Shattered by the Sea Lord (Lords of Atlantis Book 8)

by Starla Night

  “And yet...” Bex shrugged.

  “Honey.” Angie stood and went to her, then hugged her. She pressed Bex’s head into her grass weave-covered belly. “We all wish he were still alive.” She glanced at Hadali, a pale slip in the shadow, and then patted Bex’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s time to stop saying it aloud at all.”

  Bex frowned.

  “I’m sorry, Bex,” Meg said. “I have to agree with Mom on this one. It’s not like when you envision a sauna and make it happen. This is life or death, here.”

  So, it was denial then.

  Ciran was still studying Bex as though trying to figure out what was wrong. “Did you see his body?”

  Konomelu and Itime exchanged glances.

  “No,” Konomelu said shortly. “We delved into the trench as far as we could. But even if we had searched the full length, we would not have found a body. Trench scavengers leave nothing.”

  Dannika pressed her hands to her chest. “A sudden loss is so hard. Especially if there’s no body. You have to cling to hope. But at a certain point, that hope will hold you back from living your life. And I’m sure Prince Ankena wouldn’t have wanted that.”

  Bex listened.

  Honestly, Dannika felt like she was talking to herself again. “Please believe me when I say I know exactly what you’re going through. Losing the man you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with is devastating. You’ll loop through a lot of emotions. Denial, anger, grief.”

  Bex’s eyes flicked to Ciran’s hand resting near Dannika’s knee. “Yeah?”

  “But when you finally accept and let go of the past, you’ll be able to breathe again. And you never know what might be waiting. This is your dark time. But there will be another dawn.”

  Ciran took Dannika’s hand in his warm grip.

  She squeezed his fingers.

  “Thank you, Dannika.” Angie smiled at her warmly, graciously, and squeezed Bex one last time before returning to her seat. “I suppose it is up to you warriors to pool your resources and come up with a strategy to rescue Prince Lukiyo and get us to the mainland.”

  Mm. Right.

  Dannika still had to break the news about the visas.

  “Which means attacking Lusca.” Konomelu clenched his fist. “Decisive victory. Complete domination.”

  “You know our resources and our goals.” Itime focused on Ciran. “What is your opinion?”

  But Ciran squeezed her hand and stood. “You cannot attack Lusca with your current resources. You cannot win.”

  Konomelu stood as well. “Not even with your queen? Her shield?”

  Ciran looked down on her. He hesitated a long moment, and myriad cryptic emotions passed over his face before he settled on his answer. “No.”

  “You hesitate,” Konomelu said.

  “Because Dannika could shield us, all of us, once she develops her powers.” He focused on the warriors. “But she cannot do so now.”

  Oh.

  Hmm.

  That was a little disappointing. Of course, Dannika agreed. Ciran was one hundred percent right. She might luck into figuring out how to make her shield again, but how could she sustain it to Lusca? And while under attack? No. She couldn’t.

  “But if we had four queens.” Ciran locked gazes with Angie and Meg, who both looked away, and Bex, who held his gaze resolutely. “Then we could most likely do anything we wished. Cross the ocean, retake one city, face off against the kraken itself.”

  Konomelu crossed his arms. A flicker of interest crossed Itime’s usually stoic face, but Meg pursed her lips with concern and Angie studied her smoothed toenails as though Ciran’s words didn’t apply to her.

  “And we will need to do that, clearly,” he continued, holding all their attention in his resolute grip, “because Prince Ankena is still alive, and we must descend into the trench to rescue him.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  What?

  Prince Ankena was alive?

  Konomelu turned five shades of red. His iridescent orange tattoos glimmered like sparks of fire on his skin.

  And then he exploded.

  “We have searched!” Konomelu shouted at Ciran. “To the very rim of the trench. We barely escaped with our lives.”

  “We never would have left him if we were not certain,” Itime said calmly.

  “How dare you? You foreign—scheming—insulting Undine. I mean, Atlantean. To say that I, Prince Ankena’s most loyal commander, would leave him. Leave him. In a trench, injured and alone, to fend for himself against the kraken?”

