One
Finch
I stared at the domed bubble that protected Atlantis, watching the unsettling glow of deep-sea creatures while Atlantean guards marched us toward some unknown destination.
Maybe they’ll eject us into the ocean and let the anglerfish eat us…
Other guards had surrounded my trusty gargoyles. With Esprits at the ready, they’d whipped out blue glass containers shaped more like elegant vases than the Mason jars adored by hipsters worldwide. But the effect would probably be the same. Murray’s tongue slopped around everywhere, his fangs glinting as he lunged at anyone who approached.
I hope you get in a bite or two before they stuff you in that jar, buddy.
“This is bad, isn’t it?” Melody whispered as she walked beside me.
I snorted. “No, I’d say the fanfare is coming any minute. We might even get a parade.” Seeing her frightened face, I softened the sarcasm. “Yeah, this isn’t great.”
“The Chaos here is intense. I’ve never felt anything like it.” Melody jittered, lifting her hands to try to loosen the grip of the Atomic Cuff clasped around her neck. All of our necks.
I cast a look around our miserable group and lingered a moment longer on Ryann. She looked unnervingly calm, even with the Cuff the guards had clamped on her neck, just in case. Lux must’ve had the reins. And if she wasn’t stressed out about this, that begged the question… why? At least, to some degree, Ryann had the protection of her hijacker. But that didn’t give me much comfort, since I wanted to protect her from the very thing that was protecting her.
Nearby, Huntress pawed at her Cuff, trying to get it off as if it were one of those cones of shame. But she had about as much chance of removing it as the rest of us. She stuck to Nash’s side, continuing to paw, while Luke remained as near to Melody as he could. Everyone in their pairs. Only Ryann-slash-Lux walked alone, a little ahead of me, straying closer to Erebus than to me. A definite sign of who was in charge of that body.
“It makes sense that they’d hide this place, since it’s full of crazy-powerful fishy folk.” I wanted to put Melody at ease, but it didn’t seem to help.
“We are not fishy folk.” Princess Kaya’s voice drifted back, sharp and disdainful. “Do you see fins or tails? Or gills, for that matter?”
I shrugged. “Who knows what you’ve got under those robes.”
“I would urge you not to be insulting, considering your life is in our hands,” she warned.
“Who says that’s an insult? I’d love a set of gills. And it seems dangerous to live under all this water if you don’t have some kind of backup. You know, in case this place comes tumbling down.” I mustered a smile as she turned over her shoulder to glare at me. It withered beneath her obvious lack of humor.
“Finch! Not the time!” Nash hissed. Luke slammed me with a warning look, too.
“I hope that was not a threat.” Kaya’s gaze flitted toward Erebus for a moment, a gesture that piqued my curiosity.
I shook my head so hard I almost detached a few tendons. “Not at all! Hell, until about five seconds ago, I had no clue why we were even coming here.”
“You should not have come.” Kaya fixed her gaze on me, but I got the feeling her words weren’t directed at me. A strange tension bristled between her and Erebus, with him showing her his best puppy-dog eyes. I wouldn’t have guessed Erebus had puppy-dog eyes. But there they were, all wide and full of longing. These two had history, that much was obvious, but I didn’t know how far back it went.
I did know that this old dog wanted to marry Kaya. This old, already-married dog… whose actual wife was using Ryann’s body as a front-row seat to his philandering. I didn’t know how cosmic unions worked, but marriage was marriage. And Lux and Erebus had always referred to one another as husband and wife. Were Children of Chaos allowed to be bigamists? I had no clue. But Lux definitely didn’t want to share.
“You should show respect to our honored host, the most radiant Princess Kaya,” Davin piped up, giving it every ounce of schmooze he had.
“No offense, but I don’t really feel like we’re being hosted. Hostaged, yes—if that’s even a word. But not hosted.” I shot him a dark look. He’d also made a play for Princess Kaya, but knowing Davin, it likely had something to do with gaining power. That, and thumbing his nose at Erebus. Their brotherly, frenemy relationship disturbed me on many levels.
“Perhaps you should stay silent if you cannot say anything that does not sound like an insult.” Kaya hit me with another exemplary scowl. She really had that down pat. “You are not hostages. We do not take hostages. We take prisoners.”
“I am only a prisoner to your love, Kaya,” Erebus purred. I wanted to hurl. Cheesy Erebus was a new headache I couldn’t handle right now.
“Then be silent,” Kaya shot back, evidently unimpressed by his pick-up line roulette.
“Agreed,” Davin piped up at his love rival. There was a phrase I never thought I’d say, at least in regard to those two. Davin and Erebus—enemies in the pursuit of Kaya’s hand in marriage. They could join forces again at any moment, but, at least for now, it seemed they were content to stay in their own lanes in their race to the finish line in Kaya’s heart.
“That goes for you, also, whoever you are.” Kaya took no prisoners when it came to sassy clapback. “And frankly, I am not interested in either of your proposals.”
What are you waiting for, Lux? I’d have thought discovering her husband wanted to marry someone else would’ve been enough to displease her. But as of yet, there’d been no hurling Erebus into the center of the earth. Maybe she didn’t want to reveal herself while Kaya was around, so she could have the satisfaction of punishing Erebus in private. Who knew what went on in that Child of Chaos’s noggin?
“You should be careful,” Melody chided me softly. “I know you’re only saying funny things because you’re nervous. Who wouldn’t be, marching toward an Atlantean prison? But these people… they’re… how do I put it? They feel magically… superior. Even if we didn’t have these Cuffs, it’d be a very bad idea to fight back.”
“And they’ve just stuffed your gargoyles into jars.” Luke nodded back at the glass bubble we’d left. Sure enough, the gargoyles were nowhere to be seen. Just a bunch of swirling wisps inside those jars.
Oh, joy… We were totally defenseless. And if we wanted to survive, we clearly needed to play along like good little boys and girls.
We pressed on along the seemingly endless tunnel, drawing closer to the city. From here, I got my first true glimpse of its beauty. I may have been afraid for my life, and for the lives of my friends, but holy crapballs this place was incredible. The silver and mother-of-pearl and opulence and impeccable architecture, made to resemble natural entities of the ocean, should’ve been overkill. But instead, it left me in awe. This might’ve been the most beautiful city I’d ever seen, and I’d seen a fair few on my missions for Erebus. You couldn’t find anything like it above the waves. If Kaya had told me we were on a different planet, I’d have believed her.