“Come here,” Gage drawled and pulled me into his arms.
Gage generates body heat like no one I know. Even after that swim, he had recovered quickly and radiated warmth that had my other men leaning toward us until Declan finally thought to manifest some heat. A quick twirl of his finger and the cabin was warmer. All of us, even Gage, sighed in delight. Then the ship started to move, and I realized that Verin had left us to pilot it. I drew out of Gage's arms and away from the lovely warmth to head toward the front of the ship. It would have been rude to leave Verin to steer alone, wouldn't it?
I found Verin in the driver's seat, the fingers of one hand hitting buttons while the other hand steered. After we lifted from the docking pad and spun about, he left off with the button-pushing and concentrated on steering. Headlights came on and illuminated the water before us but the lights weren't necessary until we sped past the sprawling city and beyond the halo it cast. Darkness so deep that it swallowed our lights within a few feet, greeted us. I stared ahead, watching little particles catch the light as we zoomed by. No fishes or other marine life appeared in the glow; only sea debris.
“Sit down, Elaria.” Verin nodded toward the chair beside him.
I slid onto the slick, cushioned chair to his right then glanced back at my men. They gathered behind Verin and me, staring ahead as well. Even when there isn't anything to see, you can't help but look out a windshield; or water shield, rather. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I don't know what you call the front viewing panel of an underwater craft. A porthole? No, that can't be right. Whatever it's called, staring through it kept me from looking at Verin. It was bad enough to have him in my periphery; the man seemed to ooze pheromones.
“How far away is your kingdom?” I asked him without looking.
“We should reach it in an hour or so.”
Okay. Sure. I could keep it together for an hour.
I'm getting hungry, RS whined.
Shut up, you harlot! We both know that you're fine, Kyanite exclaimed. Don't worry, my love, he said to me, Daha may have simply meant that you needed King Verin for his mother.
Sure, that's what he meant, RS scoffed in a teenager-tone.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I should have known that Verin's kingdom, or rather the capital city within it, would be more defensible than Zhavage's. More secure. Instead of being out in the open, bulging out of the seabed, the Azure Court perched on ledges within the maze of a mid-ocean ridge—otherwise known as an undersea mountain chain or a seamount chain (I felt compelled to add that so I could prove that I do know some underwater terms).The range wasn't a single line of mountains, but was instead several of them laid next to each other like gigantic claw marks in the seabed. The highest points of the innermost mountain ranges held guard towers with men in uniform peering out of ringed windows.
Verin took us down, past the guards, and into the glow that emanated from the space between the undersea mountains. Once within the light, we could better see the city. Austere structures clung to the sides of the jagged cliffs, extending forward from a curtain wall that filled the gap between the mountains behind us; a clear end to the city. The wall would have been useless if not for the guard towers capping it. Towers also sat atop the mountain peaks every hundred feet or so, watching over the Azure Court diligently.
Verin took us along the passage that formed the main, and only, street through the city. Homes were stacked upon each other with every layer set slightly back from the one below it so that the whole took on the look of steps. This also gave each residence a courtyard, most of which were adorned with coral, underwater plants, and massive statues. Lóng in both human and Dragon forms swam through the passage with us, both above and below our ship. The ones in human form, clad in sleek suits, received only a cursory glance from me. It was the Dragons who drew my attention. I gawked at them in awe; at their whiskers, trailing behind them like ribbons, and their colorful scales that even seawater couldn't mute. They danced out of the way of our vehicle, daring to swim beside us while those in human form stayed closer to their homes. A few ventured further out but only on the backs of Dragons. They waved at their king as if his appearance were cause for celebration. Verin lifted a hand in return.
“Impressive,” Gage murmured.
“Indeed,” Prince Saif agreed as he leaned forward on Verin's left. “And I find myself utterly intrigued by your people, King Verin. They are very beautiful. Enchanting even.”
Verin grunted in acknowledgment but also with pride.
He grexed, RS corrected in my mind.
Don't start that again, I growled at her.
You have to admit that it's more descriptive of his noises, she taunted. Sex and grunting in one. Although, they usually come together anyway. Get it? Come together?
Keep it up and I'll ask the Witches to suppress you entirely, I threatened.
RS went silent.
At the other end of the passage, another wall filled the gap from mountain peaks to base but this one served as a support for the Royal Palace. The sprawling palace stood on the ocean floor, far below the other structures of the crevice city, but it extended up the wall until its towers reached as high as the other residences. The palace wings spread out to either side of the main structure, going the entire width of the curtain wall, and climbed the mountainsides embracing
