by Devyn Quinn
Tessa gave him a quick jab with her elbow. “Stop it. Those were just stories. I’m not royal.”
Tucking ruffled feathers back into place, Jake shifted back into know- it-all mode. “Think about it, please. The powerful objects depicted in these hieroglyphs would only be entrusted to a person of very high rank, most likely someone the people considered royal.”
Kenneth looked down at Tessa. Even though she wasn’t doing anything, he could feel the energy emanating from her. A lot of power boiled beneath the surface of her skin.
A chill skittered through him. All she has to do is think it, and it’ll happen . . . It vaguely occurred to him there might have been a time on this earth when humans had a reason to fear the Mer. He’d learned enough from Jake to know most legend had some basis in fact.
He quickly squelched the negative thoughts and focused on what the moment meant for Tessa.
“What if it’s no fantasy, Tess? Who else would have held such important symbols of power but a sovereign? As incredible as it sounds, you might be a descendant of royalty.”
Chapter 14
It took every bit of willpower Tessa possessed not to snort a laugh back in Kenneth’s face. “Come on. Don’t be stupid.” She made a gesture, circling her finger near her temple. “Both of you have lost your minds. The air must definitely be thinning if you think that’s true.”
Both men stared back at her, two sets of eyes holding absolute conviction.
“I think it’s true,” Kenneth said, a note of wonder in his voice.
“I’d second that,” Jake added. “The pieces we’ve put together certainly make the scenario seem plausible.”
As much as she wanted to deny it, Tessa had a nagging feeling the guys hadn’t lost their minds. Based on the stories she’d heard in her childhood about a powerful queen, the idea wasn’t so far-fetched. It was entirely possible her grandmother wasn’t weaving fanciful tales for her granddaughters; rather she was passing on some kind of an oral history.
Still . . . Believing she was one of the highborn felt utterly ridiculous. “It just can’t be.”
Losing the look of superiority, Jake’s eyes assumed the cast of wonder. “Except for the scepter, you have most of those items in your keep, Tess,” he said, interrupting her sinister contemplations. “Your mother and her mother before her and even your great-grandmother all worked to carefully preserve those pieces.”
Deep inside, Tessa felt her stomach loop into tight knots. Tension tightened her shoulders even as a feeling of nausea crept up from her stomach. “What for?” she demanded. “These things aren’t of any real value. The stones aren’t even precious.”
“But they are a part of your Mercraft, correct?”
Tessa nodded. “That’s true. But what am I supposed to do with them?”
“Command your people,” Jake said. “Holding such objects would make you the figure of power.”
Tessa lifted her hands, pressing her fingers into her temples. All of a sudden pressure was ranging behind her eyes, beating against the confines of her skull. “All this is starting to give me a headache,” she said with a sigh.
Jake ignored her exhaustion. Leaving the hieroglyphs behind, he walked toward the arch. Lifting his arms, he pressed his palms against the solid layers of opaque crystal, sealing it shut. “This is a quite interesting way to seal a tomb,” he remarked. “It’s like the stone has been woven into webbing. I wonder how we’d get through it.”
Tessa’s hands dropped. “You mean, like, open it? Now?”
Jake glanced over his shoulder. “No time like the present.” Stepping back, the archaeologist eagerly rubbed his hands together. “The logistics are going to be difficult given the depth we’re dealing with, but we’re going to have to figure out a way to get equipment down to begin recovery.”
Kenneth shot him an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious.”
Jake immediately cut him off with a huff. “I’m very serious. It’s what we do. Remember?”
“You don’t even know if that’s what it is,” Kenneth shot back. “Right now all you’re doing is guessing.”
Jake just stared, affording Kenneth all the interest he’d give an insect he was about to crush. “Hands-on research is part of the recovery,” he snapped nastily, pointing toward the sealed area. “If we find a chamber of any kind, we open it. If there are bodies inside, we pull them out.”
