Goddess of the Sea (Goddess Summoning #1)(23)

"So she is me now?" CC asked, amazed at how easy it was to talk with Gaea.

"Yes. She has taken your place in that world."

"Am I dead?"

Gaea's laughter caused the tree boughs to sway in delighted response. "Oh, no. You are very much alive."

"Then I don't understand," CC said, feeling more lost than ever.

The goddess reached out and touched CC's cheek in a motherly caress. "This must be very difficult for you, poor child. I will try to explain. Undine is the child of my body, but she is also very much her father's daughter."

"Lir," CC said.

Gaea looked surprised at her knowledge, but nodded. "Yes."

"Um, who exactly is Lir?" she asked.

The goddess smiled. "Lir is the great God of the Seas. You might recognize him by one of his other titles. He has been known as Tethys, Pontos, Neptune, Barinthus, Enki, Poseidon and many others."

CC's eyes widened in surprise. "Poseidon is Undine's father?"

Gaea's eyes held a faraway expression as she gazed out at the waters. "We knew that the land and the sea were not meant to mate, but one day I was bathing here, in this very cove, and the Lord of the Sea cast his eyes upon me." Her face softened with remembrance. "For one brief night I al-lowed him to envelop me, and from that union Undine was conceived."

CC listened intently to the tale the goddess spun.

"Undine was born a mermaid, so it was destined that she live in her father's realm, but she was not content there. She longed for the land and for her mother." Gaea's face was shadowed by sadness, and CC felt her own eyes fill with tears in response. "I tried to coax Lir to allow me to gift our daughter with a human form so that she could live with me on land, but he adored the child and refused to be parted from her."

Gaea took CC's hand and squeezed it. "Do not think him cruel. Lir loved his daughter. And she wasn't always unhappy. She adored her father and the creatures of his realm, and she came here many times, sitting where you are now, telling me fantastic stories of the underwater crystal castle in which she lived and the wonders of the seas."

"It was only recently that she changed." The goddess's expression was haunted. "Sometimes I would find her weeping, there on that rock. Ceaselessly she begged me to gift her with a human form."

CC shivered. She thought she knew why Undine had become so desperate. "Did she tell you what was wrong?"

Gaea shook her head sadly. "No. I asked her, but she said only that she longed to be with me always."

Tears spilled from the goddess's eyes, yet Gaea didn't seem to notice.

"I was afraid she would do harm to herself. I am a goddess, but her father is also an immortal, and I could not cause her form to shift without his consent, as he could not have taken her from me if she had been born in human form." Her eyes glinted with determination. "But I am also a mother, and I could not allow my child to suffer. I wove a spell for her, giving Undine the ability to attain a human body, but only if she could find a human being who would be willing to exchange lives with her." Gaea stared into CC's eyes. "And I knew you would have need of her aid, as she had need of yours, little daughter."

"I don't understand," CC said.

"Your Samhain ritual was heartfelt, and I still heed the call of my children in other worlds, even a world in which I have been forgotten. You pleased me that night, and I touched you."

CC blushed, remembering the passionate feel of the moonlight on her skin.

The goddess put one perfect finger under CC's chin and lifted her face. "Do not ever be ashamed of a gift from a goddess." Before CC could respond she continued. "I asked the Fates to show me your future, and I saw your life's thread end too soon in a watery grave." She sighed sadly. "There was little I could do to aid you, as there was little I could do to aid the daughter of my flesh, but together you could help one another. Thus you are here and she is there."

"Where is here?" was the first of many questions that leapt to CC's mind.

"Here is a world where gods and goddesses still live."

CC's expression was puzzled.

Gaea tried to explain. "This cove is of my making, so it is like nothing that would be familiar to you, but beyond here you would find a land your world would call medieval Cymru." Her arm swept in a gesture meant to include all of the land behind them.

CC felt her face pale. "You're not talking about somewhere in southern California, are you?"

Gaea smiled at her. "Actually, I believe your books would tell you it is the Land of the Britons, or more specifically, ancient Wales"

"You mean I'm smack in the middle of medieval Europe!"

Gaea patted her hand reassuringly. "There is much that historians left out of your world's texts." The goddess winked one large blue eye at CC. "Like magic, my daughter."

"And how do I—"

The angry chattering of the dolphin interrupted CC's question. She looked over her shoulder and her body went numb. The merman had surfaced in the middle of the cove.

"Silence you meddling beast!" he snarled at the dolphin.

Automatically, CC scooted closer to Gaea.

"Goddess Gaea, what an unexpected privilege it is to see you." His voice had shifted to silk.