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Rik walked on my right. Xin padded alongside on my left, invisible to everyone except me. Though as we passed one of Undina’s Blood who stood guard on either side of a dark cavern, her nostrils flared and she tipped her head back, her lips peeling away from her vicious teeth. She might smell wolf—but she couldn’t see him.
Ignoring her, I stepped into the coral cave. Once my eyes adjusted from the external sunlight, it wasn’t dark at all. Everything gleamed like the inside of a shell with soft, pearly light. The pathway sloped downward and wrapped around in a smooth spiraling path like the one circling the open pool in the center. It was wide enough for us to walk side by side, though Leviathan had to tuck his wings and duck his head.
Natural openings in the coral walls showed water on the other side—like windows or peepholes. Brightly colored fish swam outside in gorgeous blue waters. Live plants swayed in the waves like flowers dancing in a gentle breeze. Sharks circled the coral, keeping pace with us as we slowly made our way deeper.
Underwater. Like we were inside a massive aquarium.
:This is amazing,: I whispered to Okeanos.
:When the island’s in the Aegean, humans live nearby and fish right outside without seeing the nest at all.:
A sense of weight began to press down on me, my ears filling up with pressure. We had to be deep underwater now, but not a single drop leaked into the pathway. Undina stopped before a large arched door in the center of the cave wall. I expected to see water on the other side, but the opening was dark and solid with a faint oily sheen. She dragged her hand against a protruding spike of coral and then pressed her bleeding palm to the solid surface in the arch.
It shimmered to gray and then lighter, a rippling curtain of water.
“By the blood of Keto, I call upon the Great Mother of All to allow Your daughters and any who carry their blood to come into Your presence.”
Undina stepped through the curtain—and disappeared. She’d only brought one Blood down with her, her alpha, I presumed, though she hadn’t introduced him. He didn’t follow her inside but turned to face the rest of us.
“Blood can pass.” Though he clanged his teeth like screeching metal claws on a chalkboard. “If you dare.”
Leviathan immediately took a step toward the curtain, but I reached out and laid a hand on his neck, halting him in his tracks. :Allow the other queens to go first, my dragon. I need you close.:
We moved deeper into the tunnel past the opening to make room for the others to pass. Head high, Basilia glided toward the opening. Leviathan cracked open his mouth, letting a fresh plume of smoke trickle through his lips in her direction. Then he licked his teeth. Noisily and with enthusiasm. A promise. A silent threat.
Though she didn’t even turn her head as she stepped through.
She didn’t offer her own blood. She didn’t have to, not with Undina’s wording, but it still seemed disrespectful to me. Though perhaps Skolos chose to honor the Mother in different ways, because Nuri passed through without offering her blood, either.
I stepped up to the opening and paused, breathing deeply. Running through everything in my mind. Clear. Calm. Nightwing clucked softly against my neck. She and Penelope both carried my blood, so they should be able to pass. Kevin and Gina too. I reached out to the rest of my Blood outside of the blood circle, letting them feel me in their bonds.
Nevarre flew overhead with the crows, using his eyes to track the other Bloods’ locations for Itztli. My bear and warcat stood together, claws and teeth ready. Vivian’s flames rippled around her phoenix, but she was on the ground, closer to the largest enemy Blood left outside. Tlacel and Itztli had shifted back to their human forms and stood back-to-back, though they hadn’t drawn their blades. Their bare chests glistened in the sun, broad and strong and fearless, but they’d donned basic sweatpants one of the other Blood had brought from the boat.
Lew and Thierry stood together. Alpha gryphon and… My heart squeezed with agony. Thierry’s head jerked uncontrollably, his limbs twitching so much he could barely stand. Black rot leaked from his mouth, down his chin to spill across his chest. But he bared his teeth, ready to rend and tear as long as possible.
I reached up and dragged my palm down the coral spike, cutting my hand open. Power surged, making my hair ripple around me like a windstorm gust swept through the tunnel. I sent a wave of power through my bonds. :I love you.:
“Shara Isador, last daughter of She Who Was and Is and Always Will Be, freely gives her blood as an offering to the Great Mother from Whom All Life Flows.”
Then I stepped through the curtain of rippling water.
47
SHARA
I stepped into the Skolos Triune’s chamber.
Circular dark walls and ceiling cast the room into shadow, though the center table glowed with blue bioluminescence. A darker indigo statue of the Mother stood in the center of the table. Moving. Her lower body flowed like a deep blue jellyfish billowing in the water, trailing long streamers across the table and up into the air.
Rik touched my back, subtly guiding me to step to the side so the rest of my Blood could come through with me. I couldn’t drag my eyes from Her. Her center seemed almost transparent, though in the gloom it was hard to tell. The table pulsed with dark blue light, rippling like waves moving across a beach. A darker shadow moved overhead, finally dragging my gaze up as a long, dark tail swept by. Huge. Some kind of whale.
Gulp. The darkness was water. Now that my eyes adjusted, I could see large shapes outside, the flash of tails and fins.
The Skolos Triune chamber was a tiny pocket at the bottom of the sea. A fishbowl—for us.
The other three queens stepped closer to the table in the center of the room, turned, and faced me. Their Blood remained standing in separate groups against the wall.
Nuri’s expression was covered by the mask. Outwardly, Undina seemed calm and unperturbed, but her coloring was oddly green again and her eyes flashed. Though that could be caused by the glowing bioluminescence. Basilia simply looked bored.
