Fire

by Helen Scott

  The wall that the weapon rack rested against looked different, and when Finn ducked out of sight ahead of us my heart froze in my chest. With two quick strides we were there through and found that the wall had pushed away slightly revealing a stairway swirling upward. Just looking at it I knew there wouldn't be enough space for Griff to carry me up them.

  "You can put me down. I can do it on my own," I said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. I couldn't lie that my heart was warming to him all over again, especially because I knew deep in my soul that he hadn't planned what happened between us. The whole mate and vampire thing was definitely something we needed to talk about, but I knew there was nothing malicious about it.

  "No, you can't."

  "I can, look." I wiggled my toes. "See, I have feeling again."

  "That doesn't mean you’re stable enough to go up or down stairs."

  "If you walk behind me then you can catch me if I fall, okay?"

  "Would you two quit flirting and hurry up, I don't want to get stuck down here again," Finn called from the top of the stairs. His head just peeked around the stone column that was in the middle while he spoke, before disappearing again for a second. Just as I started making what was turning out to be a decidedly wobbly climb, his head appeared again. "You definitely don't want to miss this!" He was grinning like a kid right before the opened a present.

  I tried to move faster but ended up almost face planting onto the stairs in front of me as one of my legs gave out. It was only Griff's arms around my waist that saved me. He hauled me back against his chest and all but ran up the last flight, or would that be curve, of the stairs. When we emerged my breath stilled in my chest. Aqua colored shells lined the walls while cream stones covered the floor. Intricate patterns decorated the walls in various shades of blue making it look like light being reflected off the bottom of a pool or something similar.

  It was all beautiful but the piece de resistance was the throne. Large pieces of coral were put together to form a grand throne. It even had a cushion on it. A dusty cushion, but it was still intact, which was saying something. As I wriggled free from Griff's arms and edged closer, all be it stumbling a couple times, I could see more clearly that it wasn't multiple pieces of coral, but one enormous piece that had been carved into the throne shape.

  Waves upon waves of the red stone fanned out and around forming a straight back with curved armrests that flowed to the floor atop a thick root that was about the same size around as I was. The tree-like structure was fascinating as branches went this way and that making it look like the thickest of trees. If we were anywhere other than Atlantis, I would have questioned whether it was real, but I knew if it was here in this place of honor then it definitely wasn't fake. I'd seen the giant turtles and the shadow of whatever that thing was that the turtle was scared of. I knew Atlantis held secrets and beings older than I could imagine.

  Smaller benches were positioned on each side of the throne, clearly for the monarch's guests, maybe other members of the royal family or friends. I turned to look at what they were facing and found a window of sorts out into the arena. A large area of the wall was missing creating a railing to the area below while being open to the elements.

  It truly was like a gladiatorial stadium. I wondered if whoever had watched the games would have given us a thumbs up or a thumbs down. On second thought, that kind of thing was probably something Hollywood made up.

  When I turned back my attention was fixed on the throne once more. As I stepped closer, I realized that what I had thought was a button on the cushion was much more rounded than I would have expected. Once I reached for it the guys suddenly seemed to become aware of it too. It was small and the same aqua blue as the walls, but it had white lines running through it, making it look as though the blue was showing through from the center.

  The stone was cold to the touch, as though the white marks on it were ice even though I knew they weren't. My skin began feeling wet and clammy where it was connected to the rock. The sensation of water was stronger than I could understand as it crawled up my arm. I tried to release it, to drop it, but my hand stubbornly refused to obey and remained closed around the stone.

  As it felt like water was rushing up my arm and across my chest spreading over my whole body, time seemed to slow down. It was only as I began panicking and gasping for air that I realized whatever was causing this, whatever magic was happening, Griff and Finn weren't included as, for all intents and purposes, they were frozen. This magic was just on me. Literally.

