The Soul of the Sun (The Argos Dynasty) Read online

  Before I could think of a response, the silver mist began to recede and she faded into the blackness of the night. I sat motionless in the dark, not sure what to do. I shivered, sitting in the shallow water. I was drenched; I wasn’t sure how I came to be on shore, I knew I had fallen into the depths of the ocean. It was my last memory. Perhaps Aunt Abby had helped. My leg was throbbing, but I had to get up. I tried to stand, but an agonizing pain sliced through my thigh.

  I sank back in the sand. Damn. It was probably broken. I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, fear seized me.

  He was here.

  Abby’s mist reappeared just when I thought all was lost.

  “Come on Emma, work with me! Remember the dream where you stepped out of the antique car, you saw Granna sick and pregnant? I was showing you things through my eyes. It was my way of telling you I was watching you, protecting you. I wanted Margaret to know I was watching over her too. I wanted to show you your ability to time travel back to when I was alive. Granna woke you, afraid you weren’t ready. But you are ready Emma, you were ready then and you’re ready now. It’s time! Move!”

  With that Abby disappeared once more. And I heard the footsteps again, ever closer.

  I looked around. The only cover was a small clump of sea grass. Without a second thought, I dragged myself, half walking, half crawling, into the scrub.

  It was torturous. I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming. I sat there, panting heavily. I heard it again.

  I stopped breathing, he was so close.

  I sprang into action, placing both hands on my leg. I concentrated on all the good things in my life. I thought about the love between Granna and me, and how fortunate I’d been that she and Granddaddy had taken me in when Mom and Daddy died. I prayed it would work, because I had nothing else. I sat and waited. Then, a tingling sensation in my palms. It inched forward, radiating out through my fingertips. A gold flame ignited under my hands and my leg became bathed in a radiant light. And then I watched as it moved to my jaw. Warm waves of heat and light pulsed back and forth over both injuries, and I felt the throbbing pain ebb slowly away.

  A thrill surged through me. I had healed my leg. The throb in my jaw had stopped. I grinned.

  Aunt Abby was right.

  I could do this.

  For Granna.

  And for myself.

  I jumped to my feet without even a twinge. I turned on my heel and raced down the beach, my limbs in tune with the elements, racing with the raging storm.

  I ran and ran, propelling myself forward, knowing my very life depended on it. I had no clue where I was headed, just an awareness that I had to escape from Jonathan. Exhaustion finally overtook me; my breath caught in my throat. I stopped and leaned over, resting my hands on my knees. Surely I was far enough away from him now. I straightened up, still feeling a little dizzy.

  That’s when I felt him. He was here; the enormity of the situation hit me. How could I have been so naïve as to think that it would be that easy to outwit him? Healing my leg had made me too cocky, scrambled my common sense. I searched around frantically but there was nowhere to hide. All that lay before me was endless sand and open ocean. I was a sitting duck, awaiting slaughter.

  His closeness made my skin crawl. I looked up; he loomed ominously above me in the darkness. His shirt was torn and his jeans were soaked. “Going somewhere, Emma? My, my, haven’t we been a nuisance this evening,” he sneered.

  I gazed at him in horror; his hands were aglow with an orange flame that glowed against the night sky. These hands weren’t those of a healer, these were the tools of a demon hungry for power.

  He lunged forward, a man possessed, slapping his blazing orange hand over my third eye. I was unable to move, frozen like a pillar of salt to the spot. He would take all that was mine and kill me.

  “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but unfortunately I will have no use for you after this. You’d just be a liability.” There was a tinge of regret in his voice.

  The pressure of his hand on my forehead intensified, and the fire radiating from it burned.

  As the fiery heat penetrated, I was mindful of a clarity that I hadn’t felt before. For a moment, our eyes locked and for the first time since all this started I really looked at him.

  Where had I seen those eyes before? I rifled back, sifting through my memory. They were no longer Jonathan’s, that was for sure.

