Deimos held his arms out, blocking Mari from getting any closer to the entrance to Atlantis. Her mouth was dropped open wide and her body was thrumming with excitement.
“Oh my god,” she whispered. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my effing god.”
Ambrose grabbed her, dragging her to his chest. “You have to be silent, Mari. Do not speak, do not even smile. Just be quiet.” To make sure that she stayed quiet, he covered her mouth with his hand. She grumbled against his palm, but didn’t fight him.
Good. The Atlantean guards were trained to take out any threat, on sight. Her tail might be a signal of her god status, but that barely meant anything to the guards when it came to protecting their city. Visitors of many races had come to Atlantis, genetically altered to look the part of a god, just so they could be welcomed in easily.
They normally turned out to be assassins.
He held the shaking Mari against his body tightly as the gates began to open. The invisible shield that had protected Atlantis for years began to appear before their eyes, crumbling rock falling from the boulder that had been placed in front of it. As rock began to peel away from the shield, glass-like gates slowly revealed themselves.
Ambrose felt Mari’s mouth drop open against his hand, and he tightened his grip on her. “Shh,” he whispered. The rock fell completely away, and the shield began to fall away completely. Like ebbing water, it swayed back and forth, pulsing, unused to the invasion. By the speed it was going, he could deduce that it had been a couple hundred years since someone had come to Atlantis.
Which wasn’t a very good sign for them…
Deimos unsheathed his sword and akrina began to quiver, brightening to a blinding point. He willed the akrina to form his blades. If they tried to harm Mari, he didn’t care that the guards had been trained for thousands of years in protecting Atlantis. He would take them down, and so would Deimos, if they tried to hurt Mari.
By law, they were required to attack on even the slightest hint that visitors were a threat. If they felt Mari was a threat, they wouldn’t hesitate to take her out.
And what about him?
He was exiled. He wasn’t allowed to come back to Atlantis, yet here he was. With a woman. And a servant of the gods. There was no doubt in his mind that they were going to have to engage in battle to be allowed into the city—
A thunderous crack shot through the ocean water, right before the gates of Atlantis came into full view.
Full, sweeping gates were barred closed against them. The metal was transparent and aquatic, glowing with an inner energy that protected them from ever being destroyed. He remembered all the years, all the planning, it had taken him and his father to construct it. It had been their project, his idea, and something his father had never gotten to see completed.
He’d finished the project out of memory of his father, and it was one of Atlantis’s most proud structures. It was impenetrable and unbreakable. The energy that Atlantis gave the ocean was stowed inside of the gates. If anyone tried, they died instantly by a shock of power so strong their hearts couldn’t handle it.
They had been preparing for the humans when it had been constructed. His father and he believed that humans and Atlanteans could not mix, and they had been correct. The first mortal to find them had tried to take over their city, and it hadn’t tried ended well.
That had been the first sign that the mortals would not receive the Atlanteans well—and that the mortals were so much less advanced than they were. Inferior minds felt the need to take over what they did not have themselves, so Atlantis as a whole had decided it would be better to cut off all ties with them.
So they had.
It had taken years, countless attempts of mortals taking over Atlantis, and hard work, but the gate was their pride and joy. Not only did it protect them, but it was the most beautiful creation in the ocean beside the royal palace.
Mari shook against him, clutching at his arms tightly. He could feel the excitement coming off of her in waves, and hated that this wasn’t going to turn into a pleasant reception. She had been so “jacked” as she had said, to see Atlantis, but they were going to be greeted with an attack.
Regret coursed through him, right as the gates began to glow.
Deimos weaved his sword through the water, getting ready for attack. Akrina separated, Akrinos surrounding Mari in a lighter version of armor while akrina wrapped around Ambrose. He wasn’t worried about Deimos—after living with the gods for years, and killing all sorts of underworld creatures, he knew the man could take care of himself.
“Why is it,” Mari was mouthing into his palm, “that every time we meet someone new, our lives are threatened?”
“Shh,” he whispered. Akrina formed his knives. He palmed one of them, keeping his other hand over her mouth.
The gates began to open.
