39. Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter 39
R ieka could taste the ash and blood from the vision.
As if she was still there in the memory, transported to the past. She didn’t know who or what she could trust anymore. Lilian had kept so much to herself; she wasn’t sure what was real and what had been a fantasy-inspired story to keep Rieka quiet. The stories of her childhood were half-truths wrapped in a dark fairy tale. A way for Lilian to pass down their history and warnings. That was why fairy tales had been invented. Why wouldn’t Lilian create her own?
Dante touched her. A subtle touch that scarcely grazed her arm. So many times, when she felt like she was floating in an abyss, Dante had acted like an anchor. She was fast coming to rely on Dante, and she didn’t know how she felt about it. They had made no promises. She would go her way once they found the tomb, back to her small apartment and empty life. Her heart fluttered at the idea.
Rieka had been staring at the mosaic for so long that if she closed her eyes, she could see every intricate detail without prompting. The others had taken turns to keep an eye on her, except for Dante. He hadn’t left her.
After the discussion with Aadya, there was no denying what she had dreamed. Even if she hadn’t been able to put it in words, the image was seared in her mind. Whoever had created the mosaic had been there on the beach. The style was identical to the drawings in the journal. There was no denying it anymore; Lilian had been responsible for creating the mosaic.
The pale blue eyes of the child had been unmistakable. It was the same color of eyes her mom had. A look she had seen on her mother’s face countless times, the faraway look of someone who had been lost in a long-forgotten memory, who had never left the past behind.
Lilian had been the lost heir of the House Atlas. The one the Atlanteans had half-heartedly looked for. But her mom had chosen not to go back. Instead, she had forsaken her Atlantean heritage to wander the world. Until Rieka had been born.
Rieka swallowed.
It made her the granddaughter of Vandana. And the O’hurani. The blood of queens and monsters did run through her veins. Just as Lilian had told her. Rieka wished she had paid more attention to the fantastical tales of her childhood. What else had her mom been trying to tell her?
The pendant throbbed, heating against her skin. Vandana’s warning followed her, but she ignored it. Rieka was done hiding.
The severe sound of heels echoed loudly in the silence.
“It is beautiful,” Sypha said.
Rieka turned to face the Atlantean. As always, Sypha was dressed head-to-toe in white. Silver flashed underneath Sypha’s right heel. They looked like small hand blades. Rieka grinned in response. There was something ethereal about Sypha, as if they didn’t belong in their world, more so than any other Atlantean Rieka had encountered. The more she spent time with the older Atlantean, the more Rieka realized that there was so little she knew about the other species—that her entire experience had been influenced by assumptions and stories from Lilian. Standing just inside the entrance, Sypha looked slightly uncomfortable at the tightness of the room.
Rieka turned her attention back to the mosaic. It was the key. She just needed to ask the right question. “I think the clue to finding the tomb is here.”
Talik whistled as he leaned against the mosaic. Rieka stared at him. The Atlantean had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed as he sheepishly moved away from the eleven-thousand-year-old wall. Somewhere along the line, Talik had traded his three-piece business suit for the matte-black uniform of the guards. Just like Dante. When she had seen Dante, she had stared for a full minute. The Atlantean looked good in everything he wore. But her favorite was when he was wearing nothing.
Rieka shook her head. When had she ever felt so comfortable around a group of people? Even on her own archaeological excavations, the feeling of being an outsider or an impostor had never been far. A small part of her reminded her they weren’t here for her. Somehow, Dante had created a family who would do anything for him. And for a few days, she could pretend she belonged.
“To answer the question no one has asked: we haven’t been able to track down the serpopard. For an animal that size, it is more than adept at hiding.”
“I have guards continuing to look. The rest of the guests are unaware of what transpired,” Khalida seamlessly finished before she turned and locked eyes with Rieka. “They carved this room out of bedrock. It shouldn’t even exist.”
It shouldn’t, but like the serpopards and everything else she had learned, reality was far more creative than she had ever given it credit for. Rieka looked up. “It’s the constellation painted on the mosaic. In the journal, it is the only constant in each of the images. Mom drew hundreds of versions of the temples, papers upon papers that she eventually burned. The only thing that stayed the same was the sky.” Rieka half-turned. “This sky. Dante worked it out.”
“Why not outside in the real world?” Sypha asked.
“The constellation was cross-referenced. The configuration has not existed for eleven thousand years.” Dante moved to stand behind Rieka. “This room will remain open only until the end of the Jimourt.”
