“You practically can,” I pointed out. “You don’t even know the half of it yet. And I can’t wait to show you.”
“So show me,” he commanded, reaching out to pull me to him. I backed out of his reach.
“I can’t just now,” I told him, watching in amusement as he glared at me. “We have someplace that we need to go first. I can show you the other things as we go along.”
“Where are we going?” he asked curiously. Once again, he didn’t seem nervous in the slightest. He trusted me and that knowledge warmed me from the core of my heart to the tips of my toes.
“Oh, we’re going someplace interesting,” I answered, as vaguely as I could.
He raised an eyebrow. “Such as? What’s the zip code?”
“Where we’re going doesn’t have a zip code,” I answered with a smile. “Can you swim?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Of course. Why?”
“Because we’re going to pay a visit to Poseidon.”
Chapter Nine
We stood with our toes hanging over the white fiberglass hull of a boat that I had conjured from thin air. The blue sparkling waters of the Aegean Sea rocked us gently and Brennan turned to me.
“You can’t be serious?”
We were so far out to sea that even the sea gulls couldn’t find us and I smiled.
“Dead serious. We have to jump in and start swimming, then I can transport us to Poseidon’s gates. But we have to jump in first. It’s just the way it is. Why? Are you scared?”
He scowled. “Of course not. That’s ridiculous. Why would I be afraid of jumping into the middle of the ocean without a wetsuit or oxygen tank?” he asked teasingly. “It just seems silly that you can’t just deliver us into his city without getting all wet, that’s all.”
“Are you so sweet that you’re going to melt?” I asked saucily. “Because I really don’t think that is a concern.”
He laughed, wiggling his toes.
“Tell me more about Poseidon before we go. What’s he like?”
I pictured Poseidon’s solemn, stark face in my mind. “He’s… um… stern.”
“Stern?” Brennan raised a golden eyebrow. “Stern as in unfriendly?”
“Stern as in… sort of rigid. He’s very fair with almost all things except for women. He seems to enjoy… shall we say, taking women by force.”
Brennan’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? Poseidon enjoys raping women?”
I shrugged. “Apparently. But I’m not worried about myself. My mother would never send me to him without procuring my safety first.”
“You’re certain?”
“Of course not. But I know my mother would die to protect me. She would never send me to him without brokering a deal for my complete safety. I know that.”
Brennan didn’t look thoroughly convinced, so I grasped his arm and squeezed it gently.
“It will be fine, I promise.”
He gave me a wry look. “You can’t promise me that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Quit being such a girl. We’ll do what we have to do. Do you want to be together?”
He nodded. “Of course I do. And I’m not being a girl. I’m just worried about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Then we’ll have to trust my mother and just do this. We can handle whatever comes. Do you trust that?”
He studied me quietly, his hazel eyes flashing liquid gold against the azure backdrop of the sky. “Yes. And I will go with you anywhere.”
“I know,” I smiled. Catching him off guard, I gave him a shove and he went flying into the sea. Within a few seconds, he re-emerged from the surface, sputtering.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” he shouted, shaking the water from his hair as he tread water.
“Why not?” I laughed. “You already told me that you can swim and that you would go with me anywhere. I thought that was permission.”
Before I could blink, he was standing beside me once again, dripping water onto the boat deck in fat droplets.
“And you already taught me to teleport,” he reminded me laughingly, scooping me into his arms and tossing me. I sprawled into the air and then landed clumsily into the water, sinking into the dark blue depths. From under here, the boat above looked like a massive white whale. I kicked away from it and emerged a few yards away.
“Nice,” I commended him. “I’ll have to keep in mind that you’re a tricky one.”
He dove cleanly into the water and I stared nervously around me, waiting for him to appear. He grabbed my legs before I could locate him and pulled me under.
As I slid beneath the surface, his hands glided smoothly along the length of my leg, stopping at my hips. He pulled me to him under water, the length of his body hard and warm. I clung to his neck, staring into his eyes. Here, in the tranquil, underwater abyss, we felt like the only two people in the world. But we weren’t. And as my oxygen ran out, reality called.
Kicking to the surface, I pulled him by the hand and we emerged together, bobbing in the blue water.
“As much as I’d like to play all day, we have things to do,” I reminded him.
“Spoil sport,” he muttered, trying to pull me to him again. I almost relented, just for a minute. The sensation of his strong hands on my wet body was tantalizing, to say the least. But I knew it wasn’t smart to get distracted right now. Too much was at stake. If all went well, we would have forever to play.
“Let’s go,” I urged him, tugging his hand. “Take a deep breath. We’re going to swim downward and I’ll hopefully get us transported to Poseidon’s gates.”
