by N. R. Larry
I tilted my head to the side and my brownish-orange hair curled around my wrist. She was being so twitchy. It was unlike her. “Are you still having the nightmares?”
Her gaze twitched toward me, and there was a flash of something dark there. “I’m. Fine.”
I sat up and shivered as droplets of water trickled down my skin. This soaking in water crap wasn’t going to cut it. I was dry. I needed the sea. I needed home. But for now, I was stuck here because the sea king had gone mad. “You’re not fine. You were possessed by a ghost and near death a week ago.” I frowned. “I want to do some energy work with you.”
She turned her body toward the door. “I’m fine. Really. Humans don’t bounce back as quickly as Atlanteans.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you acting so oddly?”
She danced back and forth on her legs like an excited puppy about to urinate on the floor, and then threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know why we can’t wait to discuss all this, or why we always meet in the bathroom.” She waved her hand toward me. “You know, when you’re not bathing.”
I leaned forward and draped my arms across my knees. “Well, the bathroom is the most peaceful room in the house.” I clicked my tongue. “Why does it matter where we…” My eyes widened. “Wait. Am I making you uncomfortable?”
She turned, slammed her arms over her chest, and widened her eyes.
I stared at her because I knew she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t imagine what. “Because of my nudity?” Without waiting for her to answer, I laughed. “Surface dwellers are so puzzling. You celebrate all things carnal with your internet porn, which is free for all, by the way, and yet in person…” I stood up, and my hair wrapped tighter around me, soaking in the droplets of water like a thirsty plant.
Sophie gawked and turned around as if my nude form might blind her. I couldn’t help but laugh louder. “Seven seas.” Stepping out of the tub, I wiggled my toes into the bath mat and grinned. “You are so adorable.”
With a snort, she opened the door, turned slightly, and then muttered, “I’ll wait in the living room,” over her shoulder.
Before I could respond she ducked out of the room. Shaking my head, I sauntered over to the bench situated beneath the vanity and picked up a thin, white sundress. I frowned and gave my hair a gentle tug. “Stop being greedy.” With a whine, my hair unwrapped itself from my limbs, and began to shorten, until it was only down to the middle of my back. With a nod, I slipped into the dress and sighed. I was at my wits’ end wearing all these silly frocks and sitting around in Dauphine, Alabama, waiting to hear from Violetta, my one and only ally in Atlantis.
Sitting on the bench, I separated my hair, which was already starting to dry out, into three stands, and began to braid it. I was halfway done when there was a loud “whoop,” followed by the stomping of feet from downstairs. I froze. “Five hundred rubber bands!” Jett’s voice howled, echoing in my ears. “Did you see the way it exploded! You owe me fifty bucks!” There was a crash, and then the roar of several voices.
I gritted my teeth, shook my hand out, and tapped the end of my unfinished braid. A turquoise light the color of the sea flickered at the end of my fingers. It was a pitiful bust of magic, but I was limited on the surface. Still, I managed to get my hair to finish braiding itself. Standing up, I sucked in a deep breath and braced myself for whatever idiocy I was sure to face downstairs.
“I can’t believe it worked! Pay up man!” Jett said as I tiptoed down the stairs and inched toward the living room. Sophie was on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, while Jett was on one side of small, wooden table gesturing at Lowe, who was looking around the vast room, shaking his head. “With what money?” he shot back. “And for a bet to exist, both parties have to agree to it.”
Without speaking, I scanned the room. Bits of dripping, red pieces were sprayed across the floor and the walls. It looked like someone had dropped the insides of a killer whale into the middle of the house. Littered among those red bits were thick, green rind and tiny black seeds. I screwed my mouth up. Not killer whale parts, then. A watermelon.
My fiercest warriors were in my living room—exploding watermelons.
