by Devyn Quinn
At the rear of the chamber, seemingly fixed into the wall, was a tall arched doorway. The edges were scored with strange symbols.
Walking toward it, Tessa held out her hand. Her fingertips brushed the surface of something that looked vaguely like crystal aragonite. Growing in an odd formation, the mineral branched into finely spun spiderwebs of stone, seemingly so delicate they would shatter into billions of shards if touched.
The stone webbing was beautiful. Exquisite. And eerily realistic.
The fine hairs on the nape of Tessa’s neck rose. This part of the chamber gave her a different feeling, distinct and unappealing. It seemed strangely devoid of energy, and Tessa sensed stark, cold death. Overall, the entire place reminded her of a mausoleum.
Goose bumps prickling her skin, she let her hand drop. “I don’t like this,” she murmured. “Man, I wish the guys were here.”
Suddenly a figure appeared beside her. Surprised and more than a little bit startled, both of them instantly jumped back.
Tessa gaped at the man beside her.
Staring into the water, Kenneth heaved a sigh. It seemed like hours since Tessa had disappeared into the murky depths. Checking his watch, he turned toward Jake. “How long can she stay under there?”
Gaze raking the calm sea, Jake shrugged. “Forever, if she wants. She’s a mermaid, dude. Swimming is what they do.”
Annoyed by the simplistic answer, Kenneth rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. He’d stared into the water so damn long the muscles in his neck were beginning to ache. “I know she’s a fucking mermaid. But aren’t you worried it might be dangerous down there? What if she meets something nasty, like a shark?”
Jake didn’t blink an eye. “The shark population has declined ninety-seven percent over the past two hundred years. In fact, large predatory sharks are facing extinction unless current fishing pressures ease.”
Kenneth shot the archaeologist a look. As usual, the smart-ass had an answer at the ready. He wondered if there was any subject Jake wasn’t up to speed on. The man was a walking encyclopedia, and too damn smart for his own good.
“I’m not worried about the dead fuckers. It’s the live ones that concern me.” Kenneth’s stomach twisted. He glanced back down into the water and swore. “Where the hell is Tessa anyway? She should have been back by now.”
Jake flicked a hand through his long hair, casually flipping it off his shoulders. One could almost hear the whir and click of the cameras as he posed for shots for the press. “A mermaid can outswim about anything in the ocean. She’ll come back when she’s ready.”
Kenneth was starting to lose patience. “The least you could do is show a little concern.”
Jake shrugged. “Why? These are most likely the waters that gave birth to her kind. She’s practically home.”
Just as Kenneth began to consider wrapping his hands around Jake’s throat and squeezing, the damnedest thing happened.
He winked out of existence.
For a moment there was nothing. Blank, black nothing. It was like a giant hand had smothered the world and everything in it except for him. His universe spun like a top.
Kenneth panicked. He bolted, taking a mighty step forward . . .
He instantly reemerged in a strange, luminous chamber. A figure loomed before him. Skidding on his heels, he reversed his momentum seconds before he slammed into the other person.
“How the hell did you get here?” a familiar voice demanded.
Barely registering the change in venue, Kenneth shook his head. His heart slammed against his rib cage, threatening to steal the breath from his lungs. His head spun, as if plucked off his shoulders and set to ride on a maniacal carousel. “I don’t know.” He blinked hard to clear his blurry vision. Recognition slowly drizzled back into his scrambled brain. “Do you?”
Tessa blinked back. “Uh, it’s weird. I was just thinking you guys should be here, and all of a sudden you were.”
Kenneth swallowed hard, glad to feel his nausea receding. Having the world yanked out from under his feet hadn’t been fun at all. “You said guys.” He looked around, taking in all the details of the unfamiliar chamber. The entire place looked alien, definitely unwelcoming. “I don’t see Jake here.”
Tessa nodded. “As much as I hate to say it, we sure could use him about now.”
