The Equinox (36 page)

“What did
I
do? How am I part of any of this?” Johnny yells in anger.

“You saved Katrina from the water.”
Erebus spits his words now. “That entire plan was not easy to master but it was
all going perfectly until you disobeyed my orders.” Erebus grows angrier and
his glow brightens with each word.

The
Fourth of July
. The Equinox
was
after
me that night.

Erebus continues. “You were under orders to
take the pendant from Katrina and leave her for me.” Iris’s voice is changing
to something deeper and layered in evil.

I look to Johnny. “What is he talking
about?”

Johnny shakes his head. “The Equinox
killed my parents, and he left his marking all over my parent’s boat.” He turns
back to me, knowing that this alone explains so much. He continues at a rushed
pace. “Iris came to me and told me about someone in town who carried a pendant
of the Equinox. She told me that it was you, that you were evil, and I needed
to steal the pendant from you. Somehow she knew that I was searching for the
Equinox—and she wanted me to think that you were the one I was after. At
first, I wasn’t convinced, but she knew that I would recognize the symbol on
the pendant.” He glares at Iris—err—Erebus.

I think of the knife wound on Johnny’s
back and need to stop the bile from rising to my throat.

“That’s why I knew to be there that night
to save you from drowning. I was supposed to toss you back into the water.” His
eyes explore mine as he speaks. I know this is hard for him to say. “But I
couldn’t, Kat. I looked at you, and there was something—“ He shakes his
head, unable to finish his sentence. “I didn’t know why, but when I looked at
you I couldn’t follow through. That’s why I had your pendant. I
was
going to give it back—I just
wanted to know what it all meant first.”

“And this one,” Erebus is sneering at
something to my other side—Alec.

I look at Alec now who appears to be as
peeved as Johnny and myself. “What do you have to do with this?” I ask him.

His eyes flutter to mine and then to
Erebus, as if he doesn’t want to let him out of his sight. He doesn’t say a
word making Erebus grow angrier.

“You side with this—
Enchanter
?” Spit flies from Iris’s mouth
and sprays us all.

“I was never on your side, Erebus. Ava
was a fool to trust you.”

“Okay, so you failed, and I have the
pendant now.” I say this to distract an evil Erebus from Alec. “It’s never
coming off of me. So now what?”

Erebus blows another puff of smoke at me,
but with a flick of my wrist, I use my powers to swipe it away.

“How did you know I had the pendant in
the first place?” I ask. He knew about me all along. He wasn’t testing me on
the Fourth of July. He caused that wild fire so that I would use my powers and
grow weaker, so that Johnny could steal my pendant.

Erebus curls Iris’s mouth up at the
corner. “Because I know who gave your precious pendant to you, Katrina.”

He waits for me to ask but I’m already
shaking. I don’t need to ask. The memories come flooding back—of my mom
wearing the pendant around her neck for as long as I knew her and then handing
it down to me, in what I thought was a coming of age thing. Turns out my mom
wanted to protect me from the Equinox. Right after that, she died—but my
mother didn’t die of a heart attack. She was killed by the Equinox because she
was no longer protected. Erebus must have been right there, knowing and
waiting, lurking in the wings so that he could destroy her and get closer to
me—and Rose.

“You killed my mother.” My trembling
words cause Erebus’s smile to grow wider but he doesn’t respond.

“You’re very smart, Katrina.”

My body shakes with rage and I’m blinded
by hatred for the Equinox and love for my mother—all at once. I tear
myself from Johnny’s grasp and start running with everything left in me. I leap
the ten feet or so it takes to reach Iris’s body and pull Erebus to the ground.
Once my hands are around his neck I stare into his eyes and burn a hole through
his head until I can see the earth below.

Erebus hisses. I can feel pressure on my
chest, as if someone is pushing me off of Iris, but I am too strong.

Johnny and Alec appear on either side of
me, helping me contain Iris’s body as she writhes and screams against the
force. My mouth drops open as Iris’s body becomes motionless and her blue glow
fades, forming into the shape of a serpent that slithers above her. It hisses
and darts at me as if it’s going to attack but it reels back just as quickly—he’s
afraid of me.

The serpent slithers through the air creating
some distance between us before speaking. The voice that speaks next sounds
foreign—nothing like the voice that came from Iris. This voice is deeper,
with a rich Greek accent. It sends unkind shivers all through my body.

“I was getting tired of that body
anyway.”

Johnny pulls me back into his arms. Alec
is beside us, his arm on my shoulder.

“I’ll be back for you, Katrina
Summer—and next time, I won’t give you the courtesy of a leisurely chat.”

Erebus slithers closer to me so he’s
right in front of my face. It takes everything in me not to swing at him or tie
him into a knot with my mind.

