by Eve, Jaymin
Or maybe it was all the practice I’d been doing lately. I was determined to up my game since the gods made me look like I was all but human. I refused to be taken down so easily again.
Either way, we got the artefact in about two minutes. Another burst of laughter left me. This game was fun.
The buzzer sounded, alerting the rest of the players that we were done, and my guys emerged from the forest, shaking their heads at me standing there with the golden statue in my hands.
“Go, Maddi,” Rone whooped, scooping me up and swinging me around. “That had to be some kind of record.”
I shook my head and smacked him on the arm to let me down. “Dude, it was a lucky fluke, nothing more.”
Jesse actually smiled at me, directly at my face, and for a moment we all pretended he didn’t hate my guts. “Nothing you do is a lucky fluke, Mads. You’re just naturally good at competitive sports.”
I’d never had much chance in my life to know if that was true or not. Sports back in America were expensive, and the schools I went to didn’t have a whole lot to offer in their curriculum. But it was a nice thought.
We all left the field and the other team’s artefact was handed to our officiate, before we rejoined the sideline of supes shouting and cheering. The morning bell rang soon after that and all the games ceased.
“Since this isn’t anything official,” one of the teachers shouted, his voice magically amplified, “we’ll stop there. But next Wednesday we’ll pick up from the same round robin draw. Thanks for today!”
I was already looking forward to it.
Chapter 8
When I was finishing up my classes on Friday, I found myself in the Atlantean library. I had an hour to kill before everyone was meeting for dinner. Axl was already in there, and so was Mab. She’d been coming and going, visiting friends, so it was nice to see her again.
“Maddison!” she exclaimed, fluttering over to send a burst of magic around me as she got closer. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I said, smiling broadly. Mab had a way about her; she made me feel both intensely safe and happy, even if part of me never forgot that she was one of the scariest creatures I’d ever met. “Where did you go this time?”
She flapped her wings hard enough to create a small breeze, elevating to my eyeline. “I was in Faerie,” she said simply.
I blinked at her, waiting for her to expand on that, only she just continued flapping her wings and smiling.
I pushed when I couldn’t take it any longer. “What were you in Faerie for?”
“I was talking to some old friends,” she said, without hesitation. It was always her answer though.
I sighed. “Are you going to tell me or will I have to pry every bit of information out of you?”
Her smile never faltered. “You’ve got to learn to ask the right questions, Maddison James.”
A snort escaped from Axl, but otherwise he remained silently reading in the corner.
“Okay,” I said softly. “Did you learn anything in Faerie that is pertinent to me, or to Atlantis, or the gods who we are currently trying to stop from destroying the worlds?”
Her smile grew wider. “Why yes, my lovely friend, I did.”
Energy swirled in my center and I tried to calm the racing of my heart.
“The cage keeping the gods inside the underworld will last only one more moon cycle. A reliable source from the inside said that the gods are teaming up and sharing their powers. Looks like Lotus is taking more than her fair share and will be the head runner for this final battle. Oh, and Galindra’s allies turned on her, and joined forces with your parents. Galindra has not been seen since she was locked inside, despite the other gods searching to find her.”
“Why are they searching?” I interrupted. “They can’t kill her without the Hellbringers, right?”
Otherwise locking her in with them was a really bad idea.
Mab lifted her head, face no longer wreathed in happiness. “Technically they could, but they know that her energy might destroy them all. So they won’t risk it. Not without the Hellbringers. And they can’t control those little devils without you, so they’re at a bit of an impasse. I’m guessing they just wanted to detain her, maybe a bit of torture to weaken her. The usual.”
I blinked.
Scary. Ass. Creature.
“She no doubt still has some allies in there,” Mab continued. “All powerful beings collect allies. It’s essential. They’ll be hiding her.”
Rubbing my hand on my chest, I hoped the soothing motion would keep some of the panic contained. “One moon cycle. So ... one more month. That’s all the time we have? What about the path? Is it here? Because we’re legitimately running out of time.”
I mean, I had a countdown clock over my head now, similar to the one we’d just seen during SSW. Mine might not be actually visible, but it was there.
“Your path is not set in motion yet, but … it will be soon. This countdown is a catalyst that will pave the way. Don’t worry.”
Yeah, telling me not to worry was like telling me not to breathe. It was almost part of my nature now.
“Anything else I need to know?”
She nodded, fluttering even closer, her voice lowering. “You need to train with Asher and Connor. The three of you … there’s a bond between you. Beings born of multiple energies: god, Atlantean, Faerie. The three of you together have a power that needs to be explored. It’s very important.”
This wasn’t the first time she’d told me this, but it was the first time I truly took heed of her warning. “I haven’t seen Connor in days. Is he even in this school still?”
“He’s in the library most nights,” Axl spoke up. “Usually gets in late though, around midnight.”
I could work with that. Since he wasn’t responding to my texts, he was going to get an in-person visit. Mab wouldn’t give us advice or warnings lightly, so it was time to pay attention.
The fairy queen flew away, clearly satisfied with the information she’d shared, and I sat next to Axl. He handed me a book, without even lifting his head from the one he was reading.
