Madly & the Jackal (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

The fact that Jackson had been trained practically his entire life to be a Sentinel turned out to be a lifesaver, even more than I ever expected.  He knew exactly at what point we needed to stop at the perimeter of Atlas’s portal so that we wouldn’t trip the alarms.  He wanted to get us as close as he could because once he released the pearl, it would only take a few seconds for it to be ensnared by the magic of the prison and accepted into a containment cell.  At that point, a tiny electromagnetic pulse would be our only signal that the alarms were resetting to include Wolfhardt’s soul.  Once that happened, we would have thirty short seconds to get through the opening and get safely past the second set of motion sensors before the alarms were once again fully armed. 

Yeah, piece of cake,
I thought to myself with a snide-but-silent laugh.

I’d always taken Atlas’s security for granted.  I knew it was state-of-the-art.  I knew it was practically infallible, foolproof.  Unbeatable.  But it was necessary, even though our people had never faced a significant threat in my lifetime.  In this instance, however, I was getting an up-close and personal look at the systems in place, their weaknesses and, most importantly, how they could be used against us.

With a sharp shake of my head, I reminded myself that was a battle for another day.  The task at hand was to circumvent the security and gain entrance to Atlas so we could find out who was behind the prison break and who else was involved.  Despite the urgency of that mission, however, there was one that had an even higher priority for me—the mission to save my family.  There was nothing more important.  There simply wasn’t.

I watched as Jackson raised his hand, studying the pearl as he prepared to release it.  I moved in closer to his side, lacing my fingers through those of his free hand.  When he glanced over at me, his expression was as serious as our quest.  Although he didn’t speak, he didn’t take his eyes from mine.  It wasn’t hard to see the battle that raged within him.  I nodded encouragingly and slid my gaze to the pearl that rested like a piece of shimmering darkness between his fingertips.

I heard as much as felt Jackson’s deep sigh and then, as if in slow motion, he spread his fingers and released the pearl.  Together we watched as the iridescent orb hovered in the calm ocean water for one protracted moment before it disappeared. 

The instant it left my sight, my muscles bunched with anxiety and readiness.  All my senses reached out into the murky depths like antennae.  They searched for the telltale pulse that would signal our time had arrived.  For the first few seconds I felt nothing. 

And then I did.

The tiniest of vibrations thrilled the scales on my lower half and twitched in the twin fibrous tips of my tail.  Before I could even make a comment about it, before it truly even registered in my brain, Jackson had grabbed my hand and was towing me toward the invisible opening that would take us into the hidden atmosphere of our home.

I was a fast swimmer.  Always had been.  But being pulled by Jackson was like being strapped to a rocket.  We tore through the water like smooth, determined missiles. 

I could sense the change the instant we passed through the portal.   My pores seemed to open up and breathe in the purified water that bathed my skin.  My lungs expanded to take in the microscopic bubbles that suffused the aerated liquid.  My scales swelled at the first hint of the increased ambient temperature.  And my heart!  My heart fluttered with the excitement of being home, of being one step closer to saving the planet, humanity, my people and my family. 

As we darted furiously past the second set of alarms, my mind and the rest of my body woke to the knowledge of where we were.  I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at my lips.  I let it shine because we had just experienced our first victory.  Jackson and I had made it.  We were in Atlas.  And we hadn’t triggered the alarms.

We raced through the warm, calm, crystal clear waters until we began to see other Mer swimming below us.  Although we’d known we were bound to pass others, I think neither Jackson nor I had planned for it.  Or, more importantly, how to avoid it.  If we were detected, the entire mission could be compromised.

Just as I was able to make out the hazy brightly-colored peaks of the city, Jackson pulled to a stop and came around in front of me.  His wide shoulders eclipsed everything behind him.

“You’re gonna have to use your magic to charm us, Madly.  We need to look like…well, I don’t care who we look like, as long as we don’t look like us.”

I should’ve known Jackson would have a plan.  He was a brilliant strategist, always thinking ahead.  I smiled at him, partly in approval of his plan, partly in appreciation of the incredible mind that accompanied his incredible face.

It took very little effort on my part to work the magic.  My heritage and my bracelet in conjunction with the copious amounts of water would’ve been enough to begin with.  Add to those elements the raw magic that lay within the invisible walls of Atlas, and I could do virtually anything.  For the first time since we’d left land, I felt truly optimistic about our chances of pulling off our hare-brained scheme.

“You’ll have to stay close to me or it’ll wear off,” I warned. 

Personally, I didn’t mind having Jackson by my side 24/7.  In fact, I relished the idea.  I couldn’t have planned it any better.

“Oh, damn,” Jackson teased with a wicked grin, sliding his hand around my waist and yanking me roughly against him. 

My pulse tripped up a notch in response to the completely displaced, yet completely welcomed moment of intimate frivolity.

“I just hate that I won’t get to see this beautiful face for the next little while,” he pouted, brushing my cheek with the backs of his fingers.

I thrilled at his casual compliment.  I was still in awe of how our relationship had changed.  I wanted to enjoy our love, our closeness, and our freedom while we could.  Although I would never have admitted it to Jackson, I was afraid that my parents might do something drastic when they found out that I had tied to a Sentinel.

With a shudder, I closed my eyes, pushing the worrisome musings aside.  There would be time to tackle all that later.  I needed to focus on the situation at hand.

“Well, lucky for you, Sentinel Hamilton, you and I won’t be able to see what others see.  I will still see the real you and you’ll still see the real me.”

Jackson frowned.

“Not that I’m complaining, but how will we know it worked?”

“Trust me,” I said confidently.   “It worked.”

Jackson nodded, but I could tell he was far from convinced.

“What about your bracelet?  Can you, like, camouflage it or something?”

