Lords of Atlantis Boxed Set 2

by Starla Night

  She allowed herself a little tenderness. In the morning, she’d drive back to Jonah, execute her strategy against the Sons of Hercules, and leave Balim.

  For his own safety.

  Chapter Sixteen

  But leaving Balim could wait.

  For now, for a few more hours, Bella would pretend that she was his bride and he was her warrior.

  “It is funny,” he said, startling her out of her reverie as she nestled against his bicep.

  “What is?”

  “Queen Elyssa also spoke of birthing multiple young fry. Her wish for five touched off a revolution.”

  “A race on the brink of death isn’t excited about large families?”

  “We did not believe a mother could birth so many. Even I doubted. Our All-Council representative destroyed Atlantis over this imagined torture.”

  She rested on her elbow. “But you weren’t always in trouble. It can’t have been that way in the old days.”

  “I do not know. The All-Council archives are forbidden. Because of this, ‘how things have always been’ changes often to suit a king.”

  He could be describing her life after Jonah’s diagnosis. “I barely remember what it was like to wake up in the morning and worry about clients. I used to plan my holidays and weekends around marketing campaigns. I can’t remember the last time work was the top concern.”

  He remained silent for a long beat.

  Then, he rose out of the bed and rummaged in her purse for the bone marrow test kit. “How do I operate this?”

  Her heart squeezed in her throat. She swiped the cotton-topped sticks on his inner cheeks, placed them inside the sticky cardboard, and filled out the registration form. Who knew? Perhaps he would match someone, somewhere, and that person could gain another shot at life.

  Balim climbed back into their bed, and somehow, she just couldn’t follow him.

  She settled on the chair and leaned on the back. “I’m sorry I can’t be the bride you need.”

  His solemnity showed he understood that the night was already over, even though it was still dark. “You are more than I deserve.”

  She rested her chin on her arm. “Because you murdered your king.”

  “Other mer would agree with you.”

  She should not ask any more details. “Was he special to you? Were you related?”

  “He was king.” He fluffed the pillows and rested against the frame to look her in the eye. “Do not confuse me for a prince.”

  “I wondered what crime devastated you, like losing a father.”

  He stilled.

  Then he rose from the bed and stalked the room. “Why did you reach this conclusion? What did I say?”

  “Nothing. Until I met you, it was just me and Jonah. I had nobody else. Not even—”

  Oh, she’d almost mentioned Starr. They hadn’t spoken in years. Not since the first, and last, time Bella had donned super-spy stuff and set out to wreck a criminal.

  “Not even anybody,” she recovered. “And if anyone so much as touches Jonah without my permission, I will destroy them. The mer don’t have mothers or siblings, so the most important person would be your father.”

  He faced away.

  She touched his back. “I’m so sorry. Was he a warrior?”

  “Healer.”

  “Like you.”

  “I was to inherit his place, but my warrior skill made me a liability on any mission. The prince overtook my training. He was the greatest, kindest, most capable warrior in Undine. In safe waters, raiders from another city surprised us.”

  Balim rubbed the fractured tattoo on his hip.

  “I was injured. The prince fought off our attackers at great cost. When we returned to the city, he ordered my father to heal my wounds first.”

  “He died, and the king blamed your father?”

  “He did not die. My father had stabilized me and was turning to heal the prince when the king mistook his son’s stillness for death. He stabbed my father through the heart.”

  Her own heart hurt. “He was murdered right in front of you?”

  He nodded, bleak in his memories. “The prince then awoke, but with no healer to attend him, he slipped away. I assumed guilt for both deaths.”

  She rose and strode to the bed.

  He looked up as though awaiting her judgment.

  She pulled him into a life-affirming hug. “It’s not your fault.”

  “My father’s last act was to stand in front of me and assume the blow.”

  “He was glad to do that.” She pressed his morose head into her soft belly. “They both were.”

  Balim tried to shake his head in her arms.

  She gripped him tighter. “Your father would have given his life for yours a thousand times. He was grateful his last act was patching you up. I’m a mother, so I know.”

  “You love your Jonah very much.”

  “He’s my life. And you were your father’s.”

  He remained silent for a long time.

  Eventually, she slid down and landed next to him on the bed. His tattoos seemed a deeper tint, as though reliving these memories had forced old blood to the surface.

  He took her hand and slid his fingers between hers, sensual and taking comfort. “You do misunderstand our ways. While I trained at the great hall of healers, no one tended Undine. I endangered everyone.”

  “Your king killed off the only doctor. He was short-sighted.”

  “Undine is a scholar’s city of quiet reflection, but a core of emotion hides in every warrior. Once tapped, our urges are as deadly as any hot-blooded warrior from Rusalka or Djullanar.”

  “That still doesn’t make what happened your fault.”

  “You will change your mind after I explain the rest.”

  She closed her mouth.

  “After I returned, King Kadir traveled to Undine. He was only Warrior Kadir of Dragao Azul then. He preached that the ancient covenant was wrong, and the only way to save our dying race was to expose the mers’ existence and join with modern women. I was, in his words, ‘unappreciated,’ and so he asked me to leave with him.”

