Daughters of the Moon, Books 1 - 3 by Lynne Ewing
“Selene was responsible for guiding the moon across the skies. One night Selene looked down and saw Endymion in the hills, the most beautiful man, a shepherd.”
Vanessa thought of Michael. Then she blushed and looked around the table.
Maggie cleared her throat. “She fell in love. First sight. All that heart-flipping, adrenaline-surging wonder of it. She couldn’t resist him. She crept down to lie beside him, abandoning her duty. Some say she asked Zeus to make Endymion sleep for eternity so she would always have him with her. But the truth is Zeus was so angered by the darkened sky that he punished Selene and made it so Endymion should sleep forever. But that didn’t stop Selene from loving him. She slips away for a few nights each month to visit her sleeping lover and see if she can wake him.”
“What would happen if she did wake him?” Jimena asked.
“After all these years I ‘d hate to consider the consequences. She’d probably stay away for months, wreak havoc with the tides and weather.” Maggie started laughing. “What would scientists think of their theories then? Gravity?” she said as if it were an absurd idea and laughed some more.
At sunrise, Catty and Vanessa walked home.
“Wow, what an adventure,” Catty said. “Let’s go back and do it again.”
“No!” Vanessa grabbed Catty’s arm. She looked at her watch. The hands were gratefully still.
“Just kidding.” Catty laughed and hugged her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
WHEN VANESSA CREPT back in her bedroom, she found a red velvet pillow leaning against her other pillows on her bed. She picked it up. GODDESS was embroidered in deeper reds and golds on the front.
“Stanton,” she whispered and stared at the pillow. She was going to toss it, but something made her hold it tight.
“Goddess,” she read again, and smiled.
She took a long shower, letting the hot water wash the glitter and paint from her body. She crawled into bed and didn’t bother to close the window. She sensed that she was safe, for now. She curled against the red velvet pillow and fell asleep thinking about Michael.
She woke later that day, a little stunned by all that had happened, and dressed. Catty had planned to spend the day in bed sleeping, but Vanessa had two things to do that couldn’t wait.
At dusk, she walked down Fairfax Avenue carrying the lawn flamingo she had purchased at Armstrong’s. She turned down Melrose Avenue and walked for several blocks, past boutiques named Street Slut and Wizard, then turned again. She found the house with the missing flamingo and set the new one in the ground.
She still had something important to do. It was risky, but she felt she owed it to herself. She walked over to Michael’s house and knocked on the door.
“Vanessa,” Michael said in surprise when he opened the door.
She pretended not to see his look of irritation. “I just wanted you to know that none of the things I did were ever about you.”
He looked confused.
“I had something going on in my life. Something that made me act odd at times, but it’s nothing to do with you. I really like you. And I wanted to kiss you and I wanted to hold your hand, but when you touch me, I get nervous and I feel all crazy inside and I act weird.” She stopped. Was he smiling?
She started again. “And I’m probably never going to stop acting the way I do, because that’s just who I am.”
She looked back at him. Why didn’t he say anything?
“Well, there, I said it. That’s the truth.”
He still didn’t say anything.
“So I wanted to let you know that.”
She bit her lip, shrugged, then turned and walked away feeling totally humiliated.
“Vanessa,” Michael called.
Her heart flipped. She turned back. He was definitely smiling.
“You want to go to Planet Bang with me Tuesday night?”
“Yes.” Did she answer too quickly? Her molecules buzzed in a dreamy way, and she smiled back at him. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“I’ll pick you up early, and we’ll eat first.”
She nodded. “That sounds great.”
“You want to come in? I was just playing the piano.”
She smiled mischievously and walked toward him. “No,” she whispered and looked deep into his eyes.
“No?” he teased.
And then he reached out, and his arms were around her. She breathed in the spice soap smell of him. He bent his head down, and his lips pressed against hers. Waves of desire rose inside her. Her molecules swirled in pleasure, but they stayed together tight and strong. She let him kiss her again before she stopped him. Then she opened her eyes and looked at him.
“So I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” she said, and turned to leave.
“Tomorrow.” He grinned.
“Bye.” She blew him a kiss and hurried down the walk.
And then she was running back to Melrose.
She looked up and saw the crescent moon. She glanced behind her. The street was empty. She smiled and let her molecules go. Her spirits soared. She sailed beyond the neighborhood toward Hollywood. Catty was right. It was a gift. She wished she had used it more.
Soon she flowed above a boy selling souvenir maps to the stars’ homes for eight dollars. The maps were years old. Most of the stars no longer lived at the addresses listed on the cover.
She concentrated. “Three maps, please,” she said in a ghostly whisper.
The boy looked up and down, then turned completely around.
She laughed, a phantom in the wind, and caught the next breeze.
At Hollywood and Vine, a bus filled with camera-clicking tourists drove by. On a whim she funneled through an open bus window. Then, in her best Marilyn Monroe voice, she whispered, “Welcome to Hollywood, my fine folks.”
The tourists looked bewildered, astonished.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said. “I’m just Tinsel Town magic.”
The tourists clapped.
