Chapter 15
“T ake off your clothes, Asherah.”
I stood on shaky legs before the dome wall just beyond the palace gardens. Aside from the gates to Atlantis, it was the closest entrance into the ocean depths and was only accessible to very few, according to Draevyn. “Friends don’t tell each other to take off their clothes.” I couldn’t have felt more mortified if I tried.
“It will be a better incentive for you to keep your scales,” he commented from behind me.
I slowly twisted around and gave him my best eye roll before returning my attention to the dome wall. His low chuckle reached my ears, but I couldn’t share in his humor. My anxiety was busy holding my body hostage.
With the upcoming meeting with the queens, both Draevyn and Dad felt it was best if I practiced holding my scales. Nothing would be more insulting than if I were to show up in human clothes, apparently. “You just want to see me naked,” I said, trying to match his humor.
His feet crunched across the sand that led to the dome wall entrance until the heat from his body crested across my back, and my breath hitched. “You’re a stunning female, my Queen. I’ll not deny your beauty. Ooof!”
I elbowed him in his well-defined abs, earning myself more hurt than him. “Shameless flirt,” I scolded, rubbing at my elbow.
“Only with you.”
Anyone would be a fool not to smile at a comment like that. So, I did as I dropped my hands to my sides and inhaled deeply, my eyes held tight to the darkness beyond the wall. “I’d feel better if I went with my clothing on.”
“How about a compromise?” he asked as he approached my side. “Why don’t you remove your clothes before entering the water?” He held his palms up. “I promise I won’t look,” he said, but his devilish smirk expressed something else entirely.
My brow rose to my hairline. “Why don’t I believe you?”
The smirk dropped, and the heat in his eyes could be felt all the way to the Atlantian outposts. “You should. Because if you ever honor me with the sight of your exquisite body, it will be because you choose to.”
Was it possible to melt into the sand?
I broke his gaze as I glanced at the ground, my curtain of dark hair hiding my blush before I cleared my throat. “Compromise it is, then.” I motioned toward the wall. “Go ahead.”
He stepped forward and pushed his tall, muscular body through the wall of water, swiveling back toward me when he was halfway submerged. “I must warn you. It is quite cold without your scales.” His tropical green eyes dropped to the stiff peaks visible through my sheer, lavender Atlantian jumper before he disappeared beyond the wall. I could’ve sworn I’d heard him huff a laugh.
I blew a raspberry. “Nothing to it but to do it,” I murmured to no one in particular. With one final scan of my surroundings, noting nothing for company but bright, plump rose bushes and bright green-leafed trees that whispered against a phantom wind, I dragged the straps of my jumper down my arms until it dropped to the ground at my feet, my undergarments following a moment later. Goosebumps grew across my tan skin as I slipped off my matching silk shoes. I was naked as the day I was born, standing before the massive, dark-as-night wall of water. On an exhale, I closed my eyes and envisioned my webbed foot as I pressed it through the barrier. The biting cold water assaulted my toes, causing me to wince before the webbing formed to protect them.
Suddenly—or perhaps for a much-needed distraction—I remembered the times when winter bled into spring in the Above World, just brisk enough to be uncomfortable, but warming slightly that the pool water was beginning to increase in degrees. John and I would challenge ourselves by jumping in and seeing which one of us could last the longest without hauling ourselves out of the pool and launching ourselves in the hot tub. Being the competitive beast I’d always been, I’d stuck it out the longest. It’s why, with my foot and part of my ankle already through the barrier, I decided the best strategy was to simply jump in.
Without breaking my concentration, I hurtled forward.
“ Shit! ”
This was so not the pool. Thousands of tiny pins pricked across my skin, paralyzing my entire body. It was too much. It was way too much.
In an instant, Draevyn’s form emerged from the depths with lightning speed as his hands came to gently grip my face. “ Morph, Asherah. Your body cannot sustain this temperature. Morph! ” he demanded, his deep voice sounding in my mind.
