by Starla Night
The truth blazed through him like a bright, shining light.
Leaving Elyssa was the cowardly path.
This dull ache in his chest was much easier than the terror of turning back. Of accepting her into his heart. Of saying, “I love you also and will keep you with me no matter the pain or danger, to either of us, for the rest of our lives.”
Could he not cross to that final shore?
He needed Elyssa. Atlantis needed their queen. The mer needed a modern bride who succeeded.
This was his final opportunity to save his city. He had to be strong enough, no matter the consequences, to cross to that shore.
He kicked to the surface. The dinghy was still lifted. He swam around the platform until he found steps and climbed the rocking path to the deck.
There, inside a glassed room, a black-souled male threatened his Elyssa. His yellow teeth flashed. “So. You must have spent a lot of time thinking about me.”
“Well, um, uh, not really.”
He flashed cold, calculating rage. “You’re about to.”
Another shock stung Kadir. While he thought to leave her to the safety of the surface, a hidden enemy had sprung a trap.
The lesson was clear.
Kadir would never leave her alone again.
She pressed a small rectangle of fabric to cover her front. “I thought you were in a Mexican jail.”
“I got out for good behavior.” He pulled out a black weapon and began pacing. He was shaky and clearly unwell. “Your aunt wants me to ask about Aya. But I don’t actually care where the ice witch is. Tell me where to find Atlantis’s Life Tree and I’ll let you live.”
He had left the door open. Kadir edged closer. The glass was dark.
“You can’t get to it even if you know,” Elyssa argued.
“The submersible’s ready.” Blake waved his barrel at the ceiling. “You lead me to the city. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Don’t you want Sea Opals, Blake? Atlantis doesn’t have any. They’re all in Sireno.”
He lowered the weapon to point at her. “You expect me to believe—”
Kadir leaped through the open door and slammed into the dark-souled male.
“Kadir!” Elyssa shrieked.
The male smashed to the ground. The gun bounced from his hands. He scrambled after it.
Kadir forced him onto his back and squeezed his throat. Under Kadir’s mass, this male was skinny as a bundle of twigs bound with a cable. Fury peeled back Kadir’s lips from his teeth. How dare this male threaten his Elyssa?
The dark-souled Blake popped an elbow at Kadir’s nose. He had apparently seen a lot of scrapping in his life. It smashed into Kadir’s throat like the base of a trident. He lost his breath and coughed. His grip on Blake slipped.
Blake rolled. He landed on the gun and pushed to his feet.
Kadir rose and faced off against the male. Fight honorably and destroy—
Elyssa shoved him out the open door. “Go! Now!”
He stumbled back.
She dropped her towel and ran across the exposed deck for the dinghy.
Kadir leaped after her.
Bang!
Zing!
A super-heated chunk of metal burned the tip of his ear. A projectile weapon. Kadir shifted to cover Elyssa’s exposed back.
She scrambled into the dinghy
Bull shark fins cut the water below.
She vaulted over the side. Kadir jumped right behind her.
He would fight the sharks while she—
Bang!
A sharp fist pounded him in the shoulder. Pain splattered up and down his spine. Kadir roared.
They landed in the middle of the sharks.
Kadir transformed and flew ahead of her. Blood tainted the water metallic. It spilled from his shoulder.
The sharks bellowed. They swerved after Elyssa.
Curse it.
He turned.
She paddled in the water helplessly. Her heart ran away with itself. Her eyes were wide and white.
“Dive!” he yelled at Elyssa.
She paddled down. One shark swerved close. Elyssa shrieked. Bubbles flew past her cheeks and excited the sharks even more. She was holding her breath.
The sharks flew into a classic prey-driving frenzy.
Empty hands. His trident had been left. Where? Atlantis?
Elyssa exhaled and dove under Kadir.
A shark thumped him and swerved away. The bullet’s pain lanced his back. He roared again.
Another shark dove at Kadir. Its big teeth bent inward. It bugled a challenge.