All movement stilled. Even the beating of his heart stopped.
He expected spears, arrows, and blades. He expected guards rushing from every corner. He expected angry shouts and curses to be thrown everywhere.
As the sand on the ocean floor kicked into the water, skewing his vision, he was more than prepared for attack. Adrenaline crashed through his system, blood rushing through his heart as it pounded forcefully against his chest.
“Ambrose?”
He froze.
No.
The sand began to float to the bottom of the ocean, revealing a young male who was the mirror image of the man Ambrose had once been. Thick black hair was cut close to his head, longer in the front so that it fell rakishly over his forehead. His ocean blue eyes were wide, disbelieving. He was only a couple inches shorter than Ambrose himself was, leaner and less scarred.
“I heard…about you. Never thought you would come back…”
His brother, Erikos, moved forward. Behind him, an army of guards were waiting with weapons drawn. He suspected the only reason they weren’t attacking them was because his brother was standing in front of them.
Ambrose didn’t know what to say. Mari squirmed in his arms, demanding he let her go. Her movement caused Erikos’s eyes to land on her, and Ambrose swore he felt the shock come from his brother.
“You hold a god so intimately?” he asked, his voice dropping an octave. The shock turned to weariness.
Ambrose shook his head, struggling to find words.
“Hey,” Mari snapped, finally getting her mouth out from under his palm. “Who is this? And stop trying to make me be quiet, Ambrose! It’s obvious they aren’t going to hurt us.”
His arms slowly fell from around her.
“Brother, you have angered a god!” Erikos hissed, jerking away from them as if their presence was insulting.
Mari stared between the two of them, completely ignoring Erikos.
Ambrose couldn’t take his eyes off of his brother.
This was the male that had been with Ambrose through everything—except the most crucial moment in his life. All of the hunting and training, they had done it together. They’d gotten into trouble together, faced their mother’s wrath, and had grown up together.
All he could think about, through all of the good times in their childhood, was his brother at the trial. When Ambrose had watched the last of his family turn his back on him. When Erikos had left without even a glance in Ambrose’s direction. When, after all his years of keeping Erikos out of trouble, his brother had abandoned him to exile.
All of the betrayal of that day came rushing back to Ambrose. A dull roar built in his ears, and his vision dimmed. The brother he had loved and taken care of and raised had turned his back on him.
He threw his blade to the side.
Ambrose couldn’t stop what he did next. Mari cried out and tried to reach for him, but Deimos thankfully held her back. All he saw was the shocked look in his brother’s eyes before Ambrose’s fist connected with Erikos’s nose.
Blood instantly spurted, and he felt the shift of the ocean as all five hundred plus soldiers came rushing behind Erikos.
“You’re a fucking bastard,” he snarled at his brother, driving his fist into Erikos’s shoulder, knocking him into the guards closest to him. They began to draw their weapons, but Erikos held up a hand, covering his nose with his other.
“Leave him,” he growled. Immediately, all the guards stopped their movement.
“But, sir…”
“I said,” he snarled, “leave him.”
And then the fight was on.
Mari’s shouts echoed in his ear right before Erikos lunged at him. The dimming adrenaline from earlier came back with a force ten times as strong. His vision darkened and zeroed in on Erikos. His brother dodged his hit, only to be struck by Ambrose as he jerked around with inhuman speed, lashing out with his tail.
It caught his brother on the shoulder, shoving him to the ground and right in front of Mari. He watched with growing fury as his brother’s eyes latched on to Mari—and then her tail. He grabbed her with two hands, pulling himself up.
Deimos’s low snarl ripped through the air before he jerked Mari behind him, lunging at Erikos.
It was too late though—Ambrose already has his hands wrapped around the filmy material of his brother’s tail and was yanking him down, back dragging on the rubble around them. He grunted, kicking out and catching Ambrose in the jaw. His grip loosened for a second, but it was enough time for Erikos to get free.
“You’re a coward,” Ambrose shouted, rage over coming any emotion he could have felt. Sorrow for what had happened to them, betrayal for what his brother had done, remorse for the fight that was taking place. He didn’t care. His brother had betrayed him and tried to use Mari against him?
