Descending (The Rising Series) (4 page)

“I do,” Amar said.

“Okay,” Kyros
replied. “Who’s next?”

“Pallas,” Xanthus answered.

“Good choice.”

“Why don’t you retrieve him
?” Xanthus asked. “I’ll go after Drakōn.”

“Drakōn? Good luck with that. Pallas will be—”

“Did someone just call my name?” A voice came from down the dark hallway.

Kyros
swam forward. “Now why would anyone want to talk to an eel like you?” he asked as he swam up to the bars.

Pallas grabbed the bars and pulled hard, slamming the door against the lock. “Come in
here, and I’ll show you who the eel is.”

Kyros approached the cell door. Pallas’s haggard face appeared in the barred window.

“Why don’t you come out here?” Kyros asked.

Pallas’s eyes narrowed at his words
, while his glare filled with enough venom to stun a whale. “Is that a joke?” he growled.

Kyros smiled.
“Not at all. You have a mission to perform. Xanthus has secured your release.”

The anger melted away
as he sank to the floor. Kyros was sad to see Pallas’s condition. Darkness circled his hollow eyes. He had lost weight, and his red hair and beard floated in clumps around his head. He looked defeated. Kyros much preferred him angry.

“No one leaves Panthon,” he whispered.

“
Today, four of you are. Triton’s orders.”

A hint of a smile lightened Pallas’s face
, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He wouldn’t believe he was being released until they were in the open sea with Panthon Prison at their backs.

The building shook as
thundering crashes and angry bellows echoed from down the corridor—sounded like things were going better that expected with Drakōn. Kyros had expected him to put up more of a fight.

“Is that Drakōn?” Pallas’s voice rose.

“Yeah, Xanthus is releasing him.”

“Wow, what kind of mission are we going on?”

“I’ll let Xanthus explain. We need to get Straton.”

Straton had only been at the prison a month. But from the looks of him, you’d guess he’d been there years.
His daughter had killed a council member’s son. Straton was paying for her crime.

I
n the end, Xanthus had five seasoned warriors—Amar, Pallas, Straton, Drakōn and of course, Kyros.

They swam toward Xanthus’s home, over the rugged Calibrian Rise. Being that the former prisoners were all on the brink of starvation, they immediately took to hunting. They circled an entire school of barracudas—decimating their numbers in minutes.

Pallas took his last bite and pushed the fish carcass away. “So, Xanthus, what kind of mission requires the help of convicted criminals?”

The others gathered to hear the answer.

Xanthus hesitated a moment before speaking. “I need you to guard my wife.”

“Why does your wife need a guard?” Straton asked.

Kyros folded his arms across his chest.
This is gonna be good
.

“She’s a mermaid.” Voices erupted in surprised confusion.

“Tell them
where
this assignment will take place,” Kyros said, smiling.

All eyes were turned to Xanthus. “On land.”

“No,” Drakōn gasped.

“How?” Pallas asked.

“Triton,” Xanthus said. “My wife’s father is willing to give you all you need, including human legs
—”

“No!” Drakōn interrupted. “There’s no way. I’d rather go back to prison.”

Kyros raised an eyebrow.

“How long is this assignment?” Pallas asked
, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Triton has given me as much time as I need to accomplish my goal,” Xanthus said.

“What goal?” Straton asked.

“I’m attempting to convince the humans to stop poisoning our seas.”

“And how do you expect to accomplish that?” Drakōn inquired, narrowing his eyes.

“Anyway I can
,” Xanthus answered.

“
After this impossible assignment, are we to return to Panthon?” Drakōn asked.

“Triton ordered your release
,” Xanthus said. “There was no mention of returning.”

“The council will want us back
,” Pallas said. “When your mission is over and we return to the sea, they’ll send soldiers to hunt us again.”

“We’ll worry about that when it happens
,” Xanthus said. “For now, you’re free.”

“
Yes, it appears we are, but what a price for freedom.” Pallas shook his head, looking over to Kyros. “I’m confused as to why
you’d
agree to such a… vile assignment. You weren’t a prisoner.”

“My reasons are my own, Pallas.”

“Xanthus,” Drakōn said, “you should have told us before we left what we were expected to do.”

“
Do you truly think to go back to Panthon?” Xanthus asked, looking around. “Do any of you
want
to return?”

No one spoke.

“Okay, so you all accept this assignment,” Xanthus said. “I’ll hear no more complaints, and I’ll tolerate no insubordination. Under no circumstances will I tolerate any unpleasantness toward my wife. And if any of you do not protect her to the best of your ability, I will send you back to Panthon in the most painful way possible. If you are negligent and she’s harmed, I’ll send you to her father.”

Kyros sickened at that thought. Triton had lived many millennia. If anyone knew how to inflict eternal misery, it was
he. And the Dagonian who was sent to Triton for punishment would likely suffer not just for Sara, but for all his children killed by Dagonian hands. Kyros glanced around at the others. They looked as terrified at the prospect as he did.

D
arkness descended on them as they approached Xanthus’s castle. Kyros looked up. Sharks—thousands more than before—circled the building. There were so many that their shadows nearly blackened out the sun. His blood chilled at several monstrous forms swimming among the sharks. He moved in close to Xanthus.

