We didn’t move so much as the ocean moved around us. Shifting its tides and currents to suit her will, taking us to our destination in seconds. The bottomless depths shrank to crystal azure water and glistening golden sands. Vibrant coral grew like humps and hills, bushes and caves, providing homes for a multitude of colorful fish and creatures.
All of whom fled and cowered as my shadow swept overhead, though they were all safe from me now. I only hungered for my queen.
We paused in the shallows, waiting for the rest of her Blood to pass through the watery portal and take up defensive positions on the shore. Seaward, House Ketea’s floating coral nest shimmered like opalescent shells in the sunlight, though Undina waited for us on the sandy beach, along with several members of her house. A white and coral-pink house sprawled across the hillside above the private beach. No humans encroached in this area, or perhaps Undina’s people had already sent them away.
Winged Blood shot up out of the waters, creating glittering fountains to cascade over us as they soared into the air. Then Rik, Guillaume, and Sekh, forming our queen’s closest, most personal guard. The rest of her Blood flanked on either side, closing ranks to cover our exit as we advanced to the waiting people.
“Greetings, House Isador,” Undina said. “It’s a sad day to visit the beautiful Aegean Sea.”
“Greetings, House Ketea. I agree, it’s a lovely place for such a travesty.” My queen made no move to release me, so I continued carrying her across the sand toward my mother. “You still haven’t seen any hint of life within?”
“None.” Undina’s eyes tightened, her sharp teeth flashing with rage. “Perhaps if I hadn’t moved the nest out of the Aegean, I may have noticed unusual activity. Basilia despised unwelcome attention, even from Skolos. It was easier to move my nest further out into the Mediterranean than deal with her biting remarks every time we met.”
Shara’s lips quirked, though she said nothing out loud.:That says a lot about Basilia’s personality if even Undina wearied of her. Your mother doesn’t exactly have a winning personality.:
:Undina did not win her position on Skolos by being amiable. In fact, she devoured her predecessor.:
:Interesting. Do you know who it was?:
:Queen Annelyse of House Taratta.:
Aloud, she said, “My flying Blood will scan overhead and report back shortly.”
Streams of images already poured through our Blood bonds as they reported to our alpha. Nothing moved in the vicinity, even inside the blood circle. I saw meticulous gardens and green lawns surrounding the house, though even in one short week, they were overgrown and dying, as if used to regular watering. Stone statues dotted the lawn in a haphazard design that made no sense to me, but what did a sea creature know? I much preferred the rambling coral decorated with shipwrecks at the bottom of the ocean.
:Get back!:Mehen roared, darting past the slower moving phoenix.:Don’t fucking look at her!:
Something moved in a dark cleft of tumbled stones in the rocky hillside near the rear of the nest. Mehen flared his wings out wide, shielding the other Blood from whatever lay in the recessed darkness. A stream of liquid spurted at him, bouncing off his scales harmlessly, though it popped and sizzled on the stone pavers below.
:Retreat,:Rik ordered.:Until we know what it is.:
:I know exactly what it is,:the dragon retorted, keeping hismassive body between our Blood and the cave.:It’s a hydra. If you look at her, she’ll turn you into stone that even our queen won’t be able to restore, and her venom will eat through just about anything.:
:Is it Basilia?:Shara asked.:Or some other creature guarding her?:
:She smells Gorgon but I won’t know for sure until I taste her.:
The winged Blood all returned to fly in slow circles directly overhead, though Mehen dropped to the ground beside the queens. To Undina’s credit, she didn’t flinch or appear to be alarmed, though her alpha quickly put himself between her and the threat.
“There’s a hydra inside a cave at the rear of the nest,” Shara told her.
“That’s Basilia’s private grotto where she communes with her goddess,” Undina said. “If she’s there and alive, why isn’t she able to send any of her people out to explain what’s going on?”
:All of her people are dead,:Mehen said.:They’re turned to stone inside the nest. Most of them are around the cave itself, as if they tried to help her. Instead, one by one, they fucking died.:
Shara repeated the dragon’s response out loud. “Did you ever see Basilia in her hydra form? Or did she ever talk about it?”
“To see her is to die,” Undina said flatly. “No one has ever seen her in that form and lived, other than her keeper, Sikaras. Every generation, a male of the Sikaras line ritually blinds himself so he is fully immune to her terrible gaze.”
:I just saw the fucking bitch, and I’m still alive and kicking,:Mehen said.
Shara’s head turned toward him, her eyes narrowed. “And why is that, my dragon?:
He made a disgusted sound with a plume of thick tarry smoke.:Because I’m a fucking Gorgon too.:
SHARA
I wantedto be absolutely sure before I sent anyone inside. “Did you actually look her in the eye?”