  “Yes,” Ciran said, equally unbending.

  This was about to become dangerous.

  Dannika stood and put a calming hand on his forearm.

  Angie did the same to Konomelu.

  “What makes you say Prince Ankena’s still alive?” Dannika asked quietly. “Do you think their informant lied and he never went into the vent?”

  “I do not know,” Ciran said.

  “So he might have survived this deadly vent?” Dannika asked. “How?”

  “I also do not know.”

  “But then how do you know he’s still alive?”

  “I do not.”

  A tense stillness fell over the group as everyone processed his words.

  “Well, then, why did you say he’s still alive if you don’t know it?” Dannika demanded.

  “Because she does.” Ciran gestured at Bex. “Every warrior can sense his bride. He feels their shared resonance in his soul. Do you not sense me? I sensed you for the entire raft journey, our separation during my hunt. Even now, I feel you.” He pressed her palm to his chest, hot beneath the shirt. “Here.”

  A stark silence fell over the group.

  Oh.

  God.

  Everyone was looking at her.

  Did she feel him?

  “Brides don’t see resonance,” she reminded him. “We don’t see the glowing light.”

  “But you should still sense something. The other queens of Atlantis do. Not as clearly, perhaps, but they feel dread when their warriors are endangered. You feel nothing?”

  “Um…well…It’s only been, uh, half a day…I might be feeling a lot of stuff but it’s all overwhelming and I’m still getting used to it…”

  He nodded slowly, clearly disappointed, and focused on the other warriors. “Connections between a warrior and his bride defy distance and time. You know.”

  “I have never heard of it,” Itime said, calm as always.

  “Because it is a lie,” Konomelu growled.

  Ciran’s mouth opened and closed. He was genuinely shocked. “Your fathers never spoke of their connection to their sacred brides?”

  The two warriors regarded each other with dark silence.

  Itime answered. “My father never spoke of his. She died soon after my birth. ”

  “As did mine,” Konomelu said.

  “What a terrible coincidence. Or was it?”

  Konomelu growled.

  Angie raised her hand again. Not in warning, but to offer as a reminder.

  Konomelu grimaced. “It was no coincidence.”

  “I am…I have no words.” Ciran turned to her. “Dannika?”

  “Hmm? Oh. Words. God, I am so sorry. That must have been so hard and sad for you and your father. You’ve done a wonderful job raising your children with both loving parents and developing a supportive community so your children can thrive.”

  Angie lowered her hand.

  Konomelu pursed his lips, swallowed hard, and nodded. “It…was hard…And without Prince Ankena, I have tried my best to lead as he would.” He pressed his lips together. His nostrils flared, and he tried to continue but his voice broke. He turned to Angie. She enfolded him in a hug and stroked his shoulders, looking as surprised as the rest of the watchers and heck, Dannika herself.

  Meg rested her hand on Itime’s bicep. “Are you okay?”

  “My youth was trying as well, and I am pleased to raise my young fry better.”

  �
�That’s it?”

  He nodded.

  She patted him. “Okay.”

  Ciran shook his head. “But the other warriors, the elders. Who raised the orphaned young fry?”

  “The king.” Konomelu’s voice was muffled over Angie’s shoulder. He straightened, cleared his throat, and let out a long breath. She rubbed his back.

  “Many young fry come into the city without their parents,” Itime said. “Some are taken, like Lukiyo.”

  Ciran rubbed his forehead. “I would have thought some of your young fry were not stolen.”

  Konomelu pushed back. “We did not steal them. We rescued them.”

  “From exiles,” Itime said flatly. “Even my father spoke against that. He was overruled.”

  “We liberated them,” Konomelu protested.

  “We liberated them directly from their parents’ arms.”

  “But we gave them a better life.”

  “I am sure that is what the king tells Lukiyo.”

  “Stop it, guys.” Meg gestured at Hadali, who was grimacing into the flames. “Both of you. You don’t do that anymore, Konomelu. And you’ve said a hundred times you don’t agree with it. Mom?”

