by Renee Field
Jamie nodded. “Yes, and I still think like a human, but I’ve discovered I also have a true love of the sea.”
“Darius mentioned that you are the rightful ruler of the Red Seas.”
“Yes, but I had no idea of that. I grew up on land, raised in a small fishing village, but I always felt a pull for the sea. Even in university I studied marine biology. You could say the sea was inside of me and whether I knew it or not, it was claiming me. Ruling isn’t easy, especially now when so many of us are affected by the plague. My own Seth is the latest victim.” Tears filled her impossibly blue eyes.
Kassandra gasped. “Does Darius know?”
Linked arm in arm they moved from Darius’ house to the open sea. “He does now,” said Jamie. “He was extremely upset and I think that more than anything is why he left you to do the Council’s bidding.”
Ah, yes, he left me. Kassandra instantly felt nauseous. Everything was so new. All her senses seemed heighted.
“It will take some time for you to get used to being a Siren, and I completely understand everything you’re going through,” Jamie repeated reassuringly.
“Did you get pregnant right away also?”
Jamie laughed. “Ah, yeah, these Titan men are awfully potent.” She turned to look at Kassandra and instantly they fell into a fit of giggles. It wasn’t long, though, before Jamie turned serious again. “Are you okay with this?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s all so new. I never even thought about having children, and now I’m carrying twins. I’m just trying to digest everything.”
“Well, I have to tell you that’s how things work down here. They move fast, and you need to adapt if you’re going to survive.”
Kassandra didn’t know what to say to that, so instead she let Jamie act as her tour guide. Jamie was a wealth of information. Knowing she was a biologist who still worked in a lab setting piqued Kassandra’s interest. She longed more than anything to be useful.
Together, Jamie and Kassandra made their way around the reef. “Did the King tell you anything about the reflection pool?” asked Jamie, pointing out the nearby cave where the pool was located.
“No, not really. He simply said it would help me understand my heritage. Have you been there?” asked Kassandra, absent mindedly rubbing her stomach.
“I know Darius’ actions have surprised you—and I’ll admit, even us—but Darius would never have claimed you as his soulmate unless he felt that. As much as the idea probably terrifies you...I know it did me...well, let’s just say that these Titans have a way of making all logical thoughts flee, if you get my meaning.” Jamie winked.
“I’d like to believe that was true, but the Darius that I know seems more bound to his honor of what’s right and wrong. I think he gave me the kiss of life because he felt letting me drown was wrong and that he was the one who had put me in danger in the first place.”
“I don’t believe that for one minute,” Jamie declared, “and neither should you. Darius has genuine feelings for you. Now you’ll have to decide if he and this life are what you want to pursue. Here we are,” said Jamie, as they crested a large outcropping of boulders and came face-to-face with a small cave entrance. “Would you like me to accompany you into the cave?”
“No, thank you for the offer, but I feel I must do this on my own. And, thank you Jamie, you are right. I’ve been so preoccupied with myself that I haven’t taken the time to get to know the real Darius, as you say,” said Kassandra, leaning in to give Jamie a hug.
“Good luck, Kassandra.”
Kassandra took a deep breath. Did she really want to know her heritage? Shaking her head, she realized she did. She had never lacked courage, but for the first time in her life, she faltered. She remembered the things about her childhood that had seemed strange to her. Maybe now, she would finally get some answers. She squared her shoulders and glided to the back of the cave.
There, surrounded by four perfectly round boulders, was a small pool of blood-red water. Is that the reflection pool? The urge to place her hands in the water overwhelmed her. Giving in, she was surprised to feel a small electrical pulse travel through her hands and into her body. Cozy heat settled into her bones, causing her eyelids to feel heavy. Then the images spiraled into view and her heart accelerated.
A Titan whose face she recognized immediately as her father’s sat holding an old woman in his arms. The woman had long, silver-gray hair. Her figure was slim but there was a wasted look about her that implied she had been sick for quite a while. Her father howled out his anguish, and it was then Kassandra heard his words. He was begging his mother to live. But then, in an instant, the sea reclaimed the woman. Her body turned to ashes in his arms. Kassandra gasped in horror.