  15

  Tessa

  The sensation of flowing water spread until it covered my face and my vision blurred. I squeezed my eyes shut as my lungs burned for air, the pressure in my chest seeming to build with every beat of my heart as I struggled not to breathe and drown myself.

  After a tense moment, where the real fear of not being able to breathe set in and reminded me that I had died earlier, the water cleared. I spluttered and coughed until I almost threw up, not that I had anything to throw up at that point. My lungs burned and my throat was raw, but when I opened my eyes none of it mattered at all.

  I was somewhere new, somewhere I'd never seen before, and I had no idea how I'd traveled there. It wasn't like I'd moved, or even as though enough time had passed for me to make it out of the throne room. Oh, no, there was magic at play here, pure and simple. All I could do was breathe as I tried to get my bearings.

  The room in front of me was smaller than the throne room I'd been in the last time my eyes were open. Tall, stone walls surrounded the room with no visible entrance or exit. I wasn't sure where to go or what to do, except for curiosity that was burning inside me as I realized that the room wasn't just a room, but a pool of sorts as well.

  In the center the floor dipped down, and water lapped at the edge where I was standing, occasionally tickling the edge of my toes. It was so clear though, that I hadn't realized it was there at first. I moved to take a step forward and realized that, somehow, I'd become clothed again. It wasn't anything like what the queen dressed me in or even what I dressed myself in. It was much more modest that anything the queen would choose, and almost too modest for my personal tastes.

  The dress was long and blue, and that was where the similarities to anything I'd ever worn before ended. The further I moved into the water, the more I realized that I was wrong about the color, but though it wasn't strictly blue I didn't have the words to describe it. The color seemed to shift between light blue and deep purple, but not just transitioning from one to the other, somehow being all of them at once. A waistband that sat just above my hips came to a downward point on my belly with what was almost a belt going down the front of the skirt. The top came up in a halter around my neck with the same pattern that was on the waistband decorated the edge. I dipped my head to look more closely at the material and saw my reflection in the water, except it wasn't my reflection staring back but that of another woman.

  Before I could focus on any of her features the water seemed to shift around me, waves gently lapping at my waist as though in greeting. The center of the pool area began to bubble and foam. I wasn't scared though. Instead, a wave of calm swept through me and I stayed where I was with the feeling that something monumental was happening.

  A latch or lock or something released somewhere with a click, and I felt the floor shift as something began to rise from the bubbling area in the water. Whatever it was had to be important, that much was clear. I mean, why else would it be in a room with no windows or doors and hidden under water?

  A pedestal with a weird egg looking stone rose from the water. At first, I thought it would be the stone that was depicted in the murals, but it was much too big. The murals showed something I would be able to hold in my hand, this was... different. It was almost the size of a baby or a small dog, except it was an egg. It was at least three times bigger than an ostrich egg, that much I was sure of.

  I moved toward it; I couldn't help myself. The surface, or shell, was a beautif
ul iridescent blue color, almost like an opal, that reflected the water around it. As I got closer the color seemed to deepen and turn into a blue-green that reminded me of a piece of rough, unpolished turquoise. The longer I watched it the more the egg or stone or whatever it was seemed to change. What had started off pale and darkened as I approached was now getting thick gold lines all over it like veins.

  In my fascination my hand reached out to touch it, to see if it was as smooth as it appeared. Before my fingers connected, sharp, blue spikes seemed to shoot out of it in random directions reminding me of icicles for a brief moment before the whole thing shattered. I gasped and jerked my hand back, holding it close against my chest as I watched the thing fall apart.

  It wasn't just the stone that fell apart, but the pillar as well. Everything seemed to crack and fall back into the water in big chunks making it splash up around where the pillar had been standing, until I saw it.

  A baby dragon.

  Before my eyes its small wings unfurled, and I realized that the blue spikes that had pierced out of the egg were, in fact, the bones of the dragon's wing and its claws. My hands shot out to catch it as the last piece of the pillar that it had been balancing on broke and fell. I didn't know if it could breathe under water or if that's just where some dragons laid their eggs. Hell, I hadn't even known dragons laid eggs until that very moment, or that their eggs could change color for that matter.