She spent twenty minutes being Marilyn’s ghost and making tourists laugh. Then she spilled out the window to a burst of applause and waited for the next breeze.
The wind picked up and carried her away. She could stay invisible forever. She didn’t completely understand her power, but she was beginning to understand who she was. Goddess, she thought, and her molecules formed a smile before she rode the breeze with arc-shaped leaps, like a dolphin, up and down toward home.
PROLOGUE
In antiquity, Hekate was loved and revered as the goddess of the dark moon. People looked to her as a guardian against unseen dangers and spiritual foes.
All was well until Persephone, the goddess of spring, was kidnapped by Hades and ordered to live in the underworld for three months each year. Persephone was afraid to make the journey down to the land of the dead alone, so year after year Hekate lovingly guided her through the dark passageway and back. Over time Hekate became known as Persephone’s attendant. But because Persephone was also the queen of the lower world, who ruled over the dead with her husband, Hades, Hekate’s role as a guardian goddess soon became twisted and distorted until she was known as the evil witch goddess who stalked the night, looking for innocent people to bewitch and carry off to the underworld.
Today few know the great goddess Hekate. Those who do are blessed with her compassion for a soul lost in a realm of evil. Some are given a key.
CHAPTER ONE
SERENA KILLINGSWORTH stood on the shoulder of Pacific Coast Highway near the bluffs, waiting for her surf-rat brother to pull his surfboard from the back of the utility van. She stared out at the gray-green water and breathed in the briny smell of sea and kelp. Overhead seagulls circled with their shuddering kee-yahs.
“Awesome,” Collin said behind her. “The waves are really pumped up.”
Her thoughts had been on something more deadly than surf. Still she smiled when she turned to her brother. “Great set,” she agreed.
Collin pulled his wet suit from th
“Aren’t you going out?” he asked, and motioned with his head to her board.
“No,” she said, and tied her sweatshirt around her waist. She wore a long-sleeved bathing suit. She had planned to go out. But that was before something had happened at school. Now she needed time to think.
“Should,” he said.
“I’ll wait on the beach.”
A wind blew at the incoming waves, holding them up and making them more hollow. Perfect for surfing.
“It’s classic,” he said. “You sure?”
“Sure.”
The setting sun speckled his crystal-blue eyes with flecks of light and colored his long white-blond hair fiery gold. Nothing about the two of them looked similar. Her hair was dark, the roots almost black, the tips Crayola red. Pointy black shades hid her green eyes, and her tan was even darker than his because she loved the sun and hated the sticky feel of sunblock.
“So,” Collin said, and pulled out his board. “How was school today?”
She stiffened.
“Well?” He threw down a towel and set his board on top.
She felt ambushed. “I guess you know already or you wouldn’t be asking.” There was no way he could know what had happened unless Morgan Page had told him. Morgan had a crush on Collin and used Serena as an excuse to talk to him.
“You’re getting a flaky reputation,” Collin warned. He grabbed a chunk of paraffin from the back of the van, got down on his knees, and started rubbing a thin layer of wax on the deck of the board.
Serena tried to swallow her anger. If he knew the facts, he wouldn’t question her. She smiled to herself and fantasized about telling Collin what her true identity was. She imagined the surprised look on his face. Would he feel proud of her? Or frightened? For sure, he would never look at his younger sister the same way again.
“It’s not funny,” he said as if he could sense her smiling.
Her daydream slid away. “What did Morgan tell you?”
He stopped waxing the board and gazed up at her. A strange look crossed his face.
Immediately she realized she had made a mistake.
“I never said it was Morgan.” Then his face relaxed and he chuckled, “You always know how to read my mind.”
She breathed out. No need to panic this time. He’d gotten used to the way she sometimes knew what he was thinking. He thought it was because they had become so close after their mother left them. If he only knew.
“It was easy to guess,” she said simply. “Morgan exaggerates so she’ll have an excuse to call you.”
He stood and threw the wax into the back of the van with a loud thump. “Did she say that?” A sly smile crept across his face.
“No,” Serena responded. Then she caught the puppy-dog look in his eyes and whispered a quick prayer, please, no. Things were already difficult enough without adding Morgan to the mix. It would be a nightmare if Collin liked her. Serena had a mental flash of Morgan hanging out at their house, watching her, following her, nosing around her bedroom. It was bad enough she had to see her at school every day. Morgan seemed to suspect that something about Serena and her three best friends—Jimena, Catty, and Vanessa— was different. She had no idea how different they actually were. Still, some days she snooped disturbingly close to the truth.
She sighed. “You’d like to go out with her, wouldn’t you?”
“No.” He spoke too quickly. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that was a lie.
“Yes, you would,” she pointed out matter-of-factly.
“I’m just going to meet her for coffee.” He took a thin plastic blade with a serrated edge and scored grooves into the wax on his board. “What’s wrong with that?”
“She asked you to meet her to talk about me, didn’t she? Like she wants to help.”
“How do you know that?” He tossed the wax comb into the van and slammed the cargo door.
“I know Morgan. I thought you did, too. Did you forget? You always said she doesn’t have boyfriends, she takes prisoners.” Serena hated the nag in her voice.
