Proven (Daughters of the Sea #1) (20 page)

"Come here." He held out a hand. "I'll show you."

I considered his outstretched hand with skepticism. The striking turquoise of his eyes literally twinkled at me beneath the water's surface and the glow of his skin was outshone by the brilliant blues his armored trace displayed. He looked otherworldly and I suddenly wondered if that was what I looked like beneath the water.

On land, he carried himself with confidence and grace, but under the freedom of the water he blossomed into a creature of the sea. More comfortable amongst the coral and the angel fish swimming nearby than on the solid ground above. A broad smile snaked across my face and a bubble of exhilaration welled up in my heart. This was my brother, drifting in front of me with wild eyes and an even wilder spirit, and I loved him. I loved him for our similarities and I loved him for validating all the things I'd always felt were different about me.

I silently thanked my mother and Persephone for granting him time back on earth to spend with me. But I also smacked his hand away and raised a smug eyebrow.

"If you can do it, I can do it," I declared stubbornly with a lopsided grin.

"Said the girl swimming at speeds of mach negative seventy." He laughed at me and twisted an arm around my waist. I felt a wave of pressure as his essence rippled outwards and everything around us became a blur of blues and greens. I had the momentary picture in my head of me ingesting a school of fish by accident and wondered if they made bug shields strong enough to deflect carp. Or manta rays. Or whales.

Despite my gruesome imagination, I held my arms out and closed my eyes with a smile. The water rushed over my skin like silk ribbons and I suddenly felt completely weightless, as if we were tumbling through space with reckless abandon. Before I was ready, we slowed to what felt like a crawl and my hair flew forward, still traveling at supersonic speed.

Sebastian's arms released me and it took a moment to get my bearings as I sunk and urged my arms and legs to start working again. I looked up to see my brother, the great Grecian warrior, giggling as he chased a school of tuna, their silver bodies glinting off of the sun filtering beneath the surface. I pushed my way back up towards him and sent some of my essence to a particularly large tuna; urging it to ram him in the side. When it did just that, he pushed it away playfully and glanced down at me knowingly.

"Are you connected to all of the creatures like me or just a specific one?" I questioned curiously. I assumed it was the same as me, but I wasn't positive.

"Only one," he answered with a snicker. "You got the better end of that gene pool."

"Really?" I gasped, feeling somewhat special. "Which one?"

"Maybe I'll introduce you later." He winked at me. "But at the moment, you've got some swimming lessons to attend to."

"I'm all yours, professor." I gave him my full attention happily. Not having to figure something out on my own was a nice change.

"It's pretty simple, but it's all about control," he began. "The water itself will pull you along, but you just have to ask it. Kind of like the way you sabotaged that tuna and made it attack me."

"I'm sure his puckered lips and little fins were utterly terrifying." I rolled my eyes at him. "But I get the gist."

"I'm pretty sure he put a hex on me with those puckered lips, and those little fins, as you call them, were more like razor blades," he defended himself, then continued with the lesson. "Anyway, once you do that, the water does all the work for you, except for which direction you're going."

"What if I don't know what direction I'm going?"

"You might want to stick to the doggy paddle strategy. And tranquil lakes."

"You know what I mean," I laughed at him. "Like right now - we know the general direction of the Azores, but how do I know when I've gone too far? How do I know I'm not headed to the other side of the globe?"

"You'll run aground, for one thing," he mused. "Which I don't suggest. Or you just get practice. Eventually you'll get a feel for how fast you're going and how far you've gone. For our purposes, I'll swim beside you and when you feel like it, just stop. Then we can determine what to do from there."

"I'll need to stop every so often to see if I can detect the ocean's song, too," I considered and then tilted my head at him. "Can't you hear it?"

He looked down the length of his body as if the answer were obvious. "Dead, remember?"

"Oh yeah." I laughed a little too hard. "I keep forgetting."

"Alright, little sis." He maneuvered next to me and gestured for me to go first. "Let's see what you've got!"

I gathered my essence and flushed it outward as I silently requested the sea to embrace me and send me hurdling through its depths. With no warning or even a one-two-three countdown, my world became an obscure collection of lines and colors as I went hurdling through the Mediterranean. The all-consuming freedom was exhilarating and I squealed from the release of it all. Anything in my way naturally parted as my body sliced through the water like a bullet, until the roar of water past my ears was muffled by something else. Something so overpowering, I completely forgot where I was and what I was doing.

Her melody caressed my eardrums and infiltrated my essence like the life-giving water within my lungs. It crashed over me and stripped me clean of all fear, all worry, and unfortunately my purpose for gliding through the ocean at an unnatural speed. I closed my eyes and let go of all control. I felt my mouth open and I started to sing with her, even though my voice was all kinds of off-key and almost an insult to the ocean's heavenly song. Then I ran into a wall.

I skidded sideways, tumbling through the water like a rag doll until something grabbed my legs and almost ripped them from their sockets. When I opened my eyes again, all I could see was a very amused Sebastian. He was moving his hands across my face in an attempt to catch my attention. Feeling somewhat drunk with the ecstasy of her song still running through my essence, I could only giggle at him uselessly.

"Did I miss the liquor store stop?" he chuckled at me as his smile filled me with love. He wiggled a disapproving finger at me. "Friends don't let friends drink and swim."

"I heard her song," I explained happily, my own voice ricocheting throughout my skull like a ping pong ball.

"That's why you were carving a zigzag pattern through the Mediterranean?" He raised a blond eyebrow skeptically. "You almost took me out twice! I'm gonna need full body armor next time!"

"It was amazing." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in.

"Uh huh." He waved away my intoxicating babble and watched me with amusement. "How 'bout we take it down a notch next time. I can't have you crashing into Italy and causing an earthquake, now can I?"

