Forever Breathing (Just Breathe #3) (12 page)

As I speak, I push the point of the spear away from my face to avoid any mishaps.

Finally my voice cracks as I introduce myself, “Hi, my name is James.”

“Why are you here?”

I have to be careful with the answer to this one. If she is a Lior, I could be in big trouble. I look her up and down trying to decide which side she might be on. Her fin is an array of blues and greens shimmering with the movement of the water around us. She is wearing a blue bikini top but it’s partially covered by her long dark, almost black, hair. I look back up into her face and notice a straight perfect little nose and small pink lips.

I decide to chance it. She looks like she could be on either side.

“I’m looking for the Erebus that live here…”

She cuts me off breathlessly, “Why do you want to see the Erebus? Did Roman send you?”

And the spear swings back into my face, inches away from my cheek.

I push it away with more resistance this time and smirk at her, “Hey, watch it with that, you could put an eye out.”

She frowns and raises her voice slightly, slowly enunciating each word, “I asked, why. do. you. want. to. see. the. Erebus?”

I want to just laugh at the feistiness of this girl but that will probably get me poked with that spear. I’m truthfully not even sure she could do any damage, she’s so petite.

“I’m not a threat, I can guarantee that. I just want to talk to whoever is in charge. “

She snidely asks, “What makes you think I’m not in charge?”

I can’t help it; a small chuckle escapes my lips. The spear swings back around and sticks a few inches into my arm. I watch, shocked as blood seeps into the water. I know this is nothing to my body because of my healing abilities but she doesn’t. I’m about to go off on her when I watch as the spear falls to the floor and her hand covers her opened mouth. She obviously didn’t mean to hurt me. Her eyes are so worried.  She surprised herself more than me. I decide to have a little fun.  Putting on my best agonized look, I grab my arm as if in pain. I’m enjoying this way too much.

She swims over to me and places her hand on my arm. A jolt shoots straight through my arm causing me to fall back against the wall. The look on her face is sheer disbelief.
Whether it be that she unintentionally hurt me with the spear or the obvious electricity that just seared my skin, I don’t know.

I ask, “What was that?”

She shakes her head not seeing me as if lost in thought for a moment.

Finally, she focuses on me and swims slowly toward me again. I’m reluctant to let her get closer. I take my hand off of my arm having forgotten about the spear injury and open my mouth to ask again about the shock.

She glances to my arm and her features darken.

“Were you faking that I hurt you?”

I look surprised and realize it’s all healed up.

I shake my head, “No, I…uh… it was just a tiny flesh wound.”

She comes closer still, examining my arm without touching me. She looks up into my eyes and claims, “But I saw blood, a lot of blood and…”

She reaches out to touch it and I flinch, waiting for the shock again. When her finger grazes me, a jolt shoots up my arm but it feels good and it doesn’t last. It turns into something else. I feel the energy travel to my neck and down my fin. Her finger lingers on my arm and it’s as if we’re frozen for a moment. When she pulls her hand back, I feel as if a part of me was just taken away, the warmth is gone and I suddenly want it back.

Get a grip, James. What the hell is wrong with you? Oh yeah, that’s right, you chose to follow crazy girl down here and now you’re in over your head, way deeper than ever before.

She looks at me suddenly scared and speaks up disturbing my thoughts, “Where is the cut? There should be a cut. I saw the spear go into your arm.”

I shake myself out of the moment and attribute it to stress. I’m just stressed about everything and I’m imagining things.

I answer her with as much authority I can muster, “I need to talk to someone in charge. It’s important.”

She frowns, looks down it seems as if she’s deflated and turns, swimming back around the corner fr thnt.”

Chapter 19

Ever

The obvious amusement on Alex’s face as I suddenly appeared to him across the room quickly turns to worry. He glances to the other side of the room at an open doorway. I follow his gaze and watch as he rushes to close the door. It strikes me that this room is very different than any I’ve ever been in, while under the sea. It is pure white. The walls, floor and rock looking chairs are all white. Nothing I’ve seen is so void of color in the sea. The lack of color doesn’t sit well with me.

Alex approaches me apprehensively almost as if he is unsure that I am really here. He places his hands gently on my shoulders forcing me to look up at him and he asks softly but with serious eyes, “Ever, why are you here?”

I want to squirm out of his grasp but that would betray my plan so I stay still. Then I focus on what he says, at first I hear that same familiar, caring quality in his voice but before I answer, it strikes me that there was worry in there too.

“I’m… I just…I changed my mind. I know there is no way Jaspen will win and I thought…” I can’t even finish. There is no way I am believable. I hate having to lie to him. He has always been so good to me. My heart is beating a million miles a minute and my breathing is coming in shorter than what I would like.

I try again and finish as quickly as I can, “I want to be here… with you.”

Surprise registers on his face then confusion. Finally, I see in his face, a clarity that has been missing for a while and he smiles letting the lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth appear. That damn dimple shines at me, smack dab in the center of his cheek. I realize at this point my heart has no flutter, no butterflies, just sadness that I am giving him what he has wanted for so long, but really I’m not.

