Erebus sighed. “Your father’s protective spell could only work for so long, Kaya. Nothing can stand in the way of true love.”
Ryann-Lux stiffened. I saw her in profile, with a face that would’ve stopped traffic. Had Lux not been a spiteful cow who stole my almost-girlfriend’s body for her own benefit, I might’ve felt sorry for her. It couldn’t have been easy to hear directly from the horse’s mouth that you weren’t your husband’s true love. Chaos, and the universe, had bound Erebus and Lux together in cosmic matrimony. And his wandering eye had found love elsewhere.
“Besides, he eats spells like that for breakfast,” I chimed in, wanting to bolster the whole “he’s still super powerful, I swear” thing. “As his long-suffering servant, I can testify to the fact that Erebus always gets what he wants. Right now, he has the entire contents of the Fountain of Youth brimming inside him.”
It irked me to sing his praises, especially as he seemed to be lapping it up. But if it saved our asses and bought us time to plead our case, I would crouch down and lick all the boots I had to.
“You… drained the Fountain of Youth? For me?” Kaya stared at Erebus, giving me a fleeting sense of relief. She looked awestruck and scared, as if he might combust with Chaos mightiness at any second. The Atlantean guards, naturally, followed their leader’s lead. Fear glimmered in their unusual eyes.
“Melody. Can you sense their emotions?” I whispered. I needed to be sure I’d hit the mark by waxing lyrical about my boss.
She nodded discreetly. “They’re frightened. Really frightened.”
“Good.” As long as they feared Erebus, we had some protection against these people.
“I agree.” Melody’s voice was hushed. “If they’re scared of him, then they might listen to his demands. Including letting us go free instead of locking us in an Atlantean prison.” She gulped. “I’m not sure I can handle being stuck in a cell.”
“I still think we should be honest and use that to get leeway,” Nash added. “Kaya just said she wanted honesty. Maybe if we give some to her, we can win her trust.”
Luke huffed out a nervous breath. “Who’s to say she’d believe us? Even if she did, she could just as easily keep us locked away after Erebus gets kicked out. We know this place exists now. That makes us a security risk.”
“Way to put a dampener on things.” I sighed.
“My priority is Melody. I need to keep her safe. You brought us here, Finch. You’ve put her in danger—I’m just trying to make sure she gets out alive,” he retorted.
Melody stepped in before things got anglerfish ugly. “Finch didn’t bring me here, Luke. I decided to come on this mission, against your advice. I’m grateful you’re looking out for me, but don’t blame him. This isn’t his fault.”
Luke’s expression shifted through surprise, then sadness. “Then Erebus put us in danger. He forced us all into this with his threats. But my point stands: I’m getting you out of here, one way or another. And if that means we have to keep up appearances and kiss Erebus’s ass to protect ourselves, so be it.”
“Then I suggest you pucker up.” I glanced back at Erebus, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. He had everyone exactly where he wanted them.
“Even the Primus Anglicus could not banish me forever, my darling. I came back because I love you and I cannot be without you. And I plan to prove how much I adore you, so that you have no more cause to doubt me,” Erebus proclaimed. “I will not abandon you again. I swear it. I am here to stay… for you. All of this has been for you. My love, my light, my reason to endure.”
I didn’t need to be an Empath to feel the fire blazing inside Ryann. Her glare could’ve killed an elephant. Erebus had just called Kaya his “light.” And, being the Child of Light herself, that couldn’t have sat well with Lux. It was clear as day that Lux’s wrath was struggling to contain itself within Ryann’s human vessel. But one look at Melody made me wonder if it was just because I had insider knowledge. Our resident Empath didn’t seem to notice anything amiss at all, aside from the fear of the guards marching with us.
If you blow up Ryann with your anger, I’ll skewer you, Lux. We were all playing our parts to keep up appearances. Lux needed to do the same, or she’d risk blowing this whole thing wide open. Apparently, Erebus had that effect on women—making them want to strangle the life out of him.
“You can say all the pretty words you like, Erebus, but it will not change the last fifty years of grief,” Kaya snapped. “I do not care what you have been through to get here. You were cast out for a reason. You almost destroyed this city with your selfish actions… and you almost destroyed me. That will not be easily forgiven, if ever, so save your breath. I am tired of your voice.”
“Kaya, I—” Erebus tried to speak again, but she cut him off.
“Another word and I will leave you at the entrance of my city.”
I believed her. She had enough bitter rage in her eyes that even Erebus had the sense to shut up.
One question stayed with me as the Atlantean guard shoved us toward our future prison. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but what the hell did he do to incite hers?
Two
Finch
When we finally reached the end of the long, glass tunnel from the entrance bubble, Kaya opened the door to let us into the city proper. Warmth washed over me from the artificial sun orbs that hung from the ceiling, casting their glow upon this underwater world. A balmy temperature—not too hot, not too cold, just the way Goldilocks would’ve liked it.
Atlanteans gasped and darted into doorways as we passed, staring at us as if we were sideshow monsters come to terrify and amaze. I doubted any of them had seen a terranean magical before.
Enjoy the sight, lads and lasses, because this might be the last time you see us… If Erebus didn’t somehow scratch our backs for getting him down here, we had a long sentence in an Atlantean prison ahead of us.
“I couldn’t have even imagined a place like this.” Melody gazed wide-eyed at the city surrounding us. It stretched for miles, the fake suns bringing warmth to the underwater realm. “I haven’t seen a single building that isn’t beautiful. Do you think they’ve got areas that aren’t as opulent, or do you think it’s all like this?”
“Maybe they drowned the ugly parts,” I replied. The houses around us looked like they had been crafted by some top-drawer architect, the white walls hand-painted with delicate designs—flowers and vines interlinked with labyrinth-like markings that felt like a crossover between Greek and Celtic cultures. The roofs were all tiled with mother-of-pearl and the windows appeared crafted from sea-glass, with shutters embedded with beads of blue and green and frosted white.
“How about we stop gaping at the architecture and try to remember the path these folks are leading us down?” Nash hissed. “We’ll need to remember if we want to get back out.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah, because they’ll just let us waltz out the front door.”
“I never said anything about anyone ‘letting’ us do anything.” Nash gave me a knowing look while he patted Huntress’s furry head. She seemed to be drawing the most attention from the Atlanteans we passed, especially the children—of which there were, weirdly, not that many, considering the number of people living here.