“Are those…?” Kyros couldn’t finish his question.

Xanthus’s eyes widened. “Yes. Megalodons.” His voice rasped like dry sand.

“How did her father coax them from the depths?” Kyros asked.

Xanthus raised an eyebrow. “He can be persuasive when he wants to be.”

“Suddenly,” Pallas whispered in Kyros’s ear, “life among humans doesn’t seem quite so unappealing.”

Kyros looked around. The soldiers pressed in closer to Xanthus.

“Looks like you’ve got an infestation,” Drakōn said.

“Hades, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Straton said.

“Triton
’s protective of his mermaid, isn’t he?” Pallas asked.

“No more than I am,” Xanthus answered. “I just don’t have sharks at my beck and call.”

“No, you have something much more dangerous,” Kyros said.

Xanthus turned to him. “Wh
at?”

Kyros smiled.
“Us.”

Honolulu
, Hawaii ~ Federal Courthouse

Honolulu
, Hawaii ~ Federal Courthouse

Sweat trickled down Gretchen’s back as she cradled a sleeping child in her arms. Her fingertips brushed over the little blonde curls. Jami Tollman was a beautiful child with a precarious future. And right now, her future was balancing on the razor’s edge of the American justice system. But Ms. Gardner was on the job. As her intern, Gretchen had heard her boss rehearse again and again. The argument was fierce and compelling. There was no way she could lose. However, stranger things had happened… but not this time. The fates wouldn’t be so cruel to this little girl.

Gretchen looked up at the clock mounted on the
cinderblock wall next to the security station. They’d been there for only half an hour. It’d probably be another thirty minutes—unless the judge ruled quickly. She caught a strong whiff of cigarette smoke as a boney woman with greasy hair stepped up to the security stop. The burly guard gave her little notice, his eyes on a man behind her dressed in shackles and escorted by two police officers.

Gretchen held little
Jami tight. This was no place for a five-year-old girl. If life were fair, she’d just be getting home from kindergarten, returning to a loving mother. She would bake her cookies and ask how school went as she hugged her and pressed a kiss to her soft cheek. When her father came home, she’d run up, he’d lift her up above his head, twirl her around, and drop her in his arms, telling her what an amazing child she was.

But life was rarely fair.

The doors to the courtroom opened and people began to push through, like cattle escaping the coral. Gretchen found the person she was looking for. She sucked in a breath and held it as her heart froze. Ms. Gardner looked downcast. When she saw Gretchen watching her, she shook her head, confirming it didn’t go well.

Gretchen had to force herself not to take the child in her arms and
bolt out the door. That likely wouldn’t go over well. Kidnapping was a serious crime. Well, beating a child almost to death was worse
—
or so she thought.

Ms. Gardner didn’t say a word to Gretchen
. What was there to say, other than, ‘we lost’? Instead, she approached little Jami.

“
Jami, sweetie.” She sleepily opened her eyes.

“Can I go home
now, Ms. Gardner?” she asked, her pudgy hands rubbing tired eyes. Gretchen knew she wasn’t talking about her father’s home. She wanted to return to the nice family that took care of her and treated her like a princess—the one hoping to adopt her.

“
Jami, the court’s decided your daddy feels terrible about what he did, and they think you’d be better off living with him.”

Jami
didn’t seem to grasp what was said. She sat in silent stillness.

“Come
on, sweetie,” Ms. Gardner said. “Your daddy’s waiting for you.”

Jami
’s head bobbed in a nod as she slipped off Gretchen’s lap. She stood there, not moving for several moments. Then, like a flash, she was running toward the front door. After a short, stunned second, Ms. Gardner and Kyle, her assistant, went running after her.

Gretchen caught herself before shouting, ‘Run
Jami, run!’ She might not have said it, but she was definitely thinking it—praying she could getaway. But where would a five-year-old girl escape to?

It was only seconds later when they returned—Kyle carrying the screaming, flailing
child in his arms. “You can’t make me go back! I don’t want to live with my daddy. I want Mommy Jill. Let go of me!”

“Ms.
Winters.” Gretchen’s head snapped up at the sharp tone of Ms. Gardner’s voice. “What were you doing? Why did you just stand there like an idiot when Jami ran? You didn’t even attempt to catch her. You were the closest one to her.”

“I… I’m sorry. But this is wrong. How can we send her back to that monster?” Gretchen stammered
. She clenched her hands to keep them from shaking—or wringing someone’s neck.

“What do you suppose we do
—short of letting a five-year-old child run loose in Honolulu?” Ms. Gardner asked.

“I don’t know
. We just can’t let her go back to
him
.”

“Listen, Gretchen
, I understand how upset you are. I’m feeling quite angry at the justice system myself. But we have no choice. The judge has made his decision, and we have to respect that. Whatever happens is on
his
conscience now. I’ve done all I can.”

“Whatever happens,
Jami
will have to live with it—if she survives,” Gretchen answered.

“Get your filthy hands off my daughter.” Gretchen looked back to Kyle.
Jami’s father was yelling as he wrestled his kicking, screaming daughter from the assistant’s grip. Mr. Tollman yanked Jami free and pulled her to his chest. She seemed to give up the fight as she held still.