He asks with incredulity in his voice, “Really? You came here for me?”

I nod trying to convince him and myself so that I can continue with the lie.

His arms leave my shoulders and spread welcoming me in. I let him embrace me as he has so many times before and it feels good to be here in the arms of my friend. I really have missed him. But I really miss Jack’s arms and I feel so horrible as if this is the worst thing I could do to Alex and Jack.

Alex squeezes tighter and whispers, “I’ve missed you, Ever.”

I stutter, “I’ve… missed you too.”
Just not in the same way
.
Oh boy!

After a few minutes, he loosens his grasp and backs up grabbing my hand.

He takes a deep breath and confesses, “This is going to be very difficult to explain to Roman.”

I frown, “Roman, who is that?”

He lifts his free hand and brushes my hair out of my face.

“He is the leader here. He probably won’t take your story at face value. Especially since James was just here.”

My heart stops and I ask him forgetting about everything else, “Who? James?…as in my brother?”

He nods frowning, “He just left less than an hour ago. You didn’t know he was coming?”

I shake my head unable to answer.
What is my brother doing here? He told me he was staying on land. This upsets me big time. I thought he was safe. This is not a place where he can be safe
.

I ask with urgency, “Alex, why was he here? Is he still here?”

He stares at me before answering as if gauging my reaction. The funny thing is, that was probably the only real thing he’s seen since I arrived. I am shell-shocked that James was here and majorly concerned now.

“No, he left. I told him to go. I think he was here because of Sara.”

I gasp before he can finish, “What, no…”

He places his hand on my cheek to comfort me but I back away and break all connections between us.

I ask loudly, “Why would he follow her here? She tried to kill me.”

Alex shakes his head, “Ever, I’m not sure but I think he had other reasons too. I think he was going to somehow try and help Jaspen’s city, to keep you safe. I told him it would never work. Roman is paranoid, he would have seen right through him.”

My heart speeds up at his revelation.
I am doing exactly what James was trying to do.
Will they see straight through me? James is so much more convincing than I am.
I feel a tingle rise up and chastise myself for letting myself get all worked up. Fainting will surly give me up. I take a few deep breaths and focus.

At the third one, I’ve calmed down a little and the tingle, usually signaling that I am going to lose it, has just about disappeared. I look up and my eyes meet Alex’s beautiful green ones.  I see a tiny ounce of doubt in them. Just a hint but that’s all there needs to be and then I won’t be able to do what I came here to do. I picture Jack’s face and my heart just about bursts thinking about how much I love him. I look around the room trying to gather the courage I need. I glance back, meeting Alex’s intent stare and I do the only thing I can think of, to
discard that doubt. I swim forward, wrap my arms around Alex’s neck and kiss him. His kiss is reluctant at first but he finally gives in. I do the very best acting Ivery ac"+0"ve ever done and I feel terrible about it.

***

The change in Alex was instant. As soon as I saw his face after that kiss, I knew I had him. Knowing I am hurting him without his knowledge, kills me but I soldier on. Jack and the freedom to choose are my priorities and they will remain. We all make our choices and Alex made his by coming here. I have to keep reminding myself of that.

He was reluctant to take me to see this Roman guy, but I insisted. I need to get it over with.

We stop in front of a stained glass door. The glass depicts various scenes of mer-people clad in silver and gold armor fighting. It reminds me of the battle we just had back home. It’s forever cemented in my brain. I wouldn’t need anything to remind me, maybe something to help me forget. Alex pushes on the doors and they open easily into a room with a marble floor and black walls. This castle or wherever we are, is quite different than anything I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of art deco style. The one thing I do notice though as I glance forward are three intricately carved golden thrones centered on a raised platform. Unfortunately, the one person I never want to see again is seated right in the middle with a smug look, Metea. If I never saw her again it would be too soon. My confidence takes a nose dive. I wish for the tingle to come or better yet, maybe I can abort the mission and travel back home. I close my eyes for a second, unsure of, what I should do.

Alex brings me back though. He grabs my hand, squeezes, and leans over whispering into my ear, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

It works momentarily and I gather some wits, opening my eyes. Alex always helped to boost my confidence. I glance over and he smiles. It reminds me of the first time I laid eyes on this witch, seated in front of us. I square my shoulders, refusing to let her get the best of me again.

As we approach, there is movement behind the chairs and a very large mer-man with a gruff face and a squared jaw swims out. He is discussing something with a smaller man who seems to be taking mental notes. We stop ten feet from the thrones and he looks up as we do. My confidence falters again when my eyes meet his.

I lean over to Alex and whisper, “Is that…”

Before he can utter a word, the mer-man speaks up and meets my eyes, “Yes, It is, I am Jaspen’s brother. And you, you are his granddaughter. To what, do we owe the honor of a second Harding visitor within the same day?”

I am flabbergasted. Jaspen’s brother. There is more to this whole thing than I had originally thought. I wonder if Jaspen already knows who is behind all of this.
Oh wow, how are we all going to come out of this in one piece?