Jake immediately appeared, blipping in out of thin air. He stumbled, dropping to his knees. He’d obviously been in midstride when Tessa snatched him. Hitting the floor hard, he cursed. “What the fuck!” Rolling onto his back, he looked around. Dazed confusion colored his expression. He didn’t seem to recognize anyone. “Where the hell am I?”
Kenneth stepped forward and held out a hand. “I don’t know. Ask her.”
Jake gratefully accepted the help. Hoisted to his feet, he clenched his jaw and swallowed. “Christ, I feel like my guts have been ripped out.” Pressing a hand against his forehead, he blinked hard.
Tessa touched his arm. “Are you okay?”
Jake’s hand dropped. “I think so.” He grinned at her, his smile turning lewd. “Oh, man. I love seeing you after a swim.”
Disgusted, Tessa quickly covered vital parts of her anatomy. Her right hand slammed across her breasts even as her left dropped to cover the soft thatch of curls at the crux of her thighs. She’d clearly forgotten she was stark naked. “Lech!”
Jake defended himself. “How could I not look? I’m a man. It’s what we do.”
Focusing, she conjured her clothes. “You and me and naked is never happening again, Jake.” Kenneth recognized her favorite faded jeans, kick-ass Goth T-shirt, and combat boots. It was the fastest he’d ever seen a woman get her hands on clothes. “You’re getting pretty good with that teleporting stuff.”
Dropping her clothes into a pile on the floor, Tessa quickly sorted the pieces and dressed. A minute later she tugged on her boots. “It’s the best thing I ever learned how to do.”
Kenneth eyed her from head to foot. “I didn’t know you could move people.”
Tessa tossed up her hands. “Until today, I couldn’t. It’s like my power has suddenly become supercharged.”
Taking note of the unfamiliar surroundings, Jake explored the chamber. A low whistle broke from his throat. “This place is absolutely fantastic.” He shot her a look. “I’m going to assume you’re the one who brought us here.”
Hand rising to the crystal around her throat, Tessa nodded. “I think so. When I found this place, I thought about you two being here and—” She made a wide gesture with her arms. “All of a sudden you appeared.”
Whipping his BlackBerry out of his pocket, Jake snapped off about a dozen quick pictures. “You do have the ability to teleport things,” he reminded absently, absorbed with checking his handiwork.
“Yeah,” Tessa agreed. “Small things, usually.”
Giving her answer half an ear, Jake futzed with his handheld. The archaeologist’s first instinct was to record and transmit data. “Why do I never have a freaking signal when I need one?” Annoyance laced his words. “I thought AT&T was a global network.”
Kenneth snorted. “I’m sure they didn’t count on you sending e- mails from the bottom of the sea.” He’d definitely missed the technological revolution. The computer was a foreign beast and he had almost no working knowledge about his own cell. He could receive and make calls. That was it. Give him a wrench or a hammer and he was fine. Ditto heavy equipment.
Neanderthal definitely lingered in his DNA.
Tessa was caught in her own dilemma. “But I’ve never moved a whole man before.”
Giving her closer attention, Kenneth held up a couple of fingers. “Two. Right about now the rest of the crew should be freaking out.” He was definitely unsettled. While he’d known Tessa and her sisters had some interesting abilities, he’d had no inkling they could pull some major rabbits out of their hats. Seeing a rock shifted from place to place was one thing.
Being the rock was quite another.
Ken
neth looked around. “So let’s have some details.”
“We’re in a temple I found,” Tessa began to explain. “On the outside it’s almost perfectly intact. I’m not sure, but I think it was built specifically under the water. The place it’s located can’t be reached unless you’re a Mer.”
Realizing a lost cause when he saw it, Jake pocketed his precious device. “It would make sense the Mer would have done some construction beneath the water,” he broke in, uninvited. “While humans of the time would obviously have been present on land, the Mer would probably want private areas to themselves.”
Kenneth’s brow wrinkled. “Kind of like a ‘no humans allowed’ policy?”
