Elemental Shadowed by Helen Scott
20
Tessa
When the darkness cleared a little, I saw that I was standing on the beach, having no clue how I'd gotten there or what kind of tunnel I'd walked through. I looked over my shoulder and just saw rocks that I wasn't sure I remembered walking around.
The glow of firelight was in front of me in the darkness. Being on the outer ring of Atlantis at night was like being at a dark sky park. There was no light pollution anywhere, except for the fire that I was hoping had been set by my guys.
I made my way toward it, keeping my feet as light as possible so I didn't make any noise. I wasn't sure what I was scared of or worried about, but after everything that had happened, I figured it was better to be on the safe side.
Shadows danced in the light of the flames, stretching out across the land in front of me and I stood for a moment, letting the darkness play over my skin and enjoying the momentary pause before shit hit the fan again, since I had no doubt that it would. The darkness was comforting to me, and I almost felt likeI could slip into it and escape from all the madness.
I knew that was a lie though.
The shadows might mask me for a while, but the crazy would find me eventually, it always did. It didn't matter whether it was my mom, or Brok, or the guys, or even the one realm people, it always found me.
For a moment the weight on my chest from all of it was unbearable, and I wasn't even sure if I'd stabilized Atlantis, all I knew was that I had a dragon and a rock, and that had to mean something. I just hoped it was enough.
I didn't want realms to collapse because I couldn't figure this shit out. It was too much pressure to put on one person though, which was why I had my guys, and what started my feet moving again.
As I approached, I saw two figures outlined by the light of the flames and my heart jumped in my chest. It was Finn and Griff, it had to be, but there was something wrong with them. I'd never seen them looking so defeated.
"Guys?" I asked hesitantly as I stepped into the light of the fire.
The two of them spun toward me with weapons raised. I put my hands up defensively not that I thought either of them would actually hurt me.
"It's just me," I said, although mentally I added, and my dragon. I didn't need to freak them out completely right off the bat though.
"Fuck, dove, we thought you were dead." Griff sighed and ran a hand through his hair. For the first time I realized that it was getting long, actually long enough to make a ponytail. That was all I had time to notice before he had me up in his arms.
Finn wasn't about to let him get all the attention though. I felt his cool, steady presence behind me as his arms wrapped around us both. Part of me expected them to be weird about touch like so many guys I'd known, but they weren't. There was no hug with the three "I'm-not-gay" slaps on the back here. They were comfortable with themselves and each other, and hopefully me.
"Siren, you can't keep doing that shit," Finn said with a sigh next to my ear.
"It wasn't like I planned it!" I squealed as his hands slipped around my middle, parting me from Griff ever so slightly. The combination of the two of them was intoxicating. I couldn't help the rush that went through me as they pinned me between them. I let my head drop back onto Finn's chest as I stared up at Griff. "How did you guys escape?"
"When you disappeared, we searched everywhere for you and found a hallway off the throne room that led outside, which was pretty much just a ledge that wrapped around the mountain. When we were back on stable ground, we hiked back up to see if you were back in the temple somehow and found Kai and Dres standing there looking forlorn. Fortunately, they brought food and drink for us, so we sent them packing to keep everyone at the palace distracted while we looked for you," Finn explained, his voice a melodic ebb and flow in my ear.
"I'm surprised they went," I replied quietly.
"It wasn't without a fight, believe me," Griff said, though he sounded more amused than irritated, which I guessed was a good thing.
"Are you all okay?" I was worried about the fight being physical and not just verbal.
"Of course, a couple of punches may have been thrown, but nothing that we couldn't handle. I promise we wouldn't do anything as stupid as get into a fist fight when we needed to save our energy to find you," Griff said, dropping a kiss on my lips.
For a moment I felt strange given that Finn was still holding me and Griff was kissing me, but something stirred within me that made me want them both to do more than just kiss me and hold me. Unfortunately, my stomach chose that moment to let us all know that I was really hungry. A loud gurgle and growl sounded from my belly.
"Let's get you some food, huh?" Finn whispered as he kissed me on the cheek.
"Dres managed to snag some wine for us as well, the good shit too." Griff waggled his eyebrows and then winked at me.
A glass of wine did sound good after the day we had all had. It would be just what I needed to unwind. Though food sounded better.
As I sat by the fire and saw that only a few twigs were burning, I knew it had to be magical in nature. There was a basket sitting close enough to the fire to warm the food, and potentially be a fire hazard, but I figured that wasn't something two men who could control water and fire between then would have to worry about.
"Want to tell us what happened?" Finn asked as he started handing me food from the basket.
There were some rolls that they made here in Atlantis that were amazing. I had no idea what was different from the roles back in our realm, world, whatever, but I could eat these all day every day and be happy. As I stuffed my mouth with pieces of the roll, I told them what had happened between the throne room and now. It wasn't a lot, but it was like each sentence was a bomb being dropped. Stone. Baby dragon. Gills. Tattoo. Darkness.
By the time I was done they were both just staring at me with their mouths hanging open, while I was eating what tasted like chicken and washing it down with my second glass of wine. The stress of the day was finally starting to fade, and I was feeling more like myself. All I needed was a good night's sleep and I'd be almost as good as new, better even if I counted the whole breathing underwater and having a dragon living in me thing.
"So, should we head back?" I posed the question once I'd finished my wine.
"We wouldn't be able to get in tonight. The bridges are all lifted after dark to keep the inner rings safe," Finn replied.
"I guess you’re stuck sleeping under the stars with us, dove." Griff’s voice came out low and sultry.
"If you're thinking about fighting over who gets to cuddle with me, don't. I'm sleeping alone so you won't have to worry about it," I huffed, hoping to preempt the argument.
