Hidden Depths Read online

  “Such as?”

  “I can communicate with Delwyn when we’re underwater, even if I can’t stay down there for any longer than a regular human being. I can also still hear the thoughts of other sea creatures when they’re in the vicinity. Not that there are many around here, but it’s kind of nice to know that not everything I was has been stolen from me.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Having your life turned upside down isn’t a great deal of fun.”

  “I have no doubt you speak from experience,” Fabian said. “So, what powers are giving you the most trouble?”

  “All of them,” Jake muttered.

  “Care to be a little more specific?”

  “Well, there’s the hearing thoughts of others, having random men throwing themselves at me, accidentally forcing people to be intimate with each other and I daren’t even pick up a trident in case I smash something else.”

  Fabian laughed. “The trident takes practice. That’s nothing to do with Medina. You’d have the same problem no matter what, simply because you’re Atlantean. I’d suggest giving it a try—but not around anything valuable.”

  “Okay, and what about the rest?”

  “The men throwing themselves at you should be a yearly thing, unless your powers grow so that you have the ability to draw men to you, but you’d have to do it deliberately outside of Medina’s love day. I think the best thing you can do regarding that one is to stay home with your boys for the whole day.”

  “I’d already decided the same thing, and I’m glad to know that’ll be just one day a year.”

  Fabian tapped his fingers on the table, seemingly unsure how to proceed. “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “I’ll take that as a no,” Fabian said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I was trying to send my thoughts to you, but you obviously didn’t hear them. Let me try again, now you know what I’m attempting.”

  Jake concentrated as hard as he could, but still nothing came through. “I don’t think this is working. Maybe it only works once a year, too.”

  “I don’t think so. Let me try one last thing.”

  “I wonder if Delwyn knows how much I love him.”

  Jake gave a small sound of joy. “I heard that.”

  “Are you sure? What did I think?”

  “You wondered if Delwyn knows how much you love him, and I’m sure he does.”

  Fabian grinned. “Let me ask you… What other thoughts have you heard? Were they all love related?”

  “Love, lust, sex… That sort of stuff,” Jake confirmed.

  “Then I guess I’d better watch what I’m thinking around you,” Fabian said. “I’ll warn Delwyn, too.”

  “Well, that’s a great help around the house but not so much the rest of the time. I really don’t need to know about my boyfriend’s parents’ sex life.”

  Fabian laughed. “I don’t imagine you do.”

  “Do you know how I can switch it off?” Jake asked.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can. Medina herself can’t switch it off entirely. She learns to ‘filter it out’, as she puts it.”

  “Damn.”

  “I’m sorry, but sometimes the gifts from the gods are a double-edged blade. Now, what was the other thing, causing people to do things?”

  “Yeah. It’s not happened often, because I try to be careful about what I say, but again, I’d like a way to make it stop.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know of any, but you could always ask Medina herself.”

  “I tried talking to her before, but I get the impression she thinks I should be grateful for her gifts and not question them.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like Aunt Medi. In that case, I’m not sure what to suggest, though, like I told you before, as the rest of the immortals rise from their slumber, the powers of all the gods will increase, and so will those who have been gifted by them.”

  “Sometimes I wish she’d take her gifts back,” Jake muttered.

  Fabian patted his hand. “You have to remember that she didn’t just gift you with powers. She also brought you the love of two wonderful men.”

  Jake smiled as thoughts of Kyle and Finn banished his worries about his out-of-control powers. Yes, they were definitely worth a few magical mishaps.

  “One more thing,” Fabian said as he rose from the table. “Medina has the power to send you and your men back to Atlantis magically. It might be worth asking her if she’ll do that, rather than spending months swimming there and back.”

  Following Fabian’s advice, Jake wasted no time in calling for Medina. Thankfully, she showed up a few minutes later, much to Jake’s surprise.

  “Ah, Jake.” Medina greeted him with a kiss on each cheek. “How did you enjoy yesterday?”