I paused, adding that detail to the image I was conjuring.

“Done!” I said with a flourish.  “So, brilliant planner, who shall we be?  Bonnie and Clyde Matthews?  Bill and Calamity Jenkins?”

Jackson smirked.

“How about John and Mary Rainns?”

“John and Mary Rainns,” I repeated, taking the names out for a test drive.  “Eh, they’ll do.  At least they’re somewhat similar to our real names.”

Jackson smiled and reached for my hand.

“You should probably get us some rings,” he suggested, rubbing my empty ring finger with his thumb.

I knew he was just seeing to the details, but my mouth went completely dry, which is very significant when one is submerged in water.

“Right,” I said, my voice sounding breathless in the water, even though that wasn’t possible.  And yet it did.  I heard it with my own ears. 

I smiled awkwardly, suddenly feeling nervous.  I held out my hand, palm up, and conjured twin golden circles that appeared in the center of my hand as if they’d been there all along.

Jackson and I both looked down at them and then back up at each other.  For a moment, I felt lost in the endless depths of his clear blue eyes.  They seemed to hold infinite answers to the infinite questions that constantly plagued a tiny corner of my mind.  They were confident where I was not.  They were strong where I felt weak.  They were honest when I needed the truth.  And, most of all, they were love when I needed it most.

Jackson’s warm fingertips grazed my palm when he took the larger of the two rings and slipped it on his finger.  I was surprised that it fit.  I raised my hand to take the second ring, but Jackson stilled it.  Instead, he took the ring in one hand and my hand in his other, turning it palm down.

Without a word, Jackson slid the ring on my finger. I would have sworn my heart stopped beating for a full ten seconds.  The sun hung quietly overhead.  The earth froze on its axis. Every creature in the sea stilled.  Life around us paused, as if the entire universe was as breathless as I was. 

We both stared down at the golden band for what seemed like an eternity before Jackson raised my hand to his lips and kissed the shiny circle that wound around my finger.  Our eyes met for an instant and it was magic like nothing I’d ever experienced.

When Jackson grinned, it was gone.

“Mrs. Rainns.”

I smiled, shaken.  Despite the carefree tilt of his lips, I knew Jackson was moved by the mystical moment.  He’d felt it, too.  I supposed rehashing it would be a conversation for another day.  And, even then, I had no idea what we’d say about it.  Maybe it was one of those things best left undisturbed, unexamined.  Whether it was ever mentioned again or not, it was etched onto my heart with a white-hot branding iron.

“Mr. Rainns,” I finally managed once I’d recovered.  “Shall we?” I asked, tipping my head to indicate the sparkling city that lay beneath us.

“We shall,” Jackson said, turning until we were shoulder to shoulder and offering me his arm.

I hooked my hand on the crook of his elbow and we drifted weightlessly down through the waters toward Atlas.  Toward home.

From a distance, Atlas appeared to be nothing more than an enormous bed of beautifully brilliant coral.  As one descended upon it, there were brightly colored peaks as far as the eye could see.  They shone in a dazzling display that could be seen through the cover of haze that floated atop the city. 

The haze itself was nothing more than a collection of minerals that refracted light in such a way as to cleverly conceal Atlas, giving it the appearance of simple coral.  It also functioned to confuse humans, discouraging them from stumbling upon the city unawares.  But the closer we got, the clearer the picture became.

Once we passed the protective film, the vibrant colors became the otherworldly, sparkling pastels that were unique to Atlas.  Gliding over the city was like flying over a mountain range made of pale, rainbow crystals.  In the center of each peak was a round opening, a window into the hidden world below.  Each one corresponded to an intersection of streets in Atlas.

“Where do you want to go in?” I asked Jackson.

“Let’s go in near the school.  We can walk down to Central Square and do some recon around your parents’ house before we make our move.”

My family’s home was sort of like a Governor’s mansion.  It was a compound that occupied a city block right in the center of town.  It functioned as the residence of the Warden Major and Warden Queen of course, but it was also a beacon of leadership, security and stability.  In the event of a hostile takeover, it would likely have fallen into the hands of the traitors.

Jackson took my hand, tucked his head and swam with purpose, dropping in so close to the crystalline peaks that I could’ve reached down to touch them as we zoomed by.  When we arrived at the familiar lavender peak that marked the school, Jackson dragged me down through the opening.

As we swam into the center of the pale crystal, our bodies were bathed in warm soft light.  The beautifully colored, crystalline mountains that served as a sky for Atlas functioned in a manner similar to that of a prism.  They captured and refracted the dim light from the surface of the water and channeled it into the city that lay beneath.

When it seemed we had traveled far enough to have breached the earth’s core, the bright tunnel gave way to a room.  There was one such compartment at the bottom of each mountain.  They were airlock chambers, sustained by the magic of Atlas.

As we descended into the area, I could feel the spell of the Mer separating my legs as my tail fin receded to give me feet.  In Atlas, everyone lived as a hybrid.  We were still covered in our natural scales, but they fit more like leggings, allowing us to walk and move as humans, but without the need for restrictive clothes.  Once our legs had separated, if we re-entered the chamber, the webbing of scales between them would reform, as would our fibrous tail fin and we would once again be fit for swimming in the waters of the deep. 

Jackson and I descended the stairs that led to street level, my hand still firmly within his grasp.  I paused on the last step, happier than I could describe at being back in my home land.  A part of me had wondered if I would ever see the beautiful city again. 

I let my eyes roam the familiar landscape, taking in all the sensory stimulation as if I’d never seen it before.

The translucent mountains hovered above the city like a ceiling made entirely of stained glass.  They shed their soft, glowing light on the pearly streets and the shimmering buildings, and they sparkled in the iridescent scales of every passerby.