“Who—?” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard. “Who are you?”
His eyes were so dark that there was only a sliver of color difference between his pupil and iris. His face was angular, handsome, but in a scary way, all shadowy planes and high cheekbones. Even if he hadn’t kidnapped me, I would have been wary of him.
“My name is Connor. I’m the head of this division of the Arterians.”
Everything became frighteningly clear: this wasn’t anything to do with Kate or Chellie and their hatred for me. This was about the Arterians. I stared harder at Connor, and there was that familiarity around his mouth and white teeth.
“You’re the one who tried to take me outside the Academy?”
I was sixty percent sure.
He nodded. “Yes, I needed you to come with me. Accept who you are.”
“And who am I?” I asked, in no mood to fuck around.
He casually crossed his arms over his chest. “We believe you’re the one we need to return our world to its former glory.”
I coughed out a derisive laugh. “Seriously?”
Connor lost some of his relaxed attitude. “Why do you fight the inevitable? Your fate? You belong with us, as part of the fold.”
Ignoring the fate thing, becausewhat the fuck?I focused on the second part of his crazy. “What fold?”
“We’re the people of Sonaris. You’re the daughter of Queen Helene, the last living ruler of Atlantis. A daughter she bore from Sonaris himself. Only our god’s blood could return our world, since god’s blood stole it away. You were saved to bring about the rise of Atlantis.”
I stared at him for many long moments, and then I laughed for so long that my sides ached and my chest hurt. Connor moved in that superspeed way that I’d seen Asher use, and then he was right before me.
“Laugh all you want, but you are the daughter of Sonaris, and you are our only hope.”
In that instance, I realized he was serious. He believed this crazy.
Holy shit.
31
He truly believed that I was somehow ten thousand years old, and the daughter of a queen and god. “How is it that I’m alive?” I said, keeping my voice even so as not to antagonize the crazy assassin. “I mean, if this Queen Helene was the last queen of Atlantis, and it sank … what, like ten thousand years ago, then … I mean, I’ve aged really well…”
He stood straighter, like his time had finally come. This was a story he’d clearly been sitting on for years. “You were in a magical stasis where you did not age or change. We expect the rest of the Atlanteans are in this same condition. Together we can bring about the rebirth of our civilization.”
Loud shouts outside of the room cut off further conversation. Connor spun to face the door, his arms spread out on either side of him. I felt the pull of magic and watched half in fascination and half in fear as blue orbs of light appeared in each hand.
“Stay behind me,” he said softly, “I will protect you.”
I snorted. “And who will protect me from you, you crazy asshole?”
He shot me a confused look. “I will protect you from everyone.”
I lifted one eyebrow, but before I could point out the complete lack of logic in that statement, the door burst open. Literally. It smashed into countless pieces, scattering across the room. I ducked my head, but still got some scrapes from the debris.
A furious Asher stood in the doorway. His broad shoulders heaved as he looked around the room. When his gaze landed on me, I choked back a sob, and fought my desperation to run to him. I didn’t want to distract him from the very dangerous man still standing between us.
“You need to move away from her, Con,” Asher said slowly, his voice low and gravelly. “This is not like when we were kids. I will end you.”
Con?Like … they were old friends or something.
Connor shook his head, his lips pulling down. “I’m sorry, Asher. I really am. But you know why I need this to happen. You know why I need Atlantis to rise again. I’ve spent years tracking down every possible lead, and she is it. She’s the one.”
He released both orbs, and I screamed, but Asher dodged them with ease, releasing his own powerful spell in almost the same instant. They both spoke fey words, attack words that were far beyond anything I’d learned, sending energy and light back and forth across the room.