  Jake snorted. “I can’t say I enjoyed hearing my mother-in-law thinking about sex or having men throw themselves at me. Some poor waiter even got fired.”

  Medina tapped her lip with her painted nail. “Well, that won’t do at all. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about your mother-in-law, but I’m sure Caspian can help the waiter get his job back. Caspian!”

  Jake jumped at Medina’s yell for the other god. He wasn’t sure whether to hope the bad-tempered God of Justice appeared or not. If he did arrive, he wasn’t likely to be in a very good mood after being summoned so rudely.

  “Medina,” Caspian said as he appeared in the kitchen. “Is there any particular reason you shouted to me quite so loudly?”

  “I wanted to make sure you heard, of course,” Medina replied sweetly. “I need a teeny little favor from you.”

  “Of course you do,” Caspian said. “And what makes you think I’d be willing to do you any favors at all?”

  “Well, it’s not for me, exactly,” Medina explained as she gestured to Jake. “I’ll let Jake explain.”

  “What?” Jake glared at his distant ancestor. Trust her to leave him to break the bad news to the glaring god at the other side of the table.

  “Well, tell him,” Medina prompted. “It’s rude to keep a god waiting, you know.”

  “But you—”

  “Oh, just spit it out,” Caspian interrupted. “I don’t have all day.”

  “Um, Medina said you might be able to help with this waiter—Tim—who threw himself at me in a restaurant last night.”

  Caspian raised an eyebrow. “Two mermen aren’t enough for you?”

  Jake bristled. “Of course they are. Tim was badly affected by it being Medina’s special day.”

  “And what do you want me to do about it?” Caspian asked. “Whatever magic caused him to act the way he did, it’s over now. Besides, horny men aren’t my area of expertise.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion,” Medina said.

  Jake flinched at the glare Caspian shot at Medina. “He lost his job because of it,” he blurted.

  Caspian turned his attention back to Jake. “He did?”

  Jake nodded. “He got in a fight with Finn, Kyle and Finn’s brother, and the manager fired him and barred the rest of us from the place. Can you get him his job back?”

  Caspian remained silent for a few moments before he gave a sharp nod. “I’ll see it’s straightened out.”

  In the blink of an eye, Caspian vanished.

  “There, you see? All sorted.” Medina sounded quite pleased with herself.

  Jake guessed there was no time like the present to ask for a favor. “Medina, can I ask you something?”

  “Of course, what is it?”

  “Would you be able to transport me, Kyle and Finn to Atlantis? Kyle wants to talk to Lynna and we don’t want him going there alone.”

  “I’ll have you there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. Where are Kyle and Finn?”

  “They aren’t here at the moment. They’re waiting for the party on the beach to finish before they come ashore.”

  “Oh, there’s no need for that,” Medina said as she snapped her fingers.

 
A moment later Finn and Kyle appeared, fast asleep and locked in each other’s arms in the middle of the kitchen table.

  “Aw,” Medina said, “don’t they look beautiful?”

  Jake smiled. “They sure do. I don’t know if I ever thanked you for bringing them into my life, but I want you to know how grateful I am.”

  Medina sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “That makes it all worthwhile. Now, if we’re all here, I’ll take us to the Isle of the Gods then on to Atlantis.”

  “Actually, I think Marin might like to come with us, too,” Jake said.

  “Absolutely not!” Caspian reappeared and had obviously heard Jake’s comment. “He has no business chasing down sea dragons and getting himself killed. He’ll be perfectly all right here until you get back.”

  Caspian’s shout woke Kyle and Finn, who stared about the room in obvious surprise.

  “What’s going on?” Kyle asked.

  “Medina is going to take us to Atlantis,” Jake said. “I’ve spoken to Fabian, and he and Delwyn are going to take care of the house. I’ll need to call Malcolm, though, and let him know what’s happening. I thought Fabian and Delwyn might be able to help out at the shop while we’re away, too.”

