Atlantean. E.N. J.D. Watkins
Victoria the palms of my hands. I suppose I could’ve lied and told her that the knot was really a tattoo, but as much as this girl seemed to know about me, that was probably a bad idea.
After staring at the knot for a moment, Victoria interlaced her fingers in mine and held my hand. She looked as though she wanted to tell me something but was struggling to find the words.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, a black cat cantered past staring directly at us. I didn’t give the animal a second thought, but Victoria looked at it in horror.
She yanked her hand out of mine and jumped to her feet.
I looked up at her with a quizzical expression.
“What?”
Victoria didn’t answer; she simply hopped over the fence without a backward glance and disappeared.
I pursed my lips.
I’d often wondered what it would feel like to be blown off by a girl. Now I knew: it hurt. But I’d long since grown accustomed to pain.
So, letting my mind wander, I stared out into the sea and was surprised that I was thinking about my false parents. I wondered what was going to happen to them; they seemed to be in some sort of trouble.
Serves them right.
But what was going to happen to me? And what was that about the Fallen doing as they please?
The sound of someone clearing their throat brought me out of from my brooding.
“Sorry to disturb you, sir, but your presence is requested.”
I didn’t have to look up to know it was a servant speaking; they all spoke in the same manner.
I sighed and got to my feet. I didn’t bother jumping over the fence this time; there was no one around to impress. I simply walked through the open gate.
Victoria was waiting for me with a stern expression.
“You will need to change before you meet my father,” she said in a hard voice.
I guess she wasn’t into me. Huh . . . I wonder why that bothers me?
I nodded. Victoria turned away from me stiffly and walked inside. I followed her without saying a word.
The interior of the house was just as impressive as the exterior. It was bright, spacious, and luxurious. Several oil paintings ornamented the white walls. The floor was completely covered in ivory-colored marble. The ceiling was high and inlaid with wood of the finest quality. It was also dotted with several large chandeliers. The staircase was wide and intimidating. It stood proudly in the entryway. From what I could tell, the majority of the rooms were on the upper floors.
Victoria didn’t look at me once as we walked. Staring at her back, I couldn’t help notice how much more rigid her movements had become. In fact, she was walking a lot like my paren—no, that’s not right—she was walking like my false parents.
I had to remember that Catherine and William weren’t my parents.
Victoria didn’t stop walking until we reached the base of the staircase where another servant was waiting for us.
How many servants did she have?
“Take this boy to the room we have prepared,” Victoria said in a lordly tone.
This boy, huh? So I was this boy now.
“Make sure he’s ready in a timely manner; we haven’t got all day.”
She seemed to be trying really hard to convince everyone that she didn’t care for me. Though it hurt, I was hardly surprised. No one ever really cared for me. So it shouldn’t have stung so much that this girl didn’t either—but it did. Despite how I felt, I was able to keep my face composed. Victoria departed without a second glance, and I didn’t bother looking at her.
The servant to whom Victoria had been speaking bowed to me. I barely inclined my head in acknowledgement.
“This way, sir.”
I followed the servant upstairs. The second floor had just as many paintings as the first. I was also right about the rooms: the hallways were lined with doors. It didn’t surprise me that the level of craftsmanship was far beyond anything I’d ever seen. The servant stopped in front of an open door and bowed me inside.
The room was elegant, yet plain. Across the room from where I stood was a large west-facing window that stretched from floor to ceiling. The view of the ocean was almost breathtaking. To my right was a large bed—king sized from the looks of it—on which were a clean set of clothes. I walked over to them and heard the door close with a snap. The clothes were simple: khakis and a white button-up shirt. They looked about my size. I still had no idea why I was supposed to change. I mean it wasn’t like I was dirty—a little sandy perhaps.
Oh well.
I changed quickly and walked back to the door. Upon opening it I came face-to-face with Victoria. She was tapping her foot with an air of impatience as though she’d been waiting a long time.
“About ti—”
But I cut her off. I was at my wits end with her little attitude.
“Look, you can stop trying to show the world that you hate me. As a matter of fact, you can stop talking altogether. Your voice is becoming quite irksome.”
That shut her up. She pursed her lips and eyed me beadily. Then abruptly she turned on her heals and walked away without another word. I sighed, sticking my hands in my pockets and followed after her. We walked in silence. The whole time I kept wondering what I had done to turn her against me so suddenly. I didn’t know why but for some reason I was still attracted to this girl.
Victoria came to a halt in front of a huge set of double doors. She reached for the handle, and as she did so, I saw that her palm lines were knotted exactly as mine were knotted.
Had this been the reason behind her strange behavior toward me?
I noted that Victoria had yet to enter the room and I got the distinct impression that I was supposed to go alone. But before I entered the room Victoria and I locked eyes once more and I knew the attraction was still there. It was almost tangible. Victoria looked away from me quickly. But I knew that she had felt it too. I walked into the room and she shut the door behind me.
This room was both large and eerie. There were no windows either and the only source of light was a large stone fireplace. Not too far from where I stood there was a massive round table that appeared to have been carved out of pure marble. Around this table were nine thrones that were both ancient and intimidating. Many of the thrones had engravings of some sort on the back of them. I didn’t recognize the language but I could read it as easily as if it were written in English.
Whoa.
I wasn’t expecting that.
Staring at the lettering I saw that the throne nearest me read Seraph. As I pondered the significance behind the word I heard the distinct sound of breathing.
Someone was in here with me.
My eyes quickly roved around the room and I soon spotted a person standing next to the fireplace.
I blinked.
I was certain that there was no one there a few minutes ago. The guy must have been lurking in the shadows. I only saw his back but I knew at once that this must be a relation of Victoria’s; like her he had a majesty about him that could not be ignored.
“Come closer, Amadeus,” he said in deep, strong voice.
I walked forward apprehensively not knowing what to expect.
The man turned towards me when I was a few steps away. At first I thought I was beholding Victoria’s brother for he was young—probably no older than twenty-one—and was more or less the same height as she was. They even shared similar facial characteristics and his hair was just as raven as Victoria’s, but his