Atlantis Tide Breaker, page 9
I knew more about Atlanteans than most humans. And I knew a regular Atlantean could not control water.
Sky had special powers. But from where?
Chapter Nine
Potent Power
Time seemed to pause as I took in the scene below cataloguing everyone’s reactions and organizing the thoughts in my brain. Then, the wave surged forward. Water from the lagoon heaved onto the miniature golf course. The waves crashed into the railings and the picnic tables and the Astroturf course.
I plunged with the wave. Screaming, air expelled out of my chest, but I should’ve been breathing in, filling my lungs for when I went under water again. Because I knew I was going under.
Trembling, I rode the water. Shivers sprinted through me. The wave took me down. Toward the ground. Toward Gill and the attackers. Feeling like I was on a crazy rollercoaster, I couldn’t stop my forward progress. I couldn’t control my direction.
But Sky could.
The wave carried me toward her. The water lowered like a kiddie slide. I swished to a stop at her feet.
Water lapped around me. I spit out the chlorine-taste. Struggling to a kneeling position, my body quivered. Goose bumps raced across my skin. I was sopping wet, tired and achy, shocked and scared.
Sky had all the control. She’d moved water. Normal Atlanteans couldn’t do that.
I stared at her with sockets so wide I thought my eyeballs were going to fall out. “What are you?”
Because she stood, she appeared larger than life. Larger than Atlantean. Her controlled expression twitched for a second. Softened. Then, her skin radiated. The pale green turned darker.
Not like needing-to-barf green, but sea monster green!
I jumped like someone had popped a balloon at a surprise party. My gaze darted to Gill. His eyes were wider than mine felt. His mouth hung open. With the two attackers’ arms holding him down, he appeared just as shell shocked.
So, did the two attackers.
“Who and what are you?” Gill’s question confirmed my worst fear. He didn’t know what Sky was or where her powers came from. “Are you an Atlantean?”
I examined Sky.
“What do labels matter?” Her skin went from green to angry red. “I’m the one who rescued you, Tori.”
My lips trembled trying to form words. “A-a-after you helped capture me.”
Sky raised the spear gun. Her lips firmed. Her eyes slitted, barely visible. But she didn’t respond to my dig.
My body felt heavy. Fear receded like the wave—replaced by the hurt and confusion turning in my mind. I staggered to my feet. If I was going to die, whether by Sky or the two attackers, I wanted to know why and by what.
Gill tried to shake off Hairy and Tattoo-guy. He struggled against them trying to get free. “Where’d you get those powers?”
Sky’s harsh rumbling laugh didn’t sound merry. “Guess you and your princess friends don’t know all the Atlantean legends.”
“Legend?” Tattoo-guy’s question told me he didn’t know about Sky’s additional powers.
“Why save me?” When she obviously didn’t care about me.
My confusion twisted into betrayal. Betrayal that sliced like a knife in my back. She’d pretended to be my friend. She’d been at the beach the day Gill was attacked. She’d probably helped lure him there. She’d lied to me. And she was working with the bad guys.
Bad guys who obviously didn’t know her entire story.
“You know how to solve the cipher, Tori.” The certainty in Sky’s voice had me sucking down air.
Sky knows. Or is she only surmising? I’d told no one about the flash of insight in the bathroom mirror. She must be bluffing.
“No, I don’t. I told you Friday night I hadn’t figured the code out.” That had been the truth at the time.
Sky pointed her weapon at my chest. The steel tip poked my bathing suit snagging the red material.
I was just glad it hadn’t snagged my skin. My heart thwumped. One stupid move and I was dead. One simple pull on the trigger.
Sky challenged Gill with her gaze. “Give me the nautilus and I promise not to harm Tori.”
Gill stopped struggling. He held up his hands in a surrender gesture. “If Tori hasn’t figured out the code, the nautilus alone does nothing for you.”
Pinching my mouth together, I wanted to stomp my foot. “I haven’t figured out the code.”