“Hopefully?” Brennan repeated doubtfully.
“Probably,” I revised. “I’ve never actually been there before. But I think I can do it.”
“That’s confidence inspiring,” Brennan grinned, grasping my hand. “Well, I have faith in you. So, let’s do it.”
“Ready?”
He nodded and we both took a deep breath and dove beneath the sparkling surface. We swam down, down, down and I concentrated on Poseidon’s gates. It was a feat harder than it sounded since I had never actually seen them. But the essence of the thought must have been enough because a scant moment later, we were standing on dry land in front of enormously tall glittering golden gates.
Brennan and I both stared at them for a moment and then each other. We were standing on sand beneath the water, but we were perfectly dry. Not one drop of water was on either of us. It was as though we’d never been in the water at all, as though the sea wasn’t all around us.
“What the hell?” Brennan breathed.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I’ve never been here before.”
He looked up at the dark blue sea above us. “It’s like we’re inside a bubble,” he observed. “The water is all around us, but it can’t close in on us.”
I nodded. “I’m guessing that this gate is enchanted. It’s probably a portal. Once we enter it, we’ll be in an entirely different world.”
I could see Brennan swallow, but he didn’t voice his hesitation. Instead, he grasped my hand once again. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
“Nothing,” I answered, reaching out with a shaky hand to push at the gates. Nothing happened. The cold golden bars remained rigidly closed.
“Hell,” I muttered. “How do we get in?”
“Don’t look at me,” Brennan quipped, his hands splayed open at his sides. “I’m the newbie here.”
I rolled my eyes and pondered our situation. There was a keyhole in the large golden door-handle, but I didn’t have a key. I sighed, but as I did, I recognized a pounding sound coming from somewhere. Brennan and I both turned to find the source of the noise.
A huge gray stallion thundered toward us from the distance, its black mane and tail streaming into the wind behind it as it tossed its head proudly. Something hung from its mouth and as it drew closer, I saw that it was a key.
“Is that…”Brennan murmured.
“Yes. It’s a key,” I confirmed.
“Unbelievable,” he shook his head.
“Get used to it,” I instructed. “Things are different in the world of the gods. You’ve only just begun.”
He shook his head again, but he didn’t have time to say anything. The horse had reached us and knelt onto one front knee so that I could take the key from its mouth. Its eyes were large and wild and I was slightly nervous to reach so close to its enormous teeth. But I did and he didn’t hurt me.
Inserting the key into the massive lock, I turned it and the doors swung open.
“Welcome to my home.”
The words came from behind and I spun to find Poseidon himself standing where the horse had just been. I felt like smacking myself. Of course- one of his symbols was the horse. I should have known it was him. His face was sharp and fierce, his hair a sandy blonde. Like most of the Olympians, he had silver eyes and they glittered now.
I dipped my head in deference.
“Poseidon. Thank you for having us.”
Poseidon eyed me up and down, his gaze sliding from my legs, to my br**sts and finally to my face.
“Oh, I’d like to have you,” he confirmed. “But I promised your mother that I would not. And as you know, she is a formidable woman.”
I felt like smirking. I knew my mother had secured my safety. I could feel Brennan’s incredulous stare on my back, but I didn’t turn around.
“This is Brennan, the son of Apollo,” I introduced him to Poseidon. “Brennan, this is Poseidon, the god of the sea.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Brennan said politely, mimicking the way that I had dipped my head. Poseidon gave him a cursory glance and a nod before he returned his attention to me.
“We will go to my palace, where we shall dine,” he announced. “And then I will hide you away in one of my other properties. Do not fear. Mormo shall not find you. And even if he does, he shall not gain entry. Do you have something for me?”
He held out his hand expectantly and I paused briefly, fear freezing in my heart. I felt as though I shouldn’t take my bracelet off, as though I should protect it. But my mother had promised it to him and I had to trust that she knew what she was doing. I slipped it off my wrist and dropped it into his hand. He tucked it into the folds of his cloak.
“You are very beautiful,” Poseidon announced matter-of-factly. “Even more so than your mother and in a very different way.”
I stared at him. What was one supposed to say to that? “Thank you,” I murmured. He nodded.
“Come,” he ordered, marching ahead of us in long strides.
Poseidon was wearing a short kilt-type thing made from slats of leather. It was belted at his waist and he wore a metal breast-plate. His muscles bulged and he looked like he had just stepped from a gladiator’s coliseum. I watched Brennan gaping at him and couldn’t help but smile. It would be amusing to see his reactions from here on out.