  The dream; that was it.

  Those were the eyes Tanga had seen. He was the priest.

  I hadn’t imagined it, and I wasn’t delusional, the dream had been a glimpse of some long ago past. My past.

  I felt him relinquish his grip on me, and I slid onto the sand. The desire to sink into oblivion was overwhelming, but I couldn’t allow that to happen. He wouldn’t control me. I would take back all that was rightfully mine. I focused my attention on the love I felt inside me and let it take me where I wanted to be. I was faintly conscious of a familiar blue glow surrounding me. I quickly looked down and saw the sapphire pendant from Greece around my neck. My God. It was the amulet; there was no denying it now. I had seen it split just as Athena had said it would. Before I had time to digest this, the earth shook and the wind blew; I twirled, spinning faster and faster, down into a deep vortex.

  I found myself sitting next to Granna on the old rocking chairs wearing my favorite pink dress. I had done it, really done it. I basked in my success for a moment. Then I remembered. I quickly put a hand to my neck. No amulet, just my locket. Had I imagined it there? No I remembered Granna had said it had disappeared off Fred and Mom both times she’d seen it. I wasn’t crazy it had just done its job and moved back to the ether just as the letter had said. I caught Granna eyeing me speculatively. I needed to focus and enjoy this moment. I was sitting with Granna and she was still alive. The temptation to alter the past was overwhelming. I heard myself speak and just as it had been in Greece, it felt natural. Familiar words, ones I had spoken before.

  “It sure is beautiful tonight.” My voice echoed in the stillness.

  Granna was a feast for the eyes; she had a dreamy faraway look as she gazed out over the ocean. But I could also sense worry hidden in the deep recesses of her mind.

  I remembered this night, it seemed so long ago. I had been so hurt by Jonathon’s betrayal. I’d realized I couldn’t marry him. I didn’t know then how it would end. I threw all caution to the wind and said what I wanted to say. I was fighting for my future life.

  “Oh Granna, I love you so much! I don’t want to go back. I want to be with you. I can fix it, make it right.” I pulled my chair closer and leaned my body against hers; wanting to protect her, just as she’d safeguarded me from harm. Granna stiffened in her seat.

  “What do you mean, Emma? What’s going on?” she said, turning to face me, her alarmed senses twitching.

  “I know everything. I understand now why you kept your secret. It’s me, Granna; I’m the one who’s been given the gift of changing time. I managed to get away…I left him…he was hurting me,” I sobbed. “I didn’t know what was happening and I wasn’t sure what to do.”

  I leaned back against the rocker and reached up, closing my hand around the locket. Granna gazed at me speculatively, and then I saw a flood of recognition in her brown eyes.

  “Dear God, Emma! You travelled back in time. Yes, I can see it now, your auras are different, they’re stronger.” She clasped my hands, but I noticed a strange look flit across her face, and she hastily withdrew them.

  She spoke quietly. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”

  “Oh Granna, it was all my fault! I should’ve done something, I…” Granna put a finger to my lips.

  “Shush. Diamond, you can’t tell me. The less I know the better. It’s important that it remain that way. You’ve found the energy to tap into this miracle, but you must block your thoughts my child,” she said as she leaned over and gave me a big hug.

  I breathed in her warm scent, a mix of peppermint and salty sea air. It was w
onderful to be home.

  She slowly released her hold on me and sank back against Grand-daddy’s old rocking chair; her eyes never left my face.

  “Emma, there is something you need to hear. I’ve known for decades how my life would end. I foresaw what would occur and believe me, none of it’s your fault. You did the right thing; your coming here tonight proves that. Oh Emma, I’m so proud of you, but you must go back and finish this. The future of humanity hangs in the balance.

  “Go back Emma, but give yourself some breathing room. Go back to an earlier period, a time before you were trapped. But I beg you; don’t think about going back far enough to save me. My time had come, you can’t prevent it. What was foreordained shall be. I’m an old woman, and I’ve had a good life.”