“I believe you have.” Sky sounded so sure. “I’ll borrow Tori’s genius brain and return her all in one piece, if you give me the nautilus.”
I didn’t believe her. She didn’t care about me. Never had. Anger stilled my shaking limbs.
“I don’t trust you.” Gill never had trusted her. His instincts had been correct.
And for all my genius, I couldn’t spot a faux friend or a fake boyfriend. I might be book smart, but I obviously wasn’t people smart. If I hadn’t trusted Sky, neither Gill or I would be in this position. My shoulders sagged like a heavy weight pushed down.
“You don’t have a choice.” Sky’s high pitch could’ve scraped the raw edge off a shell. “If you don’t hand over the nautilus I’ll drag her deep in the ocean guaranteeing you will never see Tori again. Except as a corpse.”
Stiffening, I already felt like a corpse. My heart shut down for a second before galloping at a fast pace trying to race ahead of disaster. Terror oozed through every pore.
“I don’t believe you.” Gill’s voice challenged, but his eyes flashed with fear.
“Give me a try. You saw what I can do.”
I’d experienced the effects of her special abilities. Even the three princesses of Atlantis couldn’t control water.
Gill’s chin dipped down. His expression grew thoughtful. He seemed to be considering her request.
Whatever secret the nautilus held was important.
“Gill, no. Don’t do it.” I couldn’t let him sacrifice his honor and the Royalists for me. Many Atlanteans would die. Maris could die. Her sisters could die.
“Let me go.” He demanded of the two attackers.
Sky nodded and the two men let go of Gill but grabbed their spear guns to be at the ready.
Gill took a step forward his hands up. “If I give the nautilus to you, what will happen to Tori?”
“She’ll tell me what the cipher says and I’ll let her go.” Sky’s too reasonable tone sounded false. It couldn’t be that simple.
“Just like that? What if she reads something you don’t like?”
“I’ll keep my word.” Sky actually sounded honest. Personal experience had demonstrated she was a great liar.
I tensed and held my breath. “Don’t believe her, Gill.”
“I left the nautilus just outside the door of the mini golf course.” In slow motion, as if afraid one of them would use their weapon, he backed toward the door.
“Gill stay.” Sky spoke to him like a pet. She jerked her head at Hairy. “You, go get the bag.”
“It’s hidden.” Gill took a step backwards. “Only I can get it.”
Silence filled the miniature golf course. The large clock on the wall ticked, counting down my end.
“One of the guys will go with you.” Sky nodded in satisfaction. “I don’t want you seeking help.”
“Who would he tell?” My voice rose. “No human would believe him.”
She shook her head in a-your-so-stupid gesture. “There are other Atlanteans around. There always are.”
Before Gill headed toward the door, his gaze connected with mine. All my nerves sizzled. With caring. With fear. With questions about us. He was giving up the nautilus to save me. Did this mean he liked me?
After he left with Hairy, Tattoo-guy played with his spear gun. And Sky and I stared at each other.
I scrunched my mouth together trying to hold back all my thoughts. All my hurt.
“What?” She tapped her foot on the ground.
“Nothing.”
“Just say it.”
“Say what?”
“Say again how you thought we were friends. How you thought you could trust me.”
She wanted me to toss accusations at her. Why? Then again, they weren’t accusations. They were truth.
I crossed my arms. I didn’t need to yell. I wanted answers. “Were you faking how much fun we had at my house trying on clothes?”
Her gaze narrowed, glaring at me. Creases marred her forehead. Her mouth opened and then shut. Her lips started to form a word and then changed shape. “No.”
My shoulders raised and dropped. Her answer surprised me.
The door banged open. Gill and Hairy had returned. Gill held my old red string bag with my swim team logo on the front.
Maris had given the bag to me as a gift. It was strong enough to hold the heavy nautilus and survive the salty ocean water for the trip back to Atlantis.
Gill held out the bag. “Take it.”
Sky jerked her head, pointing with her chin. “Show me the nautilus. Take it out of the bag.”
