poor thing. You're really going through it, huh?"

"Who is Bridger?" she asked, ignoring the pity in Arlet's eyes. "Please." I have to know.

"He's one of the bonded." Her reply was thought out, precise without giving too much away.

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but who is he to me?" Vega's throat tightened, her voice cracking.

Arlet drew a deep breath from her nose. "You and Bridger were together for seventeen years."

Were. Vega went pale. I was taken away from not only a life with friends who have never given up on me but also a relationship—a seventeen-year relationship—with a man I can't remember.

That realization hit her like a tidal wave. She wanted to ask more, but she was afraid of what Arlet might say.

"Vega?" Arlet broke through her haze.

"I'm fine." Vega let go of Arlet's hand, letting it fall gently back to her lap—but she didn't move from her spot next to her. Vega could count the freckles on Arlet's cheeks, see the green flecks in her eyes. This close, she noticed the two scars that ran from her collarbone to underneath her right ear. "I want to believe you."

"I want that too." Arlet grabbed Vega's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze .

"How do we even get back?" Vega asked.

"There's a portal in Crescent City, California, deep inside Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park."

Vega paled further at her response.

"What?" she asked.

"Chase and I used to go camping there with his friends during college," Vega whispered. Could it be a coincidence, or was this a detail Arlet knew and was using to make Vega feel safe around her?

There were too many unknowns.

"I just need some time to work through this. Last night, I found out my husband has been cheating on me, and today I'm not even from Earth." She barked a sad laugh. "It's a lot to take in."

Arlet nodded, picking at the hem of her sweater. "I would love to give you as much time as you need, but when I said time was running out, I meant it. The longer we wait, the closer you get to death."

Vega stood and started pacing the room in an attempt to process everything she'd learned tonight. "How do you know the curse is dying?"

"Because curses can't last forever. They run out of power, and when they do, if they haven't been broken, the cursed die with it… and there has to be a reason that you're starting to see bits and pieces of your life. From what I've seen of curses, they usually have a surge in power before it ends. I feel like that's what's happening with your dreams." Arlet watched her pace, eyes bouncing across the room with her.

"What if the curse's power runs out, and I'm on Earth? You said powers don't work here." Vega could ignore all of this, siding with the rational part of her brain reminding her that this woman could be on drugs or was out of her mind. Right?

"The curse is in your blood, your bones. It doesn't have to use any power to kill you." It scared her how relaxed Arlet was.

Vega groaned, running a hand through her hair, pausing at the base of her neck to take a deep breath. "So basically, what you're saying is if I stay here, I'll die? Probably alone. But if I go with you to this supposed realm, Tollybear?—"

"Tolevarre," Arlet corrected.

"Whatever." Vega continued, "I still might die, but hey, I'll be a god with powers before that happens." Arlet looked at Vega like this wasn't earth-shattering news. "Why aren't you more worried about this?"

"I never said we were gods, just descendants of them. With powers, yes," Arlet replied with a calm coolness. "Because I've been worried about this for fifty-five years. The newness has worn off. Now you, you act like this every time you find out." Arlet flicked her wrist at Vega, who paced the room. "Twenty times now."

Every time. Every time. Every time.

Vega kept hearing those words, making her feel manic with jealousy for the people who didn't have fuzzy memories of their childhood. Jealous of those who weren't put in the position to choose to believe something this berserk or go back to living a life that was equally as pathetic.

"Fuck, I need some air." Vega headed for the door.

Arlet was up on her feet right behind her. "I'll come with you."

Vega turned around quickly, her hand resting on the door handle. "I think I need one more night alone." She'd had enough of them in her life. One more to decide the fate of her life wouldn't kill her.

But the curse might. Vega swallowed back a wave of nausea.

"I'll be here before noon tomorrow if I want to come. If I'm not, leave without me." Vega opened the door and marched herself into the storm outside.