Hearken (Daughters of the Sea Series) (8 page)

             
“Where’s here?” I questioned him groggily. I glanced around for any clue as to our whereabouts, but the slightly murky water, schools of silver fish, and pockets of jellyfish could be anywhere on Earth. It was the four towering concrete pillars covered with algae and barnacles that gave away our location. They shot up from the sea floor below and continued skyward toward the surface. Their colossal size and stability made a fitting home for an assortment of barnacles, oysters and sea sponges. 

             
“This is a new angle I haven’t seen before,” I marveled. High above, I could just see the shadowy bottom of the Sons’ light station located twenty miles off the coast of Bald Head island.

             
“There’s been a recent addition below the ocean’s surface.” He winked as we swam closer. I noticed a structure suspended in front of us, supported on all sides by those very same pillars. It appeared much more modern than the light station, with its sleek windows that covered every side except one.  A single silver tube connected it to the bottom of the light station above, but as far as I could see that was the only way in and the only way out. Surprising me, Finn swam up to one corner and pressed his hand to a smooth, unsuspecting panel; prompting a door to slide open. 

             
“Welcome to my new place.” He swept his arm out chivalrously and allowed me to enter first.

             
“It’s um…cozy,” I forced out, as we stood in a space the size of a small closet and just as dark. A gurgling noise was the next thing I noticed as the water slowly filtered back into the sea somehow. Without the barrier of water, the sizzling inferno radiating from his dripping wet body called out to me and I wanted nothing more than to touch him.

             
“What’s the password?” he implored casually. I could almost hear the smirk he was holding back as we stood together in the tiny, pitch black locker.

             
“Let me in?” I speculated with resolution and switched my weight from one leg to the other. I was alarmingly close to losing any control I had when he wrapped his hand around my waist. My thoughts blurred together and the thought of his wet body against mine almost did me in.

             
“Close,” he answered calmly. “Try again.”

             
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Finn Morrison,” I warned him with a playful elbow jab to the area where his ribcage should have been. I felt my elbow hit flesh, but was caught off guard when two strong hands grabbed my arms with certainty and pushed me up against the wall. 

             
“I’m counting on it,” he threatened into my neck. The chill of the metal wall on my skin and the warmth of his breath raised goose bumps as I felt his body press against mine; stealing my breath away and lighting a fire inside me.               

             
“Try again,” he demanded once more in a hushed whisper. His mouth was now so close to mine, I felt his lips move as he spoke. His breath came in short spurts as he waited for my answer. Instead, I leaned forward only slightly; my mouth demanding his. The cool taste of the sea merged with the sweltering heat of desire, sparking a fire in that small dark passageway that could rival the sun. Every part of me eagerly gave in to him as he leaned all of his weight against me and slid a hand behind my neck, pulling my lips closer. Ice cold drops of water slid down our hair and faces, settling onto our skin with a crackle. With the fleeting caress of his tongue followed by one lasting kiss, he pulled back slowly. I licked my lips before the taste of him faded with his absence, and felt a shudder run down the length of his body.

             
“Did I guess right?” I asked with a cunning smile he couldn’t see. He cleared his throat and hesitated several seconds to gather himself before speaking.

             
“You nailed it.” His voice came out husky and deep. I heard a click and another door slid open; leading to the interior. The woodsy smell of leather and musk assaulted my senses as I looked around at his new place. It was one of the most magnificent things I’d ever seen, with its floor-to-ceiling glass walls and sleek, contemporary furniture complemented perfectly by pieces of art that must have been generations old. 

             
“Oh, Finn!”  I couldn’t help but stare in awe. “It’s unbelievable!”

             
“I thought you might like it,” he mused, and strode into the compact kitchen. I stepped into what appeared to be his office and wandered up to the glass wall overlooking the depths of the ocean. The water beyond reached to me with a cooling energy that had trouble penetrating through the thick glass. I chuckled as I felt its frustration at not being able to actually touch me. A school of shiny fish darted sharply to the left in unison as a menacing shadow descended from above. I stood, rooted to the floor as a majestic form cut through the water with the calculating precision of a centuries-old predator.

             
“He’s been circling my chamber for as long as I’ve been down here,” Finn explained as he entered the room behind me. “He seems to think I need to be protected.”

             
“That’s kind of sweet.” I placed my palm to the glass as the great white shark swam right past us. His cold eyes landed on me and I sensed him relax. He disappeared back into the depths as quickly as he appeared, leaving just Finn and I to gaze upon the darkening sea all around us. 

             
“Nothing about a shark is
sweet
,” he defended his animal affinity, and I squealed as he swept me up in his arms and carried me away. “Hungry?”

             
“You have no idea.” I sighed and my stomach rumbled from hunger, right on cue.

             
As I devoured a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich a la Finn, I unloaded my frustrations about what had played out at the Declaration of Council.

             
“I don’t understand why I had to spend so many sleepless nights deciding who to choose, when the sea was just going to butt in and decide for me anyway!” I complained between mouthfuls of delicious, ooey gooey cheese.

             
“I have a feeling the sea knows things you might not,” Finn replied calmly. Unfortunately his cool tone only proved helpful in fueling my grievances.

             
“I’d appreciate it if it would let me in on the secrets before making me look ridiculous in front of the entire Tyde Order!” I shook my head in frustration and stood to rinse my dirty dishes in the sink.