  I caught it under its front legs, or would that be forearms, and its tail immediately wrapped around my wrist. Its small head looked up at me. Tiny horns sprouted from the top of its head along with two rows of spikes that came from each side of its neck with a thin layer of webbing between them, reminding me of a duck's foot or fish's fin. The spikes merged into one row that went down its back and along its tail. They weren't sharp by that point, more just bumps as its tail came to a point.

  It shook in my hands and its wings flared out behind it, two stunning leathery extensions from its back. They weren't like bird wings more a cross between bat and butterfly, but a gorgeous blue and purple color, similar to the dress I was wearing. Without warning it launched itself from my hand, its tiny claws digging into my skin like little punctures as it took off.

  I wanted to hiss in pain, or cry out, but I was terrified that making a sound would ruin this beautiful moment. Instead, I held my breath and watched as it swooped around the room, testing out its wings for the first time. Strong, powerful flaps took the small creature higher and higher as I watched, before it dove down dropping like a stone from the air above me and slipping into the water without making a single splash.

  It was only as the dragon returned to the surface holding the stone that I realized I'd dropped it when I reached out to catch the creature. When it raised the stone toward me, I held out my hand and the baby dragon dropped it in. As the stone connected with the bloody puncture marks from where the dragon had taken off silver runes appeared in a band around the widest part. I had no idea what to make of it and hoped they would stay there so I could show the guys, providing I could figure out how to get back to them.

  The dragon circled away from me in the water and for a moment I lost sight of the little thing. Its scales seemed to blend too easily with the floor, so it was only as it was shooting toward me like a rocket that I could differentiate it from its surroundings again. When it didn't slow down, I took a step back, then another.

  The calm that I had noticed when I first entered the water found me again, soothing the panic that had been rising. With a last flap of its wings the baby dragon shot out of the water and aimed itself directly at my chest. The calming sensation was overwhelming as I watched it fly toward me at top speed. I didn't even flinch as it impacted and seemed to sail through me. I wasn't immune from the impact though. When I would have flinched and tried to run, I stood and took the blow even as it knocked me into the water.

  As I fell back, I felt the water accept me like the arms of a parent accept a child. Even though I saw red cloud the water above me as I sank to the bottom, the panic still didn't set in. It was only as I fought not to exhale that the calm feeling that had been growing in intensity couldn't keep up with the feverish panic that was shooting through my chest. Although I tried to fight it, eventually I gave up and released my breath, fully preparing myself to drown again at that moment. I was sick of almost drowning. A scream bubbled out of me as I exhaled.

  When I thought I would be breathing in a lungful of water... I didn't. I felt the water fill my mouth, but instead of going into my lungs it seemed to go elsewhere. I still wasn't panicking thanks to the weird calming water, and as I took another breath and waited for the drowning sensation to hit me again it still didn't. It was a second later when I realized that I was actually breathing underwater.

  A huge grin spread over my face.

  I was like the Little Mermaid or something, only without the mermaid bit. My hand came up to touch my neck, and I felt gills there, just like Finn had, as they fluttered against my fingertips. It should have grossed me out or freaked me out or something, but all I actually felt was excitement. As I blinked my eyes, I began to realize that not only did I have gills but there was some kind of third eyelid that was covering my eyeball. It was a thin membrane that seemed to be protecting my eye from the water and also making it easier to see. I did a somersault and just twisted around in the water for a second relishing this new sensation.

  When I stood up I was scared that I wouldn't be able to breathe, but a flexing feeling in my neck let me know that the gills had withdrawn. I confirmed with my hand and found nothing except smooth skin. The dragon was back as well, swimming around in the water. I didn't know if that made it a temporary thing or not.

