Had it been green the last time I’d seen her?
I couldn’t recall. But it was green now.
She swept toward me, arms outstretched, a beaming smile on her beautiful face. “It is so good to see you again, Quinn.”
I accepted her warm hug, even leaning into it. Was it strange that my soulmate’s ex was so nice to me?
“Let’s look at you.” She stepped back, her hands going to my shoulders. A slight frown marred her brow. “You’ve changed.”
“She has,” Pontus said. “Quinn has come into her full powers.”
Thalassa shook her head slightly. “I see darkness.” Her hand went to her breastbone. “Powerful darkness.”
“And?” Pontus pressed her. “Look deeper.”
Thalassa cupped my cheek with one hand and closed her eyes. “Oh…Oh, my child. What a wonderful contradiction you are.”
I covered her hand with my palm. “What is it? What do you see?”
“Strength, honor, and purity, despite the dark stain on your soul.” Her gaze was scrutinizing. “Your darkness does not define you. Remember that when you doubt.”
Her words lifted the weight I hadn’t even realized I was carrying. “Thank you.”
She smiled. “Don’t thank me yet, we still have to navigate the social niceties and etiquette of the Atlantean court. All the posturing may just be the end of you.”
I bit back a smile. “Oh, I’m sure I can posture along with the best of them.”
“I’m sure you’ll enjoy your visit.” Her smile remained but her eyes were sad. “We will miss you when you are gone,” she addressed Pontus. “I do wish you’d reconsider.”
My confusion fell away as realization dawned. She thought we were here for a regular visit, the one that Dillon had promised me. She didn’t know we were here to cement our bond.
“I have reconsidered,” Pontus said. “We will cement the bond, but without Quinn undertaking the ceremony.”
“What? Pontus, that isn’t possible.”
“Yes, it is. We all know it is. Uron just likes to enforce the rules we set eons ago. Rules that need not exist.”
“But they do,” Thalassa pointed out. “How do you think all those who came before you will feel if we bend the rules for you? You know why we created the test. You agreed it was a good idea.”
“And now I’ve changed my mind. Get me an audience with him. A private audience.”
“Pontus…” She tilted her head to one side. “I understand why you’re wary. I understand you don’t wish to lose your mate to the test, but Quinn is strong. Powerful—”
“Thalassa, please…”
She blinked in surprise as if unaccustomed to Pontus pleading for anything. “All right. I’ll do it. I’ll speak with him. In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable.”
“Thank you,” Pontus said. “But we’ll be retiring to my quarters now.”
She winced.
“What?” Pontus’s tone was hard.
“Well, you haven’t visited in quite some time.”
“So?”
“Uron has taken over your quarters.”
Pontus’s jaw tensed and I sensed his indignant rage, sensed the cutting words that needed to be uttered, and then those emotions were gone, washed away by a tide of icy calm. “I see. In that case, I’ll take his old quarters…for now.”
She rolled her lips into her mouth, eyes twinkling. “My, my, I see some time on land has done marvels for your temper.”
Temper? I flashed a look of surprise his way. “Dillon is the most chill person I know.”
“Uh-huh.” Thalassa leaned toward me slightly, hand coming up to bracket her mouth as she stage-whispered, “Pontus is most definitely not a chill person.”
“Thalassa…” There was warning in his tone.
“Yes, yes. I’m off. You’ll have access to Uron’s old quarters by the time you get there. I’ll find you as soon as I have news. In the meantime, enjoy the hub.”
She disintegrated into particles and vanished.
“The hub?”
“It’s what they call this part of the ship, the central residences where the royal bloodlines and nobility reside.”
“Atlantis is a monarchy?”
“No, back on our home planet we ruled as a consul of houses, the bloodlines working together to ensure the survival of our race. But since coming here, the bloodlines are in name only. The consul here is comprised of the greatest minds.”
“And this Uron?”
“One of those great minds, and…my older brother.”
“You have a brother?”
“Same father, different mothers. We’ve never gotten along. He’s never gotten over that fact that I was born of a soulmate union and he wasn’t.”
I’d thought Pontus was ancient, but I guess time was relative in Atlantis and what was ancient to me was a blip on the radar for them.
“Come.” He swept toward a door at the far side of the room. “Let’s get settled.”
I followed Pontus through the door, down a corridor, and into a lift. My stomach dipped as we rose.
The doors opened onto a silver and white corridor lined with windows that overlooked the city on both sides. The buildings looked far away and small. A set of double doors swept open onto a cream and crimson foyer, where seats were arranged in a circle around a low table. Another door lay beyond that one.
Pontus swept up to it and placed his palm on a panel by the door. The panel lit up green and the doors opened to admit us into a beautifully furnished room lined with shelves housing artifacts and books. A vast window made up the back wall, showcasing an epic view of twinkling stars punctuated by a skyline of towering buildings.
I couldn’t believe all this could fit into one ship.
Pontus sank into the nearest chair with a sigh. “Sit. Rest.”
I picked an armchair with a window view and curled into it. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait to see Uron?”
“No idea. But I doubt he’ll see us straight away. Uron likes to show he’s in control. He’ll make us wait, just because he can.” He tapped his fingers on the small side table by his seat. Symbols lit up in the air above the surface. He touched the holographic glyphs and then flicked his wrist. The glyphs vanished.
“What was that?”
“Room service. I figure we should get breakfast.”
My stomach growled, reminding me how empty it was, and how early we’d left Hawthorne to be here. “Please tell me you have coffee here.”
“Not exactly, but we have something even better.”
I arched a skeptical brow. “Better than coffee?”
He smiled, eyes warming in humor and indulgence. “You’ll see.”
A moment later the low coffee table between us lit up so bright I had to squint my eyes. The light dimmed, leaving several trays of food.
“What the fuck?”
“The kitchens just teleported our meal,” Pontus said with a smile.
Of course, if they could teleport people, then why not meals? The technology here was astounding.
“I don’t understand. Why haven’t you shared this technology with humanity?”