I eyed Jett, who swung his long, wavy black hair over his shoulder. Normally, I’d take the time to appreciate his form and the hair that was all the way down to his tight ass. In Atlantis, he was my monster—my Adaro—one of the most feared beings in the seven seas. On the surface, he was a beautiful, overgrown child.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I cleared my throat. Three gazes darted in my direction. Jett laughed, and the skin around his dark eyes wrinkled. He scanned me up and down and ran a tongue across his lower lip. I had to force myself to ignore the tattoos he had on almost every inch of his brownish-orange skin—he had one for every battle, and almost every kill he’d made in my name, and focus on the fuckery he had going on.
It wasn’t easy, as evidenced by the fact that my nipples hardened under the light fabric of my dress. I planted my hands on my hips. “What is this?”
With an almost contagious smile, Jett lowered his head in a respectful bow, and then looked back up. “YouVid challenge!”
I blinked. When he didn’t explain, I turned to Lowe. He sighed, raked a hand across his bald head, and then let his arm flop to his side. “You know that website where anyone can upload videos?”
I stared at him.
Sophie cleared her throat. “It’s the website I got all those make-up tutorials from.”
With a curt nod, I said, “How does that explain why there is fruit exploded all over the living room?”
“Well—” Lowe glanced at Jett. “We watched a challenge video that basically said you can make a watermelon explode by wrapping it in rubber bands. Lots of people have tried it, and—”
“It worked!” Jett whooped, picked up a thicker piece of watermelon, and slammed it into the floor. It landed with a splat and slid across the hardwood, stopping inches away from my bare feet.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes and tried to rein in my frustration. It wasn’t easy to go from being the most powerful woman in Atlantis to being… whatever the hell I was on the surface. “First, the pool of Jell-O you all wrestled in…” I opened my eyes and glared. “Which had its entertainment value, but was ultimately still ridiculous. Then, the bath bombs it took one week to clean out of the tub, and now—” I gritted my teeth so that I wouldn’t shout. I wouldn’t be one of those women I watched on TV always nagging at their men. “Just clean it up.”
Jett winked at me, and placed a piece of fruit in his mouth, eating it much slower than he needed to. “Are you sure, my priestess? We could…” He stepped over a pile of slop, and then bit into the last of his fruit. Juice ran down his chin. My mouth watered, and I almost reached out to wipe it away.
Almost.
Stepping away, I placed a hand up to stop him. “Now. We have things to discuss.” I glanced around again. “Where is Conway?”
Lowe snorted as he gathered up the larger pieces to toss into a waste bin. “Where do you think?”
My gaze flicked automatically to the ceiling. Glancing at Sophie, I muttered, “I’ll be right back. Please, keep an eye on them.”
Lowe made a noise that turned my attention back to him. His deep blue eyes flashed with a hint of sarcasm. I gave him a look that wiped the smart-ass out of his expression, and he went back to work.
Sophie giggled. It was a nervous sound. “I’m sure I can manage to keep them under control.”
I nodded, turned on my heels, and shot up the stairs before my frustration could get the better of me. I had to remind myself that they were my loyal familiars. They were the ones that followed me from Atlantis, without question, and still they remained, getting more bored by the day.
If Violetta didn’t show up soon I was likely to go crazy along with them. I sauntered down the second-floor hallway until I came to the room at the end. I knocked on the door, and then pressed my ear against th
e sleek wood. The sound of Conway’s snores both amused and irritated me. Fury rushed through my blood, and I threw the door open with the intention of telling him what I thought of him sleeping most of his days away.
Then I saw him laid out on the king-sized mattress, with only a thin, white sheet to hide his hard cock from me, and I froze. Saliva pooled up on my tongue. I took in a breath, and gently closed the door behind me. When I turned back to him, desire stole my senses.
His long, white hair was fanned out on his pillow, and his expression, which housed all the delicate features sirens were known for, was tight, as if something in his dreams was disturbing. I tip-toed toward him and he twitched. “My priestess,” he muttered in a barely audible voice. His hand went to the tent his hard on had created with the sheet. “Poseidon’s glory. I n—need you.”
An ache tightened my core, and my mouth watered. I wiped my mouth and squinted down at him. He was definitely still asleep, which meant that the thing disturbing his dreams was me. Just like that, I forgot why I came upstairs in the first place. Slowly, I lowered myself onto the bed.