"What if you sleep with both of us?" Finn asked.
Now it was my turn for my mouth to hang open.
"Look, we aren't from your realm, we don't have the same hang-ups that men in your realm do." Griff’s lips tipped up in a slow smile. "Our cultures are a lot more open and accepting when it comes to different types of relationships and sex. Right, Finn?"
The other man nodded. "You know, considering that dress came out of nowhere, it looks stunning on you."
"Thanks," I mumbled, suddenly feeling relieved that I wasn't just running around in my bra and panties again, if a bit self-conscious. "What about all the animosity from earlier though?" I asked, not wanting to get distracted by compliments.
"We thought you were dead. Again. It kind of made us get our heads out of our asses," Griff said with a smile that was so sweet I should have got a cavity.
The wine was starting to do its work though, and that tingling relaxed feeling I always got when I drank alcohol was filling me. It reminded me a little of standing in the water with the dragon egg, the calm washing through me like a wave.
A realization hit me at that moment. I was sitting on the outer ring of Atlantis, with two people who I cared about and who cared about me, with nothing major happening, and all I was doing was staring at a campfire, albeit a magical one.
I stood and wandered down to the beach, the waves tickling my toes as they lapped at the shore. The guys were behind me. I could sense them as though they were each a blip on my internal radar, which was new. Part of me wondered if my new awareness of them was thanks to the dragon, but most of me didn't care as I lay back on the sand.
The stars over Atlantis looked different, as though this realm was in a completely different place than my own, which I guessed was true. It was a little mind bending to think about, which I supposed was why I had never spent much time on it in my head before.
"What's on your mind, dove?" Griff asked.
"How did the four realms become connected? And why did no one connect with my realm? Do they each have their own skies? Why did the turtle save me twice? Where does the baby dragon go when it's not physically existing in front of me? What—"
"Easy there, firewolf!" Griff laughed as he lay on the sand next to me before shouting, "Finn! Wine makes our girl philosophical!"
"Does it now?" Finn's voice came from my other side as he followed suit and lay on the ground. "I heard some of the questions and I'm happy to tell you what I know."
I rolled my head toward him, taking in his umber skin which was luminous in the moonlight, and as he smiled down at me with his head propped up on one hand, I knew that I was a goner. My heart had set sail and was splitting in at least two directions, and I didn't mind in the slightest, not if he was going to smile at me like that.
Contentment rolled through me and I sighed deeply, which made his smile spread even wider. He knew I was completely besotted with him and was relishing it like a cat in a sunbeam.
"Well, the four realms connected because the people of Agartha used their magic to create incredible things, one of which was the ability to link or bridge the realms. Most of us can travel between the realms fairly easily on our own magic once we learn how, but it almost always deposits us in one of a few places, thanks to the bridges. That way no one can launch a surprise attack or something because the areas where people are most likely to appear are always guarded.
"Your realm was never linked to because most of our elders who had lived on earth had died out by the time the realms were connected. And without earth having magic most of us thought it was just a fairytale. It was only teams like ours that had to believe it otherwise where would we be going all this time?" He paused and sighed. "I honestly thought we were going to die the first time we went through the portal. See, most other teams didn't come back, or they came back missing a few members, and rumors swirled about where they actually went."
"You never told me that," Griff said from my other side.
I turned to look at him and saw the concern on his face, which was only highlighted by the stark beams of moonlight that were caressing his skin. His blond hair shimmered in the light as he pushed up onto his elbow and the two of them looked at each other over me.
"You believed in earth, I didn't want to take away from that," Finn said quietly and offered the bottle of wine to Griff who took a lengthy swig. When he went to pass it back to Finn, I grabbed it from between them, taking a long pull for myself before handing it over to Finn once more.
"As for your other questions, yes, the realms do all have different skies, different stars and constellations. All of which you'll get to see before we're through, I'm sure. I don't know why the turtle saved you, but the turtles in Atlantis are notorious for their kindness so long as they are shown respect. Your baby caretaker probably goes where all caretakers go when it’s not in our realm. Most of my people think of it as a void, but it could be anything really."
"Do you have a favorite sky?" I asked as I turned to face Griff.
"Currently this one is flying up the charts, but that's only because I'm sharing it with you," he said with a wink.
"Smooth." Finn chuckled from my other side. There was a tension that I couldn't quite figure out between us. I didn't know when it had started or what was causing it, but it was like a radio playing static, and all I wanted was to listen to my favorite song except it was all happening against my skin.
"You two clearly need more wine." I snagged the bottle from Finn's hand and took a swig for myself before handing it to Griff, who drank without breaking eye contact with me. It was enough to make my blood heat and my heart pound in my chest. When he pulled the bottle away from his mouth, there was a drop of the liquid on his bottom lip that his tongue darted out and swiped up.
Griff held my gaze as he handed the bottle off to Finn and before I knew it his mouth was on mine. Griff’s tongue swiped against my lips and I opened for him like a flower to the sun. A small needy sound escaped me as his hand slid into my hair and pulled me close.
The hot, sensual smell of him was almost overwhelming and all I wanted was to feel him, to feel them, as we each sought our pleasure. When his lips broke away from mine, I sucked in a shaky breath and rolled onto my back. I couldn't help but glance at Finn, feeling guilty for kissing Griff right in front of him, but what I saw in his eyes wasn't envy or jealousy. It was lust, pure and simple.
I turned more fully to Finn who took the unspoken invitation and kissed me similarly to Griff, except his kiss was completely different. Where Griff was hot and almost dominant, Finn was a cool caress on a warm summer day. His movements were fluid and coaxing as if he wanted me to be and do whatever I wanted at that moment. And what I wanted was both of them.
