Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
MORGAN
TEN YEARS AGO
"Come on, Mo." Jax yanked on my hand, trying to pull me to the door. "Bubba will protect us."
"Your mom said we can't go outside today." I looked up at the hole leading to the next floor. "Besides, Bubba is just a pup. How can he protect us?"
I blew enough bubbles in his face that he let me go. I laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip. "I wanted to play with Blake and go on an adventure! We haven't been on an adventure in forever."
"Last time we went on an adventure you made the eels chase after us." I swam a circle around him. "And you cried like a baby seal."
We giggled as Jax chased me around the bottom floor. We both needed to go outside and get our energy out, but I didn't want to make Mrs. West angry.
As if she heard my thoughts, Mrs. West swam down from the second level, looking paler than usual. "Boys, you're being too noisy. Olivia is taking a nap."
"Mom! You should be in bed!" Jax rushed to her side and took her hand. She had been sick for months. "Dad's going to be mad."
"Mrs. West, can we go outside and play with Bubba for a bit?" I didn't like getting in trouble and didn't want to disappoint my parents by misbehaving while Jax's mom watched me.
"Morgan, I've told you a million times to call me Angie." She patted Jax's hand. "Go outside and play with Bubba, but stay close."
She sat down on a chair and pulled a blanket of seaweed over her tail. I heard my mom and dad talking one night that she wasn't going to make it much longer.
I looked over at Jax, who was staring at his mom with a frown. I didn't like when Jax didn't smile; it made him look angry. He finally turned and plastered a grin on his face as he took my hand and swam to the door.
"Bubba learned this new trick-" As he opened the door to swim through, his father blocked our exit. "Woah! Sorry, Dad."
"Son." He gave Jax a quick pat on the head before his eyes landed on me. "Morgan. Why don't you come on back inside and have a seat next to Angie?"
I didn't like the look in his eyes. My chin quivered as I did as he asked.
I groaned and sat up, rubbing at my eyes. Damn, I had forgotten how much it sucked to be hit with a taser. We'd all had to experience it as part of training, so we knew the effects on tritons. It was much worse than when it was used on humans from what I'd seen.
"You were crying in your sleep." Jax was against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees.
I rubbed a hand down my face and scooted next to him, careful not to disturb Blake, who was still passed out. "I was dreaming about that day your dad told me my parents were dead."
Jax nodded and put his head back against the wall. "That was a shitty day."
I nudged Blake with my foot. "How long do you think we were out?"
"A few hours." He shut his eyes. "I thought my dad..." He choked on his words and took a calming breath. "I didn't think he'd do this."
"You've always been a daddy's boy. I'm honestly not surprised he's taken it this far. He has been obsessed over getting vengeance." I stood and went to the door, trying to open it. We were in some kind of holding room. "We need to get out of here. What do you think they're doing to her?"
"He’d better not fucking hurt her." He got to his knees and began shaking Blake, who groaned and flailed his arms at Jax, batting him away.
I could tell from the tight expression Jax wore that he was beating himself up over what had happened. I felt guilty as hell too, but defying an admiral meant a prison sentence, and I didn't want to be locked up.
"They aren't going to let us out of here unless precious Jax West is in danger." I grinned as Blake pulled himself up to lean against the wall. "If you were to shift-"
"No." Both of them responded at the same time.
They never liked my ideas. Probably because they were usually risky and could lead to permanent damage or death.
I kicked off my shoes. "Fine. I'll do it then. I'm practically like a son to Finn. He would be pissed if I died."
"Mo." Jax stood and grabbed my arm as I started to pull my shirt over my head. "I'll do it. I got us into this mess."
Jax cursed and undressed as I put my shoes back on. He folded his clothes neatly in a pile on top of his shoes and sat down on the cement floor.
"What if they don't come?" Blake's voice was hoarse from sleep. "He might not be able to shift back."
Our bodies weren't meant to dry shift, and we'd been warned of the dangers. Our skin in our sea form needed to stay hydrated with sea water. Even worse was when a triton shifted with their clothes on. I shuddered at the thought.
"They'll come." I went to the door with Blake and waited for Jax to prepare himself.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Jax breathed deeply and his body shifted. He kept his mouth shut since the gills inside didn't function without water.
He smacked his tail on the ground and nodded that he was ready. If he was in pain, he hid it well. We had approximately five minutes until Jax would need oxygen from water.
Blake and I pounded on the door, yelling at the top of our lungs. I knew the door was metal, but there was no way they couldn't hear us.
A small window opened on the door. "What the fuck?" The guard made no move to open the door.
"He's injured from the taser and can't shift back!" Blake rushed to kneel next to Jax, who moaned in pain with a closed mouth. "Don't just stand there!"
The guard was conversing with someone else, and then I heard the lock tumble and the door was pulled open, two men rushing in. Blake gave me a nod, and we attacked.
They were both strong tritons, but we had speed on our side. I jumped onto one of the guard's backs and wrapped my arm around his throat, cutting off his air. He stumbled backward into the wall, almost causing me to let go.
I adjusted my hold as his hands came to my forearm. Like magic, he dropped to his knees and fell forward in seconds. I dug in his pocket for his keycard and taser.
Jax made a strangled cry as his body slowly shifted back. It wasn't a smooth transition and left him panting, with his skin still blue. I cringed as he stood on wobbly legs and pulled his boxers on.
"I need water." He walked unsteadily to the door, and Blake and I put his arms over our shoulders. "I'm going to die."
"No, you aren't." We made it to the end of the hall and put him under the emergency shower. It was directly connected to the sea water. "What about your boxers?"
It really would be a life or death situation if he shifted with his clothes on. Before we were allowed on land, we had to watch several videos of tritons shifting with clothes on, and it wasn't pretty.
"I won't shift back. Pull the cord." He was trembling, and Blake and I shared a concerned look.
"The alarm is going to sound." I pulled the metal cord hanging above us and the water poured down over us. The beeping of the alarm went off down the hall.
Jax's body went stiff, and he shuddered as his skin turned human again. He stepped out from under the water and shook his head like a dog. "Let's go get our girl."