I didn’t even care about my sheer nakedness in front of him as I nodded my head vigorously and concentrated on the one area of my body that felt warm, my toes wiggling with heated relief. I imagined that warmth spreading up my legs, desperate for it. My body began to shake as that warmth finally hit my abdomen and spread across my breasts. And as my arms became blanketed by my blue-green scales that shimmered against the light emanating from within the dome, another problem emerged.
Eventually, I would need to breathe.
As if sensing my rising panic, Draevyn encouraged, “ You’re doing beautifully. Just one last step, Princess. You can do this. You are so strong. Breathe for me. ” He held so much confidence in me that it was impossible not to try and honor him—this Commander of Atlantis who had patiently stood by my side, teaching me everything I needed to know without condescension or causing me to feel anything less than what I’d been called by the goddess to do.
So, I breathed.
The brine of the saltwater speared my throat as I drank it down. I gulped until my need for breath overwhelmed me, my eyes going wide as they held on Draevyn’s face.
“ Almost there ,” he said, his thumbs brushing across my cheekbones. “ Through the nose .”
When you surf as much as I did in the Above World, you always think about drowning and what that sensation may feel like—not being able to take a breath and dying a slow, agonizing death. But when the water entered my nostrils on an inhale, my beating heart did not give out. My body didn’t go into shock. I simply…breathed.
My gaze traveled over Draevyn’s face, noticing the light bluish-green sheen on his olive skin as my lungs began to pump—the strands of his long brown hair drifting around him like tiny serpents. Water flowed in and out of my mouth and nose as easily as air, and the drumming beat of my heart slowed to a steady rhythm.
A smile lifted his sensual lips. “ There you are. ”
“ Your skin is iridescent. ” I raised my hand and brushed my fingertips across his prominent cheekbones. A swoosh of water sounded on an intake as he gasped. “ Almost blue, yet green. ”
“ Yes, that’s the layer of protection that spreads across our unscaled skin for protection, ” he advised as a lavender blush began to spread across his skin. He reached for a strand of my hair, twisting it around his thick finger. “ You’ll notice your hair and scalp will also have the same sheen. ” He set it aside reverently, regarding me again. “ How are you doing? ”
“ I’m…okay. It’s weird. The breathing. ”
“ The water provides the oxygen that your Fae body requires. ” His hands slid down my arms, but I felt nothing save a slight pressure. He twined his fingers through mine. “ Let’s swim out a bit. It’ll give you a chance to practice using your webbing. ” A faelight formed in the center of his palm, and he cast it ahead of us—the light’s blue glow breaking through the darkness ahead, illuminating thousands of tiny particles floating around us. “ We’ll practice summoning faelight as well. It’s important for you to know how to do so when swimming in the open water. This way. ”
Draevyn pulled me alongside him as my feet fluttered behind me, cutting through the water. After a few kicks to adjust to my webbed feet, an overwhelming feeling of fluidity took over—some natural part of my being awakening. I pulled slightly ahead of Draevyn, and a smirk emerged on his face. “ Challenge accepted, Princess. ”
My webbed feet fluttered behind me, my muscles beginning to cramp with the effort to outswim my mentor, my…friend. The corners of my lips lifted as I kept pace with him, but he expertly swam ahead, the scales at his feet forming into one large tail. My eyes widened as I took in all the beautiful ridges and creases. It was the stuff of fairytales and legends. He twisted around while still managing to swim ahead of me. “ You’ll need to do better than that. ”
“ You have nearly a thousand years on me! ”
His face lit up, the faelight’s warm blue glow causing a mesmerizing shimmer across his tail. “ Then we’ll spend the next thousand years trying to outswim each other. Won’t we? ” He winked as he swiveled back, winning him a broad grin he couldn’t see. “ Don’t worry. I can still feel that smile of yours. ”
I gave him a one-finger salute and kicked my feet to fasten my pace, gaining on him. I could swear I heard him laugh. His iridescent tail flapped in front of my face, and I dared myself to reach out and touch it, but he turned abruptly, and I propelled right into his chest. “ Ow, ” I said as I cradled my nose. I ashamedly buried my face in his chest to hide my embarrassment, brushing my fingers over my nose. “ I don’t think anything’s broken. ” Except for my pride, but I didn’t voice that.