I didn’t question him; I’d learned not to do that. Axl was a billion times smarter than me without even trying, and if he handed me a book, it was one I had to read.
Flipping it open, I found myself staring at an image of two people having sex. The sensual sort of sex where they were so intertwined that I almost couldn’t tell which limb belonged to who. What the fuck was this, the supernatural Kamasutra?
I raised an eyebrow at my friend, but he just nudged me with his shoulder.
“Chapter twelve,” he said.
Flipping past many more scenes of love making, some with multiple partners, I found myself at chapter twelve. There was no title on this chapter, so I had no idea what to expect, but if this was just advice on how to achieve some sort of ten-hour orgasm … I was totally going to high five the fuck out of Axl.
The chapter was set out like a diary, as were so many of the ancient texts from the original Atlanteans. Third line down the words true mate bond caught my eye, and I settled back, reading it closely. There was a bunch of text in ancient Atlantean, and then below was the translated version.
He’d been my best friend for many years. Someone I both loved and admired, but it wasn’t until we took the final steps in our relationships, with both words and actions, that the bond was triggered.
It’s the strangest thing ever. I can feel Jaffin. Feel his emotions. And I can hear his thoughts when he stops shielding them from me. Communicating mentally … it has changed the dynamics of our relationship. We’ve grown so much closer. He tells me that it’s because of his father, who is brother to the king. The royal line has the power to communicate with their true mates.
We are unique. There is no one else I’ve spoken with who has experienced this.
Jaffin believes we will ascend to godhood when the new babies are born. It’s said that the gods can not only read ea
ch other’s minds, but they can share their power. Especially between true mates.
An organic power share that would make that couple near unstoppable.
I feel this is to be for us. Limitless power.
The next few sentences were about the god babies who were due any day. I still couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the fact they were referring to me. Especially since this text was some ten thousand years old.
It was very clear though, from everything we’d read, that at the time the Atlanteans had been excited about our births. An excitement that would soon turn to horror.
Instead of the riches they’d been expecting, we were their downfall.
My parents were such fucking assholes. Their selfish actions had triggered a response from some powerful being, possibly the Mother of All, destroying everything.
“You think Asher and I might not only be able to read minds, but also share our power?” I asked Axl. “Once we get this bond worked out?”
“We need to address the issue of Sonaris,” he said bluntly, finally looking up. “It’s impossible to truly know until that happens. I’ve been reading everything I can find on these subjects, but the royals didn’t seem to keep the same level of diary commentary as the commoners. I haven’t found anything solid. And the gods certainly didn’t journal their lives into Atlantean libraries.”
Big shock there. Sucking in deeply, I closed the book. “Sonaris is a real pain in my ass. But you’re right. It has to end now. I’m going to force him to settle this debt between us the next time he shows up. Then we need to figure out how to break whatever metaphysical ties he forced on me before I was even born. There has to be a way. There’s always a way.”
The concern on Axl’s face was enough that I wanted to scream, but he didn’t tell me it couldn’t be done, and I took that as a small positive sign that there was still a chance. I needed there to be a chance.
Asher’s energy hit me moments before he entered the room. Whatever tension had been building inside relaxed. When he reached my side, his power and scent covered me, sinking in deep, and I was home.
“Your emotions are all over the place,” his voice rumbled in my ear. “What’s wrong?”
Axl and I quickly detailed everything we’d discovered, and I added extra information from Mab. “So we have one month,” I finished. “And there’s no path. And I have no clue. And it’s driving me fucking crazy.”
He was quiet for a second, and somehow more tension left me, like he was leeching it from me, slowly. Absorbing it … or at least sharing the burden of my worries with me.
“The path will show itself,” he murmured. “I’m not sure how I know, but my power is giving me a sense of what is to come. It won’t be long.”
And just like that, I felt even better.
Axl was back to his books, and since I was exhausted from school and study and stress, I yawned and grabbed my bag.
“You ready to go home now, water baby?” Asher asked, his hand tracing teasing circles on my back.
Home. The concept had been so foreign, but that was no longer the case. I had family who felt like home, and I had a home that felt like everything. Tonight was the official move-in night, but we were supposed to wait until after dinner.
“Food?” I reminded him.
He spun me so I was facing him and I drank in every sexy inch of him. Hair was tousled, shorter on the side, longer on top. Green eyes shimmering at me. Bronze skin with the uniform shirt partly unbuttoned to reveal long slices of tanned muscles.
I realized I was hungry, but not for anything I could get in the commons.
“Fuck food,” I said, grabbing his hand and dragging him out.
Axl’s laughter sounded from behind us. “Maybe you should have read more of that book,” he called after us, and I flipped him off over my shoulder.
It was dark outside when we emerged from the main entrance of the library, and there was a massive storm building. It looked like one of those crazy ones that only hit inside the Academy. The timing was brilliant as usual, with me about to carry my stuff across campus.
At least we had magic.
“Some days it feels like it’s getting worse,” I said, staring up.
“It is,” Axl said from behind us, and I jumped because I hadn’t heard him follow.
