by D. K. Combs
Deimos unsheathed his sword and akrina began to quiver, brightening to a blinding point. He willed the akrina to form his blades. If they tried to harm Mari, he didn’t care that the guards had been trained for thousands of years in protecting Atlantis. He would take them down, and so would Deimos, if they tried to hurt Mari.
By law, they were required to attack on even the slightest hint that visitors were a threat. If they felt Mari was a threat, they wouldn’t hesitate to take her out.
And what about him?
He was exiled. He wasn’t allowed to come back to Atlantis, yet here he was. With a woman. And a servant of the gods. There was no doubt in his mind that they were going to have to engage in battle to be allowed into the city—
A thunderous crack shot through the ocean water, right before the gates of Atlantis came into full view.
Full, sweeping gates were barred closed against them. The metal was transparent and aquatic, glowing with an inner energy that protected them from ever being destroyed. He remembered all the years, all the planning, it had taken him and his father to construct it. It had been their project, his idea, and something his father had never gotten to see completed.
He’d finished the project out of memory of his father, and it was one of Atlantis’s most proud structures. It was impenetrable and unbreakable. The energy that Atlantis gave the ocean was stowed inside of the gates. If anyone tried, they died instantly by a shock of power so strong their hearts couldn’t handle it.
They had been preparing for the humans when it had been constructed. His father and he believed that humans and Atlanteans could not mix, and they had been correct. The first mortal to find them had tried to take over their city, and it hadn’t tried ended well.
That had been the first sign that the mortals would not receive the Atlanteans well—and that the mortals were so much less advanced than they were. Inferior minds felt the need to take over what they did not have themselves, so Atlantis as a whole had decided it would be better to cut off all ties with them.
So they had.
It had taken years, countless attempts of mortals taking over Atlantis, and hard work, but the gate was their pride and joy. Not only did it protect them, but it was the most beautiful creation in the ocean beside the royal palace.
Mari shook against him, clutching at his arms tightly. He could feel the excitement coming off of her in waves, and hated that this wasn’t going to turn into a pleasant reception. She had been so “jacked” as she had said, to see Atlantis, but they were going to be greeted with an attack.
Regret coursed through him, right as the gates began to glow.
Deimos weaved his sword through the water, getting ready for attack. Akrina separated, Akrinos surrounding Mari in a lighter version of armor while akrina wrapped around Ambrose. He wasn’t worried about Deimos—after living with the gods for years, and killing all sorts of underworld creatures, he knew the man could take care of himself.
“Why is it,” Mari was mouthing into his palm, “that every time we meet someone new, our lives are threatened?”
“Shh,” he whispered. Akrina formed his knives. He palmed one of them, keeping his other hand over her mouth.
The gates began to open.
All movement stilled. Even the beating of his heart stopped.
He expected spears, arrows, and blades. He expected guards rushing from every corner. He expected angry shouts and curses to be thrown everywhere.
As the sand on the ocean floor kicked into the water, skewing his vision, he was more than prepared for attack. Adrenaline crashed through his system, blood rushing through his heart as it pounded forcefully against his chest.
“Ambrose?”
He froze.
No.
The sand began to float to the bottom of the ocean, revealing a young male who was the mirror image of the man Ambrose had once been. Thick black hair was cut close to his head, longer in the front so that it fell rakishly over his forehead. His ocean blue eyes were wide, disbelieving. He was only a couple inches shorter than Ambrose himself was, leaner and less scarred.
“I heard…about you. Never thought you would come back…”
His brother, Erikos, moved forward. Behind him, an army of guards were waiting with weapons drawn. He suspected the only reason they weren’t attacking them was because his brother was standing in front of them.
Ambrose didn’t know what to say. Mari squirmed in his arms, demanding he let her go. Her movement caused Erikos’s eyes to land on her, and Ambrose swore he felt the shock come from his brother.
“You hold a god so intimately?” he asked, his voice dropping an octave. The shock turned to weariness.