“Sure.” Gill shot a quick look at me. Satisfaction seemed to flash for a second in his eyes.
What was he doing? He didn’t seem upset that he’d had to sacrifice the nautilus to save me. My earlier confusion doubled.
Using super-slow motion, he opened up the drawstring bag and took out the shell. The nautilus covered his palm. “You wanted the puzzle, right?”
“Yes.” Sky’s shoulders dipped down in a relaxed position.
“Then, go pick up the pieces.” Gill took back his arm over his shoulder like a quarterback making a pass.
Except he didn’t throw it at Sky. Or at Hairy or Tattoo-guy.
Gill threw the nautilus toward the empty lagoon. The hard concrete empty lagoon.
“No!” Sky’s screech sent shivers down my spine.
“No.” The word echoed deep in my lungs. Maris needed the nautilus to stop the war.
Hairy and Tattoo-guy dashed. They dropped their weapons and slipped down the edge of the lagoon.
The nautilus hit the bottom. The shell crashed echoing throughout the miniature golf course and in my chest.
The nautilus shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Pieces that could never be put back together again.
***
“Where are we going?” I tripped when Gill tugged my arm harder toward the partially destroyed pier.
I panted from the sprint we’d made out of the miniature golf course. We’d dodged people crossing the Boardwalk. Then, we’d raced down the stairs to the beach.
I thought he’d run toward the Lifeguard Games. Toward people who knew me. Instead, he chose a path in the opposite direction.
The sand from his pace kicked up in the air. “You’ll see.” He sounded more satisfied than sad.
Following because I planned to demanded explanations, I let him tug me along.
Sky and her two henchmen hadn’t come after us. The attackers had scrambled into the now-dry lagoon trying to pick up the shell pieces. She’d stood alone watching Gill and I run. She’d made no attempt to get the nautilus or to stop us.
Why? You’d think she’d want revenge or at least my knowledge of the code in case they managed to piece the nautilus back together. It was as if she knew more than anyone and didn’t share her confidences.
She’d crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her frown showed sadness, not anger. Her green gaze had followed as we’d run out of the building. And her eyes had softened when I’d looked back one last time.
“How can Sky control water?” I wanted to confirm that we’d both witnessed the same thing.
“I don’t know.”
Gill should know more about special Atlantean powers than me. All of the Atlanteans could breathe underwater, and had super strength and super speed in the ocean.
“I know each of the princesses have a special power.” Maris’s special princess power was healing.
“True.” He shook his head. “I don’t know who Sky is or where she came from. She’s a complete mystery.”
A mystery that I’d wanted to be my friend. I thought she’d be the girl to become one of my new best friends. How wrong could I be?
Stupidity tripped my feet, slowing my pace. Despair threatened the exhilaration of escape like a massive thunderstorm. Maris had been a true friend until she’d left me for the royal life. Sky had only used me.
Used me like Gill. But he’d saved me, too.
Vertigo hit with the maelstrom. Gill had used me and then saved me. But to save me, he’d busted the nautilus—the one thing my true best friend needed to win the Atlantean war.
“How could you destroy the nautilus?” Did I mean more to him than I’d thought? “It held the key to the message.”
He glanced at me. His lips twitched into a grin. “Isn’t Sky the one who said, you can find a bunch of those shells at the beach?”
“Yeah, but…” I hurried my pace and slapped him on the shoulders. “You switched the shells.”
“You might be a genius, but I didn’t just slip off the pipeline.” He turned and smiled for real this time. His strong lips lifted into a teasing grin with a quirk on the right side.
I tripped again. But this time not from confusion. His smile made my feet and my heart tumble. He’d saved me but he hadn’t ruined Maris’s chances either. “Where is the real nautilus? Is it safe?”
“It’s safe.” He slipped under the yellow tape where crews worked on refurbishing the historic pier that had been destroyed by earthquakes.
Earthquakes caused by one of the princess. But that was another story.
No workers on a Saturday. Just broken beams of wood, sawhorses, and other equipment.
