“Shall we practice more today, sister?” Gordon asks loudly, like he already asked me, but I didn't answer. I set my eyes on him. I can't help but wonder why my mother allowed us to be split up, why didn't she just take us both on land and have us adopted together? Why allow an evil monster like Poseidon to raise him, and not me? Why only give me lots of powers, but only give Gordon some? I have so many questions but after her death I never thought I'd be able to ask my mother, but now she’s in Darcy, I finally can. Obviously, not here, not now, but soon.
“No. I want to go home, Gordon. I miss my boyfriends; I miss our home. I don't want to be here.” I reply, anger lacing my voice. I'm sick of being trapped here. Gordon leans back in his chair and runs a hand through his long, red hair.
“I'm sorry.” he shocks me by apologizing. He doesn't seem like the type of person who says that often, if at all.
“Let me go, Gordon. Please.” I push, sensing a chink in his armour. The coral doors behind us burst open, making us all jump. Poseidon strides through, a small army of Selkie Elite’s with him.
“What is this, a meeting? And why,” Poseidon stops behind Darcy, her pink skin turns deathly pale as he rests his hand on her shoulder. “Is this slave at my table?” he growls. I jump from my seat; the legs scrape the floor and then it tumbles to the floor.
“She is not a slave, you monster. She’s a person and her name is Darcy!” I yell, anger bubbling inside my chest. I feel the power inside me stir, for a moment, I think it will burst free and pulverise him. From the corner of my eye, I see Gordon stand and subtly shake his head.
"Let us remain calm, father," Gordon turns to face the maleficent god. "You'll be pleased to learn Everly is training hard and doing very well with her powers." he tries to defuse the situation.
If this old fucker wants to go, we can go. I think back to how Victor told me he was treated in this place, how he spent years locked in a cage. Being abused. I remember the terrified look on Darcy's face the first day I met her as if she expected me to be evil like my sperm donor. Silver light snakes up my arms, leaving my skin heated in its wake. The smile on Poseidon's lips stretches wider as my inner light pours from every pore on my body.
"And," Gordon says loudly. "She calls to the creatures of the sea, just as you predicted, father."
Poseidon whips his head to the side; his smile drops and his whole body becomes rigid.
"Is that so?" he doesn’t turn to me, like I thought he would, instead, he takes a step back, and then another. "Well, I see you have her under control, boy." His guards take their cue and open the doors once more. "Report to me this eve, Gordon, I want to know everything." Finally, he looks at me. I could be way off the mark but, I swear I see fear in his grey eyes.
He spins on his heel and retreats quickly. The door slams shut behind him, small pieces of coral drop to the floor as the impact knocks them free.
"Well, that went to shit, did it not?" Gordon almost smiles when I turn to face him. It plays on his plump lips and drags a smile from me. "What?"
"I just never heard you talk that way, is all." I laugh, shaking my head. The anger drains from me when I look down at Darcy. Her eyes are glassy with unshed tears. "What's wrong?" Panic takes my breath away as I crouch in front of her.
"No one has ever stood up for me before." she sobs. The sound tugs on my heart strings.
"Oh, Darcy, you're my friend," I wrap my arms around her waist and press my face to her flat chest, "I got your back, honey."
"Her back?" Gordon asks quietly. I turn my face as Darcy slides to the floor and wraps her arms around my middle, her ear pressed to my bulbous stomach. The baby kicks, like he or she enjoys being held by Darcy.
"Yeah, like, I will stand up for her." I explain while trying to avoid blocking the blue gills in her neck. I know they are not in use right now, but I bet it's uncomfortable if someone leans on them. Mine only appear when I'm in the water.
Gordon sits back down and rests his chin on his hand.
"So, you take care of her, because she’s your friend?" he asks as Darcy untangles herself from me and gets to her feet. Then helps me stand. Which is getting hard to do.
"Yes, that's what friends do." My knees protest kneeling on the floor for so long, so I stretch my legs under the table.
"Victor was a slave and yet, you have taken him as your consort." He doesn't say it as a question, but I answer anyway.
"Yes. I love him, too. He is a big part of my life. Just like Karl, Leyland and Garrot are." As I say their names, my heart speeds up. I close my eyes against the pain in my chest. Their faces greet me, tears slip down my cheeks.