“You figured out how to reverse the spell yet?” Asher asked. I could tell that no one had a doubt that Axl would figure it out; it was just a matter of when.
Axl shifted his heavy stack of books in his hands, nodding as he did. “Yes. But it requires magic from the four races, some Atlantean energy—I can provide that—and for the moon to be in a specific position, usually associated with the middle of its cycle.”
Asher stared up, eyeing the moon, barely visible behind the tumult of the weather. “So about two weeks?”
Axl nodded. “Yes. I’ve started preparing, and when Princeps Jones returns I’ll make sure it’s all squared away with him. Unless of course he enjoys the random weather, and in that case I’ll just write my case study up for future reference.”
It took some effort, but I managed not to laugh at him. Axl was the best value, and the most loyal, loving friend, but at times when he acted more robot than supernatural, it really amused me. “Good luck with it all,” I said, managing to keep a straight face.
A figure dashed around the building, skidding to a halt before us. “When you weren’t waiting at the table in the commons,” Calen said, not sounding even a little winded, “I figured we were jumping the gun on getting our girl all moved into the house.”
Ilia appeared at a much more sedate pace, shaking her head at Calen. “Dude, I could legit kick your balls up into your throat right now. You’re a total pain in the ass. Everyfuckingthing is not a race.”
In one move, so fast it was almost untrackable, he was in front of her, arms wrapped tightly around her. “Oh, why you so mad, babe?” he said. “Is it because you lost the race?”
She choked out a snarl laugh, sounding like she didn’t want to be amused but was. “It was not a race, you overgrown child,” she huffed.
Calen laughed, and her eyes went very dark and I swallowed a laugh. Calen was in so much trouble. In two rapid movements, she clocked him both in the throat and in the gut, landing gracefully on her feet when he dropped her. “Don’t be mad, babe,” she mocked. “Not everyone can win in a fight. Because I like making up competitive events and not telling anyone about them.”
Calen wheezed through his next breaths, humor gone from his face. He wasn’t mad though. Nope. Dude was legit eye-fucking her. And Ilia liked it.
“We’re totally moving me in alone,” I joked, turning to Asher, who was watching our friends with a resigned look on his face.
When he focused on me, though, that look morphed into something darker, possessive. “I’ve waited a long time for this day. I got you, Maddi. We don’t need any help.”
He stepped closer and I couldn’t breathe. I forgot that anyone else was even near us as I tried desperately to suck in air and moisten my dry lips. “Let’s go,” I finally choked out. “I’m ready.”
I’d been ready for a long time. Fear held me back, but no longer.
Chapter 9
Ilia and Calen did manage to help, as did Axl, Rone, and Larissa. Jesse didn’t show up at all. I tried not to let it hurt me—I tried really fucking hard to put myself into his position—to understand that he was hurting and this was how he was dealing with it.
But I just wasn’t that big of a person. Jesse was family to me, but family or not, I wasn’t letting something toxic like this current dynamic stay in my life. I might have hurt him, but I was trying to fix it. If he’d talked to me at all, explained how he was feeling—if he even said once “you’re important to me but I need to step back for a bit”—I would still be upset, but not on this level. He was treating me like he couldn’t stand being near me.
He wasn’t doing it to anyone else either. I’d seen him laughing and joking with his b
rothers, including Asher, but the moment I was there, he shut off and disappeared.
Maybe it was selfish of me, but it hurt to have him act so cold. I missed my friend.
“That was easier than I expected,” Asher said, pulling me back into his—our—soft bed. We snuggled into the clean sheets that already smelled like ocean and life. “You really don’t have much stuff. A bunch of clothes that Ilia definitely picked out for you, and about three things from your life before the Academy.”
I chuckled, turning to bury my head in his chest. All of my shit was already packed away—thank you, magic. Even my clothes were neatly stacked or hung up in the large walk-in closet. The only thing I still had out was my old knife.
“This blade has seen me through a lot of life,” I said, staring at it, shifting the rust-marked silver-colored handle through my fingers. A snort escaped. “Did Ilia ever tell you I pulled this on her the first night we met?”
Asher shook his head, five o’clock shadow scraping across my skin deliciously. Reaching out, he wrapped a hand around mine, enclosing me and the knife in his huge grip. “How long have you had it for?”
I thought for a moment. “You know, I’m not sure. Years, definitely. I got it from one of my mom’s boyfriends, and it definitely came in handy a few times. Sometimes a chick just needs a blade to remind people that her body is hers; they have no right to it. It’s almost symbolic at this stage, a tribute to everything I’ve been through. Everything I’ve overcome.”
He was silent, that scary silence where he was contemplating bad things. But since no one was here for him to kill right now, he eventually relaxed.
“The knife stays,” he said gruffly. “It’ll go in the cabinet.”
He had a large, almost ceiling-high, white timber cabinet that sat against the wall near his door. Inside were photos of his family—well, the family he believed were his parents growing up—plus many other pieces from his childhood, including some artefacts he searched out with his dad, and a collage of weapons collected over the years. That cabinet held some of his most prized possessions.