  Evidently while I'd been playing in the water, a doorway had decided to appear. If nothing else had happened that day, then that might have freaked me out, but honestly, at that point, it was the least impressive thing to have occurred, which made me want to giggle. I suddenly felt a little too close to losing my shit, and not in a cathartic way either, in the I can't handle all this weird shit anymore way.

  I moved toward the doorway, which was more of an archway than anything else. When I was close enough to slip through, I looked over my shoulder and saw the baby dragon watching me. I was torn. Did it have a caretaker? Did it need one? If I just left would it be okay?

  "Do you want to come with me?" I asked, unsure if it could even understand me.

  The tiny creature, well, tiny for a dragon anyway, chirped like a cat and flew happily toward me. I braced for impact, but it never came. Instead, all I felt was the prick of its claws as it alighted on my shoulder. When I turned to look, it wasn't there. My shoulder was empty, and yet my skin was changing. A big tattoo-looking mark was appearing on my skin, and there was a metal band around my upper arm that was copper in color with a blue stone in the middle. I tried to slide it off, but when I did so the tattoo disappeared with it, and a very annoyed baby dragon appeared in front of me.

  "This links you to me?" I asked.

  The dragon made a sound similar to a cat purring but deeper, followed by a small hissing yip type sound and flew toward me again. Without the band on my arm, he just sat on my shoulder and bit at my hair.

  "Okay, okay!" I laughed and put the bangle back on my arm, clutching the stone with the runes on it tightly in my hand, before walking into the darkness ahead of me. I wasn't sure where it led, but I trusted that with the dragon by my side I would make it back to my guys.

  16

  Tessa

  When the darkness cleared a little, I saw that I was standing on the beach, having no clue how I'd gotten there or what kind of tunnel I'd walked through. I looked over my shoulder and just saw rocks that I wasn't sure I remembered walking around. The glow of firelight was in front of me in the darkness. Being on the outer ring of Atlantis at night was like being at a dark sky park. There was no light pollution anywhere, except for the fire that I was hoping had been set by my guys.

  I mad
e my way toward it, keeping my feet as light as possible so I didn't make any noise. I wasn't sure what I was scared of or worried about, but after everything that had happened, I figured it was better to be on the safe side. As I approached, I saw two figures outlined by the light of the flames and my heart jumped in my chest. It was Finn and Griff, but there was something wrong with them. I'd never seen them looking so defeated.

  "Guys?" I asked hesitantly.

  The two of them spun toward me with weapons raised. I put my hands up defensively not that I thought either of them would actually hurt me.

  "It's just me," I said although mentally I added and my dragon. I didn't need to freak them out completely right off the bat though.

  "Fuck, Dove, we thought you were dead." Griff sighed and ran a hand through his hair. For the first time I realized that it was getting long, actually long enough to make a ponytail. That was all I had time to notice before he had me up in his arms. Finn wasn't about to let him get all the attention though. I felt his cool, steady presence behind me as his arms wrapped around us both. Part of me expected them to be weird about touch like so many guys I'd known, but they weren't. There was no hug with the three slaps on the back here.

  "Siren, you can't keep doing that shit." Finn sighed next to my ear.

  "It wasn't like I planned it!" I squealed as his hands slipped around my middle, parting me from Griff ever so slightly. The combination of the two of them was intoxicating. I couldn't help the rush that went through me as they pinned me between them. I let my head drop back onto Finn's chest as I stared up at Griff. "How did you guys escape?"

  "When you disappeared, we searched everywhere for you and found a hallway off the throne room that led outside, which was pretty much just a ledge that wrapped around the mountain. When we were back on stable ground, we hiked back up to see if you were back in the temple somehow and found Kai and Dres standing there looking forlorn. Fortunately, they brought food and drink for us, so we sent them packing to keep everyone at the palace distracted while we looked for you," Finn explained, his voice a melodic ebb and flow in my ear.