Aya grew heavier and more despondent the longer he kicked. And the way over-land was already taxing. The current pushed against him. Not as hard as the Est-Atalica, but every stroke counted.

He growled. “Do not dim your light. It makes you heavier.”

“Sorry.”

His admonishment had the opposite effect of his wish. Her soul light faded even darker.

“Aya. Stop.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You are dim.”

She snorted. A brief flare of her soul light gave him a matching burst of energy. “It’s been a few years since anyone’s accused me of that.”

She ought to be happy that they were finally heading in the direction to get away from him. She did not want him and refused to be his queen. She ought to be happy to go to Atlantis and choose another warrior.

He kicked viciously.

She would, of course, choose a worthy warrior. Such a warrior would always increase her light, never dim it as Soren did. And she would activate her power for that warrior. Not argue and question and try to escape him.

Her light faded again, causing Soren to work extra hard to cover the same distance. Cramps ghosted down his legs. His old injuries from the battle to save Atlantis throbbed with pain.

“Someone accused you of being dim?” he said, just to press her to speak.

She lightened again. It was the correct choice. “My final year at Harvard. I was dim actually. I took a dead language class, completely unnecessary for my major, because I had a crush on the teacher’s assistant. It wrecked my GPA and I lost the chance to be valedictorian.”

“That is an important honor?”

“The most important.”

She traced the scrollwork across his left pectoral. Swirls recognized his performance at the Battle of Swordfish Cliffs, when he had rescued six warriors from cannibalistic raiders.

“The professor hated me. He called me a distraction in the class. There was nothing technically wrong with my translations, but he gave me a B because he said there was no way the heir to a lipstick company would ever do anything important in the field.”

“What field?”

“The field of ancient world languages. Actually, this is small comfort, but he was wrong.” She brightened. “The fragments of the mer language we’ve brought up appear to be based on Phoenician. They have similar enough markings I could follow most of the guest lecture I attended last month. So who knows. This lipstick company executive might yet do something important in the field.”

Her soul glowed with a bright, fierce energy.

His strokes elongated. It became easier to cross the distance.

Her feelings made such a difference. She must know this was the feeling he meant. Too bad humans couldn’t see their own soul lights. But she must feel her power now.

She was silent for a long time. Her soul light fluctuated as thoughts crossed her mind.

He didn’t comment. It seemed best to let her think.

“It was really stupid to go into the trench just the two of us, wasn’t it?” she asked finally.

He stroked her hair. “You did not know.”

“I feel irritated.” Her chest flared brighter with her anger. A bright, strong blaze of furious justice. “I nearly got us killed. And we still didn’t find the Life Tree, except maybe a glow.”

“The fragment was dashed by the same riptide that destroyed your dive computer.”

“We would know for sure.” She rubbed her forehead in frustration. “As it is, going in again would be suicide.”

His pulse beat thickly in his temple.

Could the Life Tree have survived? Queen Elyssa brought blossoms back to life with her powers. Aya could have the same powers. She had pressed up against the Life Tree fragment in the claw. Her special connection could be keeping it alive.

If the fragment was the only reason he hadn’t collapsed — if the fragment was the only thing keeping Kadir alive, and Atlantis floating, and the warriors healthy—and if he ignored Aya’s observation and left it behind…

He’d damn the city to death all over again.

Curse it. “You are certain you saw the Life Tree?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. I saw a glow.” Her soul fluctuated radically. “It kills me to act on incomplete information.”

His limbs loosened. His belly swung between illness and hunger.

A terrible idea was dawning in his mind. One that could not be denied. It was so strong, so right, so necessary, it terrified him.

Like the realization he had dishonored himself. Like the knowledge of what he had to do to redeem himself, if redemption of even possible for someone like him. Like the discovery saving Kadir meant storming the unassailable prison in the darkest trench.

He knew.

“There is one possibility to re-enter the trench ourselves,” he said.

She stilled. “Which is?”

“The currents change direction. The change sweeps the predators from their hidden places for a short time.”

“So they’d still be swimming around in the trench, but we’d be able to see them?”

“Yes.”

She shivered. “For how long?”

“Long enough to enter the trench and swim to the place you indicated.”

“And out again?”

He remained silent.

She swallowed. “Okay. When do we have to decide?”

He stopped kicking. The current reversed their progress, pushing them back toward the trench. “Soon.”

“Ah. I see.” She rubbed her forehead with her palm. “What are the odds I saw something other than the Life Tree fragment?”

“You know its glow.”

“I’m not sure.”

For something this important, he trusted her connection. “I would rather stand with you, uncertain, than with a hundred warriors who were sure.”

She dropped her hand to his shoulder. “You say nice things.”

“But true.”

“We’re going back to the trench.” She noted their drift and sighed. “What’s the plan?”

“I will investigate. You wait at the mouth.”

Her chin dropped. “That’s your plan?”

He nodded.

She rubbed her forehead. “May I remind you there are giant squid?”

“No. They were eaten by the trench fish.”

“Right, they were eaten. It’s not the safest place to wait.”

“I will show you the dangers.”

“But I can’t make my fins. You can show me whatever you like, and I’m going to be stuck watching the danger catch up and eat me.”

He had no response.

“This is a terrible plan.”

“It is better than going into the trench without your powers.”

“I’m sorry!” She squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her hair. Her light burned hot. “I don’t understand the feeling you mean. It’s like being told I can wiggle my ears. Some people can do it but I can’t. What muscle is that? I don’t even know where to start.”

He did know where to start.

“Embrace your power,” he urged. “A queen of Atlantis can use the Life Tree’s power. Accept my claim and become mine.”

Her eyes flew open. Her blue eyes searched his face desperately. What was she seeking? Absolute terror transfixed her features.

He dropped to a barren plateau. A rock had recently broken and new life had not had a chance to move in, so he landed on it. The sky of the ocean revealed schools of slender fish and the larger hawks that hunted them, but they were far away. He hunkered down with Aya.

Soren slid his hand around the back of her neck. “Be my bride.”

She jolted and shot up her hand between them. “No! You told me at the surface. You would never choose a bride.”

Aya did not want him.

“I do not do this to claim you for myself. But you glow brilliantly when I touch you.”

She rubbed her chest and grimaced. “I told you. That’s not personal.”

“I know.” But he would exploit it. “Embrace your power, Aya.”

“I can’t! I can’t feel anything!”

“You will. Give in. Your power will blossom inside as desire wraps you in chains.”

Shock flashed across her features.

Yes. He would exploit her weakness. Her body was starved for affection. He would feed her hunger for a male with his own body.

It was not because of any special characteristic of his. He did not have any special skill. Any male who gave her pleasure would be treated to the same brilliance.

The question was whether he was strong enough to give her pleasure without drowning in his own.

He crushed her to him. To guide her to her power, there was only one way to find out.