I wanted to keep listening to their conversation, because he was talking about things I gave a huge damn about, but my focus was on Asher. His eyes were closed again, and he looked exactly as he had every other time I’d seen him.
“Did you see him open his eyes?” I whispered.
I didn’t look at any of them, but I felt the confusion. “No, I didn’t,” Louis rumbled, anger still tracing each word.
I turned to face him. “He opened his eyes,” I said. “They were gold and filled with this … lightning power. Like the energy surrounding him in the water.”
Whatever I said, it took Louis by surprise. He jerked his head back and watched me with a confused expression. “Did you say gold?” he asked, like I must have been mistaken.
“It was so bright. No way I was confused,” I said, a sliver of defiance creeping into my tone. Being away from Asher was affecting me in more ways than one.
Louis still hadn’t said anything, and somehow I knew this was really bad. “What does that mean?”
He swallowed, the skin at his throat visibly moving. “I have a theory. But it’s something I’ve only heard about as a fable. I don’t want to worry you at this stage, because there’s really nothing to suggest that’s what’s happening here. I’m going to have to—”
“Do some research,” I said drily, cutting him off.
The woman at his side chuckled and I found myself turning to the supe. She was small, much tinier than me, and even in a world of eternally beautiful people, she was breathtaking. Like a fairy princess from a dream. This had to be Tee, Louis’s mate.
“Louis does a lot of research when it comes to me,” I told her, wishing it was a joke.
Tee nodded. “Yes, he likes to be very certain before he freaks us all out with the knowledge of whatever we’re facing.”
All humor dried up inside of me. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” I practically breathed the words.
Louis dropped a hand on my shoulder. “It might be. I’m hoping I’m wrong. But I will find out everything I can.”
I tried to find some reassurance in his words … and failed miserably.
Turning back to Asher, I watched him for many long moments, wondering what battles he was facing.
I miss you.
Gods. I missed him so much it actually hurt.
Asher had brought so much to my life, and I wasn’t sure I’d survive if I didn’t get him back soon.
15
Time was a funny thing. Sometimes it moved at super speed, like the nights I used to stay up with the Atlantean-five watching old movies and eating junk food—honestly, eight hours would pass and I’d barely even notice it. Then, other times, like when Asher was taken from me last year, the days and weeks had dragged. A week felt like a month. A month felt like a year. And the time I’d spent trying to figure out how to save Asher felt like a lifetime.
“It’s like déjà vu,” I said to Axl, dropping my head into my hands and rubbing at my temples. “Seriously. I’m losing my mind. How can this be happening again?”
We were in the library. Now that I’d discovered it, I found myself gravitating to it whenever I wasn’t in class, because there was something soothing about this quiet room filled with knowledge and the scent of old books. Plus, I soon discovered it was the surefire way to find Axl when he wasn’t in class or eating.
“It’s been two weeks,” Axl said softly. He was unusually distracted, eyes darting around as he shifted in his chair. I was used to his laser focus, and it worried me to see him so out of it. “Whatever is holding Asher has not lessened. If anything, it’s growing stronger.”
It was. I visited Asher every day, and the barrier around him was pushing further and further out. We were basically restricted in a twenty-foot diameter around him.
“Louis said it’s definitely a god thing, and that Asher’s power is combining with the god’s to form something new.”
Louis had disappeared to Antarctica to talk to some old magic users, and I hadn’t heard from him since, which was driving me crazy.
“At least Atlantis has not risen yet,” Axl said, trying to be reassuring. In his way. “I mean, none of us would want to leave the Academy right now, knowing that Asher is…”
He trailed off, and I clenched my fists to stop my arms trembling, fighting down the panic in my chest. If the last word he wanted to say was “dying,” I would probably lose my mind. Asher was invincible, I was almost certain of it. There was no way that god bolt was slowly killing him. No. Fucking. Way. It was doing exactly what Louis suggested … turning him into something new.
The library door burst open then, the noise echoing loudly through the room, and as heavy footsteps pounded toward us, I was up on my feet already.