Kenneth immediately rejected the idea. “The dead should rest undisturbed. What you’ve found so far is enough.”
Jake turned to Tessa. “Explain to this moron the meaning of search and recovery. If we find it, we bring it up.”
Tessa put her hands on her hips.
Though she understood the side Kenneth was taking, she’d also worked enough recovery missions with Jake to understand the intention behind archaeological expeditions. The mission was simple: Uncover and record the findings.
An unbidden chill swept down her spine. Sometimes the findings included remains. The coast of Maine was littered with wreckage from ships and airplanes that had gone under when misfortune struck. The last wreck she’d worked on with Jake wasn’t a ship, but a WWII fighter. Surviving family members had been elated when the wreckage was located and identified. And though the bodies of the crewmen trapped inside had been reduced to bones, she’d worked to bring them to the surface with the few personal effects she could locate.
Closing her eyes, Tessa inhaled a deep, calming breath. Should it be any different with the Mer? Her throat worked as she swallowed back the bile rising from her stomach.
Licking dry lips, she turned to face the two men. “I think it should be opened.”
Jake’s icy blue eyes lit up with the fervor of a fanatic finding true religion. “Excellent decision. We’re on the edge of a historic discovery.”
Kenneth didn’t look as convinced. “It feels like sacrilege to me.”
Tessa rubbed her hands across her face. “Why don’t we argue one step at a time?” She eyed the crystal seal. “Right now we have no guarantee we can even get the thing open.”
Kenneth snorted. “Oh, give Jake a hammer and he’ll get through.”
Jake scoffed back. “I am not a philistine. Our mission is to preserve and protect, not bash and carry. The less damage we do, the better.”
Kenneth threw up his hands in frustration. “I don’t like it, but I suppose the two of you will outvote me on this one.”
Tessa cleared her throat. “I’m not siding with Jake when I say I want to keep going with this,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “But this is a significant find and we can’t ignore its value. The Mer deserve to have their place in history, too.”
Kenneth’s expression was wary. “I understand that,” he said. “I just don’t understand the hurry.”
Jake shot him an angry glare. “This stupid argument is costing valuable time. Now let’s figure out how to get this show on the road.”
Kenneth shook off his partner’s nasty look. “If you’re going to try it, better do it fast.” He drew a deep breath. “I don’t know about you two, but it seems to me the air’s starting to thin.”
Jake processed the information. “We are working with a limited resource.” His gaze swung to Tessa. “I don’t suppose you would know anything about opening a Mer tomb?”
Tessa eyed the crystal webbing. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s been energy spun.”
“Which is?” Jake asked.
“If you take a crystal and apply enough heat, you can turn it molten, literally weave it into other shapes and forms,” she said, attempting to explain. “I’ve tried it a few times, but I’m not really good at getting it to take shape yet. It takes an incredible amount of psi-energy to do it.”
Jake glanced back at the hieroglyphs. “Those drawings depict the choker and the orb as emanating a great energy. I don’t suppose you happened to tuck those in your back pocket?”
Tessa laughed. “Of course not.” Those things were back in Maine, safely
hidden away. She’d had no reason to pack them for a trip out to sea.
“We could have them flown in,” Jake started to suggest, then stopped himself. His gaze sparked. “Or Tessa could whip them up here.”
She raised a brow. “Whip them up?”
Jake snapped his fingers. “Why not? You whammied us straight to the bottom of the sea. What’s so hard about bringing down a few trinkets?”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “You were on a ship just a few miles away. Those things are half a world away. I doubt I could fetch them from that far. It might have been a fluke that I could bring you guys down here in the first place.”
Kenneth paled. “God, I hope not.”
Sensing his growing discomfort, Tessa looked at him and frowned. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here. If we run out of air, I’ll swim you out.” She pointed to her lips. “I’ve got the magic kiss, babe.”
“I’d take one of those,” Jake said. “Teleportation makes me sick.”