"You miss them?" Gordon asks. Without opening my eyes, I answer in a broken voice.
"Every second." I let the tears fall where they may. I feel Darcy's hand take one of mine, the comfort is nice, but it barely touches the surface. "Before I met them, I was so lost. So alone. I didn't even realise how depressed I was. How sad. Until I met them, I had nothing. Now, they are my everything." In my mind, Karl reaches out his hands and takes mine. I almost feel his rough skin on mine. Victor cups my cheek in his large hand, his thumb rubbing away my tears. Garrot slinks to my side, he buries his smile in my neck and nibbles. Leyland bites his lip, seeming unsure of himself.
"I would give anything to feel what you are feeling right now." Darcy's words make my eyes pop open.
"Victor once said something similar." I sob. How could such an advanced society be so unfeeling towards each other? Segregation between races, class and rank are nothing new, but the utter lack of feeling scares me. How did the Atlanteans get this way? Or have they always been like this? Is it Poseidon? Or is it genetics? Could I fix it if I did take the crown?
"Me too." Gordon shocks us both by saying.
LEYLAND
Day 66
I fly above the clouds, lazily flapping my wings as the wind whips past my ears. I hovered over the plane wreckage long enough to see Victor destroy a group of Selkie, but my interest was lost when the cries of humans reached my ears. Now, every time I blink, I see red mixing with blue, the vision takes my breath away. I can't explain why, but my heart aches with it. A cupid arrow slices through the air and I bank left to avoid it. My mother keeps trying to contact me. Before we left Russia, she swore she would see me again back home. I told her then, I don't have a home. It was destroyed by a selfish bitch and her stupid choice to leave us. I have nothing left. No reason to live, nothing to tie me to this planet anymore. The longer I am here, the more damage I do, the further I slip into the darkness. I'm better off as far away from Scarborough as possible.
Despite my macabre thoughts, I find myself flying above the beach where Everly and I had our first date. Neither of us knew it then, but when her skin made contact with the water, she felt as if it was pulling her. We later found out it was because she is Queen of the sea. A royal heir to the throne. I guess that is where she is now, living it up, sitting on her throne, lording over her fish folk. While we rot away on Earth. Either that, or she's dead. Which seems more likely since Poseidon has hunted her since she was born. His plan to take her powers and sink the land in order to reclaim the Earth. Soon, I find myself passing over the house she shared with us. It's cornflower blue cladding peeling, the paint chipping away from exposure to the elements. The field at the back is more of a mud bath than the luscious green grass that was there when we all lived there. On the outside, it looks abandoned, but I know it's not. I can feel five hearts, so full of love, inside. It pours from them and batters me in waves as I hover above them.
I shouldn't be able to feel this, their love, I'm fallen. My cupid soul is lost to the darkness that now consumes me. Their grieving sickens me, three forlorn adult males, pining over a female. I swoop down and land on the roof, my bare feet slide on the cold, wet tiles. I draw my black wings around my body, shielding me from the pain coming from my former brothers.
Victor
Day 72
"What do you mean, what's wrong with us? E
verly has been missing for seventy-two days. That's what's wrong with us, Mickey." Garrot grumbles. My head spins to look at him, the tone of his voice screams tortured soul. He's in a great amount of pain, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. The love of his life has been taken, and the man, I'm pretty sure he's in love with, has turned demon. I reach out my hand and take his, my large one engulfing it. He looks down at our joined hands, a second later he squeezes. Letting me know he appreciates the gesture.
"A curse, there is a curse upon you all." The witch yells, his whole-body shakes and his face is pale.
"Mickey, what’s wrong?" I ask him, something doesn't feel right to me.
"It's Will, he's gone." His shaking hitches up a notch and tears begin to pour down his cheeks, "I finished healing his arm last night, he's gone. To Atlantis, I think." he crumples onto the floor. "Poseidon swore he would kill him if he returned!"
Karl kneels down next to the witch and rubs a comforting hand down his back, "He will be ok, Mickey. If he finds Everly, she will protect him. Together, they could escape."
"You don't understand Karl, in order to escape the first time, Will had to kill one of that rapist's wives!" He yells, throwing himself at Karl, "She begged him to do it for months, but he couldn't. When he was escaping, she followed him, she got trapped by Selkie, they bit her and he gave her mercy. Poseidon will torture him. Oh, and Leyland is on your roof."