The scene shifted. She gasped again. Her father was chained in an underground cave. Blood dripped onto the sea floor from fresh lash marks across his chest. Another Titan came into the cave. Taking what looked to be a Triton, he branded her father. The smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils. She screamed, but even though her father was gritting his teeth, he did not cry out.
The taunting words of the Titan torturing her father were loud: “You have never been my son. You are not one of us nor will you ever be. I disown you today and for the eternity for your existence. Tomorrow at low tide your worthless hide will be cast to the sharks.” And then the massive Titan glided away. How could someone be so cruel?
Kassandra shivered. She knew the burn marks had hurt, but it was the words that had come from her grandfather that had marked her father for the rest of his days.
Again the scene changed. This time she saw her father plunge a serrated blade into the back of the Titan, his own father. The knowledge that her father had escaped from his prison pleased her, but his next actions made her feel sick.
The old Titan with the knife sticking out of his back grinned evilly, and then his skin turned a sickening shade of gray. Then her father’s words rang out loud and clear from the pool. “I avenge you in the name of my mother, your wife, Princess Yulam. Today you die!” The echoing words of her father chilled her to the bone.
Kassandra wanted to pull her hand out of the bloodied water but another part of her yearned to learn more. She felt her father’s words clench her heart. The sight of her father – the man who had always ruled his life in precise order - giving into his passion to kill his own father completely unnerved her. It bothered her more than what had happened to her. Funny that should be the case…
Another scene quickly filled the space around her. This time she saw her father, a humbled Titan, kneeling before what had to be the famous Court that King Sadok had talked about. While she couldn’t hear what was being said, she knew things hadn’t gone well for her father.
Then King Sadok stepped forward. He was handed the same serrated blade her father had used to kill his own father. The King bowed his head and then the scene shifted again. Kassandra moved closer to the pool.
King Sadok was talking with her father, but the words were hidden from her. Then the King plunged the blade into her father’s heart. Kassandra couldn’t help but gasp. What is going on? Her father crumbled to the sea floor. The King placed his hand over her father’s heart. A blast of white light encompassed the two. Then the King lifted her father up out of the sea and carried him to a beach.
While she wanted to hear what Darius’ father was saying, she was moved by his gentle touch. So this was how her father came to be human. King Sadok had left out the fact that the Court had appointed him with the burden of killing her father, but at the last moment he’d had a change of heart.
Wrenching her arm free from the reflection pool she stumbled back into a boulder. Her body and mind felt drained. The hard, cold impact of granite on her back brought reality rushing back to her.
“I can’t do this. I can’t. I don’t want to know. I don’t.” Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks.
A hum inside her head caused her to still.
What is wrong, Kassandra? Darius’ voice was
silky smooth but she had grown to recognize its varying shades. Concern was etched deep in his tone.
“I’m okay...I think,” she replied aloud, wiping away tears, wishing vehemently he was with her in person.
Why are you sad?
What could she tell him? Learning the truth about who exactly her father had been and that he killed her grandfather unsettled her more than being turned into a Siren. She couldn’t reconcile the hard but gentle man her father was to the cold, calculated killer he’d been. Now, knowing her father had been a friend of King Sadok’s and that he’d been forced to kill him but had then had a change of heart boggled her mind.
King Sadok was a rule follower. Something wasn’t right. Why had he gone behind the Court’s ruling and let her father live? That was the question of the day and one Kassandra vowed to unravel. She mustered her courage. “I’m fine. Really. Where are you?”
Don’t try to change the topic, sweetlips. What’s wrong?
Kassandra sat up on the boulder as she pulled her eyes away from the blood-red water in the pool. “Darius, I don’t want to talk about it...I’m,” here she paused, “I’m just confused.”
You should be resting. Why aren’t you resting?