  She looked at my stricken face and patted my hand. “There now, you mustn’t be sad. How about we have some tea before you leave? We’ll have plenty of time to say our goodbyes later.”

  She arose, steadying herself and I leapt to my feet to help her. We linked hands and together we made our way inside, walking slowly, our hearts heavy with foreboding.

  My thoughts were jumbled as I watched Granna pottering around the kitchen. She busied herself filling the kettle and placing it on the stove. She reached for the teacups and set them on the tray, and popped her favorite English breakfast tea bags into each cup. When everything was ready, she placed some of her homemade chocolate chip cookies on a plate and added it to the tray. Once everything was arranged to her satisfaction, she carried the tray to the table and set it down gently. She gave me a warm smile as she put my cup and the plate of aromatic cookies in front of me. She knew my weakness for them. Taking her own cup, she came and sat next to me. She took my hand just as she always did and cradled it in hers. For a moment, words were not needed as we sat savoring the moment. Our tears went unchecked, rolling down our cheeks.

  That’s when it happened.

  A small blue glow materialized between Granna and me. It seemed to be coming from my dress. I glanced down.

  The amulet.

  It hung from my pink dress belt in exactly the same spot I had put it on the tunic. Chills raced up my spine. Had I really brought the physical half of the amulet back through time? Where had it been all these years? It seemed Granna had only ever seen the half with the ability to disappear, as had I. If this amulet was still in my pocket and had not disappeared it had to be the physical half.

  I swallowed a very large gulp. Athena’s words echoed in my mind.

  I was petrified.

  Sweat broke out over my body. I quickly slipped it off the belt and held it up for Granna and me to see. It sparkled in the light.

  Granna’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “I’ve seen that amulet before Emma. On Aunt Bette’s cat Fred and then again on your mother. That amulet saved my life. How is it that you have it?” Granna grasped my hand in excitement.

  “I know Granna, you told me you’d seen it before, the day we read the letter from Athena. But of course that hasn’t happened yet in your time, I keep forgetting. You’ll never believe this, but a lady in ancient Greece gave it to me. At first I thought it was just a lucky charm but she was quite insistent I take it; she told me never to lose it. I wasn’t sure it was the amulet until I saw it split right before my eyes.” My voice faltered for a moment. “…I brought it back. But I don’t think this is the half of the amulet you saw on Fred and Mom.”

  Granna looked at me puzzled. “What do you mean? There is more than one amulet?” Granna put up her hand to stop me before I could explain. “No Emma, forget I asked that I shouldn’t know yet, it’s too soon. We can’t alter the future.”

  “Please Granna I need you to know. Athena was right about everything…” My voice faltered. “I’m the Soul of the Sun,” I whispered.

  Granna squeezed by hand. “Ah well I may not know of a letter or who Athena is, but I have heard of the Soul of the Sun my child.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “What a miracle. It all makes sense now. My best guess is Fred and I were saved so that Astrid could have you. And that the amulet is a pretty important piece of that puzzle. My life was spared so many times Diamond, and I always wondered why me? Now I know it was for you.”

  I turned away from Granna’s intense gaze and looked back at the amulet. “It’s really lovely; I haven’t had a chance to look at it before now.” I regarded it more closely. “Look it has this pretty sapphire on one side and a picture of the sun on the other. There’s a gold inscription engraved around the edge too. It’s been split for so long Granna, do you think the other half will appear? It showed up when I…”

  Granna spoke up, “Shhh child, you are revealing too much again. Let’s just leave the details to the future Love.”

  The desire to tell Granna everything was great; I bit my tongue and studied the amulet carefully.

  I turned it over, just as I did, the amulet took on a life of its own, it began to twirl, and as it spun, the words on it danced in golden prisms against the walls of the room, repeating themselves over and over again. And then out of nowhere another identical amulet appeared in the air before us. It too began to twirl then in a burst of blue light they fused together. Then suddenly the twirling stopped and it clattered onto the table.