“Morgan’s changed.” He was being annoyingly defensive.
“Not enough,” Serena muttered and turned away. She couldn’t tell Collin what had really happened to Morgan last month to make her change. He probably wouldn’t believe her anyway. Even Morgan didn’t understand what had actually been done to her. If she did, she would have been more frightened by those punks this afternoon. Morgan couldn’t know how vulnerable she was right now. That was one reason Serena and Jimena had risked exposing themselves in order to protect her. Had Morgan seen them do anything strange this afternoon? She clicked her barbell tongue pierce nervously against her teeth.
Collin started to pick up his board but stopped. A look of astonishment crossed his face. Had she slipped? Given something away?
“What?” she asked.
“Your moon amulet.” He reached for it. “It changed color.”
She took a quick step back before he could touch it. She looked down at the amulet hanging around her neck and studied the face of the moon etched in the metal. The charm had been given to her at birth. It wasn’t pure silver, but sparkling in the light of the setting sun, it cast back a rainbow of shimmering lights. Jimena, Catty, and Vanessa each had one, too. Serena never took hers off.
“Probably the setting sun.” She clasped her hand around it. The amulet resonated as if an electrical current passed through it. Did that mean one of them had followed her? She looked quickly behind her. Traffic continued down the highway, tires humming. She didn’t see anything odd that should alert her to danger.
She wished Jimena were here. Normally, they were inseparable, but this evening Jimena had to do community service at Children’s Hospital. She worked with children undergoing rehabilitation for gunshot wounds. She read to them, played checkers, and showed them how to macramé. Jimena had been in a gang and sentenced twice to a Youth Authority Camp for jacking cars. She would be there now, if a lenient judge hadn’t sentenced her to do community service work instead. Jimena had been one badass homegirl before she understood her destiny. Their destiny.
Collin placed his hand on her shoulder.
Here it comes, she thought. She mouthed the words as he spoke behind her.
“I’m concerned about you. . . .”
But his next words took her completely by surprise.
“Maybe if you had a boyfriend—”
She spun around on him. “What?”
“Morgan says that’s why you act the way you do . . . because you don’t have a boyfriend. You never—”
“The last time I tried to have a boyfriend, you scared him away. You were always in his face.” She couldn’t tell him the real reason it was so difficult for her to have a boyfriend.
He shrugged it off. “You’re older now. Maybe if you found someone—”
“A guy isn’t the answer.” Anger burned inside her. She was so annoyed at Morgan that she wanted to explode. But how could she be mad at Collin when she knew how much he worried about her?
Collin spoke softly now, sensing her anger. “She said she was flirting with these guys, and you and Jimena came up and started talking gibberish.”
“It wasn’t gibberish. It was Latin,” Serena snapped, and immediately wished she hadn’t.
“Latin?” Collin repeated in disbelief. “No one speaks Latin. It’s a dead language.” He looked at her curiously. “When did you learn Latin, anyway?”
“Just did.” Again she wished she hadn’t mentioned the Latin. It was one more secret. She had been born with the ability to speak Latin and ancient Greek. She just hadn’t known it until she h
“Morgan said you were really upset. What did they say in Latin to get to you?”
She sighed. “Foeda dea.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ugly goddess.”
“Goddess?” He seemed to think that was funny. “That upset you?”
“Forget it.” She started walking toward the beach.
“Morgan says kids at school call you the Queen of Bizarre.”
She whirled around.
“Morgan,” she corrected. “Only Morgan calls me the Queen of Bizarre. Everyone else likes me.”
At least she thought they did. They seemed nice enough to her, all except Morgan, who seemed to have some personal vendetta against her that she didn’t understand.
“Well, it’s a little odd you made those guys get away from her,” Collin said.
“It wasn’t like Jimena and I didn’t have a reason for doing what we did. But Morgan didn’t tell you about that, did she?”
“What was it?”
“Those guys were bothering her. I don’t know why she told you she was flirting with them. Morgan’s never liked hard-core punkers. She likes jocks. She was telling them to get away from her and they wouldn’t. I mean, the guys were wearing chains with padlocks and they each had five hoops piercing their lips.”
Collin gave her an amused look.
“Okay, I’ve got piercings, but these guys have faces that look like pincushions, jailhouse tattoos for time spent, and a major attitude.”
“Punkers who speak Latin?” He looked doubtful.
Why had she mentioned the Latin? “Yes.”
“That’s not how Morgan described it.”
“Of course not,” Serena said with frustration. “She wanted an excuse to call you and she couldn’t tell you that Jimena and I rescued her, because then she might look bad. She’s lucky Jimena and I were around.” Morgan didn’t know how lucky. She never had the best judgment about people. Then another thought came to her. What if Morgan had tried to set it up to see what she and Jimena would do? Could she know that much?
Collin smiled broadly. “So you and Jimena rescued Morgan? Chased the bad boys away?” He hugged her and she could smell the neoprene rubber of his wet suit. “Cool. My sister and Jimena Castillo, sophomore vigilantes of La Brea High.”