Atlantis Twisting Tides

Atlantis Twisting Tides Chapter One B

 Chapter One B

Hurricane Hero

The words thundered in my head like the thunder in the sky. The booming bounced around my chest. My mother was one hundred percent mermaid. She wasn’t able to leave the water. She’d tried to pass her fears to me.

Humans are bad.

The air they breathe is polluted.

They’d only take advantage of your powers.

Tingles of curiosity spurred me forward. I wanted an adventure. Mom had always held me back. I’d almost missed this hurricane because of her strict control. My brother Reef had been on land many times and survived. He’d even met his girlfriend on land. Not that she was anything close to human.

Reef had had his adventure on land and in the Pacific Ocean. Now, it was my turn—to take a risk, to discover new things, to experience life. I stroked closer to the boat and the guy.

He stretched his hand further. Shaking the hair from his face, his slate-grey gaze penetrated through me. A hot frizzle passed between us, as if we were connected.

I reached for him, placed my hand in his. His long fingers wrapped around mine, sending charges up my arm and down my spine—more powerful than an electric eel. Possibly more powerful than the lightning. And I’d been struck.

Using his powerful strength, he pulled me over the edge of the boat, acting unaffected by my touch.

Disappointment ran through my veins, chilling me. I’d thought the clasping of our hands significant. Maybe that’s how it was with all humans.

We collapsed on the wooden floor of the boat and stared at each other, both breathing heavily. The edge of a bench dug into my back. Puddles sloshed back and forth. The storm raged around. The air between us was silent.

Silent, but charged.

He focused on me as if memorizing every detail.

I thought about my pert nose which turned up too much at the end, about the freckles across my cheeks, about the way my curls floated all around my face. Of course, my curls didn’t exist sopping wet in the air.

Wearing only my old aquamarine bikini, I was completely exposed. No human had ever seen my body. A flush crept up my neck. I was looking my worst, and he was staring at me as if I was a siren.

“Hello.” The soft sound of stupid courtesy tugged my anxiety-driven thoughts away like a fisherman casting his line.

“Hello?” I yelled across the small space of the boat while rain poured between us. A clear curtain of water. “You’re being tossed about by a hurricane in a dinghy and all you can think of saying is hello?”

“I’m Kai.”

A cute name to go along with the cute guy.

“Ohhh!” I wanted to stomp my foot, more angry at myself for forgetting our situation, a very dangerous situation for him. I struggled to a more dignified position. Sitting up straight, I took in the condition of his boat. Water—lots of it—sloshed around the bottom. The mast was unfixable, and the sail had long slashes in several places. The anger grew into frustration—at him. “Well Kai, this boat’s not going to last much longer.”

“It will last long enough.” He yelled over the sound of the violent waves and the angry skies. His expression stayed unconcerned as if he was the eye of the hurricane.

Were humans stupid? Is that why so many of them drowned? My father, King Oceanus, received reports of how many humans were found floating in the ocean every month. “I might not be an expert on sailboats, but I know a couple of things about the ocean.” Hundreds.

“So do I.” His voice crashed with the waves. He grabbed hold of the broken mast again. “What’s your name?”

“Adria.” I spit my name between clenched teeth. Didn’t he understand the severity of the situation? This boat was going to sink, and he was going to drown.

His grey eyes smoothed and warmed like a calm sea. “You’re afraid.”

Not afraid for me. Afraid for him.

“You should be afraid, too. We’re in the middle of a voracious hurricane.”

To demonstrate my point, a huge gale slammed into the boat—into me.

I lost my balance. Fell forward.

Into his arms.

His corded muscles wrapped around my bare midriff. My stomach muscles clenched. His scent of sea and salt surrounded me. My heart clobbered against my ribs. Instant attraction ignited—a volcano about to spew.

His expression softened. His eyes hooded, and his head lowered.

A boom of thunder had me jerking away. From him. From the instant attraction.

To a human.

My body convulsed, trying to control my nerves. Humans were bad. Humans were forbidden. Humans were not part of my present or my future.

He dropped his arms to his sides with a casualness I couldn’t even pretend. One side of his mouth quirked in a sarcastic-smug-smile. “We have to get you to land.”

Another shiver. I wasn’t allowed to go on land. It was too dangerous. I couldn’t jump out of the boat though. Acting heroic, he’d follow me, and then he’d drown.

“It will be okay.” Yelling over the wind, he touched my arm with the tips of his fingers. Not a caress; although, it felt like one. “I know this small island. It’s sheltered. You’ll be safe there.”

“No!” The exclamation echoed in my lungs and scraped out of my throat. I couldn’t go on land with a human stranger. Thoughts of dissection by scientists, or imprisonment, or forcing me to use my powers struck my brain. All childhood tales to keep Atlanteans away from humans. Tales my mother believed.

“I’m the captain of this—” he scanned the destroyed water craft. “—boat. And you’ll do as I say.”

I didn’t like being ordered. My father was the King of Merta, and he commanded everyone. My brother was the crown prince and he bossed me around too. But it was my mother’s orders that were the worst.

I knew she loved me, and was afraid for me, overly afraid because of my heritage. Sometimes her coddling and her rules suffocated. Which was hilarious, since we lived underwater.

“Grab the broken mast and use it like an oar.” Kai’s yell timed with another boom of thunder. “I’m going to get in the water and use my legs to kick.”

This made no sense. I was the Atlantean with super strength under water. I should be the one jumping into the ocean and kicking. He was trying to be my hero. How could I explain that he was actually ruining his chance for survival?

Rain pelleted his head. Water streamed down his face and bare chest. Thrilled tingles traveled across my skin as I watched the line of water pool at the waistband of his swim trunks and disappear. The air around us electrified. I licked my suddenly-dry lips.

Whoa, seahorses! Was I crushing on Kai? He’d be my first crush. My stomach sloshed like a personal hurricane. What if I only fell for humans?

Thunder boomed so loud it shook my body, and my core. A lightning bolt missiled out of the black sky. The jagged edge lit up the world.

Lit up the turbulent waves.

Lit up Kai’s face, showing the chiseled angle of his cheeks and chin.

Lit up the boat.

The lightning bolt struck the center of the wood sailboat. The water at the bottom sizzled. The mast toppled into the waves. And the hull severed.

Split in two pieces.

And Kai and I were each on a different sinking side.