Good Lord, he was powerful. From the slow sweeps of his tail, he was barely making an effort, yet his massive form cut through the water with dizzying speed.
She squinted her eyes against the current rushing past. Already, she could barely see the glimmering surface overhead. Deep blue engulfed them. Every stroke of his fins carried her further and further away from everything she’d ever known.
She breathed deeply, water flowing through her mouth, and tried to calm her racing heart. She pressed against his rough back, drawing comfort from his vast strength. She was with her mate. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
This was where she was meant to be.
He slowed a little, his great head questing from side to side as if sniffing out a scent-trail. Maybe it was the shark-pearl he’d made for her, but Martha could have sworn that she too could taste a difference in the water. A hint of a hidden current; a cold, foreign thread.
I will take you through a Sea Gate, he’d told her. There is an ancient one here, so old that no one knows which Emperor or Empress first created it. It will take us to Atlantis.
A thrill went through her at the prospect of more magic. She strained her eyes, looking for—well, in truth, she wasn’t quite sure what. A big stone portal, maybe, or a glowing underwater whirlpool.
Instead, the Sea Gate turned out to be much less dramatic than she’d expected. Curving his body, Finn propelled them through a patch of water that looked no different from any other bit. Except then—they were somewhere else.
Martha gasped at the suddenly ice-cold sea. These weren’t the gentle, tropical waters of the Caribbean, but the chill depths of the northern Atlantic. She shivered in her wetsuit, instinctively hunkering close to Finn’s back, although in truth he was no warmer than the water.
Then she looked down, and forgot all about being cold.
Atlantis gleamed below them. Pearl-white towers rose from the seven tiers of the city, glittering with lights like sunken stars. A golden palace crowned the very tip of the underwater mountain, bright as fire in the dark water. Shimmering bubbles of air enclosed some buildings, but most were left open to the sea.
It was something out of a fairytale. Just like he was.
Finn had gone still beneath her, as if he was trying to judge her reaction. She pressed her body against his back, spreading her arms as wide as she could.
Thank you. Thank you for showing me your home. For letting me in.
Even though she could only span a tiny fraction of his vast form, she knew he’d recognized the hug from the way his taut muscles relaxed. He started swimming down toward the city, his body undulating in slow, easy movements.
Good mate, excellent mate. Her coyote pranced in circles, eager as a pup. So much to see, so much to sniff! We will run and hunt and dig. And when the pack gathers to chew stories like bones under the moon, this is the one that they will beg us to tell, over and over again.
Her animal’s insatiable curiosity made her smile…but even as she did, a shiver of unease twitched her shoulders. Her coyote thought this was all some grand adventure. A story to tell their grandpups. Her animal didn’t yet realize that this was going to be their new home.
New home? Her coyote twitched an ear, as if bothered by a fly. Nonsense. Our pack is not here.
Our mate is here, Martha pointed out to her beast.
Of course he is. Because we are here. Her coyote yawned, utterly certain of itself. And when we go home, he will come with us. Good mate, strong mate. He will help protect our cubs.
Martha shook her head, knowing better than to try to argue with her stubborn animal. No matter what her beast thought, Arizona was no place for a shark, while a coyote could make itself comfortable just about anywhere.
And her kids were grown-ass adults, as Nita so often reminded her. It was about time she learned to back off a little. She’d still be able to go visit them. This was no different to retiring to Florida or wherever. Just…a little farther off.
If you have to work so hard to convince yourself you’re doing the right thing, Manuel had told her on more than one occasion, you probably aren’t.
Martha squelched the ghostly whisper in her memory. She was doing the right thing. Now that she’d seen Atlantis, she was sure of it. How could she ever ask Finn to leave all this shining wonder for the dull, everyday world above the water?
Holding tight to his back, she let her mate carry her home.
By the time they finally made it back to the resort, Martha’s legs felt made of lead. She stumbled up the sloping beach, every step a huge effort after the weightless freedom of the sea. But the physical exhaustion of her body was nothing compared to her overwhelmed mind. Her head was so stuffed full of marvels, it was a wonder pearls weren’t leaking out of her ears.
The coral-paved streets and intricate mosaics, the underwater gardens and the elegant, shell-white towers…it all blended together in her memory like a dream. And the people, the people! The beauties of the city were nothing compared to the splendor of its inhabitants.
Towering sea dragons with jewel-toned hair, their language more like singing than speech. Quick, fluid seal shifters, so graceful it was a joy just to watch them walk down the street. Orcas and dolphins, walruses and whales…more types of shifter than she’d ever imagined existed.
&n
bsp; She’d even met the Pearl Empress—an astonishingly tall, breathtakingly beautiful young woman with calm, sea-blue eyes. Martha hadn’t needed the crown on her head or the retinue of knights attending her to know that this was a person of power. Yet the Empress—the ruler of the whole sea!—had smiled at her, taking her hands in her own.