“ Let me take a look. ”
“ I’d rather you not. ”
“ Oh, come on. Let me see. ” His fingers came underneath my chin, lifting my face, still held in a wince. His gaze roamed, and his finger gently prodded at my nose. “ Not broken, thank the goddess. It might be a little sore. ” His gaze locked on mine, and something lit within my chest. “ Still breathtaking, my Queen. ”
Irrational emotions weren’t something I’d indulged in during my time in the Above World. I’d never had the impulse to leap and kiss a guy or a male like the one in front of me. I’d taken lovers to my bed, but none that had piqued my interest for more than a short time. The initial attraction eventually fizzled out, and we’d become nothing more than a mutual itch to scratch on occasion. I was Asherah, the wallflower. I made methodical, rational decisions. But in this moment, with the heat of a thousand suns in Draevyn’s gaze like an alluring invitation, I wanted to consume him.
Ravish him.
With unmistakable reverence, he cradled my upturned palm in his. “ You’ll need to practice summoning faelights, ” he said, his telepathic tone soft. “ The ability to cast a faelight comes from a very ancient magic, a gift from the goddess. ” He summoned his faelight to hover over our joint palms. “ The same will used to summon our scales is the same will used to summon our faelight. Make this faelight grow, Asherah. Will it. ”
I focused on the sphere of blue light, the little mass swirling with an ebb and flow of tiny bright waves within. I imagined that sphere growing, and my mouth parted slightly when it grew large enough to the circumference of our hands.
Draevyn slowly dropped his hands from mine. “ That’s it. You’re doing great. Now, keep your focus and cast it a few feet away. ”
A smile formed on my lips as I flicked the light into the shadows with ease, but what my light illuminated caused my smile to flatten. Every muscle in my body went rigid. A group of Water Fae hovered beyond the faelight, not even ten feet away. My heart sank into my stomach when I beheld the scowls and various states of righteous anger across their iridescent faces.
The leader of their little pack ventured forward, and a darkness came across his face. “ Commander Eliron. You’re a little ways away from the safety of the palace gardens. ” He dared to glance at me, an uneasy feeling skittering down my spine. “ Seems you’ve taken your pet Princess for a stroll in the deep. ” He shifted his attention back to Draevyn, who glared at him with equal malice. “ Unwise, given the state of things in Atlantis. ”
“ How dare you disrespect our future Queen, ” Draevyn seethed. “ Do not look at her. Don’t even think about speaking to her again. ” Draevyn summoned his trident, the golden glow bathing the area around us. I surveyed the group, counting five in total—five against one because I didn’t know how to defend myself.
“ Stay behind me, ” Draevyn ordered. He casually twirled his trident, golden streaks of light trailing behind the tips of the mighty weapon. When their leader summoned his own weapon—a long, golden blade that glowed so similarly to Draevyn’s trident—he paused his advance. “ So, it would seem the Akani have recruited a blacksmith elemental, ” he remarked as he positioned himself to strike. “ Good to know. ”
And what happened next…
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.
Draevyn struck first, the male’s sword ascending to block his trident. Draevyn seized the opportunity, his hand snapping forward to grab the male’s wrist in a vice grip. The male’s muffled scream could still be heard despite the ocean depths. So could the crunch of his wrist as he released his blade. Draevyn scooped it up in his free hand and swiftly struck across the male’s throat. The male's eyes went blank as he drifted away on an errant current. I hadn’t even noticed Draevyn disappearing in the darkness, like a shadow in midnight water, leaving me with only my tiny faelight for company.
But I could imagine the dance with the small glimpses I witnessed in the shadows.