Ambrose shook his head, struggling to find words.
“Hey,” Mari snapped, finally getting her mouth out from under his palm. “Who is this? And stop trying to make me be quiet, Ambrose! It’s obvious they aren’t going to hurt us.”
His arms slowly fell from around her.
“Brother, you have angered a god!” Erikos hissed, jerking away from them as if their presence was insulting.
Mari stared between the two of them, completely ignoring Erikos.
Ambrose couldn’t take his eyes off of his brother.
This was the male that had been with Ambrose through everything—except the most crucial moment in his life. All of the hunting and training, they had done it together. They’d gotten into trouble together, faced their mother’s wrath, and had grown up together.
All he could think about, through all of the good times in their childhood, was his brother at the trial. When Ambrose had watched the last of his family turn his back on him. When Erikos had left without even a glance in Ambrose’s direction. When, after all his years of keeping Erikos out of trouble, his brother had abandoned him to exile.
All of the betrayal of that day came rushing back to Ambrose. A dull roar built in his ears, and his vision dimmed. The brother he had loved and taken care of and raised had turned his back on him.
He threw his blade to the side.
Ambrose couldn’t stop what he did next. Mari cried out and tried to reach for him, but Deimos thankfully held her back. All he saw was the shocked look in his brother’s eyes before Ambrose’s fist connected with Erikos’s nose.
Blood instantly spurted, and he felt the shift of the ocean as all five hundred plus soldiers came rushing behind Erikos.
“You’re a fucking bastard,” he snarled at his brother, driving his fist into Erikos’s shoulder, knocking him into the guards closest to him. They began to draw their weapons, but Erikos held up a hand, covering his nose with his other.
“Leave him,” he growled. Immediately, all the guards stopped their movement.
“But, sir…”
“I said,” he snarled, “leave him.”
And then the fight was on.
Mari’s shouts echoed in his ear right before Erikos lunged at him. The dimming adrenaline from earlier came back with a force ten times as strong. His vision darkened and zeroed in on Erikos. His brother dodged his hit, only to be struck by Ambrose as he jerked around with inhuman speed, lashing out with his tail.
It caught his brother on the shoulder, shoving him to the ground and right in front of Mari. He watched with growing fury as his brother’s eyes latched on to Mari—and then her tail. He grabbed her with two hands, pulling himself up.
Deimos’s low snarl ripped through the air before he jerked Mari behind him, lunging at Erikos.
It was too late though—Ambrose already has his hands wrapped around the filmy material of his brother’s tail and was yanking him down, back dragging on the rubble around them. He grunted, kicking out and catching Ambrose in the jaw. His grip loosened for a second, but it was enough time for Erikos to get free.
“You’re a coward,” Ambrose shouted, rage over coming any emotion he could have felt. Sorrow for what had happened to them, betrayal for what his brother had done, remorse for the fight that was taking place. He didn’t care. His brother had bet
rayed him and tried to use Mari against him?
Ambrose shot forward, grabbing both of his brother’s shoulders and shoving him into the ground. The dark head slammed into the coral, blood seeping from Erikos’s nose and head.
“What kind of brother are you,” he roared in Erikos’s face, “to betray me? When all I did was look out for you! Took care of you!”
Erikos struggled under him, not saying a word in response. Fury unlike anything he had felt before washed over him. “And to use my Mari?” he thundered, pulling back his fist. “To even think of touching her?”
He beat his fist into Erikos’s face, the adrenaline that rushed through him hitting a new peak—
Something latched onto his shoulder, yanking him away from his brother.
Ambrose snarled, getting ready to attack whatever it was that had pulled him back. Erikos began scrambling out from underneath him.
He turned around, ready to beat into his brother again—
A small force hit his chest, shoving him back. He growled, latching his hands onto whatever had dared touch him.