  “Meg’s right.” Angie crossed her arms matter-of-factly. “You said it only a few hours ago when that Orike threatened to take Nuno and turn him into a warrior. Because his first act will be to hurt one of us. Me, or the boys.” She dropped her arms. “It’s the Luscan way.”

  He released a pent breath, turned toward Angie, and tapped his cheek.

  She slapped him across the face. Smack.

  He rubbed his cheek, then nodded to her. “As agreed. Thank you.”

  “I keep my promises.” She glared up at him, diminutive against his full height but just as fierce. “You believed in the laws of Lusca for most of your life. But you are a father and a warrior of Sanctuary.”

  “Yes. And you are my queen.”

  She twisted her lips to the side. “Well. We’ll see.”

  He bent her over and kissed her passionately.

  Nuno looked away.

  “Oh my God, Mom.” Meg shielded her eyes. “It’s been, like, a decade since you guys did the crying and slapping thing. Whew.”

  Itime bumped her shoulder with his. “Do you wish I were more passionate?”

  “God, no. You’re perfect just the way you are.” She waved away her mother and stepfather’s display. “I want no part of that drama sandwich. But Ciran, could Prince Ankena really be still alive? Really?”

  “I do not sense his connection.” Ciran gestured at Bex. “But if you know he is still alive, then as impossible as it seems, he must still be alive.”

  Bex’s grimace deepened. “Dannika doesn’t sense you.”

  “Her sense should grow with her queen powers.”

  “I don’t have queen powers.”

  “Shifting is a continuum,” Ciran said. “Passive senses, such as seeing underwater and breathing, appear instantly. Queen Elyssa worked for weeks to make her fins and then channel the Life Tree. But Queen Lucy channeled the Life Tree power long before she reliably made her fins.”

  “You’ll show us?” Meg asked Dannika. “Tomorrow? I totally want to see. Oh, did you have goggles in that emergency kit?”

  “You must shift,” Ciran said. “The powers are invisible to human eyes, although humans will still feel the effects.”

  “Ugh. Shifting.” Meg dropped her head into her hands. “Never mind.”

  “You must shift. It is the only way to retake the city.”

  “Well, there you go. I’m never going to stab anybody.” Meg mimed slashing a trident. “I feel bad when I squish a bug.”

  “I also have a few questions before racing into battle,” Angie said.

  “You do not have to hurt anyone,” Ciran said.

  Konomelu threaded his fingers with Angie’s. “Your kindness is commendable, but the warriors we fight will not extend you that same mercy. You must be ruthless. A blade that cuts through the swathes of enemies.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Mmm. Maybe I will leave the fighting to the experts.”

  “You must try to develop your powers,” Ciran said. “If you are serious about saving your friend and retaking Lusca, it is the only way.”

  The women shook their heads.

  “There has to be another way,” Meg said. “Because if it’s up to me turning into a warrior, I’m not interested.”

  “Not even a little bit,” Angie said.

  “Well, maybe a little bit,” Meg said. “But I can’t go in the ocean. No way, no how. People die in there! And it’s full of giant squid.”

  “So, what time tomorrow?” Bex asked. “When will Dannika show her queen powers?”

  Konomelu looked at Itime, who shrugged. “We should meet in the reef before breakfast. Without the young fry.”

  “Dannika will inspire you,” Ciran promised. “She will show you all.”

  So, great.

  All Dannika had to do was find and develop her powers, convince the others it was worthwhile to develop theirs, and then retake a warlike city ruled by an angry king, rescue a missing prince from a trench infested with the kraken, and all before the city went on the warpath and sank their rescue boats, specifically the one chartered by Bex’s stepson Stevie.

  No problem.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dannika helped stow the mats and disassemble the tables to keep them from blowing over in the sometimes fierce winds. Her mind churned.

  She’d interviewed the early queens. Their inner confidence, serenity, and passion had formed her vision of the kind of brides her warriors needed. But she hadn’t listened as a student who must one day teach.