“Next time, I will take your body, and
kill everyone you love.” Erebus chuckles. “And then you’ll show me where the
energy source is—so that I can destroy it along with this entire little
sanctuary that you’ve created for yourselves.”

He begins to slither away but turns his
evil serpent head back toward me for his finale. “Do tell Rose I say hello. It
won’t be long until we meet again.”

And then he’s gone.

My tears fall all at once. My body shakes
and I’m grateful for the comfort of Johnny and Alec. Without them, I’d let my
strength die right here.

Like a herd of cattle, Rose, Charlotte, Trisha and her
parents, Arabella and her sisters, even Isaac come barreling through the maze to
get to us. By the time they reached us Erebus is gone—long gone, with
only a promise to return.

At first, I don’t make out the questions
they ask or the warm words they express at the fact that I’m still alive. I
only have thoughts of my mother and the pendant that killed her by saving my
life. She knew all along that it would come to this. That’s why she took me
away all those years—to make it harder for the Equinox to find us. And
that’s why she gave me her pendant when she did. She knew that she’d die and
that I’d come to Apollo Beach to live.

This is where I’m meant to be.

More Enchanters begin to fill into the
space with us—all curious and anxious to know what took place here.

I look up at the faces with me now.
Charlotte’s arms hold me tight as tears stream down her face. Rose is on the
other side of me, holding me too. Such an odd but nice feeling to have the
comfort of those who have taken me in, especially my grandmother who has
appeared cold and distant to me since I first moved here. It’s clear that she
loves me.

Johnny and Alec filled everyone in on
Ava, Iris, and Erebus, during my thoughtful silence. Now that everyone knows
what we went through and the facts have sunken in, I stand.

All faces turn to look at me, expectation
crosses their faces, and there’s something special—almost momentous, about
what is happening. They see me as a leader—as someone who can stand up
against the one person who threatens us all.

“The Equinox will be back.” I shake my
head and look around while I think of how to phrase my next sentence. “His
mission hasn’t changed. He still wants to kill us all, but for some reason he
thinks I’m the key—possessing me and accessing the energy source, whatever
that is.” I throw a look pointedly at Rose.

Rose approaches me with wild eyes. “He
knows?”

I shrug, trying my hardest to not show
her my own anger. This secret she insists on keeping from me is the same secret
that Erebus wants—the same reason he plans to possess my body. “Yes, apparently
I’m going to show him where this energy source is.”

Rose looks around at all of us, as if
deciphering if it’s safe to relay her secret. “It’s the one thing that the Elders
have always protected. Because no matter how many of us die, there will always
be our energy source—but the Equinox can never find it. If Erebus gets
ahold of it, all we’ve built will be destroyed. That’s why we keep it a secret.
The more people who know endanger us all.” She turns to me. “And you especially
cannot know. If you do and you are possessed…” she shudders.

I place a hand on Rose’s arm and look
into her eyes. “Okay. Then don’t tell us. The less we know, the better, but we
need to figure out a way to protect whatever it is.” I stare down at my
bracelet. “And this bracelet better not come off—
ever
.”

Rose shakes her head. “It won’t. It’s
bound to you. You’re the only one who can take it off.”

Suddenly the thought of Ava and Iris
weigh me down. I feel bloated and sick by what transpired just recently. “I
killed Ava.” My voice is weak and shaky.

Rose moves her arms around me quickly,
tightening her grip so that no space is left between us. “You did what you had
to do, dear. There was no other way. When Erebus commands evil upon someone
that person makes a choice. Ava knew what she was doing. Erebus was her leader
and there’s nothing you could have done to change that.”

“But Iris—”

Rose pushes back against me so that she’s
looking me straight in the eyes. “Erebus killed Iris, not you.”

I gasp, realizing something else. “What
about their parents?” My eyes are wide and I look around frantically. “What if
they come after us now?”

Rose frowns. “They’re gone. Detective
Xavier confirmed that they’ve moved on—probably with Erebus.”

Sighing, I feel slight relief from the
fact they fled. “I need to talk to Johnny and Alec.”

Rose leads the group away through the
maze pathway.

Arabella stays behind. “Kat, I’m so happy
you’re alright.”

She hugs me and I smile at her. “Thank
you. I take it that you didn’t find Johnny.” I smile through my sarcasm.

She winces. “I did find him.”

I look between Arabella and Johnny. “She
found me,” he says. “But then Iris, Ava, and Alec captured me and brought me
here. This one beat me up…” He gestures to Alec, but for some reason doesn’t
look upset. Alec looks ashamed.

“Sorry man—I was protecting Kat.” Alec
says with a shrug.

Now we all turn to look at Alec in
surprise. “You beat Johnny up to protect me?”