  “What about the aquarium?” Kyle asked. “I don’t think my boss will be happy about me taking off without notice. He moaned enough when Justin did the same thing. I doubt he’ll keep my job for me.”

  “I don’t know,” Jake said. “You could put some holidays in, but if we don’t get back in time, you’d be in trouble.”

  “I haven’t got any holidays left for the year, anyway,” Kyle reminded him. “Maybe Fabian or Delwyn could cover for me until we’re back?”

  “You think your boss will go for that?” Jake asked.

  “Maybe with a little persuasion,” Caspian suggested. “I’ll see what I can do. Between the three of them, I’m sure Fabian and the others can keep your various jobs secure.”

  “I still think Marin would prefer to come with us,” Jake said.

  “Marin stays here,” Caspian stated, in a voice that made it clear he would not tolerate any sort of argument. “We have more than enough problems to contend with right now.”

  “Maybe we’ll be back before they notice we’ve gone,” Finn said. “If Medina is transporting us, we could be back in a few hours.”

  “Not if my sister has anything to say about it,” Kyle muttered as he took the towel Jake offered him and quickly dried off his tail, restoring his human legs.

  “You think this might take some time?” Medina asked.

  “She can be stubborn,” Kyle replied. “You’ve met her yourself. Remember?”

  “Perhaps there might be another way of getting you there then,” Medina said. “A way for you boys to go back and forth without my direct assistance.”

  “What do you mean?” Jake asked.

  “You’ll see,” Medina said as she swept out of the room, leaving everyone else to follow her.

  Jake hoped whatever she had in mind worked. The sooner they got underway, the better, and now he wasn’t going to be spending months swimming the distance, he felt much better about visiting Atlantis.

  Medina breezed through the house, checking one room after another. She shook her head and tutted regularly, as she opened and closed each door, apparently not satisfied with what she found.

  By the time she found a room that met with her expectations, everyone in the house was trailing after her.

  “This room should be ideal,” Medina announced. “Large, bright and uncluttered.”

  “We finished clearing out this room last week,” Jake said. “We’ve been thinking about putting a home gym in here.”

  Medina screwed up her nose. “That won’t do at all. No, this is going to be my first new temple of the twenty-first century.”

  “Temple?” Fabian asked. “Do you need any more? Surely the two in Atlantis are enough?”

  Medina waved away his comments as she strolled into the center of the room. “Temples are like lovers. You can never have too many of either.”

  With a clap of her hands the room sparkled as though a team of cleaners had polished everything from the floors to the windows.

  “Can you do the whole house like that?” Kyle asked.

  Medina gave him a look that told him quite clearly the answer to that question was a resounding no.

  “Over there, I think,” Medina said as she pointed to the far side of the room.

  A moment later a life-size statue of Medina, seated on an elaborate throne, appeared in front of them. The statue appeared to be made of white marble, save for the hair, which was ebony and matched the goddess’s own long locks.

  Finn stepped a little closer to the statue and cocked his head to one side. His gaze flickered between the goddess and her likeness. “It’s not exactly accurate, is it?”

  “It’s a very precise rendition of myself,” Medina stated. “Identical in every detail.”

  “Not totally identical. The statue seems to have bigger…” Finn gestured to Medina’s breasts and Jake smothered a smile.

  Fabian grinned outright. “You aren’t the first to have noticed that error,” he said. “Quite a few of Aunt Medi’s priests have picked up on it over the years.”

  Medina glared at her nephew. “You never did learn how to hold your tongue. As for you”—she pointed a long finger at Finn—“you’re a lover of men. You aren’t supposed to be noticing women’s breasts.”

  Finn snorted and pointed at the statue. “They’re kind of hard to miss.”

  Even Caspian appeared to find the exchange amusing, but he, like Jake, seemed to want to hurry things along. “Can we get on with this? I do have other things to do today.”

