Chapter 9
Lena
The hot water pounds against my head and neck, forcing me to wake up, forcing me to go through the motions of getting ready for today.
I brace my arms against the cold tile, thinking about Nahuél.
The entire way home this morning, my feelings were a tangled web of I-told-you-sos and go-back-and-fight-for-him.
Honestly, what was I expecting? To convince a trapped, forgotten god to use the last of his powers to escape a cave and come tumbling out into the real world, a place he has never known, and be with me forever?
Yes. The small, needy, lonely part of my brain is screaming yes, that’s exactly what I want!
“Well, we can’t have it, so step back into the real world!” I admonish myself in the shower. And the real world is waiting for me, the issue with Martin looming closer and closer.
There is no way around it; I will have to report him. I’ve decided to see how Martin acts today, maybe I was seeing things last night outside the bookstore. But a large part of me knows what I saw, and what I have to do will be unpleasant at best, and catastrophic to my career at worst.
After showering and dressing in the same hiking gear I’ve been wearing all week, I head downstairs to grab some breakfast from the dining room. Mrs. Ames is the sweetest, going above and beyond to care for her guests.
The minute I step in and sit at the table, she eyes me up and down, bustling over with a piping hot pot of coffee. “You okay today, dear?”
I pour some cream into my coffee, giving me some time to answer. “I’m just tired.”
She stands by my table with a perplexed look on her face.
“Have you seen Dr. Kessler this morning by any chance? Usually, he’s up so early, raring to go!
” Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes when she talks about him, and I can tell that this is one guest that she’s probably not fond of.
However, she is right- usually, he is up by now.
“Um, no, I haven’t seen him. I can go check our lab and see if he’s in there working.”
Mrs. Ames pats my hand. “Alright, dear. Let me know if you see him, just want to make sure all my guests are comfortable.”
I nod at her as I exit the dining room, making a beeline to the small conference room down the hall off the lobby. My key slips the lock twice and ends up slamming my hand against the handle before it gives, revealing our lab, empty.
Where could he be? Voices from the hall reach my ears as Cami and Theo walk into the lab in the middle of Theo regaling Cami with a funny story. They both stop when they see me, their expressions turning serious.
“Hey, Dr. Vance, is everything okay?” Theo asks.
“Uhm, I’m not sure actually. Have either of you seen or heard from Dr. Kessler this morning?”
They glance at each other briefly, each shrugging.
“I just got downstairs, I assumed he was in here,” Cami says.
“Same.”
Tapping my fingers against my lips, I feel a dark pit of worry open up in my belly, intuition tugging me to a decision that I don’t want to make.
“Okay. Stay here in case he comes down and text me if he does, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Is everything okay, though?” says Theo.
“Not really, but I can’t get into it right now,” I say, as I stride out of the hall.
I’m almost out of earshot when I hear Cami say, “I knew it.”
Shit, she figured it out. Maybe young people have a better beat on this than I do. I rush back into the dining room to find Mrs. Ames in a conversation with a guest about all the fun things there are to do at the local lake nearby.
Gently as I can, I tug on her sleeve to not startle her. “Mrs. Ames?”
She turns to me and gives me a look that tells me she’s also been around the block a time or two and has seen some things. Flashing a smile at the guest she was talking to, she gracefully exits from the conversation and leads me into the hall.
“So, he’s not in the lab, and Cami and Theo haven’t seen him either.
I hate to ask, but can we go knock on his room?
Just to make sure he’s okay?” My words tumble from my mouth in a way that I can’t control.
I don’t like Martin, but I would never wish harm to come to him, and it's pretty clear he needs help.
“I had a feeling that’s what it would come to. Let’s go, I got the key right here.”
Too soon we’re at his door. I rap a few times on the door. “Dr. Kessler? Dr. Kessler, are you in there?” We both listen for any sounds coming from the other side, our ears pressed flat against the wood.
Mrs. Ames nudges my arm. “Try again, louder. If he doesn’t answer, I’ll unlock it.”
Nodding, I try again, this time pounding on the door with the flat of my fist. “Martin! Open the door!”
My heart is beating out of my chest as I don’t hear anything. I look to Mrs. Ames, who nods, reaching for her key. Just as the key scapes against the lock, I see movement behind her in the hall.
“Martin!”
He’s shuffling down the hall, his hair in complete disarray, shirt halfway unbuttoned, with mud all over the soles of his shoes. His eyes are bloodshot and bleary, lips cracked. He stops short, as though just now seeing us, and we’re staring at him, jaws slack.
“What are you doing?” His eyes narrow at me, ignoring Mrs. Ames completely.
“We were worried about when you didn’t come down for breakfast.” My voice is oddly quiet, the tones soothing.
