Perilous Waters (34 page)

You’re doing it again.

Angie lowered her head as her gaze found Kaitlyn’s.
Sorry.

The Santa Monica pier with its enormous Ferris wheel and roller coaster came into view. They flew past the boardwalk and a seemingly endless row of palm trees, easily finding an area without people along the pitch-black ocean.

“I have the shell,” Julia said, rushing into an oncoming wave. “Stay close.”

“Illuminate,” Angie said. “Let’s stay connected in case anything goes wrong.”

The three swam quickly with the seashell’s magic. The normally powerful waves of the Pacific swirled around them as though welcoming them home. Angie sensed Julia’s aching concern over Ethan, inexorably linked with worry over how Brian was responding to the Scylla venom. She urged them to go faster.

Soon, high pitched singing blended in harmony around them. Angie felt as though music were infused into the water.

They approached the golden sphere. A nymph swam up and blocked their path. He held a trident in his hand. His body shimmered with tracers of light running up and down his arms and chest, and his face was set in a deep scowl.

Angie nearly smiled in relief. Someone she could cast Comprehend on. Once they entered Atlantis, she wouldn’t be able to use her magic or cast the spell. She had the feeling the complicated language would never be completely clear in her mind, but with this nymph’s help she should be able to understand a little.

The nymph’s eyes swirled with the same golden light from the dome behind him, but Angie remained near Julia. The seashell left her unaffected by the strange influence of his power. She shut her eyes and allowed his language to flow through her mind.

His scowl deepened and she sensed him trying harder to exert his influence over them as she finished casting Comprehend.
Please… listen…
she sang, sending sound from her throat even without air in her lungs. She let the idea she wanted to say build in her mind before she released the melody from her thoughts.

The man answered before she finished, harmonizing with her words with a callous, dismissive wave of his trident.

Go… not welcome… punishment.

Not go…
she sang, feeling the ocean current rise with her voice. She lifted Julia’s hand and showed him the glowing seashell.
We see… Princess Meliah. Please. She is our friend.

The shell pulsed against Julia’s palm, sending more than light, but warmth and ripples of calm, pleasant emotions. It was like Julia carried a piece of Atlantis itself with her.

The nymph’s eyes narrowed on the seashell. At last, he gave a small nod.

They followed him up to the rushing wall of water that separated the sea from the nymphs’ dream-like world. Several nymphs stopped in mid-step at the sight of them. Angie pushed her sodden hair from her face, her heavy dress dragging against the floor.

The nymphs exchanged meaningful glances, and a few short, low notes of a melody wafted through the room.

“Look for Meliah,” Angie said, scanning faces as they rushed through the watery corridor.

“She’s this way,” Julia whispered. Her eyes rose slowly from her palm to the maze of corridors ahead. “The seashell is leading me to her.”

“Since when does she like running?” Angie murmured, chasing after Julia.

“Probably since losing her connection with Ethan,” Kaitlyn said, her disdain apparent. “She hopes Meliah will tell her where to find him.”

“Slow down,” Angie called as Julia vanished around a corner.

“Sorry!” she yelled, her damp head reappearing from behind the wall. “We’re so close though. Hurry.”

She took off again, running through a room filled with shocked nymphs who gasped and gaped at them.

“It’s here,” Julia said, speeding up the familiar staircase with the fountain in the center. She stopped at a doorway strung with long gauzy strips of transparent fabric and dangling shells. Panting, she brushed the curtain-like material aside and entered.

Angie followed, her breath catching. The nymph princess lounged on a pile of cushions, wrapped in shimmering sheets that looked like spun gossamer. The sight of her rumpled hair and flushed cheeks brought an automatic song of apology to Angie’s lips for waking her, but Meliah waved her hand dismissively, a smile springing to her lips.

Happy… you are here.

“Ask her if she knows what’s happened to Ethan and Brian,” Julia said.

Angie continued her song, lilting and rising her melody as the nymph’s gaze shifted between them. Her delicate brows slid together. Her soft lips formed a gentle frown. The answering song she gave was short and simple at first, but as Angie asked questions in return the song became more complex. Soon the music swept her into a strange consciousness, allowing her to understand more than she had before.

As their unexpected duet ended, she noticed the soft smile on Meliah’s lips. Her gold-flecked blue eyes shone with admiration.

