The Descendants Read online

  I knew I had made the right decision to save her though confusion over Iris’ intentions riddled. After all, the drowning girl carried a pendant with the symbol that was centerpiece in my recurring nightmares. But there was something about her … I would have never had the heart to let her die. I just didn’t understand why.

  It’s amazing the speed at which memories replay. It’s just a few seconds from the time I spot Kat beneath the water, limp and floating as she yet again nears death, to the time I reach her and pull her to the shore.

  I’m not sure if water or tears are dripping from my face as I perform CPR, pumping her chest, blowing air into her lungs, batting away fears of the worst kind. To this day, I know no other way to save the life of a drowned victim other than CPR. Healing people isn’t my power.

  Before I can tip her head back and rest my mouth on hers again to try to relieve her lungs, Rose plants her knees into the sand on the other side of me. She gazes down at her granddaughter with a look I’ll never forget: pride and overwhelming love. I try to ignore the sadness and regret stinging her expression and focus on the positive.

  Rose’s white hair brushes against her shoulders as she lifts her willowy arms. I have a feeling I’m about to watch a true goddess expel her magic in the holiest of ways with nothing but love and good intention. I back away from Kat, rolling onto my knees, and release my hands from her chest.

  I just watch.

  And wait.

  The noise from the crowd has died some. In one glance I see Circe standing at the shore, hovering over the large, clear tube of Erebus, shrouded in our energy—energy of the descendants. But no one celebrates. It’s too excruciating to watch and wait anxiously for Kat to take a breath.

  Rose places soft, delicate hands on Kat’s chest, but she doesn’t try to pump it like I did. Energy releases from her palms, flowing straight into her granddaughter’s heart. Kat’s veins react almost immediately as a white glow draws lines beneath her skin. Then I hear something amazing. Kat’s heart begins to beat. I didn’t even realize it had stopped. I forgot to check. Darkness washes over me, but I pull myself out of the gloom just as quickly.

  A smile lifts the corners of Rose’s lips, and then she places her mouth to Kat’s ear. She whispers something so quiet that not even I can hear, and I’m straining to use my magic. It’s obviously something Rose wants to keep private.

  After a deep exhalation, Rose places her right hand on her own heart. Her left hand stays on Kat, but she moves it so it’s positioned right above Kat’s heart. “With this breath, I transfer the last of my energy to you, my dear, sweet, Katrina. May it give you life, and may you live in peace, for as long as your energy will recycle.”

  Light glows from Rose’s chest and travels down the length of her other arm until it reaches Kat. As I watch the transfer of energy, the glow on Rose’s chest fades slowly, and Kat’s glow brightens.

  I watch the beautiful yet horrifying exchange as we wait for one life to breathe and another to die.

  The noise behind me fades as the wind ceases, causing the swelling waves to settle. Above us, the clouds part to reveal the full moon which seems to shine tonight just for Kat. On any other night, it would be a phenomenal scene. After tonight, the same moon will be a reminder of Kat’s life … or death.

  The air is thick with grief and hope.

  Kat chokes and sputters to life, struggling for breath. A beautiful sound. I lean into her and turn her onto her side, reaching for her hand immediately. She empties her stomach, clearing her lungs, and takes her first clear breath. Her eyes are still closed, but her heart rate and breathing are finally steady. She’s alive. Sleeping … but alive.

  Relief washes over me, cleansing me of all the worry and anger I’ve been feeling since Arabella made the announcement that Kat was giving herself to Erebus again.

  Beyond Kat, a smile touches Rose’s face just as the light in her eyes dims. Paul falls to his knees in front of his mother and cries soft sobs on her chest. I have to turn away, but I see Charlotte land beside him almost instantly, hurling pain from her chest and anguish from her eyes.

  My chest constricts and my throat knots as I fight the urge to let loose a floodgate of my own tears. As relieved I am to hear Kat’s breaths, I feel my own heart suffering at the loss of Rose.

  The crowd clears, leaving the Summers and close friends to grieve together. Out of everyone, Charlotte seems to be the most affected by our loss.