He takes a step forward, losing his balance slightly and pressing a hand hard to the wall, leaving a dirty handprint.
“You have no right to go into my room! That’s private!”
My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I don’t even know how to respond to that without revealing what I know and possibly setting him off further.
Instead, Mrs. Ames smoothly steps between us, squaring her shoulders off.
“Actually, I have every right to enter your room if I believe a guest is in danger or needs medical assistance. You look a little worse for wear, Dr. Kessler. Are you sure you wouldn’t want to go to the hospital and get checked out? ”
Martin storms past us, the scratching noise of his key on the lock reaching my ears before I have enough sense to back away. “I’m fine!” The door slams in our faces, making me jump.
Mrs. Ames looks at me sympathetically. “You should make some calls, dear. I’ll let Cami and Theo know that your schedule has probably changed, and I’ll send some more coffee and pie up to your room.” She pats my shoulder.
“Thank you, I whisper.” And walk dejectedly back to my room.
The next hour is one of the worst of my career, as I lay out what I’ve seen to Dr. Halden, our boss at the Institute.
At one point, she asks me to get Cami and Theo, and pretty soon we’re all taking turns talking to her.
We hang up and can only wait. But, even waiting doesn’t take long before the sound of shouting reaches our ears, and I can guess that Martin is talking to Dr. Halden, and it's not going well.
Before Martin can come banging on my door, and before anyone else can say one more word to me, I grab my pack and leave, running down the hall and out the back doors towards the forest, in the opposite direction of everything in town.
I keep walking until my lungs burn, my thighs are twitching, and my knees are creaky and sore. I keep walking until I hit the river, rushing and sparkling in the sun. There is a large boulder near the bank that I perch on. Periodically, my phone rings and beeps at me, but I ignore it.
The water is clear, cold, and soothing as I put my feet in, stepping carefully on the small, multi-colored pebbles that dot the bottom.
What will happen to Martin? The project?
Will we have to pack up and leave today, right now?
That thought tugs my whole body down, squatting in the river so that my hands can swirl through the water.
Dipping my head between my knees, I force myself to take deep breaths.
Another, more alarming thought enters my brain, one that is impossible, impractical, foolish.
I want him here with me, now. What is wrong with me that I should want a forgotten god instead of thousands of other eligible humans that I could possibly want?
But, deep down, I know. His strength, kindness, and the fact that I can relax around him for more than two seconds. He saved me, healed me.
So, what am I doing here if tonight is my last night?
I stand to grab my shoes and my bag, to race back to the cave to tell Nahuél goodbye when I see movement in the treeline, just where the river curves around a bend out of sight.
I freeze. “Hello?” I call.
Clouds break in the sky, sunshine flashing through the trees, hitting the water, sending millions of rainbows into the air as I see his silver form, walking through the water to me, carrying a shimmering rainbow trident.
My breath catches in my throat, and I’m rooted to the spot in complete shock and awe.
Subtly, I pinch my thigh, making sure this isn’t a hallucination.
A manic giggle escapes my lips, and I look around to make sure that no one can see this giant of a god.
Finally, I’m in his arms. “You’re here…how? You have a trident?”
I’m so distracted by him in the sun with his dazzling trident that I can barely concentrate on his words, and it hits me all of a sudden, he’s a GOD. Because all seven feet of his sparkling, silver form projects power.
“Lena, are you listening?” His eyes find me, and I never noticed how long his eyelashes were before now.
Shaking my head, I laugh again and realize that I am crying too, tears dripping into my mouth.
“No, I can’t focus, you’re here and I’m so stupidly happy about that.
I think I just got fired, or I don’t know, I might have to leave, and I was going to go back to you, to say goodbye, but you’re here.
And- you escaped? I’m so overwhelmed, I’m sorry. ”
“Shhh, shhh. All is well now, sweet Lena, I am here with you. I did not escape. I was able to leave freely.”
“But how?”
His forehead is pressed to mine, strong arms enveloping me tightly, which feels so good, like a weighted blanket.
“Because of you. The water led you to me; you gave me power back. My love for you, my feelings for you. I was too scared to try before, but I could not stand when you left, so I just walked to the wall and it…melted away for me.” His eyes fall on the magnificent trident, dazzling in the sun.
“You brought me back Tir-Amaan, I have not held her in so long. Thank you.”
His plush lips are on mine. “The water told me you were here, in my river, crying and sad. I could not leave you to be so sad. Come, let’s go to your dwelling.” He starts to walk with me to where I tossed my pack, but I stand still.
“Wait…you can’t walk into town looking like that!”
He turns and winks at me. “We gods have many tricks, Lena.” He lifts his trident high into the air, bringing it down with a crash into the river, swallowing his body in a flurry of waves.