Forever Breathing (Just Breathe #3)

by Heather Allen

  I smirk and pull away from him just enough so we are staring intently into each other’s eyes.

  “Jack Tanner, I love you. Don’t let anything happen to you either.” And I kiss him.

  A huge vibration echoes through the water. We break apart and I look to Jack for clarification. His look of fear verifies that the shield Jaspen tried so hard to keep up, just went down and it is starting. He grabs my hand and swims out into the front of the caves, pulling me along with him.

  I look around as we enter; everyone is dressed in silver armor. James and Alody swim up handing Jack and I the same silver armor. I take it and we help each other into it. This thing is getting more real and I still feel like I’m in the dark. The familiar tingle is starting to rise up from my fin as a result of my fear. I push it away though. I cannot possibly lose it right now.

  When we are ready, James hands me a bow and quiver of arrows. I place the strap across my body. It makes me feel more secure as I grasp the bow. The tingle just about disappears. Good Job Ever, making progress here.

  Jack turns to James and asks, “Are they coming?”

  James glances at Alody who looks away. He mutters, “We don’t know. We haven’t heard anything.”

  Jack acknowledges his admission and states, “Well, we will just work with what we have. The shield just went down so they are close. I am guessing someone was able to ‘travel’ through the shield.”

  James admits, “I don’t know what Jaspen was thinking hiding out in the city was going to accomplish.”

  I realize two things while listening to this conversation between my brother and Jack. One, they are whispering and the rest of the room is silent. Two, no one is moving; all of these people seem to be frozen, just waiting for something.

  I turn to Alody and ask quietly, “What are we waiting for? Aren’t they in the city?”

  She smiles slowly and tells me, “We are waiting for surprise. I know Roman. He won’t be in the first wave of fighters. He sends everyone else to do his dirty work. Then he sweeps in at the end and takes all the credit.”

  I snicker, “That must be a family trait, his brother seems to do the same.”

  She nods, “I didn’t mention it to James or Jack but I think Jaspen has an ulterior motive in all of this. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”me.”

  All I have to do is nod my head back to her. No words are necessary. I think Jaspen has always been off. I could never put my finger on it but something…

  Another boom vibrates through the water. I watch as hands tighten around bows and spears and people in this now small space seem to brace themselves. Jack grabs my hand and squeezes. It must be soon. I tighten the grip on my bow in response and wait.

  Chapter 45

  James

  The first vibration through the water came earlier than I thought it would. I was sure Jaspen could keep the shield up longer than he did, but maybe he is no match for his brother after all. Alody seems to think Roman won’t be here for a while but I have a different opinion. If they have that much animosity toward each other, Roman would want to be front and center when his brother goes down.

  We readied all of her people, explaining what to expect when we do leave the caves. Everyone is covered in the unmistakable, silver, Erebus armor with their weapons readied. Just as I finish explaining about the caves around us, Jack and Ever swim out. The look on her face is so transparent. She is scared, I can tell, but also unsure. That is exactly what Jack and I had hoped. We’ve kept her in the dark with almost all of our plans. I told her it was because she gives things up easily but really we don’t want her to have an episode. She takes everything so personally and her whole body reacts, usually with her nerves resulting in fainting. So far, she’s good.

  I hand them their armor and swim over to Alody as they get ready.

  She looks up at me and wraps her small arms around me, “How are you doing?”

  I lower my mouth to hers giving her a light kiss in response. At this exact moment I don’t trust my voice. Too many things are running through my mind. Most concerning is, what I would possibly do without this wonderful girl in my life? I have to protect her with everything. The other thing weighing me down is whether bringing all of her people here, was the right decision. I’m worried she will lose more of her family and it will be my fault.

  I glance over to Jack and Ever and notice they are ready. She seems to be handling things pretty well. I lean down toward Alody’s ear and ask, “Are you ready?”

  She nods against my head and I kiss that sweet spot on her neck before pulling away. She follows me over to Jack and Ever. I hand Ever a bow and quiver. As she takes it, I can see her calm down. I was hoping this would help. She loves the bow.

  I turn to Jack as he asks, “Are they coming?”

  I look to Alody but she looks away. I know this is hard for her. We had a plan and just not knowing if it will work is eating her up.

  I admit, “We don’t know. We haven’t heard anything.”

  Jack relents, “Well, we will just work with what we have. The shield just went down so they are close. I am guessing someone was able to ‘travel’ through the shield.”

  I tell him, “I don’t know whhat Jaspen was thinking. Hiding out in the city won’t accomplish anything.”

  The room is silent and the water is thick if that’s possible. I know it’s the unknown. Everyone is bracing for what’s to come but none of us really know for sure what’s coming.

  Alody and Ever are talking. This makes me happy with all the other turmoil. I need my sister to accept her. She’s not going anywhere, ever.

  Suddenly, a second vibration echoes through the caves. This is it. That’s our cue. I tighten my grasp on my spear and look down at Alody. She smiles and mouths, “Here we go.”

  Yes, here we go.

  Jack announces to everyone in the cave, breaking the silence, “It’s time to win our freedom once and for all.”