  “Son.” Paul’s red eyes stare at me. I like that he calls me that. I like that he trusts me with his daughter. “Would you carry Kat to bed? I’ll come up and stay with her once I take care of my mother. I should be with my daughter when she wakes up.”

  He doesn’t need to say another word. I do as he asks and scoop Kat up into my arms. Once again, I notice my arms are made for her, and I hug her tightly to my body, careful not to jolt her as I move. She needs her rest after tonight, and she’ll need it to deal with the loss she’ll be forced to wake up to.

  Before meeting Kat, I was numb to emotional pain. I’d experienced the worst of it with my parents, and I wouldn’t let myself feel anything like that again. I checked out from the world, moving through life but never actually living it … until Kat came along. I started feeling things again. Feelings that became foreign to me. Even the anger I suffered in her presence was an emotion that surprised me. The more I was around her, the more I wanted to feel things—the more she forced me to feel things. Suddenly, feelings were an addiction, and I craved them with Kat.

  Two days. One death. Two instances when I thought my life was going to end. But now here she is, cradled in my arms as she rests, Erebus no longer a threat. Still, I worry about tomorrow and how she’ll react to the news of Rose’s passing. It keeps me up, not that I could sleep anyway knowing Paul will be up at some point.

  He steps through the door a few hours later—at least I think it’s a few hours later. He tells me to take the guest bedroom down the hall. “You should be here in case she needs you.”

  Paul’s grief tugs at my core. I want to tell him that she’ll need her dad, maybe even her mom, and then she might want to see me. But it doesn’t matter, because Kat is strong, and right now, all anyone needs is time to grieve.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  KATRINA

  Death is rarely beautiful. It’s an end to the life we spend decades, if we’re lucky, figuring out how to live. For Rose Summer, death doesn’t mean the end. It means sacrifice because she gave her life for mine … and there’s nothing more beautiful than that.

  “She was the stubbornest, spunkiest, most difficult woman I’ve ever known. She was also right about pretty much everything.”

  Laughter fills the crowd at the first words of the eulogy I’m giving at my grandmother’s funeral. It’s less than a week after her death, and I’m standing on a stage just outside the community center, overlooking a sea of faces, most of whom knew and respected Rose. Some guests have only heard of her but felt compelled to travel across the country to be here.

  Before continuing, I take a moment to close my eyes. A breeze rushes to my face, sweeping my hair back in a refreshing wave, filling my confidence and calming my nerves. I plan to channel every bit of Rose for this speech because she deserves a great one.

  “Of course, these are words I never would have spoken when she was alive,” I say with a smile. “However, today, I can only speak the truth.”

  The crowd falls back into silence. “She was also kind, just as her name implied. She commanded a room without much more than a stern look or a smile. She brought people together and educated us when we wanted it least … but needed it most. She took care of us, and she respected us.” I float my gaze across the smiling faces below me. “She touched every single one of us in unique ways, because Rose Summer understood us and loved us, flaws included. Instead of judging us … she understood us.”

  My eyes find my mother, who sits in the front row with pinched lips and tightened eyes to suppress her
tears.

  “She valued who we were, no matter where we came from, and helped us understand the importance of self discovery.” I pull my eyes away, sweeping the crowd again. “Best of all, she never preached. Instead, she lived the life she was given, and she was grateful for that life every single day.

  “My grandparents weren’t the original descendants, but they lived their lives to honor our heritage. Astina Somer would be so proud of their accomplishments. They were people we should all strive to be, living a way of life that touches others. When I first moved to Apollo Beach and learned of my Enchantment, I’ll never forget the pride in my grandmother’s eyes as she taught me all about energy sourcing. I didn’t realize it then, but I quickly learned that the importance of recycling is far beyond what we’re doing for ourselves; it’s the giving back that’s important. Knowing that our energy can be used to help our world thrive is all I need to be proud of who I am and where I come from.