“Are there any other entrances?” Talik asked. “This place has more clandestine tunnels than most.”
“None that we have been able to identify. Idris has a handful of scholars working through the older maps to identify if we have missed anything,” Khalida said. “The tunnel system bypasses this entire area. When the Arx was constructed, they either kept this space entirely separate or weren’t aware it existed. The vault was a later addition.”
It wasn’t making any sense. “How much later?”
“Six hundred years,” Khalida said. “According to Aadya, it took them three hundred years to construct as they had to go through the original foundation.”
“Could they have built it on something older?” Rieka mused out loud. Idris had mentioned something about building on older foundations, but that made little sense if what Khalida was saying was true. “But if that is the case, why would you seal it off from the rest of the Arx?”
“To keep a secret.” Sypha blinked slowly. “I will leave this with you all.”
“Or to keep something out,” Talik added as he turned and knocked on the tiles. “Is there anything behind the mosaic?”
Rieka walked over to Talik. They were in front of the crashing waves and endless ocean. It was beautiful, but not an area she had focused on. Maybe there was something she had overlooked.
Talik shook his head. “Something was scratching against the other side. Too small to be a serpopard or anything of decent size.”
“Are you positive?” Khalida asked.
Talik gave Khalida a droll stare, his obsidian gaze blank with unnamed emotion. “I know what scurrying rats sound like.”
Khalida flinched.
Dante moved to Rieka’s other side, brushing up against her. He tapped the wall. “It sounds solid here.”
Rieka closed her eyes as she trailed her fingers along the mosaic. The tiles weren’t as smooth as the other ones. They held bumps and elongated marks. Was it some sort of writing? She didn’t recognize it, but dead languages had never been her forte. Keeping her eyes shut, she memorized every mark. “There is an inscription.” She turned to Dante. “Do you recognize the language?”
Dante’s hand grazed Rieka’s as he followed her path along the wall. After a few minutes, he looked at Rieka, a flash of disappointment crossing his handsome features. “No. But Idris might.”
Another dead end. At this rate, the vault would be closed before she got any answers to the questions that plagued her.
“Rieka,” Khalida called out. She sat slightly separate from the rest of them, crouched in front of another portion of the mosaic. “There is a slight discoloration with these waves.”
Rieka strode toward Khalida.
“The tiles here are slightly raised when compared to the rest,” Khalida added, a long nail trailing against the light blue waves. “Can you see it?”
If Rieka squinted, maybe she could see the difference. But her eyesight had improved nowhere as much as her other senses. She angled her head. Maybe the constellations had nothing to do with it. It could have just been a coincidence, something Lilian had liked to draw. Over and over again. No. Dante was correct. The constellation was important. Why else would Lilian have drawn it?
She took a step back and froze.
There, hidden within the waves near the floor’s edge, was an engraved flower. The faint outline of a lily. How did she miss it before? She must have spent hours looking at the mosaic on the first day.
It is the symbol of Vandana. Find the lily, and you will find your way home.
Kneeling next to Khalida, Rieka traced the flower as she ignored the strange look Khalida was giving her. For a moment, she felt like Lilian was with her, watching over her.
“Does the flower mean anything?” Khalida asked, a hint of kindness in her tone.
Rieka half-smiled. “My mom said it used to be Vandana’s favorite flower.” She pressed the flower and hoped for the best. “And if I ever was lost, all I needed to do was find it, and it would lead the way home.”
Something shifted under her fingers. The ground groaned as the wall shook. Dante moved behind her as she stood. He was so close his body warmth radiated off him in waves. She crossed her arms. The throbbing in her arm was becoming unbearable, but she didn’t want anyone to know. The arms of the bracelet felt like they were burrowing deeper into her flesh. It was getting harder to hide the electrical shocks raging through her body. Right now, it was all forgotten as she stood transfixed. The mosaic continued to move. The scrapping sound of rock against rock was grating. Small dust particles flooded the room.
“Your mother would have been proud of you,” Dante whispered as his fingers brushed hers. A flush of warmth rushed over her.
Something clicked into place. The stone wall screeched as it shuddered.
Rieka leaned against Dante as the door slowly opened. The others hadn’t moved. Even Khalida stood transfixed at the sight before them.
“Fuck me,” Talik whispered to himself, his obsidian gaze wide with excitement.
Bright blue lights flickered out, leaving only darkness.