Jewel of Atlantis

He pushed her into the shadows of the forest, grabbed her wrist and started running. Rocks dug into his bare feet, but he kept moving. 'This is my fault. I knew better than to go to the river.'

'I should have known they would come back,' she babbled. 'I should have at least known what they were planning.'

'At least they have to stay in the water.' A naked limb reached out and slapped his cheek. He ground to a halt just in front of their tent.

Jewel shook her head almost violently. 'After a storm, they can walk on land.'

Of course they could.

'I can't believe this is happening,' she said, upset deep in the undertones of her voice.

'Keep your voice down. You're like a beacon right now, signaling our every move.' Motions quick and precise, he disassembled their tent and hooked it to his backpack. 'How long do we have?'

Jewel remained eerily silent.

Gray jerked on his boots and raced around the camp, grabbing all of their stuff and cramming it into his bag. 'Which way should we go?' He clasped Jewel's wrist and bolted toward the trees, using the escape route he'd mapped out yesterday. He did his best to make their tracks as invisible as possible.

She didn't answer. Her body was stiff, and she was barely moving, slowing him down, practically making him drag her. He flicked a glance over his shoulder. The blue of her eyes swirled, a fathomless pool.

'They are even now leaving the water.'

Her voice was as otherworldly as her eyes. Surreal. Like a thousand voices layered into one. Her features were so blank she appeared to be in a trance.

'They plan to scour these woods until you are found and destroyed.'

'Sweetheart, I know that. What I don't know is where to go. You need to direct me.' Silence.

Her feet tripped over a fallen limb, and she stumbled forward. Her body was too stiff to bend and ease the fall. He caught her, absorbing her weight. Good Lord. What was happening to her? Not knowing what else to do, Gray hefted her onto his shoulder. He broke into a sprint. 'Jewel?'

Again silence.

He swatted her bottom. 'Snap out of it, baby, and tell me where to go.'

She instantly responded to the direct command. 'Travel into the Inner City. There you will find a shield to protect you.'

'A shield? What are you talking about?' Turning toward the city, he quickened his speed. He didn't even think about putting her down. She was as still as the dead, her voice still layered with that weird inflection. He was worried about her, wanted to assure himself she was okay, but he couldn't slow down.

Something the merman said bothered him... but what? He replayed the fish man's voice in his mind as he maneuvered around the trees and ducked under limbs.

We want Dunamis, human. Give it to us.

He blinked. They thought he had the jewel. Why would they think that? Unless... Unless his supposition last night when he'd been talking to his boss had been right. Dunamis could breathe, Jude had said.

Gray's arms tightened around the woman on his shoulder. Like Dunamis, Jewel knew what his enemy was planning and knew how to direct him to safety. And she'd told him Dunamis was protected by a man who wanted to destroy it. Protect. Destroy. The two were complete opposites. Gray wanted to protect Jewel, but he wanted to destroy Dunamis.

He shook his head. Surely not. No. Not possible. But apprehension slithered through him and the idea refused to leave. His Jewel was not the jewel. The Jewel of Dunamis was a stone.

Please God, let the Jewel of Dunamis be a stone.

The woods were becoming brighter, but Gray did his best to stay in the shadows. He'd been running for what seemed an eternity. His breath emerged ragged, and he hated that Jewel bounced up and down on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Was he hurting her? She never uttered a protest.

A spear sailed past her ear, then another, barely missing him. Only his new, lightning-fast reflexes saved them. Gray slanted a quick, backward glance. The mermen were closing in on him. Fast. Their tails had split in two, giving them glistening, scaled legs. How the hell was he supposed to outrun them?

'Where do I go, Jewel? Where will you be safe? How do I get us out of here?'

'Fly. Mermen cannot fly,' she said. 'You can.'

Fly? At the river, he'd floated, but it hadn't been on purpose. He didn't know how to do it on his own. Another spear whizzed past him.

He actually heard it cutting through the air and was able to slant to the side before getting hit. Down here, like this, Jewel was in danger. That clinched it. He had to try.

'Oh, shit,' he muttered, then pictured himself flying.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

 'The Mer King has sent us a messenger.' Layel stroked his jaw and arched his brows as he awaited Marina's reaction.

The demon queen lounged across her makeshift bed of furs, her arms folded behind her neck. Instead of armor, she wore a soft, gauzy gown that barely covered her dry, green skin.

They were in the forest, just outside the Inner City, planning to make war with the dragons, and she looked ready for bedding. Never had Layel encountered a more vain, repulsive creature. Her army was just as bad. They knew the fundamentals of war, but were even now busy gorging on animal flesh, everything else forgotten.

'So?' she finally said, at last acknowledging his presence. Sighing, she eased to her stomach, exposing small horns. 'What did he say?'

'The Mer King found the human who destroyed your palace and absconded with your favorite pet.'

Marina jerked up and twisted to face him, her evil features fairly sparkling with excitement. 'Where are they?'

'On their way into the city.'

Within seconds, she was on her feet and closing the distance between them. 'We cannot allow the Mers to find them. She belongs to me, and he will die by my hand.'

Overwhelmed by the cloying scent of sulfur that always surrounded the queen, Layel glided back one step. Two. Across the entire city would not be far enough, really.

This woman he faced and pretended to hold in some regard was partially responsible for the death of his beloved. She hadn't struck the deathblow, no. The dragons held that sin. But Marina had watched those fire- breathing bastards roast Susan alive and had done nothing except laugh.

She would pay mightily for that laughter.

Layel had no other purpose in life than to destroy those who played a part in Susan's death. She had been— and still was—everything to him. She'd been human, one of the rare humans cursed here by the gods to be food for the city's inhabitants.

'The man possesses Dunamis. Do you really think the Mers will catch him?' Layel drawled. 'That's why the king sent a messenger. He requests our help in the man's capture because he knows he cannot battle the owner of Dunamis on his own.' Layel ran an elegant hand over the black shirt he wore, a shirt that covered a fire-resistant breast-plate. 'I doubt we can capture him, to be honest.'

Her sharp teeth ground together. 'We have our armies at our disposal. Of course we can capture him.'

'Why waste our time and energy even trying? Together we can defeat the dragons, and that is all that matters to me.' He loved taunting her.

Her lizardlike tongue flicked out in a hiss. 'Our victory will be assured if we capture the jewel.'

While Layel himself would love to own the powerful jewel again, he did not want the damn thing close to Marina. The queen had owned it over a year, and was the only reason Layel had never acted against her. Now, he could use her—and betray her—and she would never suspect. Until it was too late.

'I will not be able to fight the dragons to my best ability without it,' she simpered. 'I will be too