Gone was the concern, and back was Mr. Commander.
“Leave me alone, Darius,” she muttered.
Never, sweetlips. Never.
“Kassandra?” asked Jamie, hesitantly gliding into view.
Kassandra all but growled in fury, knowing Darius had used telepathy to ask for Jamie’s assistance. How dare he? I can take care of myself. She had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves.
It would appear you can’t. Don’t push me, Kassandra. I want Jamie to take you home.
Home? Did he even know what that word meant to her?
“It would appear that she can’t take me home and that I’ll never get to go home again,” she replied sarcastically.
Don’t push me, Kassandra. I will make you leave with Jamie. His voice in her head was gruff and unyielding.
Make me leave? What the hell was he talking about? Was he able to make her do things she didn’t want to? The idea repulsed her. But she wouldn’t put it past him.
Frustrated and angry at her situation, she fought against the urge to scream. The last thing she wanted was for Jamie to witness her waging a battle of wills with Darius. “Fine. I’ll go home, but to whose home? Yours. Not mine, Darius. And don’t you ever forget it,” she replied, her tone ice hard.
You’re upsetting the twins.
What the hell? So, now he can read my vitals? Even as she thought that, her stomach almost heaved up the contents of her lunch.
Go rest, Kassandra, please.
It was the please that did her in. “Fine,” she replied, taking Jamie’s outstretched hand.
With a slight pull she glided from the boulder. Together they made their way from the cave’s cool interior to the outer warmer waters. Kassandra was thankful that Jamie was silent.
“I knew I should have stayed with you,” said Jamie.
Before she could further blame herself, Kassandra cut her off. “How did he know I was sad?”
Jamie stopped. Her tail swayed in the gentle waters. “He is your Sokhan. Your soulmate. What you feel, he feels, and vice versa. Think of it as two souls finally finding each other to become whole,” replied Jamie, smiling. “Of course, if Darius tries to shield his feelings from you, you might not be able to feel his. That used to drive me nuts when Seth did that. Sorry, the last thing you need to hear about are my troubles. I’ve sent Maya ahead to fix you something special. Um...” Kassandra watched as Jamie actually fidgeted. “Um, Seth and I were wondering if you had made your decision.”
“No. I still need to think about it,” replied Kassandra, twisting her tail in the sand at the bottom of the ocean floor. She couldn’t quite meet Jamie’s eyes. Even after learning all about how Jamie felt when Seth had claimed her, Kassandra didn’t feel comfortable expressing her fears or desires. Part of her yearned to have Darius’ children while the other part of her screamed that the idea was absurd.
She had to force herself to pay attention to Jamie’s words. “I know it’s an extremely hard decision. Has anyone explained the process to you?”
With her eyes wide, she replied, “No.”
A sigh from Jamie caused her to look up.
“I take it, it’s nothing like what I thought,” she said, wishing for once things could be simple.
Yes, simplicity had its merits. She actually wished her days of working at the library and then having to rush home to get ready for her weekend shift with the reserves was all she had to worry about. She had a sinking feeling that the talk Jamie wanted to have with her wasn’t one she would relish.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Would figure, thought Darius, forcing himself to not give into the shiver his body desperately wanted. How could anyone live here? He was convinced if it got any colder his body might actually start to shut down on its own, forcing him into hibernation. That thought alone made him move faster. Forcing his body to move at breakneck speed he dove headfirst for the fifth and last portal that would take him to the cursed Arctic waters of Thorgeir’s seas.
All the clues pointed to the ancient artifact resting in Thorgeir’s inner ice chamber. He was determined to get it, then go home and work things out with Kassandra. The fact that the artifact happened to be a trident crafted of Poseidon’s own hands didn’t faze him one bit. And the fact that Thorgeir would never let him have it willingly disturbed him less. This was a mission he had no intention of failing.
