Page 8 of Sunken Empire

For the second time in the past twenty-four hours, I wake up in an unknown location. The pillows and sheets are just as soft as the first time. Honestly, the only differences I can tell with my eyes still closed are the lighting and the warm arm wrapped tightly across my abdomen. It gives me the feeling of security and all I want to do is snuggle further into it. A deep chuckle in my ear lets me know I've given in to my desire. The sound sends a reminder of events through my head and a shock through my spine.

I jerk upright in bed.

Zanthus straightens at the door, and Zale, standing at an open balcony, looks over his shoulder. Zephyr sits up from beside me and rubs a palm soothingly over my back.

"Where am I?" I whisper demand.

Zephyr kisses my cheek before he gets up to follow Zanthus out the door, blonde and brown hair swaying across their backs. Neither of them even acknowledges the fact I asked a simple question.

Zale doesn’t move from his position at the balcony as he starts talking. "Do you believe in myth and legends, Rubi?"

I nod, but his back is still towards me. "Some," I answer quietly.

"What about magic?" he asks.

I want to laugh, but I know that he's serious. Instead, I say, "Are we talking sleight of hand in Vegas magic or lock you in a padded room because you’re crazy kind of stuff?"

His composure slips for a moment as I see a small lift in his cheeks. "More like mysterious and ancient magic.”

"Considering the circumstances and what I think I saw outside, I can't say that I don't," I admit. “That or it’s a possibility that I’ve actually died and am in my own twisted version of heaven right now.”

Zale chuckles as he nods his head. "It’s good you’ve got an open mind, but I will go ahead and tell you that you’re not in heaven, Damselfish. Hopefully, that mindset will help you understand my story a little easier, though."

Twisting to lean against the open door that leads out onto a balcony of some sort, he folds his arms across his chest. "What would you say if I told you we are a race of mermen?”

He gives me a moment to process his confession, but when he realizes my response will not change from slack-jawed shock, he continues, "Centuries ago, we were powerful merpeople. Our magic was the greatest of this realm. But with all power comes greed and corruption. The magic used us as much as we used it, turning us all into monsters. Our father tried to conquer other clans, and it brought rains of hell down on our heads. One of the other clans had a ruler as strong as our father, but he was much crueler. He began to steal females from their homes and from rival clans, swearing the world would never see heirs to those in power. He attacked us at our weakest when our father’s army was off doing his bidding. They slaughtered most of our men and captured all of our females. The army came back to the carnage and went mad, especially after seeing the bloody mess that was left of their ruler. Twenty thousand swam to rescue our people. Only three thousand made it back."

He pauses as a moment of sadness passes over his features. His eyes look back onto mine before he starts talking again. "These wars, as humans would call them, lasted for many years. The other creatures sat back and watched in morbid fascination as we destroyed each other. No one could be any happier than the ancient sea witches. They were the only ones who rivaled our wealth of power. It wasn't until the other ruler, Bruinen, killed one of their sons that they started showing interest. All of our females and their mates had already been killed, so Asrai, the witch who lost her son, decided on a fate worse than death. She trapped us down here, cursed to live out our immortality as human men. We've done what we had to in order to survive, but we grow weaker every day. As our magic wanes, so do our people."

I try to process everything that he's told me so far. Merpeople. Sea witches. Immortality. Could it possibly all be true? I saw for myself the underwater dome that clearly couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. My brain, working in overtime here, also has to come to terms with the fact that falling off the boat was no dream.

"Wait a second," My brows drop in confusion as I suspiciously ask, "If you are cursed to be men, how did you save me?"

A sinful smile crosses his lips. "We made a deal with our own witch. She made us talismans that allow us our freedom. But they only last for a few hours at a time. Last I heard, Bruinen's clan had done something of the same, but their desires cursed them to live as monsters, not as men. We haven’t heard tell of them in ages.”

I have so many questions, but my brain decides one is more important than the others.

"What was your part of the deal with the witch?" I ask.

His face is stoic as he replies quickly, "A sacrifice."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in and when they do, chill bumps break out across my skin. I glance at the door, judging the distance between it and the bed.

"Rubi," Zale warns.

I leap off the bed and make a wild dash for the door, but I'm jerked off my feet halfway there. Zale's arm around my waist is tightly holding me against him. Fighting for all that I'm worth only results in him squeezing tighter. He pulls me backwards toward the bed, but not before I stomp my heel into the top of his foot and launch an elbow back towards his head.

"Rubi," he grunts, "please stop fighting me."

"Why? So you crazy fish people can sacrifice me to your even crazier sea witch? No way, Jose!" I yell, kicking against the floor since he’s keeping his feet out of reach. My erratic movements cause Zale to lose his balance, and we end up in a heap on the bed.

He wrestles me around until I'm facing him and pins my wrists beside my head. "For Poseidon’s sake, Rubi. Please stop trying to run away."

A look into his eyes has my struggle ending in defeat. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. Stretching as far as my pinned wrists will allow, I press my lips against his. We're both still panting from exertion, and I don't stop him from pressing his tongue into my mouth. The feeling is so exhilarating that it feels like my first kiss all over again. Only, I've never felt this way for any man. Something stirs in my chest, a foreign feeling that reaches for the mythical being on top of me as though it’s trying to tie us together before I can make another run for it.

Story of my jacked-up life. I would feel this way towards someone who is not even human and oh right, trying to sacrifice me.

Zale moves my hands above my head so that he can hold them both in one of his. The other free hand rubs down the side of my ribcage, and an inexcusable whimper falls from my lips. I want to say that it's from fear, but it's not.

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