  “With that said—” I change my tone and smile, causing light laughter from the guests—“no one kept a secret better than Rose Summer, and I’m sure she took some of those secrets with her when she passed away.” I shake my head, triggering more laughter. “All I can say to that is that’s okay, because we’ll learn what we’re meant to learn, and we’ll love who we’re meant to love. All we need to do is start with each other.”

  The applause is so loud it drowns out the sound of my thumping heart. I take my seat beside my mother, who immediately pulls me in for an embrace. Johnny squeezes my shoulders from behind, and I let the tears fall.

  No one speaks right away. From the corner of my eye I see my father standing at the podium, but he lets us have a moment of silence, allowing Rose’s presence to fill the space between us all. I’m certain the remnants of her energy are paying us a visit today. I hope she heard my speech.

  My mother pulls me closer. She hasn’t stopped holding me since regaining her memory. Grace took the potion without hesitation the night of Rose’s death. She didn’t tell anyone what she was doing that night. There was no one to tell. Paul was tending to Rose’s body, and I was passed out after capturing Erebus. Since we were all preoccupied with Rose for the next couple of days, Grace kept her recovering memory to herself.

  I’ll never forget the knock on my bedroom door that night when she came to talk to me. I knew something about her had changed, but being so distracted, I wouldn’t have guessed it myself. She sat beside me, struggling to hold back her emotions, and said the words I’d been waiting to hear.

  “I remember.”

  She told my dad later that night, and then we all talked about what she remembered. Some of her memories, especially the ones involving Erebus, remained fuzzy, but they would eventually clear up. She did remember this …

  Grace had parents and a younger sister named Madeline, or Maddie, as Grace called her. They lived together in an old colonial mansion in Savannah. School had just let out for the summer, and Grace took eleven-year-old Maddie to the park to play.

  When they arrived home, their parents were fighting, which wasn’t an odd thing, but it was always disturbing. Their father had a bad temper when he was angry … and he was usually angry. After Grace turned on the stereo in Maddie’s room and placed a box of dolls on the floor, Maddie began to play while Grace snuck out of the room to spy on her parents, curious to know what her mother did wrong this time.

  She watched as her father’s anger rose above him, igniting in a swirling blue, translucent glow before he collapsed on the floor with an ugly-sounding thud. The blue glow remained, hanging in the air in the shape of a large snake, hissing and darting its tongue at Grace’s mother. Grace was too shocked to gasp, but she covered her mouth with her hand just in case, not wanting the Serpent to see her. For some reason, the Serpent didn’t stick around long. He didn’t attack Grace’s mother, and he didn’t try to possess her. Instead, he left, promising in a thick Greek accent that he’d be back soon for Grace.

  When the Serpent left, Grace ran to her mother, throwing her arms around her. Before Grace knew what was happening, she and Maddie were being placed in the backseat of the car. Their mother drove them to a large shipyard, sneaking them into one of the large, rusty boxes. Maddie was asleep, resting her head in Grace’s lap as their mother mumbled her goodbyes through her tears.

  “You’ll be sixteen soon, and with age comes responsibility.” Then she placed the pendant around Grace’s neck. “You must never remove this necklace. If you do, he’ll come for you.”

  “Why can’t we be with you?” Grace cried, tears spilling down her cheeks and onto Maddie’s.

  “Say goodbye to Maddie, sweetie. We can’t come with you. You’re not safe, and he’ll find me. I can’t risk him finding you too.” She placed a hand over Grace’s heart and closed her eyes chanting the words that would strip her of her magic and her memories.

  “No!” Grace screamed and cried, clinging to a still sleeping Maddie with one hand and her mother’s hand with another. But her mother wouldn’t stop, reassuring her this was for her own good.

  The last memory Grace had of her mother was Maddie being ripped from her lap and her mother’s shattered face as she closed the shipping container door. What followed in those next few moments was the sound of a padlock clicking into place and footsteps running away.

  Grace was terrified, alone, and quickly forgetting why.

