Page 19 of Emerge

Chapter Six

Jax

Iwas reaching my breaking point. There's only so much loss a person can take before they wonder why they allow anyone close to them in the first place. Morgan's tendencies to distance himself made more sense now that I was experiencing much of the same.

When I lost my mom, I thought I'd never be able to survive without her. My sister and I clung to each other and became each other's rock. My dad was in his own head and spent more and more time working. He felt he owed it to my mom since ocean pollution is what caused her illness that turned into constant lung infections.

Now my sister was facing the same fate, and my dad's intensity since my mother's death made sense. Our people were slowly dying because of carelessness.

I pulled into the parking lot of the underground facility and looked over at Riley in the passenger seat. She'd asked a lot of questions about it at first—mostly about the people who worked there and what they did— but fell silent during the ten-mile drive through the tunnel.

"I know you said you'd be fine, but I can take you home if you don't want to come with me." I gripped the steering wheel and hoped that wasn't the case. I wanted her with me today.

"It's just a lot to take in." She unhooked her seatbelt and turned to face me. "The last time I was down here I was passed out."

I frowned and shut my car off, staring out the front window. "I wish that wouldn't have been your introduction to our... your world."

She put her hand on my arm. "I know, but it happened, and I wonder if I'm safe."

"I won't let anything happen to you, you know that right?" I looked at her and took her hand, bringing it to my lips and kissing the palm.

She was quiet for a moment and my heart sank into my stomach. With everything that had happened since her birthday, we hadn't really had it out about how much of an asshole I had been.

"I'm not angry anymore, but there's still a small part of me that worries that things could change in an instant." She let go of my hand and touched the pearls I'd given her. "What do these mean?"

My face heated and I looked away. Damn, I'd really stuck my neck out there. Making her the necklace with Blake and Morgan had been a risk. We had been wanting to talk to her about it, but the timing was never right.

She took my chin between her thumb and forefinger, like I often did to her, and made me look at her. She searched my eyes and smiled sheepishly. "You're embarrassed?"

I snorted. "Me? No." Yeah, I was a little bit. "When a triton male finds a woman he wants to court as a mate for himself, he finds the best pearl and gifts it to her."

"But there are three pearls here. Does that mean you all..." She looked down at it and then back at me. "Why didn't you tell me what it meant?"

"It never felt like the right time. We've been meaning to sit down and talk about where this is going, but every time we plan to, something happens." My phone dinged with a message and I looked at the screen. "Case in point... It's our appointment time."

She blew out a breath. "I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

We got out of the car and I took her hand as I led her to the security checkpoint. The facility had to always be top notch with security. If one thing went wrong, the entire operation would sink, quite literally.

The ten-mile tunnel had several security scans along the way and places where the tunnel could be shut off to limit damage. The parking lot was a completely separate area from both the tunnel and the facility. The facility remained closed off besides the brief moments the doors opened to allow access.

We walked into the security area and two guards scanned us with their wands before the door buzzed and opened, allowing us into another tunnel.

"This is crazy." Riley squeezed my hand as we came to another door that buzzed before letting us into a reception area. "This really makes me wonder what the government has in terms of secret facilities."

"Very similar, just not underwater." I waved to the receptionist, who buzzed us into the medical wing. "It takes a lot of work to keep a place like this secret."

The medical smell always made me inwardly gag; it was a mixture of saltwater and cleaning solution. It was a smell I was becoming all too familiar with. First with my mom, and now with my sister.

We entered my sister's room, and I breathed a sigh of relief that she was still floating in her tank. My worst fear was coming to visit her and her just being... gone. I knew eventually the time would come when my dad would finally decide to let her go, but he wasn't ready yet and neither was I.

"This is how you should have met her the first time." I put my hand on the glass. "Riley, meet Olivia."

With tears in her eyes, Riley put her hand next to mine and let out a shaky breath. "Olivia is a beautiful name."

We stood there for a few minutes in silence and then I pulled two chairs over so we could sit. "My dad won't let her go."

She took my hand and threaded our fingers together. "I imagine that's a really hard decision for a parent to make."

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