“Half a century?” She looked over to him, recognizing for the first time he was actually wearing a shirt. A tunic shirt like the one she’d seen in that dark memory. An image flashed into her mind of Alexander in the center of the pentagram, a red line against his neck. She shook her head immediately, pushing it away.
“Yes. Against my will, my father removed me from that existence, and brought me here. He’s made it so I cannot leave this place”
He was a prisoner. Just not the type of prisoner she’d assumed.
“What is this place?” she asked curiously, wondering at a prison that was so luxurious. When she thought of prison, she thought of bars and small spaces, not beaches and comfortable, king-sized beds.
“My father’s temple on Mount Olympus,” he replied easily.
No, it wasn’t. Wasn’t Mount Olympus supposed to have towering castles and a white-haired Zeus with a thunderbolt he kept at his side just for the hell of tossing it at someone? Also, for as long as she’d been having this dream, she’d never seen a temple anywhere on these grounds. Who’d put a temple on a beach, anyway?
A little smile upturned his lips and he replied, “The temple is behind you. It can only be seen by a god, or the direct descendant of one.”
“Poseidon? Your father?” Just to clarify that. When he nodded, she sighed. Well, her days of hard facts and science were officially over. They’d been over for a while now, with the recognition that she was a druid, but she was in a dream, talking to the son of a god, on Mount Olympus, at said god’s temple. That alone could not be explained with the scientific method.
“So, all in all, you gave me your spell book so my sister and I can resurrect the druids?”
It took him a while, but he nodded once. “Yes, so that you can resurrect the druids, Cassandre.”
She gave him a curious look and then turned her body to his.
“Why did you only come to me? Why didn’t you go to Vivienne?” She furrowed her brows. “Did you go to my sister?”
Alexander stared at her for long moments, and then he shook his head. “You don’t understand, do you? You are the key to our salvation, Cassandre. You are creation, and whenever a druid is born with that type of power, another druid must counter it. Vivienne is destruction. It has been that way from the beginning.”
Cassandre felt like she was a little girl learning about the Bible. This sounded suspiciously like Genesis. In the beginning…creation…destruction….
“What?”
“I should have explained this to you instead of leaving it to a witch to explain your druid.” Just briefly, Cassandre considered yelling at him for talking bad about her mother. He wasn’t actually talking bad, but he sounded a bit condescending, still.
“Whenever a druid is born, he is able to control an element. When druid twins are born, they control elements that balance each other. My people have waited centuries for a druid wielding the power of creation, Cassandre. We’ve waited centuries for you. However, because you can resurrect us, there is another power able to destroy us.”
Understanding but not quite getting it, Cassandre replied lamely, “She was born first…by a few minutes.”
A dry chuckle escaped his lips. “It does not matter who came first. You are to balance her, as she is to balance you.”
“Right. Ooookay.” Sure, tomorrow I’ll wake up and maybe this will make more sense.
“Wait. Another druid came to me a few nights back. Did you send her to persuade me to resurrect them?”
His humor faded, and his face grew serious. “That’s impossible. The druids cannot leave the realms where they’re being held.”
Cassie shook her head, remembering the pale druid with the long, black hair and green eyes. “Well, someone came to me, and she said she was a druid. I think she said she was from the House of Selene.”
Alexander looked thoughtful. “House of Selene? Describe her to me.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “Be wary of any visitors, Cassandre. You are key to our salvation, and those who despise us would bring harm to you, and possibly your sister.”
As she watched him, contemplating whether she should tell him about Maximilian Cronin, who wanted to resurrect them for ulterior purposes, she decided no. The time she’d spent with Alexander had been a great revelation to her, but she wanted to share this information with her mother before she made him aware of Cronin. She believed him. She didn’t believe one could fake a memory, but her mother was older, and more experienced at these things. After she discussed him with her mom, she would decide.