by Starla Night
She shook. Waves of arousal crashed over her, the orgasm threatening. He did see her. Chaz had never seen her. No one had ever seen her. Not like Balim.
Dangerous. This was too dangerous.
No. Forgetting everything was what she wanted. Needed. Craved.
Tingles filled her fingers and lips and toes. A rainbow of happiness wrapping around her chest in happy fulfillment. Everything would be okay. She was fine and everyone else was fine too. For this one moment, her burdens lifted and she was free as she’d been at seventeen leaving her house for the first time, a future career woman with the world at her feet and fortunes waiting for her to pluck.
Just like before she’d had Jonah. That’s how it was now. She was happy, as if she’d never had Jonah.
She was forgetting him.
All the nights she’d intended to put him down in his crib and get to work—and instead found herself playing with his baby fingers, booping his stubby nose, gazing deeply into his serious brown eyes as he drifted to sleep on her chest. All the days she’d taken her weekend work to the closest park and sat in the shade while he raced around the shallow cement pool chasing wily ducks. The fearless way he tried absolutely every food she carried home from a street truck, considering each bite with quiet contemplation. His delighted laughter when she’d finally mastered the newest silly dance that he and his friends had been trying to teach her so he could introduce her as the “cool” mom at school.
All the ways Jonah had seeped into her broken heart and sealed the holes, teaching her the true face of unconditional love.“No,” she murmured.
Balim held her stationary, stopping his movements, holding her safe. “Bella?”
She swallowed her sudden, uncharacteristic emotion. She was breaking inside, and yet she didn’t want him to know it. “I can’t be the only one to enjoy this.”
“Bella, you are a female with maturity and experience. I do not have many gifts to give you. You are not frightened or confused. You know your heart and your mind. I cannot convince you to be carefree or take away your burdens unless you let me. So if I ease your tiredness and comfort, it will strengthen you to bear your burdens once again.”
Was that true? Did giving in to him strengthen her?
“Let me do this.”
Yes, this was about more than her. Perhaps Balim was right. Perhaps she wasn’t forgetting. Perhaps she just needed to rest so she would be strong.
She just needed to let herself go…
He held his position as the orgasm exploded around her, rainbows flying free, lifting on a cresting wave of delicious tingles and then falling. He withdrew from her, releasing her pussy as she closed her hand around his trembling shaft. He grunted in surprise and then her mouth filled with his heat and salt. They were linked on a spiritual level. Souls. Lights. And more than fate operated. She felt him in her bones.
And that was terrifying.
Bella struggled to separate. Balim helped her, again stroking her with silent support as though he knew the chaos running through her mind and he didn’t judge her. He never judged her. That was also terrifying.
She struggled free and stared at him.
He stared back.
“Sorry.” She touched her forehead where there ought to be a headache, but she felt fine. “I was thinking about Jonah.”
He nodded and waved for her to come to him. “Rest.”
“I just can’t be happy until he’s safe.”
“That is correct.”
Now she had to find a new cure.
Balim’s normal answer somehow calmed her. He was right. As the medical professional he’d once called himself, he had restored her equilibrium and she was more able to think. This cure had been removed. Failure stung. Just like her failure to test Chaz had stung.
So long as Jonah lived, she had time. She had the will.
And deep in her heart, she knew he still lived.
He was connected to her. As a mermaid with resonance, she sensed his soul.
And no matter how she fought it, she also sensed Balim.
She returned to Balim’s side and rested against the floor, floating. She would think of a new cure. Right now. “Did you know the story of the name Jonah?”
“No.”
“In ancient times, he was ordered to deliver a prophecy, but he tried to get out of it by sailing away. A storm came up to punish him and endangered the sailors. Realizing his mistake, Jonah sacrificed himself to save everyone else. He jumped overboard and was swallowed by a whale.”
Balim frowned. “No whale would swallow a human.”
“Some whales do. The Moby Dick whale.”
“Sharks swallow humans. Fish scavenge the dead. No whale acts as you describe.”
“It’s just a story,” she said. “Anyway, three days later, the whale spit Jonah out on shore, where he delivered the prophecy. Disasters were averted. Happy ending.”
He listened and then prompted, “Then what happened?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed as the weight settled on her once more. “It’s ironic. My Jonah’s been swallowed by the whale of cancer. And he’s been in the belly of the beast much longer than three days.”
She had to stop because her chest trembled and she feared her underwater voice would wobble.
Balim cupped her cheek and stroked one thumb across her lower lip. Soothing, loving.
“Sorry.” She swallowed and collected herself. “I know it’s not the time for this. We have to get the blossom to the Sons of Hercules so they reveal Jonah’s position and not destroy Atlantis with this poison. And then save him. Somehow.”
“You will.” Balim held her gaze with absolute faith. “By—”
“Healer Balim!” Ciran shouted from the entrance to their castle, and his vibrations echoed through the long tube through the wall into their courtyard. “King Kadir assigns guards to Queen Bella!”
“Enter!” He offered his hand to Bella and floated into the main courtyard to greet the warrior.
So the working world intruded.