I followed. “We’re not supposed to be under the pier.”
Slits of sunshine broke through the slatted wooden pier. The ground was covered mostly in shadows casting strange images across the damp sand. Darkness sprouted from the pier supports reminding me of the image, or picture, from the nautilus.
I grabbed Gill’s arm. “I figured out—”
“I knew you would,” a girl’s voice squealed with happiness.
A voice I recognized.
I froze. Angling my head, I replayed the voice. Happiness sung like a song in my veins. “Maris!”
She emerged from behind a pier support. Her long auburn hair curled around her shoulders, still damp from the ocean. Her green eyes sparkled with love and mischief. Her smile beamed with welcome. She opened her arms.
I ran toward my best friend. Her arms wrapped around me and mine around her. We hugged each other tight. I couldn’t believe she was back in Mermaid Beach. Warmth cascaded through me. I was so happy to see her. So glad she was okay.
Maris leaned back but still kept her arms around me. “Tori, you look fabulous. How are you? How’s school?”
The mention of school reminded me that she’d dropped out, which reminded me why. My shoulders collapsed and worry took over the thrill of our reunion. “What are you doing here? I thought it was dangerous for you to leave the ocean?”
“Good to see you, too.” Maris’ voice sounded the same but different. Richer, more royal. “Do you remember Pearl and Chase?”
I dropped my arms from around Maris. My chest burned like indigestion—probably from my emotions flipping from happiness to worry to hurt. Pearl was one of Maris’s new half-sisters. One of the girls who’d taken her away from me.
Pearl’s blonde hair was wet. Her green eyes shined with what looked like happiness. She must’ve traveled with Maris.
“Hi.” Her over-friendly tone was different from the few times we’d met. She’d always had an independent edge about her. Now, she seemed softer.
Maybe because of the guy at her side. Chase, with wavy brown hair and the bluest eyes, held her hand as if unwilling to ever let go. As if they’d been through a traumatic adventure and knew their place was together.
I nodded and tried to smile at them both.
“And of course you remember Cuda.” Cuda had been Maris’s lifeguard boss on the beach this summer and her boyfriend. He was also an Atlantean.
With his curly blond hair and mysterious blue eyes, all the girls thought he was the hottest guy on the beach. At first Maris had been intimidated by him, and then madly in love with him.
“Hi, Tori.” Cuda sounded the same. Friendly and concerned. He’d always been nice to me and we’d worked together to convince Maris the folly of making false friends.
Too bad he hadn’t been around when I’d met Sky.
“Gill,” I tugged on his arm. In all the excitement of seeing Maris I’d forgotten about what just happened. “You have to tell them about Sky and the two attackers.”
“I will.” Gill kept scanning the beach behind us. Maybe he thought Sky and her goons were still a threat. “But we can talk about it later. Right now, we have more important things to discuss.”
“You’ve figured out the cipher.” The hope in Maris’s voice told me how important this was to her. And to Atlantis.
Gill had told me as much.
My heart deflated like a punctured swim tube. She hadn’t come back to Mermaid Beach to visit me. She’d come back to get the message on the cipher.
“The nautilus is only the key to the cipher code.” The words curled in my stomach. Resentment built. I could’ve told her no. Could’ve let them puzzle it out for themselves. Could’ve not gotten involved in their underwater war.
I observed Gill standing beside me. The heat from his body gave me the support I needed. He’d saved me and tricked Sky. I wanted to help him.
And I still wanted to help Maris. She’d been my best friend since kindergarten. It didn’t matter that she’d abandoned me and moved on to a new life with two half-sisters. I still needed to help.
I took a shattered breath and pictured the images reflected in my bathroom mirror. “The nautilus gives the cipher code and the location of the true message.”
“So this shell,” Cuda picked up a second bag that must hold the real nautilus. “Tells where to find the real message and gives you the key to unlock it?”
Loss settled around me like the storm clouds that were constantly overhead. They’d take the information I provided and all of them, including Maris and Gill, would swim away. Out of my life forever.