  Everyone raises their weapons and cheers.

  Alody adds in a loud, strong, voice, “Let’s do this for family and for choices.” They all kiss their first three fingers and place it over their hearts. I do the same and meet Alody’s gaze.

  The double doors open and Alody’s people slowly make their way out into the open water following Jack and Ever. I pray that this works.

  Alody and I are the last to leave. She turns to me right before we make our way out and stops looking up into my eyes and tells me, “James, I love you.”

  Hearing those words at this moment right before we swim out, both breaks my heart and makes it soar. I tell her, embracing her one more time, “Alody, I love you too. So much. But I want us to save our words because we will be fine. Do you understand? We will be fine. You will be able to tell me every day for the rest of your life. We just have to get through today. So save those words and when we have won the right to be here, tell me then.”

  A smile creeps across those perfect pink lips right before I gently kiss them. When we pull away she has a determined look in her eyes and my resolve strengthens believing my own profession to her.

  Chapter 46

  Ever

  Jack and I swim out of the cave leading the others. As soon as we are clear of the doors, everyone disperses. Jack leads me around to the back of the caves. The only time I’ve ever been back here was when I helped Amber escape the Erebus, when we thought it was bad to be one, such a long time ago now. I stop Jack before we get around to the back and ask, concerned, “Wait, where is Amber? When we came back out into the main room, she wasn’t there.”

  “Don’t worry, she’s with Jenna. Now listen Ever, this time it’s going to be tough. There are so many more of them and less of us. We need to go and do something first though.”

  I know this but him speaking it out loud, terrifies me. We are in way over our heads. He pulls me the rest of the way around to the back. I notice others hiding out in the crevices of the caves. I think it’s now more of a waiting game again. I wonder what that l
ast vibration through the water was but I’m afraid to ask. If Jaspen has already been defeated in the city, then we won’t have a fighting chance. Not against six cities the size of ours and Roman’s. Jack pulls me down into a large crevice leading to a wide underground room. Once down there he asks me, “When was the last time you ‘willed’ something to move?”

  I have to think for a minute because it has been a while. I tell him, “It was…it was when I was in Roman’s dungeon.”

  He chuckles, “Dungeon? You call it a dungeon?”

  I nod, laughing with him at my terrible reference.

  “Okay, I thought that was the case. Find something in here to move and practice. We might be here for a little while.”

  I look around and find a large rock in the corner. Picking it up slowly with my mind gives me a flashback to the dungeon and it falls back down. Jack turns to me from whatever he was doing and asks, “Are you okay?”

  I nod, “Just rusty, I guess.”

  I try again this time focusing on the present, right now. Once it’s up, hovering in the water, I whip it across the room and slam it against the opposite wall. It breaks into tiny pieces, each floating slowly back to the rocky bottom. I smile grateful that I still have it. I glance back over to Jack. He is preoccupied with something. He didn’t even see my great display of power. I decide we both need a bit of fun so I imagine a small school of silver fish swimming into the cave. Sure enough they pour in from the opening. Actually they keep streaming in, definitely not a small school. Jack turns and notices with a panicked look. He looks across to me and I am grinning ear to ear.

  “Did you do this?” And he swims to me with something in his hand.

  I smirk, “Guilty.”

  By this time the amount of fish in the room is becoming a bit too much.

  He drops whatever was in his hand and gathers me in his arms, looking down into my eyes, “Um Ever, I think pretty soon, there won’t be any room for us in here.”

  I close my eyes and imagine a clear room. Immediately, the fish leave back out the way they came. He lowers his face to mine and mumbles against my lips, “I think that’s enough practice for you.”

  Before I can respond, His mouth is on mine and whatever snide comment I had intended, is lost.

  When we finally pull up for air, I ask bothered suddenly, “Jack, why are we waiting? It’s driving me crazy. Why can’t we just go out and help? The fighting has started, hasn’t it?”

  He lets me go, picks up the object he dropped earlier and turns the other way. I wait a full two minutes before I’m about to shower him with aed, hanother onslaught of questions but he beats me to it.

  “Yes, they’ve started. We don’t want to be out there right now. I promise it will all make sense very soon.”

  I knew it. This is always Jack’s MO. Tell Ever, only what is necessary. My blood is starting to boil with anger. Is he never going to get it that I can handle things? I’m about to let him have it. I open my mouth to argue but notice the long thing in his hand. I close my mouth and look closer. It resembles a spear but it isn’t a spear. It’s long and seems to be made of gold. One side has a handle and the other is fashioned with three prongs. It reminds me of the trident in all of the tales on land about Poseidon.

  Instead of yelling at him, I ask suddenly scared, “Jack, what is that?”

  He holds it out to me but I flinch and shy away. For some reason, this weapon is something I want to be as far away from as possible.

  He glides toward me with his hand still outstretched. I look up at him because he is scaring me.