Ciran flew in with two warriors. The trio tucked their tridents against their elbows and saluted.
“Queen Bella,” Ciran acknowledged.
“You still haven’t learned how to smile,” she noted.
“My soul mate does not mind.”
Ciran’s quiet announcement rocked the warriors and surprised Bella.
“If you have found your soul mate, why are you here?” Balim voiced the question for all.
“Because she has not chosen me.” Ciran saw that his answer did not satisfy and tried again. “New York City is not a sacred island. Queen Bella evaluated my lack of smile and selected Faier as a better spokesman. As I did not need to seek my bride now she has been found, I yielded my place to another warrior.”
“Who is it?” Bella asked. “Your bride, I mean.”
“When she has selected me, I will tell you.” He gestured to his accompanying warriors, closing the conversation. “These will be your guards until the welcome ceremony when you may choose alternates: Iyen and Gailen.”
Iyen had deep maroon tattoos and a silent but capable mien. He saluted again, his fingers touching before his fit chest and his gaze passing Bella to take in the whole area as though seeking enemies.
Gailen grinned and also saluted; his thumbs couldn’t bend. “Nice to meet you, Marketing Executive Queen Bella.”
She straightened. “Er, thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
Balim made a tsk sound—which was a feat underwater—and gripped Gailen’s wrists, rotating them to examine the thumbs. “No improvements to your thumbs?”
“Nope.” He showed his limited range of motion to Balim. “I am as scarred and limping as Faier, but not half so heroic.” For Bella’s information, he added, “Faier received his injuries saving other warriors from raiders and from snatching a child from inside the teeth of a megalodon. I received mine trying to rescue myself.”
Balim frowned as he rotated th
e thumbs. “We all broke a little when we escaped our origin cities, Gailen. Not everyone has as visual an injury.”
Iyen fixed his gaze on Balim for a long, measured moment and then resumed his silent scanning of the interior.
“Your bones have fused improperly.” Balim wiggled the joints. “On the surface, humans would break the bones a second time and then splint them into the correct position. We may try it here.”
“How strange to break something already healed.”
“Yes. Humans cannot regrow limbs, but they have adeptness at fixing the limbs that remain. You would be awed by their mechanical limbs.”
Gailen looked like he was considering the procedure. “Does it take long?”
“The healing process can. You could not grip during that time.”
Gailen pulled his hands away and wrapped his fingers around his trident. His badly healed thumbs rested on the metal. “I wield a trident. I complete patrols. I have battled the enemy. Make me infirm when I am infirm and can no longer be of use to you.”
“As you wish.”
“Good,” Ciran said, relieved. “Queen Bella, Iyen and Gailen are your guards during the period before you have made your fins and captured your queen power, and afterward, they will serve as your messengers. They will stay with you when you separate from Balim.”
She clutched Balim’s hand. “I won’t separate.”
“I see.” Ciran seemed to calculate her answer. “Balim, you did not complete the mer ‘hospital,’ and so you must review the health of the warriors King Kadir has chosen to surface.”
“How many?”
“Forty-three warriors and one queen.”
Balim’s arm around Bella tightened. “That is more warriors than founded our city.”
“Including the warriors who have surfaced, it is less than half of our current strength. The number remaining can continue patrols with one backup. I have calculated it.” He never smiled once through the conversation, so serious and yet also somehow young and confident.
“I thought we were waiting to send up big numbers to the completed platform.”
“The surface weather is changing from fall to winter, and soon we must wait another year. Perhaps two. King Kadir will not wait. Atlantis will not wait. We will become powerful with queens, vibrant with young fry, and the world will see our united strength.”
His chest vibrated with conviction, and the other warriors straightened, heartened by his words.
Balim looked at Bella. For one instant, she united with him. They both knew what dangers lurked in the surface shadows.
Bella voiced the caution of experience. “The Sons of Hercules aren’t going to sit idle. And you don’t have a hospital or a doctor. It’s a big risk.”
“We have considered every angle,” Ciran said. “Another healer has surfaced from Dragao Azul. He will fly to New York as needed.”
“Fly him in now,” Bella urged.
Ciran frowned. “No warriors are injured.”
“The Sons of Hercules are more determined than you realize. I underestimated them, and I don’t want you to make that mistake. If you pop up together, you will make an irresistible target.”
“We will not clump together like a bait ball,” he said, still serious. “We will take the recommended precautions of the new security team Dannika has contracted.”
“That’s not enough.”
He straightened and puffed his coffee-and-evergreen-scrolled chest. “We are warriors.”
“You’re literally fish out of water. How can you defend against an enemy you can’t see?”
“Bella is right,” Balim affirmed. “Beneath the water, we see raiders. But on the surface, the enemies are eels hiding within sea grasses. It is impossible to identify the poisoned strands until they are stabbing you in the chest.”
Ciran nodded. “Balim, you will review the health of the warriors in case we proceed as planned.”
“We will follow,” he promised.
She held Balim back. They hadn’t finished discussing how they would resolve the issue of the poison vial.
Ciran shouted over behind him, “And prepare, Queen Bella, for the welcome ceremony!”