  “Where do you want to sleep?” Bex glanced at Dannika’s bruises in the dwindling firelight. “You can breathe underwater? You should probably have the lagoon for healing.”

  “Are you…?” Meg asked, letting the question hang.

  Bex shook her head. “Just the lagoon.”

  Mysterious. They’d been open about so much, but they weren’t telling all their secrets.

  Bex led Dannika and Ciran up the stone path, over the headland, and back to the cave.

  “This path is so nice and bright with the moonlight,” Dannika said. “You’ve done a wonderful job.”

  “Thanks.” Bex glanced over her shoulder. “There’s no moonlight.”

  Dannika stopped.

  Stars stretched into infinity, and the waves also stretched in every direction.

  She could see in the dark! “I really have changed, haven’t I?”

  Ciran stood at her shoulder. “You have.”

  Oh. Wow.

  Bex kept strolling at her easy pace, her grass skirt swishing. Dannika hurried to catch up.

  The lagoon glimmered with unusual beauty lighting the worn statues. The iridescence was coming from inside the cave. More specifically, inside the water.

  She rubbed her eyes.

  “This glow coming from the water.” Ciran knelt and dipped a fingertip in, swirling. “I did not notice it earlier with so much noise and energy. It is oddly familiar.”

  Bex shrugged. “It’s an old church, so…”

  He rubbed the liquid between his fingers.

  “Well, tuck in.” Bex turned away.

  “Wait, you want us to sleep underwater?” Dannika squinted at what she thought was the distant cave entrance, but she couldn’t quite see it through the stalactites and vines. “Can’t just anyone swim in?”

  “A boulder blocks the entrance. Mostly for the squids.” Bex lingered in the doorway. “Did Stevie talk about himself?”

  “He said you’re the reason he became a videographer,” Dannika said. “He’s the lead at his company and has his pick of jobs.”

  Bex grinned, then rubbed her face. “Anything else?”

  “You’ll have to ask him yourself when we get out of here.”

  Her smile fell. She gazed through the rock and her eyes got a distant look. “Do you real
ly think we can retake Lusca?”

  Well…honestly, Dannika had no idea.

  “Yes,” Ciran said.

  Bex faced him. “Even though Angie doesn’t think we should and Meg is afraid?”

  “You have a new advantage: You know what is possible. And according to the other queens, that was all they needed to bring forth their powers.”

  Bex nodded slowly, then bid them goodnight and headed up the steps.

  Dannika’s fingers tingled. “If only you could bottle some of that certainty, I would drink it like the elixir. I can’t believe you promised everyone that I’d show off my powers tomorrow. I still have no idea what I did.”

  “You will.”

  “Seriously, give me that confidence. I’ll drink.”

  “Your confidence will grow with your mastery. It is the same with any warrior.”

  That was hard to believe.

  “Doubts plague even the most confident warrior when he is tired.” Ciran shucked his clothes and strode proudly to the lip, muscle rippling with unbending grace. He slipped into the water up to his waist and held out a hand to her. “Rest with me, Dannika. Heal your body and your mind.”

  Well, he wasn’t wrong.

  She slipped off her caftan, folded it neatly beside the freshwater bowl, and hooked a finger under her bra strap.

  Ciran rested both elbows on the ledge. His hot gaze drifted down her body and back to her face.

  Answering heat kindled in her. She was tired, but excited butterflies awoke in her stomach, and suddenly sleep was the last thing on her mind.

  She forced the underclothing off, angling to disguise her worst flaws. The pooch at her belly that had grown. The wrinkly sag under her arms that made her switch from youthful tank tops to flowing sleeves. She clothed her body well and rarely agonized over the natural changes because she had no one to show.

  Then she forced herself to her feet and hurried to the water’s edge beside him, covering first her belly and then her arms, and then her belly again, and oh yes, her private areas.

  He watched her hands move and tilted his head. “What is wrong?”

  “Just thinking.” She sat and dropped her feet in, the water cresting her calves, and positioned herself for the best angle. “It’s been a long time since a man has seen me naked.”