Bliss (15 page)

She
titled her head to look up at him. “I trust you, Darius. The question is do you trust me?”

Do I trust you? Hell, yes,
he wanted to shout. But the question was, did he trust
himself
? Well, he was about to find out just how much.

“Kassandra, please get in the water. We need to be underway,” he said, breaking contact from her.

Her meek nod was his answer.

Two minutes later, with the two of them safely in the water, he stripped and dove head first into the sea. Motioning for the two of them to follow him he
propelled himself toward the ocean floor, prolonging the rapture for another moment as Kassandra got used to breathing oxygen with the tank.

Then
, in the blink of an eye, he allowed the power of the sea to claim him and raptured into his true form. His ears heard Kassandra’s indrawn breath. Her heart accelerated.

“
Wow,” said Rylan.

“This is what and who I really am,” said Darius, using his telepathic powers to invade her mind.

Her thoughts were a jumble. Not for the first time, he worried it might all be too much for her. Then he heard her laugh. “You’re not a genie, you’re a Titan. Well that explains a lot,” she said, grinning like there was no tomorrow.

Kassandra wished more than anything she could talk to Darius. He had a lot of explaining
to do. She had wondered how he was going to travel through the cold Atlantic Ocean without a wet suit and now, knowing he was a Titan – a mythological creature of the deep – rattled her.

Her father had told her stories about the
Titans and Sirens of the sea world. In fact, it had been those stories that had spurred her to become a librarian of antiquity. She loved ancient things. She loved the myths surrounding them and had, on more than one occasion, gone to sleep dreaming of what it might be like to be a Siren swimming and living in the wild sea, free to roam the ancient ships dotting the ocean floor.

As a child, a
small part of her had secretly wanted those stories to be real. After all, the way her father told them made them appear larger than life. Now, she wondered, was there more to her father than she knew? Had he known the myths he told her about were actually real? No, that was impossible. They were simply stories he made up for a fanciful child. She forced her breathing to return to normal and blinked.

Taking another look at Darius
, she marveled at his changes. His dark hair was fuller and longer and trailed behind him in the current. His upper body was more muscular and his long, tapered torso reminded her of a powerful swimmer. Then her eyes did a double take. A sleek, powerful-looking tail, which shimmered with a dark blue color easily propelled him through the water. A ridge of hard iridescent golden scales separated his torso from his lower half. Covering his chest was the unmistakable outline of a sea dragon in vibrant red, orange, and deep green with blues hues. It curled around his chest. Kassandra knew without a doubt that it wrapped around to his back as well. Two green eyes stared at her. And, for one moment she wondered if it, too, would come to life.

Her hands itched to touch
him. He was a myth come to life. She had watched mesmerized as his body began to blur and then a blinding white mist had taken over him. When next she looked, he stood before her in all his glory. The only word to describe him was magnificent.

As if he
had read her thoughts, his body moved toward hers. His powerful tail circled her body and even through the wet suit she felt his heat. Then it dawned on her. She had felt that once before. Just before Darius had left her treading water for what had felt like hours, she had felt his tail touch her skin. He had changed then and didn’t tell her. Why was he letting her see him now?

One of her father’s myths popped into her mind.
The story of Nana, daughter to the river god Sangarius, who was also the mother of Attis. Nana fell in love with a male human and her father cast her out of the sea for betraying their race, but not before killing her lover and almost succeeding in killing the child she bore. In the end, Nana was forced into exile on land and ended up begging for food for her child, who later vowed revenge for his father.

Darius’ warm hands grabbed her
, forcing her daydream to come to a complete halt.

“Kassandra I know you can hear me, so I’m going to explain a bit of what I am. I’m a
Titan belonging to the north seas. For the past decade, while I was trapped in that book, a plague has been slowly killing my family and friends. Now, it’s up to me to find a way to stop it. I have two days to find a relic, and it isn’t going to be easy. I know you have lots of questions. I’ll try to answer them when we are able to communicate together. Oh, and prepare yourself for a wild ride.”

His
thoughts were loud and clear in her head. In the next second she felt his powerful tail swoop up forcing them down fast toward the ocean floor.