The trio of warriors flew out to await them.
Her heart squeezed again. “Balim, I can’t let them welcome me to this city.”
“You must.” His gaze glowed with certainty. “This is your home, Bella. You drank the nectar. The sap of the Life Tree flows in your veins.”
“But the poison—”
“Must not touch the Life Tree.” He entwined her in his arms and kicked. His feet unfurled into long fins and crossed the courtyard with a single stroke. “You will find another way to defeat your enemies.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Believe.” He flew down the long, green entrance canal through the wall of the castle and exited into the city beside Ciran and the others. “And develop your queen powers.”
The other warriors overheard his vibrations because they beamed—except Ciran, who remained serious, but seemed less frowny.
“Meet the other queens.” Balim released her outside the Life Tree sanctuary beside Elyssa and Lucy playing with their children. “They will teach you what you need to know.”
He flew to a growing group of warriors a short distance away.
She tried to smile at the women while her mind turned over the problems.
A poisoned vial. A missing child. An elusive cure.
How would she escape this mess? Without hurting Atlantis, Jonah, or Balim?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Balim kept Bella in his field of vision while Second Lieutenant Ciran led him to the assembled warriors.
He did not think of it often, but Ciran had come from Undine as well. He had always kept a distance from Balim, like all citizens, but he had never taken part in the cruelty. He had never blamed Balim for his role in the deaths of the prince or his father.
Since he had left the city only a short time after Balim and also joined Soren’s ragtag army to free Kadir from the All-Council prison and found Atlantis, clearly he’d held many of the same values and reservations.
They had never spoken of their old home. Balim because it was too dark, and Ciran…the reason was unknown. He kept the serious mien of a scholar and represented his origin city well with his serious logic. Although aware of emotions, he did not let passions rule him. He was a true Undine.
Unlike Balim.
Now, Ciran made a strong second lieutenant. He signaled Bella’s guards. Iyen made brief eye contact with Balim before flying to Bella’s area and spreading between the warriors assigned to Queens Elyssa and Lucy. Gailen saluted and twirled after Bella.
She was so well-guarded, and yet…
Balim struggled with his concentration.
She had been so close to death. The painful fears swirled up around him. He’d almost lost her. The shock, the spasm, the dulling of her gaze and the slipping away of her soul. He choked on the memories. Not Bella. Not his Bella.
Second Lieutenant Ciran glanced back at him. “Healer Balim, are you unwell?”
“No.”
“But your soul…” Ciran noticed the dangerous fluctuation of his soul light. “Do you also question whether your bride is your soul mate?”
“My Bella is still upset by the loss of her son’s cure.” Balim reassured the listening warriors beyond Ciran. “She must acclimate to the mer world. Her confusion and distraught emotions are natural. My unsettled soul reflects this because we are united.”
Ciran’s brow smoothed, and he nodded his understanding.
Crisis averted.
The queens—Elyssa and Lucy—played with their young fry. The twins romped, and Prince Kael trailed.
Their giggles echoed in the city center, warming the hearts of all who heard the glad noise and filling the waiting warriors with smiles.
Queen Elyssa waved at them. “Bella, come over! We’ll practice fins. Tory and Yrun will show you how it’
s done.”
“Healer Balim.” King Kadir, with silver lightning bolts, floated with him beside the gathering of warriors. “Ensure these warriors are at their peak of health.”
A shadow under the king’s rib cage caught Balim’s eye.
He turned and inspected the king’s chest. “You have stopped taking on weight.”
King Kadir locked his hands over his ribs. “Queen Elyssa likes this slender form for me. Turn your eye on these warriors, healer.”
Balim obeyed, muttering to himself about patients deciding they were well with no evidence, and began his inspection.
The warriors stiffened and moaned when he taped up minor scratches no matter how he reassured them small injuries would not disqualify them from arising. He understood their fears.
Nilun held his hand behind his back. “I am fine.”
“Then show me your hand.”
The fiery warrior growled. “I have shown you all you need to see.”
“Warrior Nilun, you will not surface until I have inspected you.”
“I will fight you if you say I am unhealthy!”
Balim felt his eyes rolling back in his head. “Even I could win if you cannot use your weapon.”
Nilun’s teeth gritted. Balim had stumbled upon his true fears.
“Just show me your hand,” Balim said, irritated. “You are slowing the other warriors.”
Nilun looked over at the others and jutted his hand. A skin lesion covered the back and thumb, arresting his ability to wield a trident.
Balim inspected it. No bleeding, smooth rather than ragged edges, a pinker center… “You have been hiding this.”
“Because!” Nilun gritted his teeth. “I must avenge Pelan.”
“The shooter is imprisoned by human justice.”
“But not his leader. I must find the enemies who injured Pelan and repay their attack!”
From the Life Tree sanctuary, Pelan’s bride paddled out and stretched.
She smiled at Bella and the other queens and watched the warriors with interest.
Zoan also floated at the edge of the gathered warriors. He and Nilun were the closest friends of Pelan, although Zoan’s teasing was the opposite of Nilun’s hotheaded impulsiveness.