Kadir rolled to face it. His back spasmed.
The shark’s jagged mouth loomed.
He fought the pain and exhaustion to brace for the shark’s impact. The shark’s nose slammed into his chest. He caught it at the two classic shark-wrestling hand-holds: nostril and below the first line of teeth. It shook its head. He released it. It darted away.
Three more dove at Kadir.
He braced and grabbed. He was in the mouth! No, he was fighting, holding its jaws open. Barely avoiding its teeth.
Another swerved at his torso.
He let go.
The two sharks attacked each other. Kadir wrestled with a third, fourth, fifth shark.
Elyssa wheeled. Her heart rate climbed again. She closed her eyes and held out her hands.
What was she doing? “Dive.” He shoved the third one off and gouged its eye. It thrashed away from him. “Now!”
She twisted her lips in frustration but obeyed.
Wounded or not, he had the expertise to protect her.
The sharks peeled away for easier prey. He wrestled free of the last, persistent shark and joined her.
Kadir reached her. He gripped her face in his ripped up, bloodied hands. “Are you okay?”
“Thanks to you.”
She was okay. Of course she was.
The pain spiked. He collapsed in her arms.
She entwined him as he had often done to her, holding him close and twirling in the water. He was so much larger, he towered over her. Her fin tips barely brushed his ankles. “You came back.”
“I also love you.”
Her chest rose with hope. “Really?”
“Yes.”
Soft, golden light fell on him like the warmth of the sky’s sunlight.
He had finally crossed that shore.
And then he collapsed with a spasm.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Elyssa dragged Kadir’s massive body through the current. It was hard. Solitary. And she had to keep adjusting him.
But it was also like a dream.
Ping. Ping. Ping.
He loved her. He loved her. The more she thought of it, the faster their journey went.
“Might…already be…too late,” Kadir said, over the metallic pings emanating from the tracking bullet buried deep in his back. “Abandoned city…raiders…destroy everything.”
“If it’s all destroyed, my parents have a five-bedroom in the suburbs. You’re all invited.”
Kadir smiled. “Hold you…to that.”
She kicked straight to the Life Tree. The whole journey, the bullet Blake had shot at them in his modified gun — which had lodged in Kadir’s back — made a pinging noise. She thought that meant it was a tracking bullet, but Kadir was barely hanging on, and she was not going to stand around digging it out with her bare hands.
Soren met her at the border. The distant sound of metal striking metal echoed across the city, although she did not see its source. Some were already fighting but the main force hadn’t revealed itself.
Soren wrestled Kadir from her arms despite her protests. “I carried him this far.”
“And that is why he is nearly dead. Slow human.”
“Well, sorry for that. I thought we went fairly fast.”
Kadir roused himself. “Elyssa. Do not say that word.”
Gah. Had she apologized again? Well…wait. No. “You know what? For
get that rule. I’m going to apologize. It’s part of who I am. You’re not going to stop me. And you can just accept that.”
He smiled faintly. “You may apologize so long as you glow as you are now.”
“And I will.” Probably. She didn’t know. “Let’s get you healed.”
Soren agreed. “We are moving quickly to the heart chamber, my king.”
“Heart chamber?” She didn’t want him that far away. “Don’t you mean the Life Tree?”
“The healing chamber is in the heart,” he growled.
“The Life Tree is his heart,” she snapped back.
Kadir closed his eyes. “Obey your queen.”
Soren snarled. “I obey no one! My king.” Soren jerked him roughly through the water.
He grunted and winced. “Elyssa is gentle.”
“See?” She outpaced Soren during the short swim.
“I should feed both of you to the cave guardian. Why do you cross the open ocean without guards? How are you injured again?”
Elyssa filled Soren in. The Life Tree glowed brightly, calling them into its embrace. Soren navigated the protective petals to the inner sanctuary and laid Kadir against the Life Tree. He nestled into the healing loam. The wounds on his back and hands looked bad.