“Everything I’ve done with Iris and Ava
since I stood you up was to protect you.” Alec’s expression is wary, as if he’s
unsure I’ll forgive him, but I already have—well, maybe not the beating
up on Johnny part.

I shake my head. “I don’t understand. You
stood me up and started hanging out with Ava, and you two have been all over
each other…”

Alec looks around. “Kat, can we talk
about this in private?”

I glance at Johnny, his expression looks
like stifled anger. I can’t do that to him, not right now. “We’ll talk about it
later. I’m just glad I didn’t have to kill you too.”

Alec turns his head down. “Right.”

“But what are you? If you’re not an Enchanter
and you’re not an Equinox…”

Alec looks back up and shakes his head.
“I don’t know, Kat. I know that I’m not exactly human. I know that I can build
a fire in my hands, with just a thought. I can heal a wound with a touch, and I
know that whatever I am fooled Ava and Iris into thinking I was just like them.”
He frowns. “But I don’t know why—or how.”

“You’re a descendant of Apollo, God of
the Sun.” Arabella chimes in making us all turn to her. “All the signs are
there, you just have to know your history.” She shakes her head. “How can you
not know what you are? Either of you?”

Arabella scolding Johnny and Alec makes
me cringe, then sigh. “Alec was adopted, Arabella.”

“Oh,” she contorts her face. “Sorry
Alec.”

He shrugs. “Whatever. So I’m a descendant
of Apollo.” He shakes his head, telling me that he thinks it’s ridiculous. “I didn’t
understand what was happening to me, but for the entire summer, I felt strange.
The week after Fourth of July I noticed that I could
do things
—with my mind. Ava and Iris were the only ones I
talked to about it. Ava approached me first—after we left the restaurant
the night of our almost-date, she revealed herself to me at the marina. She
told me that I was just like her, and that you were evil.”

I laugh. “Right.”

He smiles. “That’s what I thought. I knew
it wasn’t true—and then Iris revealed herself to me after Trisha’s party.
I knew that I needed to remain close to them to find out what they were really
up to, and to make sure you were safe. I didn’t trust them but I had no clue it
would lead to all of this.”

Ava
first revealed herself at the marina
. I think about his words as it drums up
more questions. “Alec, do you know anything about the barrels of liquid being
poured into the marina?”

He makes a face. “No, I know nothing
about that.”

I frown. I’m glad to know that Alec isn’t
a part of the pollution issues, but then who was? Was it Ava and Iris? But what
were they doing?

Alec looks at Johnny. “I’m sorry for the
fist in your mouth man. No hard feelings. I needed them to think that I was against
you.”

Johnny shakes his head and holds out his
hand. “No hard feelings at all. See,” Johnny presses my hand to his cheek and I
know he wants me to heal him—so I do. All the while searching his eyes,
wondering where we stand after everything.

He gives me nothing in return. Instead,
pulls my hand away and looks back to Alec. “See.” His face is perfect again. “Thanks
for protecting Kat.”

Alec looks between us now. Johnny’s hand is
still holding mine and Alec’s expression seems defeated. Something inside of me
wants to reach out to him but I stop myself. There will be a better time for
that conversation.

Arabella looks at us all and smiles.
“Well, now that Kat kicked some butt out there, I think we should all rest. I
can walk Kat home—unless one of you wants to.”

I know she is teasing us all and I could
kick her for it.

Johnny pulls me closer. “I’ll take Kat.”
He turns to me. “I need to talk to you.”

“Descendant of Poseidon is the winner.”
Arabella hooks arms with Alec and gives him that charming smile of hers. “
You
can walk me to the water.”

They walk away and I linger back with
Johnny for a moment before leaving the maze. I never want to look at a garden
again.

“I’m sorry I freaked out on you earlier.”
I’m shaking my head in apology to him. “But with everything I knew, I’d already
come to terms with the fact that whoever had my pendant was the Equinox.” I
look into his eyes and sigh. “I’m so glad it’s not you. I mean—I’m so
glad you’re you.” I make a face. “I’m sorry.”

Johnny pulls me in. His comforting
embrace is exactly what I need, but something about his expression is off and unsettles
me.

“You don’t have to apologize. I get it. I
don’t know how Arabella found me but I’m glad she did.” His forehead touches
mine and I close my eyes. “And now you know who I am.”

I nod. A sting pricks the back of my eyes
as I look back at him. I’m happy to be here with him, but I’m anxious for
what’s coming next.

“My parents raised me to understand what I’m
meant to do, so nothing has changed there, but putting a title to who and what
I am changes things a bit.”

I shake my head. “Why? How?”

He closes his eyes for a second before
opening them again. “I need to be out there, protecting the sea. Especially
with the threat of the Equinox so alive right now, I need to be protecting what
protects us all.”