“Ambrose, stop it!” Mari cried, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s me—just stop it. Don’t—“
“Mari?” he asked through the haze. Ambrose froze—then jerked his hands away from her shoulders, cursing. “What the hell…do you think you’re doing?” His voice was nothing but a growl; even to his own ears, it sounded rough.
Erikos laughed harshly from beside him. “Ambrose, you never cease to amaze me—“
“Boys,” a harsh voice growled, making both Ambrose and Erikos jerk their attention to the speaker. “I come out here, expecting it to be a nice family reunion, and instead I see you beating the holy soul out of each other? I’m disappointed. In both of you.”
“I am too,” Mari whispered fiercely, poking him in the shoulder. Nonetheless, her head buried into his neck again.
“Kai,” Ambrose said uneasily, adjusting himself so that he was standing. Mari didn’t move away from him at all—if anything, she curled even tighter around him. He could smell the faint scent of her tears, like the aftermath of a hurricane, and he could feel the pounding of her heart.
His chest ached. He had done this to her, frightened her.
The Shephard of Souls gave them both a dissatisfied grunt before clapping Ambrose on the back. “It’s been a long while since I’ve seen you—with a bloody face and bruises all over you was not how I pictured this reunion at all.”
“I’m surprised you’re speaking to me at all,” Ambrose murmured, bowing his head. The man standing before him was one of the oldest, strongest, and wisest men Ambrose had ever met. He had been around just as long as the gods have, and has witnessed centuries of grief, change, and power.
All in all, he was like Ambrose’s second father.
Kai glared at him. “Boy, we both know you didn’t cause anything besides the longest reign of peace we’ve had up until Numb Nuts took the throne.”
“One opinion does not stand a chance in the face of many,” Ambrose reminded him, tightening his grip on Mari when she sniffled. At least she wasn’t talking—he didn’t want to draw any attention to her.
Although, going by the way the guards couldn’t keep their eyes off her tail, that was too late. Even Kai had noticed it and was now staring.
Ambrose sighed. Mari was never going to go by unnoticed, was she?
“I can feel them staring at me,” she whispered, poking his shoulder.
“That’s because they are,” he whispered back, shrugging at Kai’s confused look.
“Well obviously, I can feel it.”
Kai looked between Mari and Ambrose, raising his brow suggestively. “Quiet,” he hissed at him, holding her closer to him. “Are we going to stay out here the whole time or can we come in?”
Deimos grunted, crossing his arms over his chest and giving every single soldier a death glare. They all quickly looked away, going back inside the gates. Ambrose was the only one to notice Erikos going back inside the city gates as quickly, and as quietly, as possible.
“Of course. Let’s get you inside here before H’Sai takes notice. If we can keep your arrival hidden until we can tell him you’re here when he’s in a good mood, that’ll work out best for everyone. I doubt you want the citizens knowing you’re here?”
Ambrose shook his head as Mari lifted hers. She shot away from him before he could say a word otherwise, bouncing up and down the whole way she went. “I feel like that’s going to be hard, though, considering Mari makes it a point to befriend every person she meets.”
“Well, this will certainly be interesting,” Kai said dolly, escorting them inside the gates of the ancient city.
Ambrose only sighed. “It certainly will.”
This was unreal. The halls, the ceiling, the critters. Mari had the hardest time believing that she was alive and not dead, sent to fishy heaven. The city was washed with a blue, aquatic glow, like their hidden sun was casting the most unique array of colors.
Ambrose had tried keeping her tied to his side, but had given up after only a couple of minutes—which was perfectly fine with her. She couldn’t see enough, fast enough. There was so many things that made her jaw drop, so many things that made her squirm, and so many things that made her want to run away.
The housing was probably one of the coolest things she had ever seen. Every house they passed looked exactly alike. Black marble pillars held up large estates. One house equaled a whole entire block. You could see everything that was going on inside, from the outside.