“Take a breath, Kassandra,”
prompted Darius, sounding amused. The feel of oxygen filling up her lungs was a welcome relief.

Where are we going?
she wondered for the umpteenth time as they hurtled even faster toward the ocean floor. Closing her eyes in panic, she heard Darius calmly say, “Keep your eyes closed. This is going to feel like one hell of a roller coaster ride.”

Kassandra wasn’t sure what bothered her more. The fact
that she could now telepathically speak to him, or the notion of a roller coaster ride. Then in the next instant she felt her body plunge into something so cold it caused her to hold her breath again as every cell in her body fought against the extreme assault.

Just as quickly,
warmth rushed back through her as they descended into what could only be described as a tunnel that twisted and turned and went uphill and down for what seemed like an eternity.

“We’re almost
there. You’re doing great.” His voice was a soft, reassuring caress in her mind. The rightness of hearing his voice in her head made her smile. Then it made her mad.
How come he gets to communicate...? Oh, yeah, he’s a Titan. A mythological creature who doesn’t exist,
she thought, just as they existed the tunnel with one whoosh.

“Can we do that again? Can we? That was the best. The best! The absolute wildest ride I’ve ever been on,” pr
attled Rylan, practically dancing around them in his wet suit.

Kassandra was able to hear him loud and clear because the two wet suits were equipped with microphones so they could talk to each other.

“Hopefully not and stop moving around so much,” said Darius.

“Okay, Darius. You know, you take all the fun out of things,” said Rylan.

Obviously Darius could comminute with the teenager. Momentarily, she wondered why the kid wasn’t freaking out about what had transpired. Before she could even make a hand motion, Darius forced them behind two large boulders.

Her nose immediately wrinkled as a pungent, sour odor like rotten eggs wafted over her.

“Oh my gawd, what is that smell?” asked Rylan, who sounded like he was trying to hold his nose.

“That is something we are going to avoid at all costs,” said Darius, motioning for Kassandra and Rylan to stay still.

Kassandra watched in disbelief as the weirdest sea creature she’d ever seen swam past her. Since they were only separated by the distance of about two car lengths, she marveled the creature didn’t spot them. It had the body of a large eel and three menacing-looking dog heads. It had to be the most ferocious creature she’d ever seen or heard about. A black leather leash dangled from its collar. Just as she was about to take another peak at it, Darius pushed her further into the ocean floor.

Great, just what I need. Tartahounds! What could be better?
Darius motioned again for both Rylan and Kassandra to stay absolutely still. The last thing he wanted was to be spotted by the unleashed Tartahound, which was a mystery in itself. He remembered his twin telling him that more and more of Hades’ demon dogs were roaming the seas without their masters - Hades’ legionnaires. But, this Tartahound still had a leash dangling wildly from its collar, and that unnerved Darius.

His senses didn’t detect any le
gionnaires, but something clearly wasn’t right. From his personal experience dealing with the deadly hounds, any that had lost their masters went directly back to Hades’ lair. However, this Tartahound was scouting for something. It was the
something
that worried him.

I don’t have time for this.
He eyed where they had exited from the undersea portal. The pull of the sea dragon ran like ice through his veins. Relying on its skill more than his own Titan senses, his infra-rayed eyesight spotted the Fad’hal cave in which he hoped were stashed some of the relics he’d found years ago. His one hope was that one of the other relics might give him a clue to where to find the particular relic he needed.

Ten years ago
, he’d made a hasty trip to the cave renowned throughout the undersea kingdoms for its special properties. It was there that he’d hidden the sacred celestial globe that belonged to Urania. He had found it stashed in the main foyer of the Duc’alle Palace in Venice.
How was I to know the globe belonged in the safe keeping of the Arctic waters?

Darius didn’t want to go back into the Fad’hal cave. He had forced himself a decade ago to not look
into the torks that hung like
stalactites
from the ceiling of the cave. The tork crystals that grew in this cave were sacred and held the special power to show someone seeking their soulmate, their Sokhan, a reflection of that person. The idea had terrified him then and more so, now. However, he didn’t have a choice.

Making sure one last time that the Tartahound was gone
, he instructed Rylan to guard Kassandra and instructed Kassandra to stay put. Then he swam to the cave armed with a large canvas net bag.