“Conway?” His name trembled on the edge of my tongue. The bright glare streaming through the tan curtain burned into my skin, making the room seem much hotter than it was. I ran my finger across his rugged eyebrows—that, and the set of his jaw—kept his face from appearing too feminine. He shifted under my touch. I lowered my lips to his ear. “Conway?”
“Liar,” he hissed, and jerked his head in the other direction.
I pulled my hand back. He thrashed from side to side. Sweat beaded up on the sides of his face. “Liar.” He reached out and grabbed me by the wrist.
Clenching my jaw, I pulled back on my arm and focused on keeping my breathing regular. “Conway,” I said in my normal tone of voice. “Wake up.”
His facial features bunched up. Then, he slammed his fist into the mattress and jerked to a sitting position. I stumbled backwards with a gasp, but before I could tip off the bed, he grabbed my other wrist and set those steel blue-gray eyes on me.
“There is someone around him,” he growled in a half-asleep voice.
I gritted my teeth. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He tightened his grip and forced me closer to his chest. “There’s someone around him,” he said again. Flecks of white sparked in his blue eyes. “Someone around the king.”
I stopped struggling in his arms and narrowed my eyes. “What are you saying?”
His jaw set in anger and his gaze flashed in a dangerous way. “He thinks you’ll ally with him.” Sitting up straighter, he wrapped a hand in my hair and bent my neck back. “Tell me I’m wrong, priestess,” he growled in a tone that wasn’t quite his own. “Tell me the whispers are only that.” His grip tightened. “Whispers.”
The larger part of me was outraged. One of my familiars addressing me in this way; it was unheard of. Still, another part of me, deep down, was thrilled. It was unlike Conway to speak to me like this… To handle me in this way. I blinked as something occurred to me. This wasn’t him. Or at least, not all of it was him. I took in a deep breath and focused my magic into my hair.
“Conway,” I muttered in as gentle a voice as I could manage. The strands of my hair wrapped around him, and then, started to pull him back. “I need you to wake up.” As my hair pulled against him, I started to sit upright until I was gazing into his face again. He was like an angry child, frustrated, yet unable to think of a way to spend that frustration. My hair kept pulling until he was shaking with the effort to keep his hold on me. I held my breath and forced a last bit of magic out of myself, and then, I focused it into a rough push against him. My hair wrapped around his wrist and slammed him backward. Breathing hard and pinned to the backboard, he stared at me, a mixture of fear and loathing on his face.
He blinked sweat out of his eyes. “The whispers grow louder.”
I nodded and then snapped my fingers in front of his face. A turquoise web of magic flittered in front of his nose, and then blew into his face like a puff of smoke. He hacked and started to pull against the grip I had on him. My jaw clenched from the effort of keeping him in one place. Slowly, the anger washed out of his expression.
The bridge of his nose wrinkled in confusion, and then he blinked several times. “Z-Zarya?”
I smiled and called my hair back. It unwrapped itself from his pale skin and I placed my hands on his shoulders. “You were dreaming.”
He shook his head, still trying to get his breathing under control. “No, it was more than that.” His hand went to his forehead. “These visions. They’ve been getting more intense the past few days.” His eyelids fluttered. “I can’t seem to stop them from coming and going.”
Scooting closer to him, I said, “You said something about my allying with the sea king.” I pushed his hair off his forehead. “What did you mean?”
He shook his head, blinking harder like someone trying to see something through the glare of the sun. “Someone close to the king,” he began in a rough voice. “They think you can be turned.”
The thought alone made me shudder with disgust. “Conway,” I asked, trying to keep my tone even. “Is this why you’ve been sleeping so much? Lucid dreaming?”
He lowered his gaze. “Yes, priestess.” He pulled at his hair. “And I can never get a clear image.”
I opened my mouth to reply, when there was a loud crash from downstairs. My gaze snapped to the doorway. Seconds later Jett yelled, “What the fuck?” There was another crash, and then Lowe howled, “Grab her!”