“Nice,” Kaitlyn murmured.

Angie blinked at her. “You understood?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “You’re not the only one who knows how to cast Comprehend.”

“Oh,” Angie said.

“Well if you wouldn’t mind clearing things up for me,” Julia said, “I didn’t think about casting that spell before, and now we’re magically blocked so I can’t.”

“Brian is here. He’s safe. But,” Angie paused, unsure of how to translate what she understood.

“But?” Julia cried. “‘But’ what? This is no time for buts!”

Angie lifted her hand, indicating the mound of rumpled sheets beside Meliah. Her cheeks grew warm as she turned to face Julia. “He’s here. In bed with her.”

Julia’s brows shot so far up Angie thought they might reach her hairline. Her head whipped to face the bed. “Oh…kay. Wow.”

Kaitlyn didn’t bother hiding her snickering laughter. “I wish I could have taken a picture of that.”

Julia set her hands on her hips, but before she could say anything that would goad Kaitlyn into an argument, Angie said, “At least we know he can’t have succumbed to the Scylla venom yet. Not if he’s in bed with her.”

“No, I guess not,” Julia said, her eyes lighting up as she faced them again. “So… this is great news! He must be cured.”

“Not really. He’s still battling the venom.”

Kaitlyn glanced at Angie sidelong. “You haven’t told her about the other thing.”

Julia’s head tilted to one side. “Other thing?”

“Yes, well,” Angie began, “Meliah asked us if… that is…”

“She wants to know if she can keep him,” Kaitlyn said. “Forever.”

~ Chapter 30 ~

Julia

Keep
him?

Meliah pulled the sheets back, sitting up more fully to reveal Brian. He lay sleeping, completely bathed in golden light.

What the heck did Meliah mean by ‘keep him’? What was he? A new pet? Well, whatever. “Tell her he doesn’t… um… belong to us, so that’s up to him.”

“Or we can tell her she can just keep him,” Kaitlyn said.

Julia’s jaw dropped.

“What? The Sorceress wouldn’t be able to reach him, the world would be safe. Everyone wins.”

“I’ll ask her to please
not
keep humans for herself, Brian or otherwise,” Angie said, and Julia almost giggled at her matter-of-fact tone.

Kaitlyn shrugged. “Whatevs.”

“I’m going to wake him up so we can find out what’s going on,” Julia said.

“Yeah, because if Julia doesn’t get a status update on Ethan soon she might start another emo pity party.”

“Shut it,” Julia snapped.

“Stop,” Angie said. “I need to concentrate or I can’t sing their language, and the spell won’t last much longer.”

Angie took a breath. Her lashes lowered as she began singing a slow, simple song.

Kaitlyn lifted her chin, her dark brows lowering. “I
was
going to tell you what they were saying.”

“I don’t care,” Julia whispered. “I want to hear it from Angie.”

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “Freakin’ baby,” she muttered, turning away.

Angie sang for a few moments more, pausing as she listened to Meliah’s response. She nodded and said, “First off, we shouldn’t wake Brian. Meliah enchanted him to sleep while he heals. It’s helping him, like a magically induced coma.”

Julia’s head spun. A coma? Holy cow. “That’s what the golden light is doing?”

Angie nodded. “He was getting worse, becoming more fully Scylla. Ethan brought him back here and the magical atmosphere reacted with the nymph-blood in his system, but since the Scylla venom kept causing him to revert, she cast a sleeping spell on him.”

“So… he’s going to be okay.”

“He might be okay, but not quite human. He will be half-nymph, half-human. She doesn’t think the Scylla venom will ever truly leave his system, but as a nymph, he will have control over it instead of the other way around.”

Julia bit her lip. “Better a non-human nymph than a non-human Scylla, I guess.”

Kaitlyn’s brows lifted as she leaned over the bed. “He looks good as a nymph. No wonder she wants to keep him.”

Meliah ran her fingers through Brian’s blond curls, her shimmering hair shifting to reveal more of her boobs than Julia cared to see. “What. The. Heck,” Julia whispered. Weren’t there a pair of seashells she could use to cover up her lady bits with? She turned away. “What do you think she means by ‘keeping’ Brian? Like, a slave?”

“No. She says she fell in love,” Angie said, her cheeks turning an adorable shade of bubblegum pink. “Nymphs are notorious for this.”