Part of him yearned to talk to Kassandra. He knew she must have a million questions jumping around in her head, but again he had underestimated her. Instead of panicking, she’d laughed at him. That wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting at all. Shaking his head
, he forced himself to pay attention to the mission.

Entering the cave he
kept his gaze away from the hanging torks. Remembering where he had stashed the globe, he moved a few boulders out of the way. Just as he finished placing the globe in the bag the hairs on his body stood on end. Grabbing the bag he swam like a tiger shark for the entrance.

“Going somewhere, are we?”

Darius groaned loudly.

“I don’t have time for this Muroka. Get out of my way
.” Darius slowed down as he took in the number of Tartahounds flanking the chief slave driver.

“I think you have all the time in the universe,” said Muroka, as he patted the nearest Tartahound with adoration. “Have you met my latest pets? Th
is is Bertha. She’s the baby of the litter. This one I call Pinky because after she eats Titans, her tongue gets all pink, and over there,” he said, pointing to the largest Tartahound Darius had ever seen, “is Bull. They are very special pets, aren’t you pretties? Daddy’s got a special treat for you after you take care of our little problem. That’s right, cuties, a special treat.”

While he spoke Muroka
patted the two Tartahounds nearest to him. The beasts had slobbering green drool dripping from their mouths. Worse, Darius could have sworn they were also purring, or maybe growling. While Muroka talked, Darius tried to think of a quick means of escape.

“Oh don’t even think of it. You see, Bertha
here has been enhanced. Wherever you go, she will scent you. Only you. And the same goes for Pinky and Bull. You see, after your last escape, which I once again had to explain myself to Hera, I realized that I needed help. So, I approached Rajheb and yes, I can see recognition is dawning on you. You see he’s developed this new vaccine that not only enhances an animal’s natural instincts, but if that vaccine is coated with another Titan’s what did he call it...ah, yes, DNA, then those two elements combined well, let’s say they make for an interesting hunt. I have been tracking you the minute your body came into contact with the sea. And I have to say this has been the easiest hunting party I’ve ever undertaken.” Muroka grinned and Darius wished he hadn’t. The slave master only had two remaining teeth in his rotten mouth.

“Are you done,
Muroka? Let’s get on with it. I’m leaving so you’re going to have to stop me.” Darius didn’t wait for Muroka to speak. Instead he charged with all the force he could muster while holding onto the bag.

The entire time Muroka had been talking, Darius had issued orders to Rylan to get Kassandra to safety
, vowing to kill the teenager with his own hands if he dared to disobey.

Darius had to twist his body this way and that to avoid
one of the large gaping jaws of Pinky, who was wearing a bright pink collar. Another few inches and his right arm would have been bitten off.

Muroka hung
on to Bull’s leash, but barely. The Tartahound was hell bent on having a Darius meal.

Bull plo
wed into him. Darius felt as if a dozen sea boulders had fallen onto him. Catching his breath, he forced his body to move, barely avoiding Bertha’s snapping three heads. What he wouldn’t give for a weapon, even something as small as a jackknife.

And then he did have a weapon as Rylan, who had obviously been eavesdropping, popped
a large double-edged Triton neatly into his hand.

“Thanks, kid,” muttered Darius, charging into his nearest opponent. With years of
fighting experience he set to work, hacking away at the three Tartahounds, forcing them back, away from the entrance of the cave. It was hard work.

As Bull gathered speed for another frontal attac
k, Darius managed to swing the triton up, slicing off two of Pinky’s heads. He quickly spun into a somersault to avoid the deadly blood that spewed forth. During that moment of hesitation, one of Bertha’s heads clamped down hard on his arm. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he swung the weapon again, managing to force the blade up into the hound’s body. He prayed he’d hit a vital organ that would force the hound to release its hold.

“No!” screamed Muroka, as he gathered speed with Bull.

Plunging the blade in further, Darius felt the moment when the Triton finally found its mark. In one heartbeat the Tartahound released its grip on his arm. Black ooze poured from its body. Swearing, Darius used his powerful tail to propel him out of the way as the deadly toxins from the dead Tartahound caught fire.