"Wake up. Wake up, Nicole!”
Nicole stirred. It seemed she’d only just fallen asleep. Getting Iris and Marcos settled in their rooms took a good portion of the day. And then they stayed up visiting late into the night.
Quiet! Just give me a few more minutes.
“No! We’re out of time!”
What are you talking about?
“He wants me to kill you! I can hold him off for a few minutes, but not much longer than that.”
Nicole’s eyes flew open. She’d heard this voice in her head for as long as she could remember. The voice was annoying, she stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong, but she always spoke the truth and had protected her more times than she could count. “What do mean—he wants you to kill me? Who are you talking about?”
Zeus! the voice said. I’m talking about Zeus. He is commanding me to kill you. Go get Triton. He needs to know. He can stop me.
“If I tell him about you, he’ll think I’m crazy.”
If you don’t, you’ll die!
“Okay, okay,” she said as she swam out of her sleeping chamber, wondering what the king of the gods had to do with her.
Triton’s door was a large, stone slab. It looked like marble, as did much of his palace. Should I knock? Raising her fist, she struck it several times. She didn’t hear much. It probably wasn’t loud enough for—
Triton opened the door, smiling. “You know, coming to my bedroom in the middle of the night might give me the wrong impression.” He pulled her into his arms, shut the door, and kissed her. At his touch, she melted.
Nicole! Tell him! The voice was so loud that if her mind had ears, they would be ringing.
She pushed Triton away, slapping her hands against her head. “Okay. Just don’t yell anymore.”
“I wasn’t yelling.” Triton’s brows pressed together as he frowned. “Nicole Taylor, I need you to tell me what’s going on. This isn’t the first time you’ve spoken strangely. Who are you talking to?”
“Actually, that’s what I came here to tell you. Now, I know you’re going to think I’m nuts, but hear me out. Ever since I can remember, there’s been a voice in my head.”
“A what?”
“It’s… like there’s someone else living in my head. She speaks to me. She’s sometimes really annoying, but she’s always looked out for me.”
His response was completely different from what she expected. She thought she’d see disbelief, pity, or revulsion. What she didn’t expect was anger. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. He took her head in his hands.
“Nicole, I need you to relax.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I just need to look inside your mind.”
“What? No. Forget it!”
“It’s alright. I won’t look at anything personal. I just need to see if you have an outside entity inside of you.”
“You think I’m possessed?”
“Well, I never had the impression you were mentally ill, so yes. I think there’s something going on.”
“You don’t need to look to find out.” Nicole spoke, but her voice was different—lower and with more resonance. “I’ll tell you anything you need to know, sea-god,” said the strange voice, speaking through her lips.
“Stop it!” Nicole said. “I hate it when she does that.”
Triton jumped back. “Who are you? What are you doing inside Nicole?”
“My name is Sypher. I was placed in here.”
“By whom?” Triton growled, his eyes glowing again. And with him looking her in the eye, Nicole was more than unnerved.
“By your king,” Sypher answered.
“Poseidon?”
“No, the king of all the gods.”
Triton paled as his voice dropped to a whisper. “Zeus. Why would Zeus put you into the mind of a human?”
“Nicole is not human,” Sypher answered.
“What?” Triton and Nicole said at the same time.
“Is she a demigod?” Triton asked.
“No,” Sypher answered. “She’s a full goddess.”
“Hold on,” Nicole said. “What are you talking about? I’m not a goddess. I’m just a regular woman. If I were a goddess, I’d have powers. I’d know I was different.”
“You do know you’re different,” Sypher said.
“No, I—”
“You are irresistible to everyone you meet,” Sypher interrupted. “You are a scientific anomaly that baffles doctors. You look like you’re twenty-one instead of forty years old.”
“I won’t be turning forty for another two months.”
“Actually, you’re not. You’re much, much older.”
“What? No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I… How?”
“You’re immortal.”
“Then what about my dad? Does he know I’m a goddess?”
“Actually, all of your memories about your childhood are false.”
Nicole went limp. If she’d been on land, she probably would have collapsed. Triton’s arm came around her.
“You’re lying,” she said in a whisper.
“When have I ever lied to you?”
Nicole shook her head, not willing to accept what Sypher said.
“But my daughter, Sara, she’s real.”
“Yes, and—”
“When does she turn twenty-one?” The sharpness of Triton’s voice cut through Nicole’s confusion.
“This month,” Nicole answered.
“She’s a full goddess,” Triton said, his eyes widening in shock. “Does she have an entity draining her also?”
“No,” Sypher said.
“So?” Nicole said. “What’s wrong?”
“Her god powers will begin to gather strength,” Triton answered. “At her twenty-first birthday, her powers will reach full strength.”
“What does that mean?” Nicole asked.
“Depending on her powers,” Triton said, “she could cause serious damage or destruction to everyone and everything around her.”
“You need to go to her,” Nicole said. “You need to help our baby!”
“You need to help Nicole first,” Sypher said. “Zeus has ordered me to kill her. You have to stop me. But I have to warn you. In order to stop me, you’ll have to kill me.”
