Fuck ever being like that again.
Asher, Axl, and Jesse were standing under the ocean in what looked like a serious discussion. All of them turned toward me when I arrived and I had to chuckle—they were all looking rather damp.
“Maybe I can just send it back?” I suggested.
Asher and Jesse shook their heads; Axl looked more intrigued, his eyes lifting to stare at the blue mass of water above.
“By my quick calculations, it’s too risky,” he said a moment later. “Even if it is the best plan of action.”
“We’re going to put it into our water world here,” Asher said. “There’s enough room there.”
Jesse grinned at me. “At least overachiever here didn’t bring any whales with her ocean.”
I flipped him off, but I couldn’t really argue. What I’d done here was stupid and insane and … powerful. Owning my power had to be part of controlling it, so I wasn’t going to pretend that I was weak. Nope. But that also meant I had to own it when I screwed up.
So here I was, owning it.
“Do you need me to help?” I asked.
I waited for them all to say no again, but Asher shocked the shit out of me. “It might be best if you helped,” he told me. “Your magic is already tied to this body of water, and I believe it will follow your command. If we show you where we want it, you can make it happen.”
I was surprised. Asher was protective, usually to the point I had to fight not to be “saved and protected” all the time. This felt like a bit of a breakthrough for us.
Jesse and Axl stayed close as we entered the water world, moving past the ocean room and deeper into the quadrant. I’d never been this far before and I was quietly excited about what I might see back here. As we passed through a dark archway, made from stones in varying blue and green colors, Asher turned to me. “This particular entrance is for the creatures from the moat to travel in and out when they need shelter,”
A few more steps in and we stopped by a … wharf. There was a rocky inlet, and the water stream got wider the further out it spanned. “What creatures are in the water around the Academy?” I asked, remembering Ilia’s warning from my very first day last year.
“Mermaids, selkies, the giant crustaceans, and the jelly blob,” Axl said, quick and succinct. “Plus a few that I haven’t had a chance to examine properly, like the baby kraken that acts as a sort of guard for the school.”
Asher nodded. “The omlong. It’s best we don’t have to face it, because even Atlanteans can’t control their race.”
Omlong.I committed the name to memory, deciding that was the first thing I’d look up in the library when I visited this afternoon. “This omlong is not like Alex?” I mean, he was the closest thing I could think of as a kraken.
Asher shot me a slow smile. “Alex is an omlong, and in normal circumstances he would be very dangerous, but I raised him from a small hatchling.”
“Alex is the only one you should trust,” Jesse added.
I nodded, not needing any more danger in my life. Turning back to the water, I waved a hand across the inlet. “Will the sea creatures be okay if we place them in the same area as the moat creatures?” I felt protective of my ocean, especially since it was my fault they were no longer out in the beautiful Aegean Sea. “Is there nowhere else?”
Asher’s lips thinned. “Possibly. The only other option is for us to put them straight in the ocean room. That water was pulled from the Aegean Sea. The dolphins might get upset, but I think they can adjust fairly quickly. Alex is rarely seen and never bothers anything in there, outside of normal feeding, but that’s the great circle.”
I nodded. I couldn’t fight nature. “The moat sounds like it’d be a bit too hectic for them—I vote the ocean room.”
Asher wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into his body and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. It was such a sweet, loving gesture, and my heart was pitter-pattering in my chest. His energy and fresh salt air scent filled my senses, and I could have just stayed there like that all day. But there were things to do and lunch to eat, and I was running out of time.
We moved back into the perpetually sunny ocean world, and I was surprised to see a class there. Students turned our way and I recognized most of them as fey. This must be part of their elemental water studies.
“Asher,” the teacher said, hurrying over, “is everything okay?”
He nodded, his serious Atlantean-god expression back in place. “Fine, Sam, no problems. We’re just hoping to get that ocean outside in here where it belongs.”
The teacher’s eyebrows, which were thick and white, lifted almost to his hair, which was the same white blond color. “Did it come from the water world?”
Asher didn’t confirm or deny that; he smiled and waved his hand. “If you could just ask your class to step back.”
Sam nodded, hurrying back to his students. Asher led us down to the waterline. I fought against the urge to kick off my shoes and peel down my stockings. I could just imagine what Asher would text me if I did that.
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” Jesse asked, leaning in closer so that we wouldn’t be overheard by the fey class. “Just use your energy and pull the water in here.”