Ping, ping, ping.
“What is that pinging noise?” Soren demanded.
“You hear it too?” Elyssa touched Kadir’s shoulder blades. “I think it’s the bullet.”
“Balim is patrolling the outer regions. I will call him immediately.”
“Hurry. Blake is piloting a submersible. I think he’s using this bullet to track our location.”
“The submersible is so loud, it would disguise any other enemy.” He darkened. “Something is wrong about this attack.”
“You didn’t find the traitor?”
He shook his head. “One of the warriors heard someone speaking into the echo point, broadcasting dangerous news about our patrol patterns, but the traitor disappeared before he could be identified. Remain here, Queen Elyssa, and tend to your king.”
His approval, after so long of thinking her unworthy, made her heart swell. “You believe in me.”
“I believe in nothing,” he snarled. “Guard Kadir. With your life!” He kicked out of the sanctuary, leaving them with Zoan and Adviser Creo.
Adviser Creo remained on the far side of the chamber. He rested his head in his hands and didn’t acknowledge them at all.
Elyssa closed her eyes. Concentrate. Summon the Life Tree to make a protective barrier. She opened her eyes.
Nothing happened.
Well, Kadir’s eyes cracked. “Why are you disappointed?”
“Lucy could do all sorts of magic.” Form barriers. Protect warriors from speeding bullets. Make sonic energy blasts underwater. “I can’t do anything but bring back a blossom.”
He huffed and winced. “You have a strong push.”
“Thanks.” But pushing wouldn’t win the war. “I need more.”
He shook his head. “No.”
What? “No?”
“No.” He twined her fingers with his, keeping his injured chest stiff. “You are enough. Just as you are.”
She was enough? Just as she was?
It was okay if she couldn’t form energy barriers or make a shelter from speeding bullets. It was okay if she couldn’t make an inspiring speech or persuade boards of directors to launch new programs. It was okay if she wasn’t the smartest or strongest or most beautiful.
She was enough.
Elyssa could only bring a blossom back to life? That was useful right now. She spread her hands over Kadir’s chest, closed her eyes, and concentrated.
He let out a relaxed sigh. Her hands glowed with warmth.
Growl-growl-growl.
A strange rumbling noise sounded on the far edge of the old city. Faint as a whisper, but out of place as an eruption.
Blake’s submersible.
The distraction stole her concentration, and the warmth faded. Kadir opened his eyes and rose. He was still careful, but he moved more easily. He must feel a little bit better.
Good.
Zoan came to stand behind them. He held the long, curved adamantium knife tight in his smooth, undamaged hands.
Smooth? Undamaged?
His hands had been all ripped up only a few hours — or was it days?— ago when he had fled with her to the ruins. Mermen certainly were fast healers when they had a need. Zoan almost looked like he’d never been injured. She wished she could figure out a way to heal Kadir so swiftly. Or Faier. He worried his deep scars all the time, but he’d told her his useless right leg was improving.
“Are we safe in here?” she asked Kadir.
He looked up at the granite-hard petals enclosing the Life Tree in its sanctuary. Soren had stationed guards to block the single entrance. “Yes. No enemy will penetrate these walls.”
Outside, someone screamed.
Soren’s war cry bellowed.
Elyssa and the adviser both jumped.
Other war cries returned his. Soren had been right. The raiders lurking beyond the city had awaited the submersible’s arrival to attack. She reached for Kadir’s hand.
He jolted. His hand flexed, jerking free of hers, and his eyes bugged.
The tip of the adamantium knife emerged from his chest.
Behind him, a man with darker peach tattoos and glowing, almost yellow, eyes spoke into his ear loud enough for Elyssa to hear. “No enemy will penetrate these walls because they are already here.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Elyssa screamed.
Kadir clutched at the sharp point. He was frozen. Confusion drew together his brows.
The man they thought was Zoan was not.
“Roa!” Elyssa cried.
He cut his yellow gaze to Elyssa. “My brother talked about me?”