He was still fuming with the knowledge of what his father had told him. Kassandra’s father was the fabled son of Yulam. He was an ancient Titan who had done the unthinkable – killed his own father. No wonder he had wanted to end his life. Darius understood his rightful need for vengeance but knowing it and actually doing it were two different things. Personally, he couldn’t imagine giving in to that type of rage.
As his body finally emerged from the portal, he stilled. All of his Titan senses had jumped into overdrive.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
Darius swiveled his head to the right as his eyes tried desperately to make out the shapes in the dark, murky Arctic waters. Not that he needed to see the Titan who was casually leaning against the gate to Thorgeir’s inner ice chamber. The voice was a dead giveaway.
“You are so predictable, Darius. It truly is pathetic,” spat Rajheb.
“And you, Rajheb, are like a bad sea urchin, nice to look at on the outside but rotten to the core on the inside. Oh, but you knew that already,” taunted Darius, wondering why Rajheb was here.
“You know I’ve always hated you and your noble attitude. You’re just like your brother. Except your brother is better than you and that’s a crying shame because you’d like to be like him...oh wait....isn’t he dying of that deadly plague? After I’m finished with you, you’ll finally get what you want, to be just like Seth – dead!” spat Rajheb as he dove at Darius.
Moving swiftly aside, Darius dogged Rajheb’s attack. “Come on, Rajheb, do you really think you can kill me? This should be fun,” taunted Darius, playfully ducking his way around Rajheb.
“You said I could have him,” whined a scratchy voice to Darius’ right. The sneer on Rajheb’s face told him he wasn’t going to like what he saw when he turned his head. Sure enough. Darius eyed the creature who could have passed for Medusa. Instead of snakes, eels slithered where her hair should have been. Yellow, reptilian eyes stared hungrily at him.
“Oh, come, Darius, don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Salina?” sighed Rajheb, pretending to buff his fingernails.
Darius wanted more than anything to throttle the annoying Titan. Oh yeah, he’d heard of Salina all right. Medusa and Poseidon’s love child. But she was supposed to be a myth, one of those stories Titans told to scare the scales off the freshlings in warrior training.
So much for myth. A forked tongue flicked out of
her mouth as if she was scenting him.
“You said I could have him all to myself. That he would be my pleasure toy,” whined the creature. Her forked tongue continued to flick in and out. It grated on Darius’ nerves.
“Oh, I did, didn’t I? Sorry, Darius, seems like I can’t kill you after all. But trust me, after Salina’s done with you, you’ll wish I had,” said Rajheb. He turned to go through Thorgeir’s inner ice chamber. Slyly he opened the gate.
“I don’t have time for your theatrics, Rajheb. Either kill me now or get out of my way,” demanded Darius, darting for the inner ice chamber door. A hard yank on his lower half stopped him cold. One of Salina’s eels had wrapped its body around his.
“Don’t think you’ll be joining me, Darius, old Titan, but I promise to make sure Thorgeir knows you were here,” taunted Rajheb, darting away.
Darius let the rapture happen. One instant he was a Titan and then, in the next, he’d changed into an electric eel. Rajheb missed this moment. Part of Darius would have enjoyed seeing the other Titan’s look of disbelief. Not every Titan could rapture into other sea beings. In fact, it was a unique talent that only those of royal blood from the north seas possessed. A hand with a death grip grabbed his eel-like body. Even as he strained, he could hear Rajheb’s chuckle.
You are going to pay with every cell in your tainted body once I get rid of this hideous creature, thought Darius. He knew all of this was a diversion to provide Rajheb with enough time to get the trident and take a portal back to who-knew-where.
Desperate to break Salina’s grip, he raptured into the smallest thing he could think of – a snail. He knew he’d have to undergo a quick rapture again into a Titan before he floated down to the ocean floor.
A loud boom shook the sea just as Darius managed to rapture back into his true form.
“You there. Stay true!”
Even though it had been well over a century since his last visit with Thorgeir, there was no mistaking his commanding voice. Turning, he faced the ancient Titan who ruled the Arctic seas with an ice fist.