Free Sea Storm: Children of the Waves by LaVerne Thompson Page B

danger.
    He didn’t bother to get dressed; he
simply opened the glass doors of his room and headed for the beach. He almost
never swam with clothes on anyway. But as soon as his foot hit the sand, he
heard the sound of a dolphin in distress again. While he headed toward the
water, he heard two sets of footsteps pounding behind him. Running full out
now, he dove into the sea. Faster than both his half-brother and Aaron anyway,
he didn’t bother to slow down. He moved far out before diving deeper. Swimming
as fast as only a child bred of the sea could swim. While hours ago his heart
raced in excitement, now it raced in fear.
    His eyes allowed him to see perfectly in
the shadowy depths. So, he spied the area where red and black blood swirled
around his brother and his mate. They fought for their lives in the midst of
three dark creatures he’d never seen before. The horrors appeared to be a cross
between bi-pedal lizards, with long horse-like horned heads and scale armored
bodies. His brother raised his trident but it had no control over the beasts.
Power lashed from the forks, striking the nearest and drawing dark blood. So…at
least they could be harmed.
    Two dead dolphins floated near them and
Zek sensed others hovering on the perimeter of the fight. Xav must have called
them off. No way could they have any hope of fighting off those armored demon
spawn.
    Not so for Zek, he called forth his own
powers of lightning. His palms glowed until they turned bright white,
electricity crackled through and around him. He raised his hand and threw an
energy bolt after the dark claw reaching to grab his brother’s queen.
    The bolt sliced the claw off, causing the
beast to swing in his direction.
    He let loose another spear of power, this
one catching it in the middle of its third eye right above the horn. It
immediately rippled and disappeared. By
the gods, what manner of beast was that? Zek spoke telepathically to the
others.The way the Children
communicated under the sea.
    By then Xav managed to get rid of the
other two beasts just as Aaron and Cyrus arrived. What the fuck was that?
    My
sentiments, exactly, Xav
sent to them all.
    Are
you all right? Zek
asked.
    Yes.
They surprised us. Four of them, came out of nowhere and I had no control over
them, Xav replied .
    Fuck!
Four?
    Yes,
I managed to destroy one before you arrived.
    How
can that be? You have the full powers of the trident, Aaron interjected. Yet, they attacked you.
    I
think the white witch summoned them. They’re demons spawned of Hades, not of
the depths, Xav replied.
    Xav,
can we please get out of here? We can discuss this on land, Cori piped in .
    I
am sorry, my queen, Zek
answered.
    She smiled and he understood why his
brother had fallen in love with his bride. Beautiful indeed. Like his Des. It is an honor.
    They turned and made their way back to
land with not quite the haste they’d used to cut through the water but still
remaining alert. Moving quickly, in case any more of those creatures tried to
come back.
    Zek took point, Cyrus and Aaron brought
up the rear with Xav and Cori in the middle.
    While they ascended toward the surface,
Zek heard Des’ cry at the same time he noticed the motorboat hovering in the
water above them. He smiled and angled their rise to cross to it. He turned to
grin at his brother and Cori, knowing they could all see the motorboat. It’s Des.
    Cori smiled. All five of them broke water
at the same time, but Des faced the other side of the boat. They swam toward
her and she swung around gasping when she saw them. “Oh, my God! Is everyone
all right? What the hell happened? Cori? What the fuck…?”
    Zek reached the side of the boat first
but instead of using the ladder hanging off the back, he used the water like a
springboard. He propelled himself right onto the deck beside her.
    She yelped and took a step back.
    Cori and Xav did the same thing.
    “We’ll meet you guys at the house,” Aaron
yelled, as he and Cyrus swam back to