The archaeologist nodded. “I’m thinking so.”
“So how is it we’re under the water, but this place isn’t submerged?” The air was heavy and damp, but not hard to breathe.
“My best guess is an air pocket,” Jake said. “Based on the architecture of the room, I don’t believe it was intended to be submerged.”
“I’d guess that, too. But how long is the air going to last?” Kenneth didn’t want to imagine what it would feel like when the limited supply ran out. It probably wouldn’t be pleasant to experience.
He hoped Tessa would be able to get them the hell out when the time came. Otherwise, they’d be screwed with a capital S. As much as he wanted to be in on the discovery of the lost city, he hadn’t counted on being transported several miles under the sea. Staying topside had suited him just fine.
Jake shrugged. “I don’t imagine it would be a problem for a Mer, as they breathe oxygen and have lungs that filter oxygen from water when they are submerged. It’s the humans who would have a problem—not that I think humans are supposed to be here in the first place.” He walked around the chamber, inspecting it from all angles. The strange obelisks drew his attention. “Tessa, what is this stone?”
Tessa said, “Labradorite.”
Jake reached out, placing a hand against one. “This is a power stone for Mers, isn’t it?”
“Very much so.”
“These could be the things that supersized your ability to teleport larger objects. You probably drew off them unconsciously,” he speculated.
She nodded. “That’s what I thought. It’s definitely a high-energy area. I can feel the vibrations running through me.” She visibly shivered, running her hands up and down her bare arms. “What do you think this place is?”
Jake slowly took in the entire circumference of the chamber. “Judging by the look, it’s definitely some sort of ceremonial chamber.” He licked his lips. “Can’t be sure just yet, but I think we’re in some sort of burial vault.”
His words sent a chill skittering up Kenneth’s spine. “Are you saying there are bodies here?”
“The way that rear entrance has been marked and sealed off, yes.” Jake pointed. “It’s an absolutely incredible find.”
Kenneth’s stomach squeezed. By the gleam in the archaeologist’s eyes, they wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
He drew a long breath. “So now what do we do?”
Tessa dropped her hands, letting them dangle at her sides. “We stand around like morons,” she said, the barest trace of a smile parting her lips. “Until Jake tells us to get our shit together.”
Kenneth barely suppressed his chuckle. “I guess he would know.” He had to admit he had no idea what to do next.
His partner was definitely the man of the hour.
Busy with his examination of the chamber, Jake pointed to some of the hieroglyphs etched into the walls. “Can you read any of this?” he asked Tessa.
Tessa shook her head. “My mother spoke Mer to us when we were kids, but I’ve never seen the language written like this. It looks like nonsense to me.”
“I doubt you would be able to read an ancient version of the text even if you were completely familiar with the Mer language,” Jake commented.
Tessa swallowed. “How ancient are you talking about?”
Jake considered the chamber. “Judging by the construction of this place, the Mer were a highly advanced civilization for their time. Two influences I’m definitely seeing are Greek and Egyptian—which makes sense since the location of the ruins lie between these two major powers. The script style certainly fits the timeline, too, as this way of recording their history was widely used by many ancient cultures.”
Kenneth looked, too. None of it made any sense to him either. “So what you’re saying is that we’re looking at their version of a book?”
Jake nodded. “Absolutely. This will be the most exciting find of the twenty-first century, I’m sure.”
Tess walked to the nearest wall. She reached out, tracing a few of the etchings with the tip of her finger. “So what’s all this supposed to mean?”
Jake examined the etchings. “These usually depict a deity or other important person. As you can see, many of these drawings show a woman with a great aura of energy around her.” He pointed. “Look at the halo. I would venture to guess she is very a significant figure.”
“Atargatis?” Tessa ventured. “As creator of all the Mer, she would be a figure of power.”
“It’s possible,” Jake mused. “The same woman appears several times in these hieroglyphs.” He shrugged. “No telling for sure until we learn a little more about the language and find a way to produce a credible translation.”
