Atlantis Uprising : The Lost Atlanteans Book One: A Reverse Harem Adventure

by N. R. Larry

  I blinked, and Sophie shot him a look. Beside me, Jett snorted.

  “Right, anyway! Sorry.” Sophie laughed, and it was a nervous sound. “The Kappa are ghosts. But, I believe that the longer they remain in this realm, the more twisted their souls become.”

  “And twisted souls turn demonic,” I finished.

  She smiled, more confident, and nodded.

  Jett snatched up a knife that was in the middle of the table. “And, we kill it with this?”

  I eyed the blade. It was pitiful, and that was me being nice. Dull, and black. I wouldn’t wield it against a friendly dolphin.

  “Yes,” Sophie said, her dark eyes glistened with excitement. “It’s—”

  She went into another long explanation, and my thoughts began to wander. I muttered something, excusing myself, and ducked behind the slight wall that separated the living room from the kitchen. Turning on the water, I swiped the cool liquid down my face and sank to the floor.

  This wasn’t like me. I wasn’t rude to guests. I was never unfocused. I tried to shake it off and was about to get up when a shadow splayed out on the floor in front of me.

  I glanced up.

  “Priestess?” Conway frowned down at me. “You’re not well.”

  I smiled at him. I couldn’t worry Conway with whatever was going on in my head. He was the most delicate of us, and I’ve always been the most protective of him.

  I was about to feed him some lie and send him back into the dining room, but he sat beside me, and I felt too tired to do much of anything. I sighed. “Sorry, I will come around in a few moments.”

  “Take your time,” he said in his gentle way, leaning back against the cabinets.

  I took his hand and he held it against his chest and closed his eyes. Before I could stop him, I felt the ocean. I tried not to gasp, after all, I didn’t want whatever conversation going on in the dining room to be interrupted. Closing my eyes, I let the foam of the waves wash over my skin. Within seconds, I really was calm. When I opened my eyes, I stared at him, and found myself at a loss for words. His colorless eyes took on the hues of the deep sea and became fluid and knowing. Tears burned at the back of my eyes, but I held them back because I didn’t want to upset him.

  “Poseidon’s grace, Conway,” I said, unable to keep the breathless quality out of my voice. “You are so gifted.”

  His answering smile was somewhat sad. For a moment, I was afraid he might drop my hand and stop the beautiful magic he was filling me with. But no, he only held on tighter.

  “It’s you, Conway,” I whispered, trying to break though that sad expression on his face.

  He met my gaze and I took our hands and held them against my heart. I wanted him to feel my strength. “It’s you, and not your gifts that I love.”

  His bottom lip quivered. “I’ve been having those thoughts again, my priestess.”

  His words were like a catalyst, awakening my desire. I was ashamed by it, but more than that, I was excited by it. “It’s nothing to be afraid of, Conway,” I whispered to him. I took his hand and held it against my thigh.

  His eyes went blank, his body limp, and I could tell the simple act of touching me stirred a cyclone of emotions within him. Ironically, as a siren, one would think he had me the most, but we had yet to make love. He was constantly fighting his nature, afraid that he would never be loved for who he was because of what he was—a creature that brought out lusts so powerful they could be wielded as weapons.

  “It’s okay, Conway. You are safe with me. You know this.”

  When he looked at me, there was a plea in his eyes. I dragged his hand further up my leg and his mouth opened a bit, his breath quickened in time with my own.

  “You’ve been so patient,” he whimpered.

  I glanced at the bulge in his jeans. My breath hitched. I beat away the dizziness circling my thoughts. I tried to feel only him—not the numbing, siren call. I beat it back and found that I wanted him as much without it. Unable to help it, and not caring that our guest was only a few feet away, I grabbed onto that bulge and worked my fingers into him.

  His eyes rolled back into his head. “Seven seas,” he whispered.

  “I’ll wait as long as you need me to, Conway,” I mumbled back.

