Chapter 46

Isat in the shadow of the wooden pier on Sunshine Bay, my boots pressing into the sand and the warm air bringing the taste of the sea to my lips. This part of Solaria never felt the true touch of winter; it was a capsule of summer waiting to be claimed. But since Lionel's reign, his followers had taken over here, seizing one of the most beautiful parts of my kingdom. And today, I planned on liberating it.

Max was crouched beside me, his iridescent navy scales glinting above the collar of his shirt and a sense of anticipation pouring from him.

It was me and him on this mission. Tasked by Darcy and Tory to break out the captives in the nearby Nebula Inquisition Centre while they were on a mission of their own. And the two of us were perfect for the job considering our shared Elements. Air and water.

Max pulled off his shirt followed by his pants and shoes, leaving him in just a pair of blue swim shorts. I mimicked him, stripping down to my black swim shorts and stuffing our clothes into a waterproof bag along with the stardust we'd need to make it out of here.

I checked my watch, the time ticking down to the moment we needed to move. The guards would be changing soon and that would be our window of opportunity.

Max worked to conceal us, gathering the shadows closer as we started creeping towards the water's edge. The gentle lapping of waves would have been serene under any other circumstance, but today it was a battleground.

We waded out into the sea, keeping beneath the pier, the heavy footfalls above telling of the guards up there.

Navy scales rippled across Max's entire body as his Siren Order was fully unleashed, and they glimmered metallically.

"Up for a swim, Orion?" Max asked, his silencing bubble tight around us, keeping his words just for us.

I nodded. "I always did feel at home in the water."

"There's something about the ocean," he agreed, the sea swirling around his hips at the will of his magic.

"Water always feels so much more alive than air," I said, and Max's dark eyes lit up.

"Exactly. Air is a tool, a true force of nature, but water…I swear it has desires of its own," he said excitedly.

"Sea water especially," I said. "I've never heard anyone else talk about it like that..."

We shared a look then came to a halt in the deep blue water, the waves lapping against our chests now. It was deep enough, and we were nearing the end of the pier.

"Stay on my tail down there," Max said.

"I bet I'm just as fast of a swimmer," I challenged. "Maybe it's you who should be staying on my tail."

Max gave me a cocky look. "I'm the most powerful Siren in Solaria. You may rule the land with your speed, but down there is my domain. I can see the currents in the waves, I can taste the changing tides, I can-"

"Alright, fish man. Let's put it to the test," I said with a smirk, checking my watch and right on time, a call went up on the pier and marching footsteps headed this way, giving us a brief window to swim far enough out of sight.

The water here was crystal clear and even with all the concealment spells in the world, it would be risky to go while the guards were looking for signs of invasion.

"Lead the way," I urged, and Max dove under the waves.

I cast a bubble of air over my face then swam after him, diving deep and following the kicks of his feet toward the sandy ocean bed.

He was fast as hell, and even with my speed and strength aiding me, I couldn't keep up. But the water was so clear, it was easy to follow him, and he shot a taunting smile at me over his shoulder before finally slowing to allow me to catch up. With his point well and truly proved, he led the way as we swam out from the shadow of the pier, and my neck prickled with the feeling of exposure. I stirred the waves above us with magic, causing them to break a little further out from shore than usual, offering us more cover.

No shouts came from above, nor blasts of magic, and we swam further out into the warm water of Sunshine Bay, putting as much distance between us and them as possible.

It was a five-mile swim to the Nebula Inquisition Centre, but we soon made it to the first watch tower, the giant wooden legs carving deep down into the ocean. Max started ascending, swimming up and up before breaking the water's surface and I soon made it to his side, disbanding the bubble of air over my face and breathing in the briny sea breeze. A ladder led up to a wooden platform high above us where the guards were positioned, and Max started climbing it without hesitation.

I hurried after him with a buzz of adrenaline in my veins, water streaming off of us as we made the ascent quickly. When we reached the top, Max paused, closing his eyes and using his Siren gifts to feel for the emotions of whoever lurked above the open hatch.

He ducked low again, looking down at me. "Four guards. Two on the left, two on the right."

"I'll take the right," I said, then let go of the ladder, using air to guide me to the other side of the platform.

I sailed out from underneath it, flying up and finding myself eye to eye with a surprised guard. My fist cracked into his face before he could think to defend himself, and with the power of air behind my blow, he went careering across the watchtower, colliding with one of Max's opponents and knocking them to the floor with a crash. Max bound them both in ice while I rushed toward my next target in a blur of motion. A fireball blasted from her hand, and I swerved to avoid it with a burst of speed, the heat of the flames warming my cheek as it whooshed past my head.

I doused the flames in water before they could draw attention, grabbing hold of her in the next second and stealing the air from her lungs. She gripped my arm, fire blazing, burning where she touched me, but I didn't let go, stealing every drop of oxygen from her body until she went limp. The tension ebbed out of my body and I carried her over to the other guards, freezing her hands then binding her to them with ropes of ice and air.

With the guards subdued, I joined Max at the edge of the watchtower, gazing out across the Nebula Inquisition Centre with a sneer pulling at my lips.

Nets ringed areas of the sea in wide circles, trapping water-reliant Orders within them, twenty of the cages spreading out between the six watch towers. We were on the furthest corner, each tower far enough away from the other that I couldn't clearly see the Fae manning them. In the distance, beyond the ring of watchtowers, were the jutting spires of a turquoise castle piercing up from the depths of the azure ocean. The Academy of Hydros. It was a place of mythic beauty, or so I'd heard. The castle reached right to the sea floor, and I guessed what could be seen above the waves was just a glimpse of the immense palace hidden beneath.

