Chapter 23

Helios

The sea spray on my face was as familiar to me as my mother's voice had been. I'd spent much of my childhood on the sea, learning her moods, learning to understand when she was calm and safe to traverse, and when only fools would dare to tread.

Today was a good day.

I had almost sixty Mageia on board the Chrysalis, and we were headed for home.

"Looks beautiful, doesn't it?" Betts asked, coming up from behind me.

I nodded. The sea was a beautiful blue green, the sky brilliant blue with only a few hints of fluffy clouds in the distance.

"We're making good time, thanks to the Air Mageia," she said, gesturing to a couple of Mageia on the deck. "We should be in port by morning."

I smiled at her but was sobered by how close I had been to losing her.

Betts had been injured badly by the Alexandrian guards. As a Dual Mageia she had some resistance to their Suppression powers, and she had put up a helluva fight by all accounts, but Maalik's blow had caused bleeding in her brain. It had taken me almost an hour to repair the damage with my new Soma powers, and it had left me shaking and weak.

Fortunately, just as my shape shifting powers had developed, so had my healing abilities. I was able to heal her and the others of their wounds. It wasn't until later we got the whole story.

Apparently, I hadn't been as devious at disposing of the medallions as I had thought. The Alexandrians monitored the underground waterways until they were able to triangulate our position. Water only flows one way, so all they had to do was track the point at which each medallion began showing up in the underground river, and it was like an arrow pointing right to where we were hiding.

I felt like an idiot when Allard told us. I should have realized it would happen eventually. It hadn't made sense for the Elusians to pour hundreds of Mageia into the same arena, but I hadn't stopped to try and figure out why they were doing it. Then again, a lot of what the Elusians did made no sense to me.

Allard had seemed almost sick at the things Maalik had done.

"I knew his father when I was young," he had said. "We were soldiers together, and my friend. He hoped I could help turn Maalik into a decent leader."

His failure had sobered him. I had been able to heal the worst of his injuries, but the grizzled soldier had a few new scars to add to his litany of war wounds.

He had agreed to go with us to Illyria, though it had taken some persuading. Only the fact that Aurelius and Rika had managed to escape had convinced him that he could no longer remain in Alexandria. When they made their way back to Alexandrian territory word of his betrayal would spread.

"You doing okay, big brother?" Betts asked, her shoulder bumping into mine.

"Yeah, just realizing how lucky we were," I said. "If Elex and I hadn't managed to Bond when we did…"

My voice trailed off. I still didn't know how exactly that had happened. We hadn't gone through the bonding ceremony. How had we bonded?

"You never did explain how that happened," she said. "Spill? Is he good in bed?"

I laughed at her scandalous questioning.

"C'mon! Inquiring minds want to know!" she said, stamping her booted foot.

"You'll have to learn to live with the mystery, brat," I said.

"Pooh! You're no fun," she said, sighing. I saw her watch the Mageia walking across the deck. Her gaze lingered for a few moments on Deliah. Maybe I wasn't the only one fascinated by our new Mageian friends.

"Seriously though… He's good for you," she grinned turning back to me. "I haven't seen you smile this much since before Ri died."

The name of my best friend brought a familiar ache to my chest, but it didn't have quite the same intensity as it had previously.

"I think Ri would have liked him," I said, resting my elbows on the railing. "Elex, I mean."

She smiled at me. "I think he would have, too." She looked back over her shoulder as Elex emerged from the deck below. "Enjoy your night together," she said, waggling her eyebrows at me salaciously.

"Brat!" I called after her, but she just laughed.

"Hey," Elex said as he came up to stand at my side.

"Hey," I said. "How's Luke doing?"

Elex grinned wryly at me.

"Sick as a dog. Earth Mageia don't like being separated from their element," he said.

I chuckled in sympathy.

"I remember one of my first trips with my family as a kid, this huge storm came in out of nowhere. It was one of the only times in my life I was ever seasick, but I'll never forget it," I said.

"Other than the Earth Mageia, everyone else down below is doing okay. Still some nerves but seems like everyone is ready to get to Illyria," he said.

I smiled.

"How about you, kitten? You sure you want… this?" I asked, gesturing around us, not saying what was really in my heart. Are you sure you want me?

He looked at me, those blue eyes flashing as he reached out and took my hand in his, sparks flying from our fingertips.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I'm sure."

"Truth," I whispered back, then bent to kiss his lips.