Kaitlyn let out a sound of disgust. “Sounds like something out of a princess cartoon.”

“It’s their way,” Angie said. “You know how nymphs are.”

“No. I don’t,” Kaitlyn said. “But from the looks of things, they’re idiots who fall in love with total strangers.”

“Did either of you read the books I lent you describing creatures—including nymphs? About Oenone? Nomia? Argyra?”

Noni-nomi-what?
“Sorry, Angie,” Julia said. “
No hablo
Greek mythology.”

Angie sighed. “Now isn’t the time to brush you two up. Just know that nymphs are known for falling in love with mortals. They live for centuries, some for millennia, so of course it’s all very tragic.”

Kaitlyn arched a brow as she toyed with the ends of her hair. “Staying young practically forever, and getting mortals to fall helplessly in love with you whenever you feel like it? Sounds more like excellent to me.”

Meliah drew herself closer to the unconscious Brian.

Angie cleared her throat. “Is this… okay?” She tucked back a strand of hair and glanced between Julia and Kaitlyn. “He can’t exactly give his consent.”

“I hardly think he minds,” Kaitlyn murmured.

“Doesn’t seem like much we can do about it,” Julia said.

“Don’t you wish we could be here when he wakes up?” Kaitlyn asked, a sly look in her eyes. “The expression on his face is bound to be epic.”

Julia pursed her lips, not sure she liked thinking about this. Emotions really were the most confusing things.

“Maybe I could explain to Meliah that in our society, people don’t—”

“Let the girl have her fun,” Kaitlyn interrupted. “Snuggling with a naked magical being is probably on Brian’s fantasy wish list.”

Angie frowned. “Well, the important thing is that he isn’t turning into a monster.”

Julia bit back a smile at Angie’s never-ending quest to find the bright side of things. “If Brian’s situation is under control, I need to find Ethan.”

Angie blinked up at her. “He’s already in Atlantis. Meliah mentioned the both of them.”

Julia’s heart started beating at triple speed. “Why don’t you say important things like this right away!” She forced herself not to go tearing through the corridors looking for him. “Where is he?”

“Here,” a deep voice said from behind them.

Her breath caught. She spun around and found his eyes on hers, steely gray with flashing glints of silver. She wanted to rush into his arms and feel his heart beating in time to hers. She wanted him to lose control and sweep her up in a kiss. For once, she was grateful for the magic of Atlantis. She didn’t have time to put up her wall, and if not for the weird anti-magic atmosphere, Ethan would know exactly why her cheeks were probably turning five shades of red.

Not that he couldn’t guess.

“I’m so glad you found us,” Angie said.

Julia tore her gaze from Ethan’s, only half-listening as Angie discussed Brian’s fate. Now that Brian was safe, Ethan could join them,
blah blah blah
. She didn’t want to hear all of this crap about the mission. She wanted to know how Ethan felt. She wanted to share in his relief that Brian would be okay. She wanted things to not be weird between them anymore.

They reached the watery doorway that led to the outside world. Soon they would continue their mission, and she hadn’t had any time to tell Ethan… anything.

He stared at her with silver eyes that made her feel as though he could read her thoughts. “It’s strange, not being able to sense your emotions.”

“Atlantis makes things difficult,” she began before releasing a pent up breath. “You should know that while you’re in Atlantis, I can’t summon you.”

His mouth flattened into a thin line. “You were in trouble, weren’t you,” he stated, his voice lowering as she looked up into his eyes.

She nodded, unable to speak. She wanted to tell him she was glad he was coming with them this time. She wanted him to know how scared she had been when he didn’t respond.

In the space of a heartbeat she was in his arms. “Jules, I’m so sorry.”

Tears trembled on the edges of her lashes before she could stop them. Everything from the pirates in the cave and nearly drowning to being chased down by creatures returned to her in a rush. The panic and fear wound itself around her heart. Her fingers twisted against his shirt as a sob broke through her chest.

He held her, his hand running up and down her back. “I’ll be there with you this time.”

She nodded, hating herself for keeping him away from his brother, but the terror of nearly being killed remained fresh in her mind. Still, she forced herself to say, “But what about Brian?”

“Meliah will care for him. I can’t do anything to help him here, and if I stay, I won’t feel you.” His voice dropped to a rasping whisper. “If something happened to you—”