“We never had an official mate bonding ceremony.”
Jesse’s eyes burned into me, and I was trembling again because he was about to break my heart—well, break whatever tiny crumbled slivers were left in my chest.
“Asher claimed you long ago,” he said. “He left his record with the tome as well, to confirm that there would be no mistake.”
Asher claimed you long ago.
The words burned. They fucking burned like I’d been doused in boiling water. “Asher left everything to me?”
They all nodded—I saw it even though I was staring straight at Jesse.
I shook my head. “No, I-I don’t want it. I don’t want to have this world without Asher.”His world.
Jesse shot me a sad smile. “You can’t argue with the tome, sweetheart. Asher was determined to ensure you would be taken care of in the event of his untimely death.”
I wanted to curse and scream.Money!Fucking money. It was not what I needed. All of this was just … superficial things. The one thing I really wanted … there was no amount of money in the world that could get me that.
We were landing now, and I was too tired to continue to argue about an inheritance I did not want.
It was time to focus on Atlantis. Hopefully that would distract me enough that for just a few hours the nightmares would stay away.
22
Ilia had recovered by the time the boat set sail—something she was eternally grateful for, because the rocking ocean did not mesh well with a hangover. For me, it was the first time I’d felt like I could breathe in days. Even though my soul hurt, part of me was content.
“You look excited,” I said, watching as Ilia lifted her face and sucked in some of the fresh salty air. I did the same thing, even though it was Asher’s scent—andfuck, I was doing it again.
Did everything have to remind me of him?
“Atlantis … it’s a myth … a fantasy in a world that is already considered fantasy,” Ilia said. “I know lots of people are afraid of what this might bring, but something tells me that this path was put in place long ago, and it’s not the end of our world. Or if it is, it’s only the end of the world as we know it, and the start of a new age of supes.”
I pondered that, finding a connection to her theory. “A new beginning,” I mused. “I like that.”
It would be a lie to say my spirits lifted then, because ever since Asher’s death there had been this pressing weight on me. Like … even in those brief seconds when I forgot what happened, the weight never abated; it constantly reminded me that I’d lost something. Reminded me that I’d lost him.
No—not lost—stolen. Asher was fucking stolen from me, and when I found out the god who did that, I was going to do my best to break them.
Calen was once again in control of our boat; this time it was not hired from the local people, but a prearranged transport from the Academy. It was much larger, more powerful, and black, a sleek, bullet-nosed vessel with three massive motors on the back.
“Hey,” Larissa shouted, her voice slightly muffled, “did you know there’s an actual bed down here?”
She’d ventured below to check it out, Rone following but keeping his distance, because he was an overprotective idiot who needed a smack in the back of the head.
“No time to check that out,” Calen called back. “We’re almost at the coordinates. This baby got us there twice as fast as the last one.”
I moved as far forward as I could, wondering what my first sight of it all would be. The energy in my body and blood started humming as the slightest tinge ofsomething… anticipation maybe, started to erupt in my stomach.
“It’s calling me,” I whispered, having felt this the last time I was near the wall that surrounded the Atlantean city.
No one heard me over the rushing wind, and I was grateful that I didn’t have to explain the sensation. I could just feel it.
“Holy shit,” Ilia said, breaking me from my trance as she stepped to my side. Jesse stopped on my other side, the three of us taking up all the space available this far forward in the boat. “Are you all seeing that? They managed to get the barrier up fast.”
The magical barrier was clear, only visible when the sun hit it at the right angle, causing a rainbow effect; it looked very much like the bubble surrounding the Academy, a magical shield designed to keep humans out. From the outside, I could see no signs of Atlantis or supes or anything other than ocean. But once we crossed the barrier, we’d see the true sight, and I clenched my fists in anticipation.
Calen slowed right down as we neared the barrier, having no idea if we might hit something on the inside, and there was an eerie silence in the boat as we drifted through. Magic tingled across my skin, much stronger than at the Academy, and I tried to find some moisture in my suddenly dry mouth.
I was nervous.