His trident would appear in an explosion of golden light, strike, and disappear. Another male dead. A similar explosion. A female dead. His fierce, muscular body cut around the group, eliminating them with a speed barely visible to the eye, fae eyesight or not. Golden blades emerged and disappeared like strikes of golden lightning. The tiny flashes bathed Draevyn’s face in a brief light, revealing the look of a furious warrior—one who was prepared and determined to protect. That same light showcased the fear of the Akani who dared to kill him.
Dared to kill me .
Draevyn’s trident appeared yet again and struck true in the torso of the fourth, the male’s body jerking as Draevyn dislodged his trident. He scanned the area, summoning faelight to shed light on the damage before us, blood drifting into the water like thin red drapes on a rogue wind.
My brow furrowed. “ There were five. ”
A bright light grew at my back, and Draevyn’s face slackened. My heart kicked in my chest as I wheeled around just in time to see the bright golden blade of the last Akani aim for my chest. But before it could strike true, a beast emerged out of the darkness—its large jaws and gleaming white teeth snapping on the male and separating him in two in an instant. Water flowed in and out of my lungs as I tried to settle my erratic heart, but I couldn’t.
Because as Draevyn swam up beside me and his hand wrapped around my waist pulling me into him, our gazes were held firmly on the massive form of the great white shark before us.
The great white shark flung the body of the male he’d held between his enormous jaws in the direction of a shiver of sharks who were already consuming the bodies of the other deceased Akani. It swiveled its mammoth head back to us, Draevyn’s arm tightening around my waist. I felt his body stiffen when the shark lowered in a similar fashion to a bow.
“ Greetings, Princess Asherah. ”
I jerked back into Draevyn’s chest. “ You can talk. ”
“ The goddess blesses us with the ability to speak to the one with the mark ,” the shark replied.
“ Is it speaking to you? ” Draevyn inquired.
I glanced back at him. “ You can’t hear him? ”
“ Only the one with the mark can hear us. Speak to us ,” the shark provided. My gaze shifted back to the shark. “ My name is Tiburon, but you may call me Tibu. I am the King of the water world, ” he said, bowing again slightly.
“ He says only the one with the mark can hear them, ” I informed Draevyn.
I caught the dark creases shadowed across his brow in my peripheral, his wide eyes observing Tibu. “ Extraordinary. I’ve never heard of anything like it. ”
“ Tibu. Thank you, ” I ventured, “ for saving my life. It would seem I’m in your debt. ”
Tibu swam at a leisurely pace back and forth in front of us as he said, “ There is no debt, princess. It is our duty. We’ve been guarding you these past twenty-three years—with much difficulty, might I add. You've given us quite a fright with you riding the waves as you do. ”
It was as if a puzzle piece had slipped into the place. All of the encounters with sea life, the strange behavior, the inexplicable way sharks seemed to stay far away when I was in the ocean. “ It all makes sense now ,” I said mostly to myself.
“ What makes sense? ” Draevyn asked, his eyes never leaving Tibu and his arm not moving a single inch from around my waist.
“ Sea creatures, especially sharks, have acted so strangely with me in the Above World. I never knew why. ”
“ Tell your Guardian that he must be vigilant in these waters ,” Tibu warned, his tone grave. “ While your kind may not be able to hear us, we hear every message they relay to each other in these waters. Your kind seeks to disrupt the goddess’s will, which has become a grave concern to us. We’ve been observing from afar, but the activity has increased. ”
I relayed Tibu’s message to Draevyn, whose face paled slightly in the faelight. “ Thank you, Tibu. For your vigilance. ”
Tibu bowed his head once more. “ And we thank you…for dinner. I must leave you now before the rest of these heathens eat all the good meat. ” My grip tightened on Draevyn’s arm, some inner part of me still aware of the nature of the beast that swam before us. “ Be careful, Princess Asherah. May the goddess protect you and your Guardian. ” Draevyn and I watched as Tibu swam into the darkness.
“ Let’s get out of here.” Draevyn slid his fingers through mine, and we swam with speed for the palace gardens.