To coin a well-used phrase from Garrot, well, shit. If William does manage to get to Everly, he will be killed. If Everly tries to help him, she could be killed too. More than ever we need to get to Atlantis before all is lost. Karl comforts Mickey on the floor of the living room, while the rest of our heads swim with this new information.
Everly
Day 12 in Atlantis
The ocean around me is filled with tiny creatures. Sometime this morning my eyesight changed, and now, I can see so much more than I ever could. A teeny tiny crab is hitching a ride in my hair as Gordon, Darcy and I swim across the bottom of the ocean. He extended the area I'm allowed in and let Darcy come. As I watch them swim side by side in front of me, I can't help but see the connection between them. I haven't told Gordon that Darcy is his consort, yet. It's not my story to tell. But I'm dying to say something. Play cupid for a few hours. But I can't, all I can think about is how every time I enter the ocean, I'm a little closer to my guys. So close, and yet, so far.
Above me, the sea stretches for miles, the further up I go, the darker it becomes. So, I tend to stick to the seabed. Stretching my feet behind me, I wiggle them in tandem to propel myself higher. It's risky, what with Gordon below me with Darcy, but I need to know if it's possible to swim up above the city dome. I find I don't really need to swim with my arms, my legs push me through the water nicely. Almost like a tail. Though, I do keep checking to see if I've grown one. But as of yet, no fish features for me. Well, except for the gills, that is. But they are small and cute. And at least they are not on my face. My skin is still tanned, if a little paler, no colour changes, either. As I swim higher, a stray thought speeds across my mind, I brush it off just as quickly. There is no way I'm using Darcy as a distraction while I swim away. I want to get back to my men, but not at the possible cost of her life. She might be Gordon's consort, but I doubt he could protect her against his father. That's even if he would want to. Although as every day passes, I see small changes in him, I still don't think he would go against Poseidon.
Little bubbles escape from my mouth as I push harder, faster. The city roof is not far from me now. Excitement stirs in my belly and the baby wiggles. Freedom is just a few metres away. In a flurry of movement, I speed through the water. Only, my head hits an invisible barrier.
Ouch. I grumble while rubbing the sore spot.
Are you ok, sister? Gordon asks inside my mind as I pretend nothing is wrong.
Yup. Thanks. This crab got a little excited and nibbled my ear. I lie while feeling guilty I blamed the baby crab. I check the little guy is ok before swimming back to the sand below. He sits in the palm of my hand, shaking his claw at me. Sorry, honey. My cheeks redden at being told off by a crab. At least it's not a shark.
Good. Darcy and I are making our way back to you now. Darcy, look out! He yells, the fear in his voice vibrates inside my skull.
What? What’s happening? I yell back while rushing towards the little cave they disappeared into. The ocean seems to still as I panic, my arms dragging me towards the cave. Gordon, answer me, damnit!
It's Darcy, she, he pauses and my heart jumps into my throat, she is stuck under some rocks. The roof caved in.
Oh, shit. I push myself harder to reach her. The cave entrance is tiny, only just wide enough to fit my stomach through. When I finally wiggle through, Gordon looms above me. Out of the water. My head breaks the surface to find the cave inside is huge, and dry. A pocket of air under the ocean. "What happened?" I ask as I haul myself out of the sea and onto smooth rock.
"We found this," he bends and lifts a rock from a large pile, and throws it to one side, "Place. Darcy wanted to explore, so I followed her. It's huge back there." another rock is thrown to the side and he straightens to look at me. "Do not attempt to lift these, they are too heavy." his eyes flick to my belly then he turns and lifts another rock.
"I'm perfectly capable of lifting rocks to save my friend." I grumble, bending to help. He says nothing as we work together to clear the stones. After what feels like hours, I expose a bit of Darcy's toga. "Darcy!" I scream, redoubling my efforts. Gordon also moves faster, his motions almost panicked.
After we move all the rocks from her body, I stand up and look down in horror at her unconscious form.