Instinct tightened my muscles. Feet pounded on the stairs. I stood up and moved in front of Conway. It was always at the back of my mind to protect them. Sophie skipped into the doorway, placed her hands behind her back, and then tilted her head to the side, a sheepish smile on her lips.
I sniffled. “Sophie?”
Her expression vibrated, like her features were trying to keep themselves in place, and her brown eyes washed out and went milky white. Slowly, she turned her head to the other side and a blackened tongue flicked out of her mouth. I barely heard Jett and Lowe pounding their way up the stairs. Lowe appeared behind her first. He was out of breath and there was a cut above his eye.
“Zarya.” He huffed. “I don’t know what happened, she just—”
I lifted a hand to stop him. Jett jogged into view, his gaze set on Sophie. From the set of his jaw, I could tell he was ready to shift into the Adaro—one of the fiercest underwater beasts. I caught his eye and shook my head before focusing all my energy on Sophie.
“Who are you?” I asked in a calm voice.
A growl trembled in her throat.
“Who are you?” I asked, raising my voice.
“Sea bitch,” she muttered taking one jerky step forward.
There was no amusement in my answering smile. “Watch your tongue.”
Sophie laughed, and it wasn’t the childlike sound I was used to from her. It was deep, and clearly, unafraid. I stepped forward and Conway grabbed me from behind, forcing me back. “Take care, my queen,” he said in a low voice. “This isn’t Sophie.”
Gently, I pulled my arm back. “I’m aware.”
I nodded at Jett. “Restrain her.”
His skin rippled, and the olive tone in of his arms rushed back, being replaced by thicker, gray skin. The dark brown of his eyes pulsed and went all black as he forced her arms behind her back. A thrill rushed through me as I looked upon the gaze of my monster.
Sophie thrashed left and right in his arms but couldn’t break free. I imagined not many things in the world could break Jett’s hold.
“Sit her down.”
Jett nodded, passed me, and then sat on the bed with Sophie still struggling in his arms. I stood there looking down at her. For several moments, silence filled the room. Finally, she began to grow tired. Her black tongue felt the air like a sea snake.
I looked over at Conway. “Do you think you can get anything out of her?”
Clearing his th
roat, he closed in on her. “I can certainly try.”
7
Conway
My thoughts were cartwheeling from the visions that kept slicing into my skull. I rubbed my temples trying to press back the headache that always seemed to be pounding behind my eyes. As I moved forward, I stumbled and Zarya reached out to steady me. She was so sturdy, and I wanted to curse myself for being so weak around someone so strong.
“Are you alright?” she asked in that soft, husky voice that made every inch of me tighten with need.
I clenched my jaw and nodded before I turned around and pulled on some pants. Not that it was anything Marlowe and Jett hadn’t seen before. We’d spent so much time changing for battle at the palace that being nude in front of them shouldn’t have made me self-conscious. Still, I wanted to cover up the problem I’d been having—this desire for the sea witch that I couldn’t bring myself to give into.
“What happened?” Zarya asked as I turned back around.
Marlowe shrugged. “We were sitting there, talking about some dude she thought might be able to help us—”
“And the woman went ape shit,” Jett finished.
I lifted an eyebrow. “Ape shit?”
Jett’s gaze cut to me. “It’s a surface expression,” he told me with a proud smile. He, more than any of us, was immersing himself in human culture. There was a part of me that envied his spirit. No matter where he was, Jett saw everything as an adventure. Like a little boy, I wanted to go home.
Zarya cleared her throat. “Conway,” she said in a low voice.
I nodded, then inched forward and lowered myself onto one knee. Gazing up at her, I let my power flow over me. My skin burned like scalding water from an underwater geyser was hitting me. It was the feel of too many emotions. Emotions that I could use as a weapon if I could control them. Here, I wasn’t so good at controlling those emotions.
Taking in a deep breath, I placed a hand on her knee. She hissed, and I wanted to back up. Instead, I tightened my grip on her and forced myself to forget about my visions.