"We're already near Italy?" I gaped.

"We weren't before, but thanks to your lead foot," he answered with a sneer, "we are now."

O
LIVIA

Just when I thought I'd experienced the kind of luxury only housed within imperial castles standing upon enchanted islands, I took my first step into the Baths of the Metropolis. After successfully gathering my jaw up from the elaborate, tiled floor, I sought to exude an air of distinction. As if I perused engineering miracles resembling princess-cut diamonds on the regular. With my sudden inability to blink and the obvious dilemma of being one earsplitting squeal away from a full blown fan girl moment, that couldn't have been farther from the truth. Every inch of its grandiose architecture glistened with unapologetic opulence. The reflective quality of the enchanted water, the exquisite portrayals of the Games playing out across the tile floor, the picturesque domed ceilings, and the walls lined with serene fountains created a prism of colors and light that could only be orchestrated one at a time for fear of outshining the stars in the heavens.

I'd been told the Tyde Captains were enjoying the amenities of the Baths, but it was immediately apparent they weren't the only ones taking advantage of the many indulgences that were being offered. Each sparkling pool I passed was brimming with descendants; splashing one another, rough-housing, and even a couple reading or taking a quick nap. How anyone could fall asleep amidst the unrelenting chaos was beyond me. The testosterone filled barking of guys trying to one-up each other and the low conversations of girls sizing up their competition with more demure tactics filled the spacious halls of the Baths with electricity.

After winding through bathing suit clad obstacles and three of the largest pools I'd ever seen, I arrived at a prolonged, rectangular pool where a high stakes swimming race was playing out beneath the water. About thirty Tydes were gathered around the pool cheering on one of the five competitors. I easily spotted the strawberry-mane of a Captain who was lounging a few yards away from the action; appearing completely indifferent to the displays of ego nearby. I decided to start there.

"So they wouldn't let the swim Captain compete, huh?" I teased Ruby. "Afraid you'd put 'em all to shame?"

Her slate blue eyes fluttered open before she sat up too quickly; tilting her chair off-balance with a start. Skittish crimson rushed to her cheeks sprinkled with freckles, and her mouth went slack with astonishment. "Olivia!"

"Shhhh..." I lifted a sly finger to my lips with an impish smile. I signaled for her to come poolside with me. I couldn't help but notice her white bikini with its dazzling display of neon geometric patterns as she stood; towering over me with a lean swimmer's figure.

"This race is for second place," she sneered; jutting her chin out with pride. "It was pretty obvious in the first race who the winner was."

"Naturally," I agreed with a smirk. We snuck up behind a row of descendants so intent on the unfolding drama of the race, they didn't notice us. The entire length of the pool had been partitioned off to create five swimming lanes; each housing the remaining five Captains. From my vantage point, I could make out two in particular that were going head-to-head for the lead. The surf Captain, Oliver, in blue swim shorts and the archery Captain, Blythe, in a red bikini. They made it to the far end of the pool, somersaulted underwater, and shot forward before surfacing and falling into the rhythmic arching motion of the butterfly.

"One more up and down and it'll be over," Ruby whispered to me. The swimmers headed back down their lanes in a graceful backstroke as my pulse sped up at the cheers of the descendants, fueled by the impending sprint. The competitors shot up the pool one last time, swimming freestyle. Blythe and Oliver matched each other stroke for stroke; the makings of a photo finish. 

The cheers and thunderous vibrations of stomping feet increased with each stroke, followed by a collaborative held breath as their hands stretched towards victory. Blythe's fingers grazed the tiled wall a mere second before Oliver's, eliciting a cheer of elation from a group of descendants to my left and an equally loud groan on the other side. Blythe surfaced with a celebratory whoop and slapped the water in triumph. She climbed out of the pool just as the other three Captains reached the wall. Her adoring fans smothered her in fist pumps and hugs while a victorious smile shone brightly on her lips.

I ducked beneath a high five in an effort to make my way towards the exalted winner when a particularly firm arm accidentally bumped into me just as I lifted up my foot; catching me off guard and knocking me off balance. Before I could right myself, the telling sensation of falling gripped me and I glimpsed the surface of the water seconds before crashing right through it. My white clothes promptly turned invisible and I could almost feel the makeup smearing down my face.

With the sounds of celebration suddenly muffled from above, I assumed they finally realized who was just knocked into the pool. I came up for a breath and pushed the hair from my face, peering up at an array of terror-filled eyes and mouths covered by shaking hands. I even caught sight of several pairs of feet darting in the other direction. I hoped none of those feet belonged to the Captains. If so, I'd be retracting my invitation to the crux.

The rush of embarrassment at my translucent clothes and less than graceful free fall quickly transformed into amusement at the fearful descendants waiting for me to erupt in anger or electrocute them. Luckily for them, I had a better idea. I allowed a slow sneer to work its way across my lips as I gathered my essence and sent it outwards, grabbing onto every one of them and yanking them into the pool with me.

Frightened shrieks turned to squeals of delight as they bobbed back up for air with relief. I made my way to the edge of the pool where I was met by Ruby. She slipped a dry hoodie around my body to hide any unmentionables that were now visible. As I stood, the splashing and rough-housing halted amidst hushed whispers as the descendants all turned to watch me expectantly.

"I need to speak with the Captains. As for the rest of you," I paused for suspense, allowing my hardened exterior to melt into a mischievous smile. "Heads up."

They made it way too easy. I couldn't pass up another opportunity to surprise them. I dipped my toe lightly into the water and created something of a wave pool for them. The first watery barrel crashed over about ten unsuspecting descendants, while the others rushed to get in on the action. With their attention successfully averted, I eyed the Captains.