Kenneth strolled over to the wall. Most everything Jake said went over his head. Trying to look intelligent, he studied the symbols and drawings etched into the stones. “I’m not an expert, but doesn’t it seem like these pictures show some of the things Tessa has?”
Jake barged in for a closer look. “Where do you see that?” he demanded.
Kenneth jabbed a finger. “Here, look at this. What does she appear to be wearing?”
Tessa moved closer for a better look. She hadn’t really examined the drawings closely. It might have been her imagination, but it looked like a soft glow lit the drawings from behind. She blinked hard, clearing her blurry vision. “It looks like a sort of collar,” she ventured.
Jake nodded. “Close, but think again.”
Kenneth answered. “The choker.”
Jake’s hand moved to another portion. “Right. And this hovering ball must be the orb.” He looked from Tessa to the wall, and back again. “You certainly seem to have several of the items that represent a powerful female in this society.”
The archaeologist moved on to a third depiction of the queenly figure. “But here she seems to be holding a scepter of some kind. Look how the rays beam out of it. What appears to be a sky and mountains are cracking open.”
“Didn’t see anything like that in your treasure box,” Kenneth said.
Tessa’s mouth turned down into a small frown. She shook her head. “If Mom ever had anything vaguely resembling a scepter, I never saw it.”
Jake sighed heavily. “Too bad. It seems to be a very powerful piece.”
Tessa held out her hands. “Sorry. You’re shit out of luck. If I had something like that, I’d know it.”
“What about your aunt?” Jake shot back. “Is it possible she might have it?”
Tessa’s brow wrinkled. “Now that you mention it, I do vaguely recall her and Mom arguing over what they called the ‘family jewels.’ My grandmother settled it by saying to divide everything.”
“So it’s feasible the scepter might have gone with your aunt?”
“I don’t know for sure.” Tessa made a knee-high gesture with her hand. “You have to remember, I was this big when all this was going on.”
Jake set to postulating out loud. “If your family as a collective truly held all the items shown around this deity female in the hieroglyphs, do you know what that could mean?”
Tessa threw up her hands. “That some thieving ancestor of mine knocked her in the head and stole her stuff?”
Pressing his palm against the wall, Jake shook his head. “I believe it would mean you could be a direct desce
ndant of this person. And judging from the details, I’d say she was a queen.”
Hearing his words, Tessa suddenly went very pale. “No shit.”
Noticing her lag, Kenneth slipped a worried hand around her waist. “What is it?”
Accepting his support, Tessa gratefully leaned into him. Such a revelation was incredible. Who could believe it?
If he’s even right. Jake’s speculation had been known to be liberally laced with a lot of bullshit.
Tessa pulled in a weary breath. “When I was a kid, no older than five or six, my grandmother would tell me and Gwen stories about a great queen named Nyala.”
Jake stared at her through narrow eyes, as though he suspected she’d deliberately withheld vital pieces of information. “What kind of stories?”
She laughed shortly. “About how we were descended from Nyala, how she was the last to wield a vast and terrible power. I always thought they were just fairy tales.”
“That matches up with what we have here,” Jake observed after a brief pause. “Hypatia’s account calls the females of Ishaldi a warlike race. And most accounts in legend brand the Mer as unfriendly toward humans.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “That’s not true.”
“In a way, it is,” Jake countered. “Every country in the world has some story about mermaids and most of them are the same.”
“Yeah, I know. We lure ships onto rocks and drown the crew.” Tessa gave a quick thumbs- up sign with one hand. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we want to do. Drown you humans and take over the world.”
Jake returned her glance with one of his own. “Don’t kill the messenger, please. I’m just referencing what I’ve learned from my research. It’s nothing personal.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Tessa shot him a scornful look. “I’m not so sure about that.”
The two set to bickering, slinging a series of personal insults back and forth.
Kenneth winced, stepping between them. “Let’s get back on track,” he suggested. “What if Tessa is somehow descended from this queen?”