Tessa shot him a middle finger. “You’ll take this and hope you can hold your breath long enough to reach the surface.”
Jake pouted. “You sure have gotten touchy since you’ve learned to do all that shit.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Better watch it, or I’ll send you to the far side of the moon.”
Kenneth brightened. “Can you do that?”
Jake threw up his hands. “God, sometimes it feels as if I’m dealing with Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Can you get the items or not?”
His request instantly sobered her.
Tessa licked dry lips as uncertainty seeped through her veins, sharp and painful as shards of glass. For a wild moment she doubted her ability. Everything she’d learned in the last few months seemed to drizzle away, leaving her brain a useless pile of mush. “I don’t know. I can try.”
Jake nodded. “Then do.”
Tessa waved her arms, moving the men back. “Give me some space.”
Both moved toward a far wall.
Satisfied she had enough room, Tessa pressed her hands together in front of her. She’d easily mastered kinetics and had successfully learned to move small stones and other objects from one place to another with the flick of a thought. It shouldn’t make any difference whether the item was a foot away or several thousand miles away.
In her mind’s eye, she plucked the choker from her jumble of memories. Remembering how it had looked to her eyes and felt under her curious fingers, she envisioned holding it in her hands.
Taking a deep breath, she reached into her mind and connected with the memory. This, she hoped, would allow her to grasp the physical item.
The crystal pendant hanging around her neck warmed. Gathering its energy, she pushed it outward, willing it toward the desired object. When she was sure she had a firm grasp, she reeled the energy back in.
A little spark of light exploded in front of her eyes. Her hands shot out, cupping together to form a cradle. Seconds later the desired object rested against her palms, still warm from its travel through kinetic space.
A low whistle broke through her concentration.
“Jesus, that’s amazing,” Jake complimented.
Kenneth managed a nod. “I knew you could do it.”
Tessa’s heart gave a convulsive thump. No, he wasn’t exactly thrilled by her unworldly ability. The unspoken rift between them widened a minute fraction. He was very aware he was all too human and she was not.
Shaking off his silent disapproval, Tessa gave a little bow. “Thank you very much,” she said, holding the prize out toward him. “Would you hold this for me?”
Kenneth stepped forward and claimed the trinket. He cradled it carefully, as if she’d handed him the most fragile and rarest of objects.
She waved him back. “Now for the orb.”
Tessa repeated the process, a little easier the second time around. More confident in her ability, she easily managed the incredible task. A minute later she held it balanced in her hands.
Jake clapped. “Excellent.”
“You handled that like an old pro,” Kenneth observed.
“Let’s get to work,” Jake said.
Tessa looked to Kenneth. “Would you help me put it on?”
“Sure.” He claimed the piece. A clasp at the back allowed it to be opened, widened, and fitted around the neck.
Tessa lifted a hand, fingering the regal ornament. The fit was tight, uncomfortable. But she had to admit the choker was an impressive piece. Like fine diamonds, the stones had been sized, cut, and polished into a marquis shape before being embedded in a band of solid gold. Altogether there were five thin rows, giving it an overall height of about three inches.
She thought of the queen being chained and choked by the incredible responsibility that went along with wearing the piece.
She frowned. “Damn, I’d hate to wear this every day.”
Kenneth noticed her discomfort. “Feel okay?”
Tessa swallowed, feeling the muscles in her throat contract in rebellion against the metal. “I’ll be glad to take it off.”
It’s wrong, a voice whispered in the back of Kenneth’s mind. We shouldn’t be doing this.
But he said nothing. Despite his reservations, he had to support Tessa’s decision to open the tomb. As she’d said earlier, she had the right to learn everything she could about her people.
Kenneth personally felt some things were best left undisturbed. Sometimes things were hidden for a reason. And once concealed, were meant to remain that way.
He glanced at Tessa. She looked pale, a little unsteady on her feet. “Are you sure you can breathe?”