  Emotion animated his tone as if this part were easy for him to reexperience.

  “My city elders kicked him out, and the king delivered a powerful speech. I owed the city for surviving when worthier warriors had died, so if I swam beyond the city limits, even to heal a patrolling warrior, he would have me executed.”

  “They trapped you.”

  He tilted his head, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with her assessment. “During my training, I had stolen a cursed blade, and after his final ruling, I offered it as a token of my fealty.”

  “The diseased battlefield?”

  “Oannes Field.” Again that bleak tone replaced any emotions. “He rejected my offering and threatened my life.”

  She hugged him. “It almost sounds like he wanted an excuse to execute you.”

  He rested a hand on her arm. “The king confined me to my father’s castle. But he must have opened the box after, because he fell ill with the blue chains. I escaped during the funeral procession, disposed of the dagger, and left.”

  “Did anyone else figure it out?”

  “Of course not. I was the only healer. No one could contradict my diagnosis.”

  “What did they think it was?”

  He focused on her. “I diagnosed him with curling flatworms.”

  She stroked his skin. “He made his own bed.”

  “The mer do not sleep in beds.”

  “I mean he killed your father and tortured you beyond your breaking point.”

  “Yes, my father would have kept him in excellent health.” Flat again, and matter-of-fact.

  “Who’s in charge of Undine now?” she asked for closure.

  “I hope I will never find out. The king was not the only one who believed I must serve the city through any abuse. Nothing must tempt me to exact revenge.”

  His cold rage did not chill her. She would salt the earth i
f anyone ever hurt Jonah.

  It was just as well they would not cruise the oceans together.

  Tonight was their truce. Tomorrow, they would return to their lives. Balim to healing his warriors. Her to pursuing Jonah’s cure and destroying the Sons of Hercules.

  “Hmm.” He rubbed his chest with a frown.

  “What?” She touched his broad fingers. “What is it?”

  “I always imagined that telling another would unburden me. That I would feel absolution. But I still feel nothing.” He turned his red-threaded gaze on her. “Why do you think that is?”

  She was the last person to delve into grief. “Because losing your father to senseless rage is a grave injustice, and you’ll never love another person ever again.”

  He pushed out his lower lip. “Is that what it is? The king was my second father. The prince was everything to me.”

  “And if you disengage your feelings, then you’ll never lose yourself in grief.”

  “That makes strange sense.” He glanced at her, and his lips curved. “I have long been horrified by my feelings for you.”

  She squeezed him happily. “That makes two of us.”

  He leaned into her comforting hug. His amusement dipped to seriousness. “Atlantis differs from any other mer city. King Kadir is guided by reason and passion. His queens and warriors share their hearts. He is the future for our race.”

  He took a deep breath, and his grip on her hand tightened.

  “But if he or any other warrior hurts you, I will not hesitate to strike. It may take a lifetime. I will execute my revenge.”

  “Luckily, you’ll never have to worry about me.”

  He glanced at her sideways. “No?”

  “You know why I can’t join you under the sea.”

  “Yes, I understand. We will have a reverse relationship. Only on land.”

  She couldn’t be Chaz. She’d never throw Jonah away to start a new family, not even to save a race.

  But Bella also couldn’t tell Balim the truth. Not after everything else they had shared tonight. Instead, she fell asleep with him on the bed, snuggled together like two lost puppies curled up in barren cardboard box under a bridge, alone in the world, with only each other for warmth.

  In the morning, she drove Balim back to the lab and left him there. He stood outside, watching her drive away.

  Surely, in his heart, he knew the truth.

  She would never have a relationship with him above the water or under it.

  Never.

  Bella used her rental car for the last few hours by driving leisurely to Jonah’s hospital. She had to select his new hospital before the end of the week. Might as well enjoy this last convenience before she upended their lives.

  Parking in the lot, she got out of the car and checked her messages.

  The phone was off.

  Hmm. She’d forgotten it on the seat overnight and the battery had died. She plugged in her emergency charger as she crossed the semi-empty lot. Her phone booted. Notifications popped up from an unknown number.

  Starr?

  Or the Sons of Hercules?

  She positioned the metal speaker at the back of her ear.

  A guy reading his phone bumped into her, knocking her back a step.

  “Hey!” she snapped.

  He ignored her and trotted across the street.

  Whatever. She affixed the metal and paired it. Her phone rang. She answered.

  “Oh my god, thank goodness you’re all right,” Starr gasped.

  “All right?” Bella repeated aloud, ignoring the looks of the others around her as she continued up the hospital stairs.

  “You haven’t answered since last night, and Bella, there’s been a security breach.”

  As they’d expected. “Where?”

  “Everywhere! Your home, MerMatch offices, their lab—”

  “My home?” She stopped outside the front doors. “You mean my apartment?”

  “Yes! Two college guys broke in and went through your things. I have it on video. Of course I called Harv. He chased them out the back window, and he reported it to the cops.”

  “Did they find out about you?”

  “Not yet. We’ve been out of touch so long, and it’s not like you have my picture up in your apartment.”