  His hand grabbed my wrist and I thought he was going to move it, but he only slumped back into the cabinets, helpless. Desire made the space between my thighs slick. Fuck, I wanted him. I wanted to use what Jett taught me and take this babe into my mouth until he was mad with physical sensation.

  I worked my fingers faster. The tiny grunt that came from his delicate lips turned me wild. I had all but forgotten that they were behind that wall, that we were supposed to be entertaining a guest.

  A crash brought me to my senses. I pulled my hand away. Conway sat up, instantly alert. Then, there was a loud wail. I jumped to my feet and rushed to the dining room.

  At first, my eyes would not make sense of what I was seeing. “Seven seas,” Conway whispered from at my back.

  Jett was in the middle of a shift, crouched at the other end of the table, grunting and thrashing around. Marlowe’s face was buried into the dining room table, and Sophie had one of his arms in hers, twisted into a terrible angle. A green sludge dripped from her mouth and her eyes were cloudy and white.

  Conway took in a breath and let out a siren wail that shook the walls around us.

  Sophie snapped her gaze to me. “The sea witch and her sea whore! Sing your song! Sing your song! Sing! It wasn’t one voice that came out of her, it was many, and none of them sounded like the woman from before.

  “The Kappa,” Marlowe grunted in pain. He reached forward with his free hand, grabbed one of the bags of salt and tossed it back into her face.

  Sophie’s many voices wailed, dropped Marlowe’s arm, and backed away. He fell forward, and I rushed to him, hovering my hands over his limp arm. It was hard to concentrate over the violent din of Jett changing. Furniture was flying into the air, he was sliding up and down the walls, tearing the paintings from them, turning his inner chaos out into the house.

  Sophie’s flesh sizzled in the places where the salt had touched, but she was still on her feet, and her cloudy gaze was on Jett.

  “The Kappa,” Marlowe wheezed again. “Took her body for its host.”

  “Be still,” I grunted, and forced his arm back up into its socket. There was a painful-sounding snap. He clenched his jaw to smother a scream and then shot me a glare. “How do we stop it?” I asked, as a reminder for him to focus, as everything was going to shit all around us.

  “It surfaced because it sensed something that could threaten it,” he said, his voice still distorted with pain. “We have to find the knife that…”

  There was a loud, animal growl. Glass shattered and rained down around us. Sophie hopped around the room, laughing, her head half twisted off her shoulders. It was Jett. He was changed. He was now Adaro. His killer gaze was on the Kappa. A fin shot out from the top of his head, and his skin was slick with shark skin. He waved his arms out and huffed. Shark bones broke out through his wrists and sprang from the tops of his hands. He banged them together and charged.

  “No!” Marlowe screamed. “He’ll kill her!”

  I was already in motion, jumping up into the air and planting myself between the Kappa and Jett. He charged right into me, stealing my breath. We slid across the floor and back into the kitchen, items crashing all around us.

  “Jett,” I huffed from below him. “Come back to me.” I had to talk him down, or he would kill the woman. Normally, we might have stopped him, but there was the Kappa to deal with.

  Another siren wail tore through my ears. “The knife!” I heard Marlowe scream. “It’s the only thing to stop them!”

  Jett twisted off me, jerking his head toward the commotion. He had the Kappa’s scent. I reached for one of his shark bones, the things he used as spears, and ripped one from his arm. He let out a wail, and as he turned, another one was already barreling thro
ugh his skin.

  I took advantage of his momentary confusion and struck him across the face. His head snapped to the left, and I drove myself at him. We slid back toward the living room. Glancing up, I found we had a clear shot to the vault. In the corner of my vision, Marlowe and Conway struggled with the Kappa.

  I had to get the vault open and Jett inside, because the only place I could overpower him was in the water. Vaulting off him, I dropped to my knees and punched in the code. The water roared in my ears. I pulled the vault open. Jett was once again charging at the flurry of bodies. I went after him again, jumped on his back, and took hold of his fins.

  I wrapped one leg around his torso and flipped back with all my might. For a moment, I didn’t think I would pull it off. He was too strong. But then, his body began to bend, and I tossed him over my shoulder into the water.