             
“Ridiculous?” Finn raised his eyebrows in surprise. He walked over and took my hands, an annoyingly smug look on his face. I averted my gaze in embarrassment, but that didn’t stop him. “Pasha, you were brilliant! No one could so much as turn their heads for fear that they might miss something. I know you were slightly incapacitated, but the comments from the audience I heard were full of nothing but admiration. Most Tydes have never seen anything like that. Whether or not you meant to doesn’t matter.”

             
“It did to Willow,” I whispered; feeling tears burning behind my eyes at the memory of her disparaging face.

             
“I can’t pretend to know the reasoning for what happened, but I do know that if you can trust anyone or anything at all, it’s going to be that from which you came. The sea only has your best interests at heart, even if it doesn’t seem like it at first.”

             
“I just don’t understand, Finn.” I sighed. “I
need
her on the Council! I’ve never even met that Avery girl! Could I just tell Avery that it was all a big mistake, and that way she could go back to her life and Willow could just pop back into her spot?”

             
Finn fell into a laughing fit that took several minutes and three punches in the arm for me to remedy. He fell onto the couch to catch his breath while I stood over him with my hands on my hips.

             
“It wasn’t supposed to be funny!” I scolded him. “I was serious.”

             
“That’s not how it works, Pasha,” he informed me. With a light tug, he pulled me down next to him on the plush couch and wrapped an arm around me. “When the water left you, it poured over the six people who were appointed and marked them.”

             
  Something about the word ‘marked’ sparked a memory, but I couldn’t remember what. Who had said something about being marked? Olivia?

             
“Marked in what way?” I asked grudgingly. I pictured a herd of cattle branded with an iron in the shape of my initials.

             
“You’ll see,” he smirked. I was beginning to think he was enjoying my ignorance. “It’s kind of like a trace, just not as noticeable. My mother still has her mark from being on your mother’s Council. I think it’s beautiful.”

             
His words began to soothe me, and I fought to calm my nerves by concentrating instead on his overpowering darkness as it swirled around us and mingled with my own cool essence. After an hour of holding me and talking me down from the proverbial ledge, he led me to the bedroom and pulled back the covers for me. I replaced my clothes with one of his t-shirts as he turned out the lights and climbed in beside me. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized that not only were two of the walls of the bedroom made of glass, but the floor was as well. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to sleep with that kind of view to admire. It was truly magnificent. 

             
“How do you get any sleep?” I whispered, still staring out at the endless expanse of water beyond.

             
“The promise of seeing you the next day usually gets me through.” He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my neck gently.

             
“You think you can just smooth talk your way into my heart, don’t you?” I chided him with a light push.

             
“Is it working?” he purred, and pulled me to him once more with a mischievous grin.

             
“Not at all,” I declared defiantly.

             
“You’re such a horrible liar,” he breathed, and rolled over on top of me; pinning me to the sheets beneath. With a slowness that tore me apart, he lowered all his weight onto me, yet his mouth hovered just out of reach as he licked his lips - a temptation that threatened to undo me completely. With a painful need I had absolutely no control over, I lifted my head off the pillow and met his lips where they paused just above. Refusing to release his willing mouth, I brought his lips down with me as they began to move against mine with a rawness that was echoed throughout my own body. 

             
The thin line between reality and fantasy blurred as I lost myself in his touch, his smell, the urgency of his movements and the feel of his skin against my own. The feeling of being completely isolated beneath the surface of the ocean, along with the irreversible binding of our souls, bent the rules of reality and opened the door to a universe we had never imagined existed. Every sensation, every emotion was magnified as our feelings intertwined and pulsed as one. 

             
Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, his hands found the glass wall behind us, he closed his eyes, and a low moan escaped his throat. I held on to him with utter desperation as the fire between us peaked and consumed every cell in my body; leaving me a melted version of my former self. With the walls fogged up with steam and my breath still coming in labored pants, I lay without moving while Finn gently kissed the tender skin from my collarbone all the way up to my earlobe.

             
“
I love you
,” he whispered in my thoughts.

             
“
And I love you
,” I answered back with a smile. My eyes became heavy with sleep, and I curled up in his arms to drift off to sleep on a cloud of delirium.

Chapter 7

Stasia

             
The sound of crashing waves lightly stirred me from my sleep and I stretched my arms over my head with a happy yawn. I shook out my hair and scratched an itchy spot on my cheek lazily. Just as I was about to peek out of my eyelids to see why waves were crashing into Finn’s underwater chamber, I realized I wasn’t lying on his bed anymore.

             
Something prickly snagged against my left thigh and my eyes flew open. The first thing they focused in on was the silver moon above. The second thing they found was the light fog rolling in off the ocean that stretched out before me. The last thing they noticed was my very naked body with the exception of a thin strip of silk I liked to call underwear. I quickly scurried into a sitting position in an attempt to cover myself with my legs and arms. The grass beneath me was poking up through a thick mass of heavy sand and swaying gently in the breeze coming off the water. When I leaned forward onto the balls of my feet I began to fall forward, so in an attempt to correct my balance, I overcompensated and tumbled backwards instead. Even though my arms shot back to catch me like my reflexes had intended, the rugged white cliff behind me did the job instead. I cringed as several fresh scrapes were etched into my bare skin.