  A shaft of guilt spiked into Bella. She’d pushed everyone aside when Jonah had gotten sick. She had photos of Starr, but not anywhere that would compromise her.

  “It’s like they knew you were taking Balim out of town. A big crew of people went into the lab. I called right away, but I didn’t know how to convince the security officers because I’m not persuasive like you. You’re blackmailing the Sons of Hercules, right, Bella? How could they risk your wrath?”

  She had threatened them for daring to threaten her son.

  Bella’s purse vibrated. Someone had snuck an unfamiliar phone into her purse.

  No.

  Bella pushed into the hospital lobby. She ran across the entrance and into the elevators. The metal box took forever to rise, and the ringing cut off. She exited the floor onto pediatrics long-term care.

  The sweet nurse looked up from the desk and blinked. “Bella? What are you doing here? Did Jonah leave something behind?”

  Bella raced past her. Her heart beat louder and harder.

  “Hey!” The nurse chased after her. “You can’t come back here. Only parents of patients!”

  “Bella?” Starr’s voice faded in. “What’s going on?”

  She was the one in charge. She was playing with fire, but only she was supposed to get burned.

  Bella flew past the locker room, weaving between surprised staff. The nurse couldn’t keep up. Bella was accelerated by the fears of a million years of parents returning to the safe cave where she’d stashed her child and finding it…

  She reached Jonah’s room.

  The plastic was dismantled. The room was empty. Nothing was inside it. Not her son. Not his clothes. Not his raggedy bear. Nothing.

  Her heart cracked.

  The nurse caught up to her, gasping, chest heaving. “You can’t…come back here…”

  She channeled the deepest, blackest, most murderous pit of fury. “Where is he?”

  “…anymore.” The nurse frowned like Bella was crazy. “What do you mean, where is he? You withdrew him yourself this morning.”

  “No.”

  “I was so sorry you had to move him when he’s so sick.”

  “Who took him?”

  “Your new private care physician.” The nurse patted her arm as she caught her breath. “Did you get the transfer time wrong? It must be nerve-wracking, given the risks. He had more color this morning, and he stayed awake while we moved him to patient transport.”

  “Who. Took. Him?”

  “The patient transport company. Here, hon, calm down. I know it's unsettling when you miss an appointment, but just breathe. He’ll be settled into the new hospital now. Shall we call together?”

  Her heart suspended its cracking, holding together with trembling glue. She would not break. She didn’t have the whole story yet.

  The nurse called on the wall phone. “Can you patch me through to an outside line? Yes. … Hello? Yes, I’m following up on a patient transfer. His mother’s here, and…what do you mean you never received a call? I talked to you myself. Jonah Taylor. He…you don’t have a patient by that name?”

  Bella’s purse vibrated again.

  She yanked out the foreign phone and pressed it to her ear. “What have you done with him?”

  “Bella Taylor.” The not-feminine distorted voice sounded pleased. “I hear your trip for the cure was unsuccessful. So, I have provided better care for your son than you can.”

  She gritted her teeth. “I told you not to threaten my son.”

  “And I am not. He is under private care.”

  “Prove it. Show me my son.”

  “Of course. I have left the details of the arrangement at your apartment. Conveniently enough,
our expert is aboard a ship in the mid-Atlantic.”

  “You will not blackmail me.” She lowered her voice as the worried nurses guided her to the hospital director, where, no doubt, paperwork would show her forged signature to discharge him. “I will destroy you.”

  “Now, now. I took your words to heart, Bella Taylor. The Sons of Hercules must be portrayed as saviors. And we will provide proof to defame any false allegations otherwise.”

  “You will regret making an enemy out of me.”

  “Bella Taylor, I thought we were friends.”

  She stopped outside the director’s office. “Our friendship ended the moment you stole my son.”

  “That’s funny. I thought our friendship ended when you used our generous financing to secure the merman office against our surveillance.”

  He had known. He’d known from her first date. They’d been spy versus spy this entire time, and Herc had just lit the dynamite.

  “If you hurt Jonah, I will hunt you down and suffocate you with my bare hands,” she snarled, preparing to end the conversation while the nurses beside her listened in, shocked.

  “Well then, you’ll be happy to know that you still have a very important role to play in Jonah’s cure.” Herc’s voice lilted from breezy to serious. “If you want him to live, then you will bring me a Life Tree flower. Understand?”

  “I understand,” she snapped.

  “And then, once we have this flower, you will destroy Atlantis.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Balim?” Mitch’s voice filtered through the open doorway of the hospital lab room to Balim’s office. “We have a problem.”

  He rose upright on his portable cot and stretched. His human joints creaked. So much of his surface life was spent sitting and staring. He rubbed his eyes. “What problem?”

  “I’m not sure. The specifications are correct. But…”

  Balim stretched farther and groaned.

  The same slacks and shirt he’d been wearing for the past three days hung off his body. They still felt a little like Bella.

  The sensation of uniting with his bride defied words.

  She had used a small bit of plastic between their bodies. He liked this barrier more than he should admit. His duty to procreate warred with the ingenious pleasure of the plastic creation.