  “Lowe! You got this?” I rushed toward the vault.

  “Go!” he shouted.

  I dove into the water and shut the vault over my head. I darted my gaze left and right. A black blur swam at me so fast I didn’t register it as actual movement at first. He began to circle me, creating a vortex that started to suck me down in the water.

  I closed my eyes and clapped my hands together. Bright, golden light pulsed in between my palms. There was a rush to my brain. It felt good to be using magic again. Throwing my hand out, I lobbed a shard of golden energy right him.

  It hit him in the side and he went turning, head over tail, deeper into the water. I focused my energy and started to make shape with it. It began to thin out and separate into layers, until it created a net that I could wrap around him.

  After catching my breath, I pulled him toward me. At first, he thrashed, creating a wall of foam and bubbles. Slowly, my magic seeped into him, and he began to shift back. He left behind the Adaro, and soon, I was staring into the playful gaze of Jett.

  I breathed easy. You must stay here while I check on them, I thought to him, as thoughts were quicker in the water than words.

  He nodded.

  I hated leaving him in a magical cage, but as long as any of us were in danger from the Kappa, he wouldn’t stop trying to go after it. I shot through the water, opened the vault again, and climbed back into the living room.

  For the second time, my eyes didn’t want to make sense of what I was seeing. Conway was on the soles of his feet, his mouth covered, rocking back and forth. A few feet away from him lay the destroyed couch, and a ruined body from which flowed a thick, red fluid.

  Blood.

  Marlowe stood over her, the black bladed knife in his hand, shaking his head as if unable to believe what he was seeing.

  My limbs felt heavy as I inched toward the three of them. Staring down at Sophie’s body, I asked, “Is she…”

  Marlowe looked up at me with a ruined expression on his face. He’d taken his fair share of lives, but never someone innocent, and never someone from the surface. Guilt tore through me like an Orca’s teeth. I dropped to my knees and shuffled toward him.

  “Marlowe…”

  “I didn’t have a choice.” He dropped the knife and lowered his head, raking his hands through his short hair. “The Kappa kept pouring into her. They kept pouring into her!”

  “Sh.” I took hold of him and forced his head into my lap. “Don’t say anything else.” I clenched my jaw and stared at Sophie. “This is on me. Put it out of your mind.”

  He didn’t cry, or wail, as that wasn’t Marlowe’s way. But his muscles went stiff, and he couldn’t stop shaking. I knew some internal battle was going on in his head, and I hated myself for it.

  I shouldn’t have been so distracted.

  I should have dealt Sophie the final blow myself. I was about to look to Conway, to have him lay hands on Marlowe, but then something in Sophie’s blood caught my eye.

  It was golden, and it shimmered.

  I let go of Marlowe. He sat up and stared at me. “Priestess?”

  I raised a finger in the air for quiet. He let out a whistle, and moments later, Conway was silent. I crawled toward Sophie’s limp body and lowered my fingers to that golden shimmer in her blood, then I placed my other hand on her chest.

  Life.

  Only a glimmer of it, but still, more than enough.

  I clapped my hands again, calling the magic forth. “Focus on her heart rhythm,” I commanded of Conway and Lowe. “Do it now.”

  As always, they listened, and began to aide me in my magic. I wasn’t as strong without Jett here, but I would make this work. I had to make it work.

  I focused on that spot of gold in her blood and it began to expand. Spitting magic out of me like air, I took hold of that golden spot and it began to chase the blood that was on the floor, feeding it back into Sophie’s body. Soon, the thick red ooze was but a drop, the rest of it had returned home, and Sophie’s brown skin took on a bronze glow.

  “She wasn’t dead,” Marlowe whispered from beside me.

  I shivered slightly from the use of so much magic. I didn’t want to say anything, because bringing people back from the brink was never a sure thing. There might be more Kappa inside. Something else unknown could have sneaked in. All I could do was hope that was I was staring at was all Sophie.