Forcing a finger between her skin and the tight collar, Tessa tugged the choker. “This freaking thing feels like a choke chain,” she gasped through a series of shallow pants. “I’ll be glad to get it off.”
“Don’t forget the orb,” Jake put in.
Tessa frowned at him. “I can handle this, thank you very much.”
Jake sniffed and looked down his nose. “I’m just offering a few suggestions.”
Kenneth couldn’t suppress a wary look. Jake loved flaunting his knowledge. And he took his occupation as a know-it-all very seriously. “Maybe you should shut up and just let Tessa handle things.”
Jake scoffed, but Kenneth had to say his piece. There was a fine line between the spirit of discovery and rushing in like fools. “I just don’t like all this guessing, especially since you two are messing with something unknown. What if something goes wrong and the whole damn place collapses around our heads?”
Jake stared right though him. “When you take on a job like this, you take on the risks that go with it. If you’re going to keep whining like a baby, maybe Tessa can send you back to the ship.”
In other words, Jake was calling him a pussy.
Ouch.
He made a snap decision. “I’m in.”
Jake raised a brow. “All the way?” he asked, lacing his question with dry sarcasm.
Straightening his shoulders, he looked at Tessa. “To hell and back.”
She smiled. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.”
Although he couldn’t be sure, Kenneth thought she looked more than a little relieved by his reply. But then again, the idea of having Jake Massey watching your back wasn’t a very inspiring notion. Beneath the surface of his personal allure, the archaeologist had a devious streak a mile wide. It was best to keep loose change and sharp objects out of his reach.
“So what exactly are you going to do?” Kenneth asked.
Tessa eyed the arched doorway. “The seal looks like crystal aragonite. I think if I apply enough heat I can weaken its cellular structure, crack it open, so to speak.”
Alarmed, Jake waved his hands. “Be careful,” he warned. “We want as little damage as possible.”
Positioning herself in the center of the chamber, Tessa looked at the imposing seal. “I’ll do my best,” she promised. Setting her feet apart, she extended her arms. The orb rested in the c
enter of her upturned palms. “An instruction booklet would definitely help,” she mumbled before closing her eyes.
Kenneth watched as the stones circling her neck began to flicker. Tessa wasn’t only drawing their energy in, she was going to have to redirect it out, toward the globe.
Face twisted with intense concentration, Tessa opened her eyes.
The choker around her neck lit up, giving off a thousand-watt glow. At the same time, it emitted a beam of pure energy, striking the crystal orb in her hands. Lightning flickered within the sphere, flaming out from its heart and striking the hard crystalline shield. The red-hot beam sparked and flared against the stone before completely spluttering out.
Trembling from head to toe, a low groan passed Tessa’s lips. “Damn it,” she slurred. Her knees buckled, threatening to take her down.
Kenneth rushed in, catching her before she hit the floor. Holding her around the waist, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Steady there.”
Barely managing to keep her fingers wrapped around the fragile orb, Tessa pulled in long, desperate gulps of air. “By the goddess.” She fought to catch her breath. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
His gaze shadowed with worry, Jake hovered. “What happened?”
Fighting to regain her equilibrium, Tessa slowly shook her head. “It’s hard to explain, but when the beam hit the stone, the fucking thing turned on me. It started to suck the energy out of me.” Jaw tightening, she shook her head. “I had to let it go or it would have sucked me dry.”
Kenneth frowned. “That’s enough, then. There’s no reason to put yourself in any more danger.”
Tessa twisted out of his grip like an unruly toddler, determined to have her way. “That fucker didn’t like me trying to open it.”
Kenneth looked at her. He didn’t need to be able to read her mind to know what she was thinking. “No. You don’t need to try again.”
Tessa looked up, meeting his gaze with a stubborn one of her own. “I’m going to try again.”
“If it’s going to drain you, I’m inclined to agree,” Jake seconded. “Neither one of us can swim out of here if something happens to you.”