"Jesus, take me now," Delores Filgueiras whispered, her eyes shut tightly in prayer.
A gentle hand at her back made her open her eyes. "Ma'am, He ain't gonna do that because it would break your daughter's and granddaughter's hearts."
Delores looked at the Guardian whom they called Dragon Rider. "You're safe for now up in the mountains."
Another Guardian came to her and squatted down. She owned an intense gaze, but there was gentleness in her voice. "You did good back there--was the stuff of Guardians. The baby said you ran against panicked humans, threw your body in the way to cover her when the blast hit." Quick shook her head. "If you hadn't fallen on Ayana, the demons would have found her right off and taken her hostage--that's some love. She was so tiny; she crawled out and then boo saved you. So, ma'am, stay with us, and we'll get you back to your daughter or die trying. We promise."
Dragon Rider nodded. "And for the love of God, lady, don't wish for an untimely death . . . because the one thing I know, if you haven't figured it out yet, He answers all prayers."
Relaxed and completely open, each couple took a position at the top deck rail, choosing one of the four cardinal points. Two couples stood at starboard, two portside, two at the bow, with Damali and Carlos at the stern.
"Tell me when you feel that rock, lady," Damali called out to Heather.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Heather said with a wide smile, and then sent her gaze out into the starlit night.
Guardians waited like silent sentinels, listening to the night and the ripples of water caressing the vessel. Then Dan's voice broke their private communion with the vastness of the sea.
"I think she's got something, people," he said nervously, his line of vision going between Heather and Damali.
Heather's eyelids fluttered violently and her once-calm breathing became a labored pant as her head dropped back.
"What should I do, D?" Dan paced behind his wife, not sure if he should touch her or allow her to descend further into the trance.
Carlos looked at Heather as he spoke to Damali. "D, she's going in really deep ... is it cool?" When he turned around, Damali was in a heavy trance state that mirrored Heather's. "D!" "Don't touch them," Marlene said, walking up and onto the top deck. "Now it begins. Just watch."
Shabazz was on Marlene's heels. "What's going on, baby? Look at 'em! It's like they're all--" "Drowning," Marlene said calmly.
Every male on deck yelled the same word at the same time: "What?"
"They have to let go and stop struggling," Marlene said, moving to the center of the vessel, opening her arms and using her ebony walking stick like a lightning rod. "Once they die to what they knew, they will be emptied of the old and filled with the new."
Carlos pointed at Marlene, challenging her, but with respect. "Marlene . . . don't you let one of them die or hemorrhage. I don't want them emptied, none of the brothers do--we clear?"
"This is feminine energy, baby," Marlene said gently, her wise eyes beginning to glow white. "The energy of peace after the fire. Trust it."
"I trust you, Mar," Carlos said, beginning to pace. "Trust something much bigger than me," Marlene said, starting to whirl in a circle as an iridescent shimmer began to overtake each female Guardian standing at the rail.
Damali clutched her throat with one hand while holding on to the rail with the other, suddenly gasping and convulsing until her wings tore through her shoulder blades with such force that rivulets of blood coursed down her back.
"That's it!" Carlos shouted, heading toward his wife. "Touch her now and you'll injure her!" the pearl in Damali's necklace shrieked. "Don't, Carlos!"
Every man backed up from his wife, panic and adrenaline making the muscles in their biceps twitch.
"They must die," the pearl said more calmly as the winds began to rise with roiling waves that summated out of nowhere. "Go home to the source . . ."
"She's not dying--fuck all that," Yonnie yelled over the roaring winds. "C, do something, man . . . you know all this spiritual shit!"
"We wait," Carlos said, glancing between Damali and Marlene, who nodded.
"Wait for what? A f**king tsunami to take our wives overboard!" Rider shouted as a huge wave in the distance headed toward the craft.
"Have faith," Marlene said quietly. "Wait." "Atlantis is rising," Pearl said in an eerie echo. Her voice had taken on a hollow tone like that of an amplified seashell. "Every old, highly advanced civilization came from there . .. this was where the tree of knowledge was replanted. Every reincarnation of advanced empires comes from that tree, and it flourishes as long as the leaders adhere to the principles. But those empires will go into instant decline and obscurity when the laws of the Divine are violated . . . and their civilizations will turn to dust. It has happened cycle after cycle, until there can be no more cycles after this."
"I don't care about that ancient history shit," Carlos said, going toward Damali. "There is a wall of water about to hit this ship, Pearl, and I need to know where the closest landmass is on this side of the Triangle--stat!"
"She'll capsize!" Monty yelled frantically from the pilothouse. "She wasn't meant to withstand anything like this!"
"C, we can't fight the ocean!" Big Mike shouted, bracing Inez in an iron grip.