  “Granna, listen to me, if the amulet found me and came together it must mean something is going to happen don’t you think? Or maybe it already has. I’m certain I was supposed to die before I time traveled back to you.”

  “Yes I believe you are right Emma. The circumstances had to be just so for this to happen.” Granna leaned back in her chair. “My goodness, the amulet was in two pieces all this time. That was what you meant when you said you saw it split. Who would have thought it possible? Your Aunt Bette thought it was gone for good, but you brought it back and found another identical half. And fancy, my granddaughter going all the way to ancient Greece to get it.” Granna’s eyes grew wide and she grabbed my hand once more. “I’m aware of too much Diamond. I shouldn’t know this much yet, we are changing too much of the past…I…”

  “Granna, slow down. What do you mean, gone for good? You knew about this amulet before we got that letter? What does Aunt Bette have to do with any of this? I know the evil killed her, but I thought she only knew of the lost prayer.” I placed the talisman between us and the golden glow winked out.

  “I never mentioned it to you darling, but there’s a story behind this amulet that goes as far back as our family history. We were supposed to be the caretakers of this charm, handing it down from one generation to the next. But you see, Aunt Bette watched it be destroyed by the same evil that is after you now. This amulet is your protection against it. I didn’t tell you the whole story about what happened that day with Aunt Bette because there was no point; the only amulet I knew of no longer existed according to Aunt Bette. The only times I’d seen the amulet myself it was out of my control, it appeared and disappeared of its own volition. And I was confused because I didn’t know if it was the same amulet that Aunt Bette spoke of. I figured you could only work with what you’d been given, and I didn’t know how to make the amulet I saw on Astrid and Fred appear for you. But here you are, defying the odds. Never in my wildest imagination could I have foreseen it coming back to us through time.” Her face was bright with excitement.

  “So what happened that day Granna? You need to tell me.” I sat forward eagerly, listening as Granna relayed events past. As she told the story, I began to realize how big of a deal it was. More than anything, it was imperative that I win out against this monster. My mind reeled. The pressure was enormous.

  Granna was right. If I’d felt the amulet was lost forever I may have given up. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would find me through time.

  Granna must have noticed my ashen face, because she patted my hand. “No worries love. Look how far you’ve come without the amulet. And now that you have it, there will be no stopping you. But we’d best be getting you back to your time, and not press fate any
further.”

  With a sigh of resignation, I slowly rose from the chair and picked up the amulet off the table. What Granna didn’t realize was I had been working with the amulet all along, I just hadn’t realized it. There had always been one half that always waited in the ether to help me. I wasn’t quite as tough as she thought. I mean she had died hadn’t she? I wanted to change that moment Granna died with all my being. Suddenly, an amazing idea popped into my head. I hastily excused myself to the bathroom. There was one last thing I needed to do, with or without Granna’s approval.

  A few minutes later we said our farewells on the veranda where the roses came up and tangled with the slats. Where you could gaze out over the ocean and dream, where my heart would live forever. I took one last look and turned to Granna.

  “Bye Granna, I love you always, you know that don’t you?” I asked tearfully.

  “I love you too, my child,” she said softly, her voice barely audible over the waves crashing to shore. It was almost high tide.

  I hugged her until I thought my heart would break. Then, with my arms still around her, I rode Granna’s love back through the storm, riding the waves of her strength and calm.

  I thought of the note I’d left her. It warned her to stay away from the secret room on that awful day in the future. The one I was going back to now. I wondered if she would hear me through time and be able to save her own life.

  59

  The Watcher

  I almost had it. I was accessing Emma’s third eye and I could literally feel her power pulsating through my veins. But before I knew what had hit me I was standing on Margaret’s front porch. I could see Emma sitting in the rocker right next to her grandmother.