  “You don’t have to stay,” Medina reminded him. “You’ve sorted out the overly friendly waiter and got him his job back. Your work here is done for now, so why don’t you leave if you’re so busy? Perhaps you could go and arrange cover for the boys’ jobs if this is boring you.”

  Caspian didn’t move from where he leaned against the wall. “Just hurry up.”

  Medina raised her arms and bolts of lightning shot from her fingers toward the foot of her statue. Two columns, about two feet high, appeared to each side of the statue—one with a bowl on top and the other with a large crystal.

  “There you go,” Medina said. “One fully functioning temple, complete with a transportation crystal, which, when activated, will take you directly to my residence on the Isle of the Gods.”

  “You touch it to activate it, right?” Delwyn asked.

  Medina shook her head. “That’s how it works for my priests and those who carry the blood of the gods in their veins. That means Jake and Fabian, of course. The rest of you will need to make an offering for the crystal to work.”

  “What sort of offering?” Kyle asked.

  Medina walked to the column with the bowl and tapped it. “Anything you think I might appreciate will do. Perfume, silk scarves, fresh roses… Whatever you like.”

  “Cheap wine from the local supermarket,” Caspian suggested, earning him another glare from Medina.

  “And anyone can use this?” Jake asked. “Not just the mer or Atlanteans?”

  “Anyone who you bring here, yes,” Medina confirmed.

  “And you’d be happy with us talking to others about you?” Kyle questioned with a fair degree of skepticism in his tone.

  “Of course,” Medina replied. “The more humans who remember me and come to pay homage in my temples, the stronger I become. I’ll need all my strength for the coming battle for the city of Atlantis.”

  “Like you have any intention of fighting,” Caspian said.

  “I’ve done my share to assist our cause,” Medina snapped at him before turning her attention back to the others in the room.

  “I would ask you keep this room as clean as you can,” Medina said. “This is, after all, a place of worship, just as your modern churches, mosques and the like are. You could even get mar
ried before me, if you wished to do so. Couldn’t you, Fabian?”

  The look Medina gave her nephew and the tone of her voice made it clear the question wasn’t rhetorical. Fabian’s expression was one of utter horror.

  “Married?”

  Medina nodded. “You don’t think it’s about time you settled down with a nice young man? I’m sure Delwyn agrees with me.”

  “Leave me out of this,” Delwyn muttered.

  “Aunt Medi, don’t start,” Fabian warned her.

  Medina chuckled. “You can’t fool me, Fabian. I know true love when I see it, and I’m waiting for the day you ask me to officiate over your nuptials.”

  “At least you can get married,” Finn said. “Try being in a ménage and it’s a bit more difficult.”

  Medina smiled. “Under Atlantean law, there can be more than two people in a marriage. I myself married two men at the same time. If you, Jake, and Kyle wish to cement that bond, all you have to do is ask.”

  “It doesn’t look like a church,” Jake said, as eager to change the subject as Fabian. He hadn’t thought much about marriage, and while he wasn’t opposed to the idea, he didn’t want to discuss the possibility in front of an audience. “Shouldn’t there be seats or something?”

  “Feel free to place some if you wish,” Medina said. “But take care not to move the statue, the offering bowl or the crystal. To do so could destroy the magic. You might also note that I’ll be able to hear you when you call from here with much greater clarity than anywhere else. If you wish to summon me, doing so from this room is highly recommended. Now, I believe you wanted to visit Atlantis, so shall we go?”

  Chapter Five

  On their arrival on the Isle of the Gods, they found themselves in a room not unlike the buildings in Atlantis. However, while the sunken city had deteriorated due to the water it was in, this building was in much better condition, although a little neglected.

  Finn wandered to the open door and peered outside. The sight that greeted him was like nothing he had ever seen. Having never been to land for the first twenty-one years of his life, he had often wondered about what other places were out there, but even his wildest imagination could not have conjured this place.