“Because you do not listen!” Galindra snapped back, while somehow still sounding all earthy and ethereal. What was she the goddess of? Her power felt strong, and despite the jeering from Lotus, I could tell she was wary of this golden god.
Asher’s true mother.
Well, at least we weren’t related. Always looking for the silver lining … or in this case, the golden lining.
Lotus turned to me, all the fight dying from her. “Sorry, daughter, you have to return to the Academy until I can get this sorted out. Trust me, that’s the safest place for you until you learn of the full powers you wield. I will come for you when it’s time to move forward with our plans.”
Galindra clicked her tongue. “I’ll be sending my son back there as well. To keep an eye on things. Your daughter will not be your spy any longer, Lotus.”
She held her hand up and snapped her fingers, and in the same instant everything went dark.
26
My body was in shock. I was back in the Academy, Asher and Connor on either side of me. I couldn’t bring myself to move or speak.
What the fuck just happened?
“Where did you go?” Connor demanded, his voice barking close to my ear as he grabbed my arm. “You just disappeared.”
I thought he’d been with Draconis, but maybe she’d lied about that. “Lotus,” I murmured, a hand pressing to my chest to ease the ache there.
It wasn’t working.
Finally I lifted my face to stare at Connor, and it was mostly because I couldn’t bring myself to look at Asher. Emotion was taking hold of me, and while a lot of it was shock, there was something even stronger than that.
Rage.
An unwavering rage was trying to drown me with its intensity.
“Lotus snatched me up into the air,” I bit out, meeting Connor’s irate gaze. “I have no idea what she wanted from me, because we were attacked before she could do anything.”
Connor scoffed. “Attacked? By who? Who would be strong enough to take on Lotus?”
I shrugged. “Why don’t you ask Asher? He seemed awfully cozy with her.”
Connor finally seemed to notice that we hadn’t been sent back here alone. “Ash,” he gasped. “Great Mother. Where the hell have you been?”
Asher turned his cold expression on Connor, and I was relieved to see his eyes were no longer gold. Green was the prominent color, even if there were still streaks of gold through the irises. “None of your fucking business,” he said, his voice a rumble.
Then he walked away.
My rage exploded, as did my power, and since I now seemed to have complete control over it, I used the energy to wrap Asher in water and magic and jerk him right back to us. I sensed that he “allowed” me to overpower him, because his energy was super strong when it collided with mine, but he didn’t fight.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me, Asher Locke,” I snarled, unable to play it cool. “What the hell happened to you? What happened?”
I was shouting and I couldn’t stop.
He, on the other hand, wore a somewhat familiar scowl. I waited for him to retaliate, lash out at me, but he kept it all contained inside. “When I died,” he said, his voice low, “I returned to Atlantis, as we are designed to do. My mother found me. She found and educated me on my duties to the world.”
I blinked, not expecting that. “And what are your duties?”
He swiped a hand then, cutting through my power with ease. I no longer had any sort of hold on him. “Stopping you two and your parents before they destroy the world.”
This time when he walked away, I didn’t stop him. My limbs shook as I stared after him, trying to make sense of it all. Connor was at my side in seconds, touching me again. I shook him off, not able to handle it.
“Who is his mother?” he asked.
“Galindra,” I whispered, still staring after those broad shoulders as they disappeared.