  “Ever, just take it and I will explain. Slowly, I reach out in front of me and my fingers just barely graze it. The minute my fingers touch it, a dull glow illuminates the room. I pull my hand back and the glow disappears. I look up into Jack’s eyes and the familiar tingle is starting in the tips of my fin. He lowers the ‘thing’, yes that is all I can call it at this point. Something very scary. I don’t know why but I have a very bad feeling. Then he comes face to face with me and pulls my chin up from staring down at it to look into his very vibrant, blue eyes.

  “Ever, you mean more to us than you can even imagine.”

  I try to turn my head to shake but he won’t let me go.

  He continues as the tingle rises higher up my fin.

  “Right after Seamus came, tales were told that a mer-person would come and save us from his wrath. This was way before my time but the stories have been around for a very long time. Over the years they have been told less and less. People started to say it was just a story. I know for a fact right now Ever, that it’s not just a story.”

  The tingle rises up higher radiating through my arms and my last thought is that I was doing so good. Now I’ve gone and ruined it...

  Chapter 47

  Ever

  When I wake up, Jack is sitting on the floor of the room cradling me in his arms. My eyes meet his and a look of relief washes through his face.

  He shakes his head smirking, “You know you worry me every time you do that. I should have known not to give you so much all at once.”

  I shake my head at my stupidity. I really thought I was done with this idiotic fainting business. What the hell is wrong with me? You would think after all I’ve been through, I would be past this.

  Jack grins watching me, “You know you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. This is part of who you are. It’s probably never going to go away.”

  He bows his head reserved, “We are both going to have to get used to it.”

  I pull myself off of his lap and sit up. I glance across the room at the offensive thing that caused me to faint and ask carefully, “Tell me why that glowed when I touched it and why it doesn’t glow when you touch it.”

  He sighs, “Ever, when you chose to come here it was against everything I believed. You already know this. I was trying to keep people that were essentially half-blooded mer-people away. I know it sounds so harsh but that’s all I knew. You know that it all changed when I met you. I had to question everything I believed in and make new choices. I know my choices were nothing like yours but I changed everything I believed in because it was the right thing to do.”

  “Amber saw it the first time you came to the sea. She knew who you were but she always believed in those stories. She adopted our parent’s beliefs but somewhere in there she always believed in the fairytale.”

  I remember that first time I met Amber on the beach. She took me out to explore my ‘wills’ as she put it when we came to the city. She said that I had different ‘wills’ and wondered if I was the ‘one’, whatever that meant.

  “When we went to visit Alex at the lake that day and he told us about Roman’s city, he also told me something else. He explained that there were rumors, again not very many, but some still spoke about a trident that could be used to change everything…”

  Now I know I must be going crazy. He actually called the thing a trident. I turn to him and interrupt, “Jack, this is stupid. That is a story. On land we tell stories about that thing, involving the sea god Poseidon. This is so make-believe stuff.”

  “Ever, Poseidon, yes he is a story, maybe something the people on land have made up to explain sightings of our people, I don’t know. But I do know that Alex knew it was here. When you touched it something happened. I know very little about this but I do know that you come from two very strong leaders and this… I don’t know…this could end it.”

  At this point in time I know I am in way over my head but some of what jack is saying could be true. It did glow when I touched it and he found it here as Alex said. Alex…

  I turn to him, “Why didn’t Alex tell me about this?”

  “I’m not sure he believed it was really here. His father thim, “Whold him about it right before he died. He told him that he would know when it would be time to find it. I guess he never thought about it until you and your brother came here.”

  I push myself up and glide over to the ‘thing’, bend over and slow
ly pick it up. It immediately glows but gets brighter the longer I grasp it. Finally, the room is lit up as if the sun is in the center of the room.

  I hold it out in front of me afraid that if it gets closer, I don’t know… I turn to Jack and ask in a shaky breath, “Okay, how does this work?”

  He swims over to me and carefully pries my fingers from it. As soon as my hand is free, the glow disappears.

  “Ever, because I don’t know, it might be best if we don’t try it in a closed space.”

  “But we really don’t have the liberty right now to go out there to try it out.”

  “True, I would just assume it is dangerous though. After Alody and James check on something, they are meeting us here. Then we’ll decide what to do.”

  I’m still extremely anxious that we are not fighting and everyone else in the city is. How many lives will be lost because we weren’t there?

  Chapter 48

  James

  Alody and I make our way to the back of the Erebus caves once we check on her people scattered across the expanse of caves. A surprise attack is what we planned and a surprise attack is what the brothers will get. At this point, I am convinced Jaspen has some ulterior motive. I don’t know if he will turn on us at the last minute or if he’s set his sights higher. I do know that we can’t trust him and that is something we need at this moment, trust. Alody, Jack and I made other plans not including Jaspen. Only time will tell if they come to fruition.

  We near the meeting place and my stomach starts to turn in knots. This is not normal for me. It’s typical of my sister. But I’m very apprehensive about what we will find with Jacnear the k and Ever. If the story he told me last night, is true, then this whole battle is on Ever and me. That fact doesn’t sit well with me.

  I let Alody swim in first and follow right behind. The room is dimly lit but I can see Jack and Ever sitting in the corner, holding hands and laughing.