“What?” Nicole’s face drained of color. “No.”
“He has to,” Sypher said.
“No,” she said as she pressed her hands against her head, turning to Triton. “You can’t kill her, Ty.”
“It’s the only way,” the voice said. “It’s either Nicole or me. If you don’t kill me, I’ll be forced to kill her, and then I’ll die anyway.”
“No, there has to be another way,” she said.
Ty took her head in his hands and closed his eyes.
“Please, don’t do it.” She closed her eyes and sobbed. “Sypher has been with me for as long as I can remember. When I was alone, she was there for me. When I was upset, she sang to me. When I was sad, she cracked jokes to cheer me up. She was my courage, my conscience, and the closest thing to a sister I had. Please don’t take her away from me.”
“Nicole, sweetheart. I have to.”
Nicole could feel another presence invade her mind. Like a whisper she couldn’t quite catch, it moved through her. She knew exactly when it found Sypher. Pain shot through her. It felt as if someone reached in and wrenched her soul from inside, tearing her up as it left. She screamed, her voice ringing with agony and regret. As soon as the pain left, Nicole felt empty. Sypher was gone. She opened her eyes to a beautiful sight. Wisps of mist danced in the sea. In the midst of the mist was a face—the face of beautiful woman.
“What are you?” Nicole asked
“I’m a siphon.”
“You drain god powers,” Ty said matter-of-factly.
“Not just drain, I feed them to someone else.”
“Let me guess, Zeus.”
“Yes, and it won’t be long before he feels the absence of Nicole’s power. I was to drain Nicole of all of her power and give it to Zeus permanently.”
“And kill Nicole in the process,” Ty supplied.
“Yes. He’ll hunt her down. And if he can’t regain her power, he will kill her. She is too much of a threat to let live.”
“Are you the only siphon?”
“No, we are many.”
“And are you all siphoning power for Zeus?”
“Many of us are, but it’s her power he covets the most,” she said, gesturing to Nicole.
“Why didn’t he kill her long ago?”
“I don’t know.” Her image seemed to be fading, and her eye sockets darkened.
“Are you dying?” Triton asked.
“Yes, I can’t survive long without a host.”
“If I can find you another host, would you give Zeus his power?”
“No, only the person who places me in the host has access to the power.”
“And would Zeus tell you to kill the new host?”
“No. By removing me, you’ve severed my ties with Zeus. But there is no time to find a suitable host. Now, if you please, put me out of my misery. And, Nicole?” She turned to her, her eyes filled with infinite sadness.
“Yes,” she said, emotion choking her voice.
“I’m sorry for my part in harming you. You were meant for greatness, and I took that from you.”
“No. You helped me! If it weren’t for you, I’d have given Sara to an orphanage and slit my wrists.”
“It would take more than that to kill you, but I appreciate the sentiment.” She turned to Triton. “Now, sea-god. Please, do what you need to do. End my painful existence.”
“No, wait!” Nicole shouted. “I love you, Sypher! Until Sara came along, you were the closest thing to a family I had.”
“I love you too, child.”
Nicole couldn’t contain the grief that engulfed her. She closed her eyes and cried as if her heart were literally breaking. It felt like it was.
She opened her eyes, and Sypher was gone. Nicole threw her arms around Triton and wept.
“Sypher’s not gone, love,” Triton said.
“What have you done?” Triton said, only he wasn’t the one speaking.
“Sypher?” Nicole said, looking into Ty’s eyes. “Is that you? Ty, what did you do?”
“She can stay in my head long enough for me to find another host,” Triton said. “But I have a few rules for your stowaway. First, don’t speak through my lips again. If you have something to say, you tell me first and I’ll decide if I want to relay it. Second, don’t get comfortable. I don’t plan on keeping you there long.”
“And if you don’t stop talking and listen for a moment, you’re going to die, sea-god.”
“Are you threatening me?” he asked.
“No, I’m enlightening you. I’m a siphon. I drain god powers; yours are being drained into the sea as we speak. And as your powers originate from the sea, you will find out real quick what happens when you can no longer—” Her voice cut off. Ty’s eyes widened in horror as he choked.
“Ty! What’s wrong?”
Nicole looked down and saw his legs kicking out. He no longer had a fin, and he couldn’t breathe! “Oh no, Ty!”
Nicole grabbed him and swam him to the door. “Help! Anyone! Triton has to get to the surface. Please, help me. He’s going to die!”
The front door smashed open, rubble flying everywhere. Two long tentacles snapped inside like the tongue of a giant bullfrog snatching a fly. Nicole’s stomach felt as if it were left behind when they flew through the door and raced to the surface. The leviathan moved at an insane speed. Then they seemed to slow as its tentacles bloomed out, but he pushed the water back and accelerated, once again leaving her stomach behind. The entire trip to the surface was a sickening ride of acceleration and deceleration. Nicole looked at Triton, his limbs waving limp in the grasp of the sea monster. Please let him live; he can’t die on me.