Ambrose shot forward, grabbing both of his brother’s shoulders and shoving him into the ground. The dark head slammed into the coral, blood seeping from Erikos’s nose and head.
“What kind of brother are you,” he roared in Erikos’s face, “to betray me? When all I did was look out for you! Took care of you!”
Erikos struggled under him, not saying a word in response. Fury unlike anything he had felt before washed over him. “And to use my Mari?” he thundered, pulling back his fist. “To even think of touching her?”
He beat his fist into Erikos’s face, the adrenaline that rushed through him hitting a new peak—
Something latched onto his shoulder, yanking him away from his brother.
Ambrose snarled, getting ready to attack whatever it was that had pulled him back. Erikos began scrambling out from underneath him.
He turned around, ready to beat into his brother again—
A small force hit his chest, shoving him back. He growled, latching his hands onto whatever had dared touch him.
“Ambrose, stop it!” Mari cried, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s me—just stop it. Don’t—“
“Mari?” he asked through the haze. Ambrose froze—then jerked his hands away from her shoulders, cursing. “What the hell…do you think you’re doing?” His voice was nothing but a growl; even to his own ears, it sounded rough.
Erikos laughed harshly from beside him. “Ambrose, you never cease to amaze me—“
“Boys,” a harsh voice growled, making both Ambrose and Erikos jerk their attention to the speaker. “I come out here, expecting it to be a nice family reunion, and instead I see you beating the holy soul out of each other? I’m disappointed. In both of you.”
“I am too,” Mari whispered fiercely, poking him in the shoulder. Nonetheless, her head buried into his neck again.
“Kai,” Ambrose said uneasily, adjusting himself so that he was standing. Mari didn’t move away from him at all—if anything, she curled even tighter around him. He could smell the faint scent of her tears, like the aftermath of a hurricane, and he could feel the pounding of her heart.
His chest ached. He had done this to her, frightened her.
The Shephard of Souls gave them both a dissatisfied grunt before clapping Ambrose on the back. “It’s been a long while since I’ve seen you—with a bloody face and bruises all over you was not how I pictured this reunion at all.”
“I’m surprised you’re speaking to me at all,” Ambrose murmured, bowing his head. The man standing before him was one of the oldest, strongest, and wisest men Ambrose had ever met. He had been around just as long as the gods have, and has witnessed centuries of grief, change, and power.
All in all, he was like Ambrose’s second father.
Kai glared at him. “Boy, we both know you didn’t cause anything besides the longest reign of peace we’ve had up until Numb Nuts took the throne.”
“One opinion does not stand a chance in the face of many,” Ambrose reminded him, tightening his grip on Mari when she sniffled. At least she wasn’t talking—he didn’t want to draw any attention to her.
Although, going by the way the guards couldn’t keep their eyes off her tail, that was too late. Even Kai had noticed it and was now staring.
Ambrose sighed. Mari was never going to go by unnoticed, was she?
“I can feel them staring at me,” she whispered, poking his shoulder.
“That’s because they are,” he whispered back, shrugging at Kai’s confused look.
“Well obviously, I can feel it.”
Kai looked between Mari and Ambrose, raising his brow suggestively. “Quiet,” he hissed at him, holding her closer to him. “Are we going to stay out here the whole time or can we come in?”
Deimos grunted, crossing his arms over his chest and giving every single soldier a death glare. They all quickly looked away, going back inside the gates. Ambrose was the only one to notice Erikos going back inside the city gates as quickly, and as quietly, as possible.
“Of course. Let’s get you inside here before H’Sai takes notice. If we can keep your arrival hidden until we can tell him you’re here when he’s in a good mood, that’ll work out best for everyone. I doubt you want the citizens knowing you’re here?”
Ambrose shook his head as Mari lifted hers. She shot away from him before he could say a word otherwise, bouncing up and down the whole way she went. “I feel like that’s going to be hard, though, considering Mari makes it a point to befriend every person she meets.”
“Well, this will certainly be interesting,” Kai said dolly, escorting them inside the gates of the ancient city.
Ambrose only sighed. “It certainly will.”