  We all watched her for several moments. Finally, she coughed, and her eyelids fluttered. Marlowe let out a clumsy laugh and sank into me. “Thank the seas, bitch! You’re back!”

  I gave him a look, which he ignored. When he was that happy, he often forgot himself.

  “How do you feel?” I asked Sophie.

  She blinked again, and then licked her bottom lip. “Wh-what happened?”

  Again, Marlowe laughed. “You probably don’t want to know.”

  I stood and looked to Conway. He nodded and stepped forward. He would use his special touch to ease her fears. I backed away and closed my eyes, glad that it was over. Conway and Lowe got Sophie settled, and into one of the chairs that hadn’t been destroyed with Jett’s transformation.

  The mess made me remember I still had to release Jett, and I started toward the vault. Before I reached it, it swung open, and my heart hitched in my chest. I expected the worst. The sea king or someone that worked for him, come to hunt us down.

  Jett climbed out of the vault, still bound in magical rope. My muscles went tense, readying for another fight. Then, a slight figure, dressed in the headdress and armor of an Atlantean, stepped out from behind him.

  “Violetta?” I asked.

  Her green skin glittered in the dim, yellow light of the living room. Conway, Lowe, and Sophie froze. All I could do was stare.

  Violetta let go of Jett, who ripped himself free of the magical binding. She shook her head at me. “Well, you guys look different.” She frowned, and her eyes landed on Sophie. “And you’re with a human…” Her gaze settled back on me. “Tell me you’re not in on his plan, my priestess. Tell me my honor isn’t forfeit for helping you escape that night.”

  I inched forward slowly, eyeing the trident she gripped in her hand. “Does anyone know you’re here?” I asked.

  She just stared at me.

  “I am not in on his plan, I promise you this.”

  Her grip on the trident strengthened.

  “It’s true, Violetta,” Marlowe finally said, his voice slightly strained. “But, it’s a long story.”

  Her gaze flickered between the four of us. Finally, she nodded, and went down on one knee. A show of respect to her sea priestess. When she glanced up she said, “Then, I’m going to need to hear it. And I’m going to have to take back word that you have a plan, my priestess. The sea king is mad, and those who remain loyal to you are afraid you’ve turned your back on us.”

  I knelt on the floor, so I could meet her gaze. “Then you shall have what you wish, and I give you my word that not only am I not on his side, but I have a plan that will rip him from his throne and save Atlantis from his tyranny.”

  A tear ran down her cheek. “Thank the seas. You’ll come back with me, then?�
�

  I glanced up at Jett, and then Conway, and finally, Marlowe. “We will have to operate from here.” I cupped her hands in my face. “But you must go back.”

  She clicked her teeth. “I can’t go back to him!”

  “You have to.” I took her hand and squeezed it. “I can’t have you in danger, and if he suspects you aided me…” I shook my head, unable to finish my sentence. “Promise me.”

  Silence fell over the destroyed living room. Finally, Violetta sniffled and nodded. “I promise.”

  I smiled and pulled her into a hug, then, I eyed everyone in the room. “Good, then let us weed out the rest of the Kappa from this island so we can get on to the business of taking back Atlantis.”

  6

  Zarya

  I slipped my foot up the side of the claw foot bathtub and let my leg dangle over the edge. “They’re becoming insufferable.” My hair purred in my ear… Literally, and then began to lengthen, covering the whole of my body.

  “They need something to do,” Sophie, my surface contact, told me in a flattened voice.

  I turned my gaze to her. “You still look like shit.” With a sigh, I added, “Jett has been catching me up on surface lingo. At least the foul language is fun to learn.”

  Her brown eyes widened and for a moment, I was reminded of sea corals. “It’s been a week,” I said, noticing the sunken quality the corners of her eyes had taken on. “You should be getting better.”

  She coughed into her fist and waved me off. “I’ll be fine.” Pressing herself tighter against the wall, she fidgeted and glanced at the door as if it were a lifeline. “Can we talk about this when you’re finished?” She sighed. “I’m not in a hurry. I could wait in the living room and watch some TV.”