She backed away. “You were the whole reason he came here. He’s been waiting for you all this time.”
“Our reunion at the old ruin lacked warmth.” He removed the knife and shoved Kadir forward.
Elyssa dove and caught Kadir’s shoulders. His eyes and mouth bugged. He couldn’t catch his breath.
“Probably it was because he did not want to give me this.” Roa held up the twin seed. He grinned with sharp teeth, and he raised the bloodied adamantium blade to the seam. “Let us part this unnatural growth.”
He sawed on the seed.
Kadir arched and fell forward, writhing with every cut.
Roa frowned and tapped the blade on the seed seam. “Tough little nut.”
She rolled Kadir onto his back and placed her hands over the blood seeping out of the cut. She focused. Her hands warmed and his chest glowed. It worked! She was summoning the Life Tree’s power and healing—
“Oh.” Roa pointed his knife tip at Elyssa and waved it for her to remove her hands and rise. “I cannot have you doing that. Back. Up.”
Adviser Creo hunched away. He knew what was happening. He deliberately chose not to look.
This was more than being a neutral third party.
“Help us,” she cried. “Please!”
He curled his back.
“He cannot help you.” Roa grinned wide and bounced at Elyssa. She scrambled away. “After all, he is the one who freed me from prison to come here and end this foolish city.”
The adviser flinched. The accusation was true.
Roa focused on Elyssa. “Now, you move away from your king while I end his life.”
“Kill me first!”
Roa tilted his head, considering her demand.
Then, he shrugged. “As you wish.” He started for her.
Kadir grabbed his ankle.
Roa tripped and flew. The adamantium knife and seed went flying. Kadir rolled into his attack, grappling Roa with a snarl. Roa dug his nails into the bullet hole in Kadir’s shoulder. Kadir screamed.
The Life Tree shuddered.
Elyssa flew for the knife.
Roa
shoved Kadir aside and scooped the knife up first. He met her with the blade side raised. His dirty-gold, sunken eyes gleamed like Zoan’s. But where that mer warrior teased, his twin brother had tilted into crazy.
She scrambled to stop.
Do not stop. Only change direction.
She kicked harder and angled up, popping over the top of the Life Tree. Roa chased her around the other side. She darted the opposite direction. Roa had endless energy coiled up from his long months in prison and his laugh sounded almost like an animal’s scream.
The adviser walked on human feet across the dais and picked up the Life Tree twin seed.
“Help!” Elyssa cried.
Adviser Creo ignored her and carried the seed to Kadir. “How dare you show me a twin seed and then rule so recklessly you force me to destroy it?”
Kadir tried to crawl away from him. To help Elyssa somehow.
“I warned you over and over again. Treat your bride well. Treasure her. And then what is the last thing I hear? You will force her to give you five young fry.” Adviser Creo stomped Kadir’s bullet-injured shoulder. Kadir collapsed with a growl. Adviser Creo rolled him over and placed his foot on Kadir’s neck, crushing him into place. “I had already decided this could not go on. That was when I knew I had no choice but to end you.”
Roa flew over the Life Tree toward her. She dove and scrambled beneath it, keeping ahead of him. “Adviser Creo! Five kids was my idea!”
The adviser frowned deeply. “No. That is not possible. But it does not matter. Soon, you will also die.”
Elyssa landed in front of the burly adviser, keeping him as another shield from Roa. “I thought you worried about brides!”
“It pains me.” He looked much older as he regarded Kadir. “I once thought this city could be saved. Balim understands how dangerous your actions are. Iyen could become a disciplined leader. But they will not rise up and assume command. They have this strange loyalty.”
“True loyalty,” Kadir vibrated. The adviser crushed his throat but did not silence his chest-based voice. “Not neutral.”
“They do not realize this city is dangerous. It will cause upstarts. And what if the other cities decide to implement your same strategies, and torture their brides? Better one dead now than thousands. Roa, to me.”