My gaze was drawn to a group of Acheilus Shark shifters circling in the nearest cage, and I noticed the air above them shimmering ever-so-slightly, telling me of the wards surrounding them.

"By the stars," Max exhaled. "How long have they kept them like this? They'll go mad without using their magic."

A vitriolic kind of hatred spilled into me for the Fae who had done this, and my gaze turned to the four captive guards behind us. They were just Lionel's pawns, but that didn't make them less responsible for this.

"Can you handle the wards?" I asked.

"My ocean song is about to blow your fucking mind, Orion," Max said, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes.

"Can't wait. I'll handle the rest of the guards," I said darkly, backing up, but Max did too and we bumped into each other.

I stepped left but he went that way as well, and we did an awkward side-step, this way, that way until we made it past each other.

"Right, well. Good luck, or whatever the fuck," I muttered.

"That rhymed," Max pointed out.

"Yeah…" I ran a hand down the back of my neck.

Max saluted me and for some reason I did it back then blew out a breath of irritation at myself and took a running leap off the edge of the tower.

I hit the water like a bullet and the power of Max's song slammed into me, roiling the sea like it had been struck by a giant anvil. It was a Siren Song like nothing I'd ever heard before, deep and powerful and destructive, like the voice of the ocean itself.

I swam fast, making it to the next tower and hauling myself up onto the ladder, finding the waves crashing around me. Water blasted everywhere, the sea beginning to turn as a giant whirlpool formed around the nets. The captured Fae grew frantic, an array of colourful fish shifters surging up from the water in the nearest cage, only to be forced back down again by the power of the wards.

I climbed higher, watching in awe as the water bowed to Max's song, the terrible notes sending huge sprays up toward the sky. The guards were well aware of our presence now, firing blasts of magic at Max from their towers, but Max wasn't the one they had to worry about.

I waited for my moment, my heart thumping in time with that almighty tune which split the air apart and collided with the sea, demanding she fall to Max's will. A huge wave rose from the ocean, gathering momentum on the horizon and blotting out the sun before it drove down onto the wards with a crash that made the world quake. My ears rang with Max's song, the power of it carving through the water and charting a path right through the blood in my veins. It was chaotic and beautiful, thrilling and terrible.

I grinned, holding tight to the wooden ladder as the water splashed up from every direction, the surge of the wave soaking me. I shook my head to get my sopping hair out of my eyes, a whoop tearing from my chest in exhilaration from all this power. And now, with the wards down and the captive Fae thrashing wildly to the surface of their nets, it was my time to shine.

I raised one hand, wielding the air and weaving it into a violent storm that darkened the fluffy white clouds above to pitch black. Water and air were my gift, a blood-bound right of mine; they were a part of me as deeply as I was a part of them.

The storm I brewed was the most vicious I had ever concocted, and I sent the bluster of wind tearing into the backs of the six watch towers. Tremendous cracks sounded as the wooden struts snapped like toothpicks, and I held onto the ladder tighter as my own tower began to topple. All of them fell as one, the guards falling with them, some leaping from their perches to land in the nets below. Just before I was thrown into the waves, I saw shark shifters and beasts of the sea snaring their captors in their jaws, blood turning the water red and darkening the waves.

I plunged into the ocean, feeling a leash of magic tighten around my waist and yank me along through the water. I fought to break it, a stream of churning water blinding me as I was dragged towards some unknown enemy. But as I readied to fight for my life, I came to a halt in front of Max, his hand releasing the leash and letting it dissolve into bubbles.

The two of us floated in the blue abyss as the water settled around us, and shit-eating grins spread across our faces.

I tasted blood in the water as we turned to the nearest net and tore it apart with the gifts of our Elements.

The Fae came pouring out, schools of Fish, Sharks and Dolphins, even two Cetus Whales swimming up from the depths of their cage to escape. A little Crab landed on my shoulder, knocking its claw against my cheek in thanks before letting itself be swept away by the current.

I cast a fresh pocket of air around my mouth and nose, breathing in deep, then swimming on to break apart the next net. It didn't take long to rip into them all, and the ocean came alive with the bodies of the water Orders.

A Dolphin did a loop around me, pressing her nose to my cheek before fin flapping Max a high five and sailing away towards the shore.

When all of them were free, we turned and raced after them, soon arriving back on the sandy beach where a tide of shifters were turning back into their Fae forms, gathering family and friends into tight hugs.

The guards up on the pier weren't even attempting to capture the endless Fae appearing on the beach, all of them making a run for it instead. But plenty of their prisoners took chase after them, naked and full of rage, and I had no doubt they would bring them to justice in whatever way they saw fit.

"The True Queens' reign has begun!" I boomed, enhancing my voice with an amplification spell. "Join the Vegas in their fight against the False King! Our army awaits new recruits at Zodiac Academy. All who come shall be protected, whether you wish to fight or not."

Cheers went up, while others wept in relief, knowing they had a safe haven at last.

With the blaze of victory in my veins, I found myself tossing an arm around Max's shoulders.

"I told you you'd like my ocean song," he said, arrogance blazing across his face, but fuck it didn't bother me like it once had in my classroom. Max Rigel was a man who had earned the right to that arrogance, but far be it from me to let him know it.

"Just sing it in tune next time, yeah?" I muttered.

"Fuck you," he laughed, and I broke a smile, this moment too damn good not to revel in it.

"My gratitude is eternal!" cried an exhausted-looking man as he fell at our feet, covered in seaweed, and I helped him up. "I will fight this war in the name of the Vegas. All hail the True Queens!"

"Damn straight," Max said. "All hail those fiery fucking hellions."