Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,16

to lather on about forty layers of sunscreen to avoid getting crisped. Ghostly Atlantean skin and that burning orb in the sky did not a happy pair make, though I did miss the heat of the SDC.

“And this is the Monster Repository.” Charlotte led us through black doors with gargoyle-head door handles. I skidded to a startled halt as major flashbacks bombarded my brain. My mom’s colleagues, who had been like aunts and uncles to me, had taken me to visit the Atlantis Bestiary a few times, with the permission of King Ovid. And this place looked… identical, just in miniature. A sea of various-sized blue glass orbs attached to silver poles were arranged in neat lines from wall to wall, resembling a forest of bubbles. Black mist swirled inside each one, and nobody won a prize for guessing why.

Before I’d fully recovered from the shock, a patter of footsteps made the group turn. A stressed-looking Nathan sprinted to Charlotte, then stooped to catch his breath. His eyes caught mine for a split second before I hurriedly looked elsewhere. No point in making doe eyes at anyone. I wasn’t here for that. And there wasn’t much point, anyway. My dad had made it clear that I could either accept an arranged Atlantean marriage for bloodline reasons or never marry at all. Not that I was thinking about marriage; Ganymede, no—that was the furthest thing from my mind.

“Sorry I’m late. Time got away from me,” Nathan apologized.

Charlotte took her phone out of her pocket. “Actually, this is perfect timing. I need to make a call. I trust you can take it from here?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. Already dialing, she walked into the hall and left him to it.

He stood there for a moment, like a deer in headlights. Finally, he straightened his jacket cuffs and smoothed a hand through his lion’s mane, all the while ignoring the flirty giggles from a gaggle of girls close to the front.

Did they teach you that at cadet school? I watched a black vortex of smoke in a nearby orb, though I felt a prickle of heat on the back of my neck—a telltale sign that he had his eyes on me. Well, I wouldn’t be looking back. Nope, nope, nope. Good-looking guys spelled trouble. And I couldn’t afford any distractions.

“Uh… Well, this is the Monster Repository. I am responsible for the upkeep and intake here.” He gestured to the bubble forest. “In case you were confused, this is where the monsters are brought after being captured in the field. I identify them, classify them, record their information into the logbook, and generally care for them until they’re shipped off to the Bestiary. Sometimes, I even give them names.” He laughed awkwardly, but nobody else did.

Feeling sorry for him, I mustered a chuckle. “Like what?”

“Oh… um… It depends. There was a goblin I was particularly fond of, and I called him… Goodness, this is embarrassing.” Nathan swept his hand through his hair again. A nervous tic. “I called him Ptolemy.”

“Was he particularly good at math? Or astrology, perhaps?” I teased, while Persie smothered a laugh.

Nathan squirmed, pushing a flustered hand into his back pocket. “Truthfully, I just like naming them after famous theorists.” He turned his back and started pointing aimlessly. “As you may have noticed, we don’t use the same boxes as the Bestiary. We used to, but they were upgraded to emulate the… uh… Atlantean design.”

Persie stiffened at my side, no doubt freaked out by the mention of glass boxes. I tugged her closer to me to let her know I was there.

“Pfft, as if we need their technology,” said a classmate with hedgehog hair and muscles that looked like they’d been inflated by a bike pump. Bike-Pump Biceps was what I’d call him for now. I shot him a dark look. He hadn’t even dared to actually direct his comment at me. Coward.

Nathan turned back around. “Actually, their technology is proven to provide the creatures with a more comfortable experience.”

“Who cares about their comfort? They’re mindless,” another classmate chimed in, a smug grin on her face. One of the ponytails who’d snarked at me before.

“If you think that, you shouldn’t be here.” It was the first time I’d seen a bit of fire in Nathan. His eyes narrowed, and the girl’s grin vanished. “They aren’t mindless. They are sentient beings with very real personalities, and every creature is unique. I’m not even sure that keeping them caged