  TWENTY YEARS LATER

  Grace said goodbye to her daughter that afternoon, not knowing if it would be the last time she ever saw her again. She didn’t know what Erebus planned to do with her body once he took it, but she knew Kat would be safe. Grace made sure of it when she placed the pendant around her daughter’s neck.

  Rose told Grace this day might come, and although Grace refused to have any further discussion about it, she had listened and felt prepared to hand over the pendant. She wasn’t prepared to lose her daughter.

  Saying goodbye to Katrina and hiding the truth was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Not that she’d been completely honest since Kat started asking questions as a young girl. Grace had fabricated a lot of what the Summers meant to her out of fear that Kat would want to meet them. And while Grace knew Erebus was not to be trusted, she knew enough to give him what he wanted in order for her daughter to have the chance at a future.

  Grace kissed Kat on the cheek and hugged her, holding her longer than normal, praying Kat would never forget this feeling. “I love you, sweet girl.”

  Kat smiled, wondering what she had done to please her mother enough to provoke her emotions like this. “I love you too, Mom. Can you grab popcorn for movie night tonight?”

  Grace hesitated before nodding, not wanting to promise anything, but she couldn’t say no. “Of course.” She couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye, or even see you later. All of that felt wrong. So she just left, locking the door behind her.

  Once Grace reached the bike rack, she paused to lean against the building and take a few deep breaths before reaching into her pocket for her cell phone. She quickly dialed the Summer Estate landline number.

  “Hello,” answered a sweet voice. Grace hoped she remembered the right number.

  “Um, hello. May I speak with Rose?”

  “May I ask who’s calling?” asked the woman.

  Grace’s pulse raced. “Just an old friend. Please. I don’t have much time.”

  The woman hesitated but finally put Grace on hold so that she could grab Rose.

  “Hello?” Rose’s familiar voice filled the line, and Grace wanted to sob. She missed this woman, the woman who took her in without question, who loved her like a daughter. Grace knew Rose was devastated by what she’d done, but there was no other choice. Erebus wouldn’t have allowed her to be with Paul any longer.

  Grace took a deep gulp of air before answering.

  “Grace, is that you?” Rose whispered.

  How did she know? Then Grace remembered the morning Paul confessed everything about the Summers, about how they were des
cendants of Greek gods. It was an absurd notion, but then Paul showed her what his magic could do, and she was terrified.

  Erebus used her fear against their marriage, convincing Grace to run away. She was torn, but she ultimately went with the safest decision for her daughter. She couldn’t allow Katrina to be raised in a house of witches. Would her daughter grow up to be one too? Paul and Rose said yes.

  Leaving never felt right to Grace, but staying wouldn’t have felt right either. Hearing Rose’s voice on the other end of the line brought it all full circle.

  “It’s me,” Grace answered. “I don’t have long. Kat will be sixteen soon. I gave her my pendant to keep her safe.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line at first as Rose digested her words. “Can she stay with me?”

  There’s a sting behind Grace’s eyes, and it’s almost impossible to hold back the tears that follow. “I don’t know where else she’d go. Rose, don’t ever let her forget how much I love her. Please. And tell Paul I’m sorry.” The reality of all the years Kat was denied a father suddenly weighed heavy on Grace’s heart. “I’m so sorry.”

  Rose remained calm, but there was something else in her voice. “Katrina will be safe here, Grace. I promise. Where are you now?”

  Grace pressed her eyes together. “I’m heading out of the apartment. He’ll come for me soon. If not today, soon.”

  “Go back inside, get your stuff, and drive here now,” Rose commanded. “We have safe houses and an entire community center where she’ll be safe. You too.”

  Hope bloomed in Grace’s chest at the thought of getting to spend more time with her daughter in a safe place where he couldn’t touch either of them. “Really?”

  “Yes, Grace. Come now.”

  Grace switched off the phone and deleted the calls, quickly debating what to do next. The options were this: submit to death or take Kat away to safety to be with her family. The answer was an easy one. Just the idea of returning to Apollo Beach made Grace the happiest she had been in a very long time.