"Gord," I turn my eyes on him. When he looks down at me, the mask he usually wears, the one with no emotions, is there. "I can help her." I turn away from him, disgusted at his lack of feeling towards the woman who’s the best friend I ever had. I push her long, blonde hair off her face. It's covered in blood from a big gash on her forehead. "Bloody hell, I can see her skull." White stands out inside the wound. "Okay, I can do this." I remind myself I healed her slash marks and scars just a couple of days ago, a cut on her head should be easy. She is deathly pale. Almost white.
Sinking to my knees, I lean to cup her head in my hands. It's then that I notice blood covers them before I even touch her. I turn to Gordon in confusion.
"Are you hurt?" he asks, deadpan.
"No." I wipe them on my tunic to wash away the blue, revealing several oozing cuts on my palms. "Err, Gordon, why am I bleeding blue?"
"Because you're almost ready to take your crown, sister." He answers with a tiny smile. He has his hands laced in front of him, his back is ramrod straight. For a second, I worry he is about to attack me, but when he takes a step back, I turn my attention back to Darcy and cup her head.
I close my eyes, concentrating on the brown light inside of me. I tug and it comes willingly. It pours from the tips of my fingers and soaks into Darcy's head. Peeking my eye open, I see the gash is still bleeding.
"Fuck." I curse myself. It's not working. I need more power. I need help. The scuff of a rock behind me reminds me that I'm not alone. "Gordon, I need your help." I ask without turning around.
"Why?" He asks, sounding mildly interested.
"I need help to heal her."
"Yes. But, why? She’s but a slave," he infuriates me by replying. I spin my head to pin him with my eyes.
"Because," I force out between my teeth. "Not only is she my best friend, but she’s also," I stop myself at the last second. It's not my place to tell him. But I need his help to save her life. If that means spilling the beans, then so be it. "She’s your consort. The one and only." The shock on his face would be comical if not for the fact Darcy's breathing is getting shallower.
"You lie." he growls, anger rolls off him and buffets my back.
"I do not, you pompous prick. Listen, just take my fucking hand and help me save her. Do the right thing for once in your miserable life!
" I throw at him. Sick of walking on eggshells around him. "Now, Gordon, or so help me, if she dies, I will kill you." I promise. I mean it. Blood relative or not, Darcy means more to me than he does.
Moments later, he kneels beside me and lays his hand over mine. More brown light than I can handle flows from me. It moves like smoke over her body, wrapping itself around her from head to toe.
"Whoa." I exclaim as I watch in awe. Completely out of my control, the light I'm pretty sure I borrow from Karl, soaks into her skin. Several pops and clicks echo in the cave as her body is fixed. Her chest pops out, a leg straightens, and her gash knits itself back together. She had way more injuries than I imagined. Gordon doesn't say a word the whole time. His eyes never leave Darcy's face.
"Is she truly mine?" He asks without looking at me. Darcy's breathing returns to normal and her skin pinkens once more. I should deny it, tell him I lied to get him to help me. Instead, I find myself looking at him. He turns his head to the side, our matching eyes lock. I see hope there. The pain. Loneliness. Longing. He begs me with his eyes to tell him it's true. To tell him it isn't true. To deny him the one thing he has coveted and been denied for all of his life. His mother abandoned him. His sister lived a life he could only dream about. His father is an evil bastard who rapes and kills, rules with an iron fist.
"She is." I simply answer. Unable to deny him the love I have with Karl, Leyland, Garrot and Victor. While I might not know if Gordon is truly a good person, I know it would make me a bad person to crush the rush of emotion I see flooding his features.
A single tear rolls down his cheek as Darcy wakes up.
GORDON
Impossible. Darcy can no more be my consort than I can be King of Atlantis! I stare down at the slave in my sister`s living space. Her body was broken, damaged beyond repair. Yet, her chest moves up and down. How can this be? My father told me there would be no consort for a creature like me. An abomination. I`m grotesque. A woman like Darcy would never come to love a creature such as me. Even if it is true, it is folly to believe she could ever want me. The consort bond doesn’t work like that, it doesn’t provide love where there is none. It doesn’t bring instant loyalty or even liking. It is a powerful thing, the bond, but it has its limits. No. Darcy could never love me. I have to accept that and move on. Carry on with my life as it was. But as she lays there, on my sister’s bed, breathing deep, I can’t help but imagine what life with her in it would be like.
The Everly Davis chronicles Page 50