Most of the houses, though created with black marble, had a red inner glow. The light spilled onto the sandy ground a couple feet away from the edge of the house. Mari had never seen anything like it in her life. The first couple miles into the city were full of houses—which could actually be described as temples.
The farther they got into the city, the more active it became. The temples were replaced with sweeping structures that scraped the skies, towers taller than anything she had ever seen in her life. Mermaids—or Atlanteans, as Ambrose was urging her to call them—were everywhere. And they all looked different, which shocked her to no end.
Some were blonde, some were brunette. Some were redheaded and teal-head, purple-head, and blue-head. By the time they reached their actual destination, which was a huge-ass castle centered in the middle of the city, she could rightfully say that she had met the face of diversity.
The tails were all different, too. Not a single person had the same colored tail. They were like walking rainbows, she thought, staring at an Atlantean with a pink tail and purple spiked hair. Her eyes were just as unique—but as they met hers, offense entered them, then shock as they took in her figure.
She pressed tighter against Ambrose, quickly looking away from them.
Mari was completely, totally, utterly lost. She didn’t know their customs, their language. Sure, some spoke English, but she’d heard a few of them speaking a completely different language. It had been so beautiful, it brought tears to her eyes.
This set them apart even more. They weren’t cultured, she thought, eyeing them.
She had only seen three or four women on the streets the whole entire swim to the palace. Everyone else was either male or child. Did they keep their women locked up? She passed a quick glance at Ambrose and frowned.
She didn’t even know anything about Ambrose.
What had she learned from him on their journey? she asked herself. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She had been too excited to see Atlantis that she hadn’t bothered to learn about it while they had the time.
She vaguely remembered that their government was a patriarchy, and that was it. Hell, she didn’t even know why Ambrose had been exiled in the first place.
“Hey,” she whispered, clutching him tightly. “I’m not going to be fed to sharks, am I?”
“No,” he whispered back, a gleam entering his eyes. “You’re getting fed to eels. They like the extra spice with the females. It make
s the zap all that more powerful.”
She gasped, then slapped at his arm. “Ambrose, I’m serious here! I don’t even know why you were exiled—how do I know you aren’t going to the castle just to turn yourself in? What will happen to—me?” she asked, catching herself. Her heart stopped in her chest. For a second, she had almost said us.
Ambrose looked at her solemnly. “Nothing will happen to you. I’ll make Kai swear that if anything happens to me, you’ll be taken care of. Don’t worry, Mari. All will be well.”
Her face turned pink and she bit her lip worriedly. “What will happen to you?”
The man named Kai cast a dark look over his shoulder, looking her straight in the eye as if to tell her to shut up. She could understand why, but nonetheless she gave him a nasty look back. Guards were surrounding them like a mermaid-shield, and most likely listening to their conversation.
Ambrose gave her a silent look before twining his fingers through hers. A thrill rushed up her arm, stabbing her right in the heart. A fear unlike anything she had felt shot through her.
Was he preparing for something? Was there something he wasn’t telling her? What had he done, in the first place, to get him exiled? Mari had never really thought about it—she’d been to focused on all the adventure, on Ambrose himself.
What if he had killed someone? Was he a murderer, a rapist? A thief?
None of those felt right. He was too kind, too quiet. Ambrose was one of the nicest people she had ever met—besides beating the tuna out of his brother, Ambrose had made it his point to be nothing but considerate. Hell, she knew how he felt—like he wasn’t good enough, like he never would be.
What had happened to him?
She desperately wanted to ask him, but knew it would have to wait. It wasn’t safe to ask in front of the very people that had exiled him. The second they got some time alone, she was getting answers…and finishing what they had started at F-Inn. If he only had limited time, she was going to make the rest of his days the best she could.
Or…
An idea popped into her head, probably the dumbest she had ever had.
She had killed those Octopians with a flick of her finger, scared the ever loving shit out of them. What if she turned all possessed again? Would that scare his executioners into letting them go? The thought did not appeal to her at all.