“A life stone,” Axl said, his eyes darting between her and Asher. “What did you tie his life to?”
She stepped closer, her gait smooth and sensual. “You tell me, genius know-it-all.”
“The gate of Atlantis,” he said immediately, not even having to think about it.
She nodded. “Yes. I even had another descendant from the royal line here to add her power and blood to Asher’s, but it didn’t budge the spell holding the gate.”
Axl crossed his arms, his face showing the least amount of animation that I’d ever seen. “That spell was cast by a god. There’s none with the power to counter that.”
“That’s not true,” Connor said. “I’ve been telling you all since the start. Maddison is born of Sonaris.”
Shera’s laugh sounded desperate and maniacal. “There is no way Sonaris fathered a child with a mortal. I refuse to believe it. I was willing to indulge you because I agree that she’s a powerful Atlantean descendent, but she’s not his.” Her expression hardened. “Never mention that lie to me again.”
Connor didn’t flinch under her unwavering stare, but he also didn’t push the agenda any further. Shera focused on us again. “Go to him. It’s your last chance. If you want to save Asher, you’ll have to risk opening the gate.”
I didn’t care. I was done waiting.
Running as fast as my rubbery legs would carry me, I slipped past Shera and her minions and beelined straight for Asher. My brain and body were screaming, panic flooding me. He wasn’t moving. I couldn’t see his chest rising and falling.
Water smashed against me as I got closer, the force of the waterfall devastating even at a distance, which had to mean it was almost crushing Asher. He was right under it.
I whispered the word to activate a basic shield, something we’d recently learned, which gave me a little protection against the water. When I was a few feet from Asher, I drank in every hard line of him. How could he still look so perfect? His skin a healthy-looking bronze, his muscles strong. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was hanging lifelessly, and I could barely feel his energy, I wouldn’t have known anything was wrong with him. My hands trembled as I pressed them against his chest. He was suspended off the ground and already so tall—this was the highest I could reach.
His body was cold to the touch, directly contrasting to the hot tears streaking my face. “Asher, can you hear me?” I asked, trying to figure out how they kept him contained.
“They’re magical manacles,” Jesse said at my side; all of the guys had arrived by now. “We can’t break them without breaking Asher.”
“Where’s the stone?” Axl cut in. I’d forgotten about the soul stone. “If we can bring Asher back to full strength, he’ll be able to break free.”
Rone sounded pissed. “He’s only like this because he allowed them to access his energy.”
They pushed forward, all of them protected by the same sort of magical shield as mine while they searched for the stone. “Call me if you find it,” I shouted to them, the roar of water loud. “I’ll search further back here.”
I didn’t want to let Asher out of my sight, but there was something calling me back in the waterfall, a sensation tugging at the energy inside of me, urging me toward it.
Is that the stone?
The water as it crashed around me was almost deafening. I had to use more of my limited magic, funnelling it into the shield. The water fell in a thick, heavy sheet, and as I pushed my way through, visibility was limited.
When I was completely immersed, and there was no sound but crashing water, I finally reached theother side, where the call was the strongest.
It was a wall, as long and tall as the waterfall, and carved into the smooth marble were elaborate symbols and images. I recognized them from Asher’s notes. It was definitely Atlantean writing. Was this the wall around the city?
Whatever wanted me, it was inside this wall.
I pressed my hand to it, and that feeling of being called increased.
Something heavy slammed into me from behind, breaking through my shield and cracking my head against the wall. I got the shield back up straight away, because the water could crush me here, but I couldn’t see who had hit me.
“You’re my last chance,” Shera whispered, coming at my left side and forcing me back into the wall. “You must be the key. While your idiot friends are distracted with Asher, I will bleed you to release your power.”
“No,” I cried, right before she broke my fragile shield again and stabbed me.
I hadn’t seen the blade, or her hand, as it moved super-fast. She plunged it right into my gut and I screamed; the pain almost had me blacking out. My shield fell completely as she twisted the blade, whispering something dark. Words slithered across her tongue. Words I did not understand, but they cracked my body wide open.
The heat in my center exploded, close to what had happened the day with Asher, but with five times the force. The only way to describe it was like those images of atomic bombs exploding and the shockwave force that followed. Shera held her ground for twenty seconds, maybe longer, before she was whipped away from me, her screams echoing in my ears with the roar of the thunder.
I collapsed, both hands wrapped around the blade in my belly as energy continued to expel from my body. It was too much for me to handle; she had released it too fast, and the vessel could not handle the onslaught. I dragged myself forward, not knowing where I was heading but knowing I needed something, the water still beating across me, though not crushing me like I’d expected. If anything, it felt like the only thing keeping me alive.
