it is the base of your power, I think it will never hurt. But Life Trees do not grow on the surface.”
“That…” Angie flexed her fingers and made a pleasant smile. “Isn’t entirely true. Bex? Will you show them?”
Bex kicked her fins and zoomed backward—under the rock ledge—and disappeared.
How intriguing.
The other women followed. Dannika wove her fingers with his and paddled her fragile fins. At the back wall, under the stairway, a cave spiraled down and inward like a conch shell. They soared around the coral-lined path until it opened into a small cavern.
A small white Life Tree grew upside down from the ceiling.
This close to the surface?
Impossible.
A Life Tree could only thrive in the deepest corners of the ocean. Above the vents and trenches, obviously, but above a certain depth, it could not germinate. Not in a shallow lagoon only a few feet beneath the surface.
This couldn’t be a Life Tree.
Its bare branches stretched for the floor, and it grew from the ceiling with no trunk. All the little speckles of resin drifted down to the floor instead of piling around the base as usual, but otherwise, it cast pure, radiant, white light and made subtle, beautiful, tinkling sound.
It was a Life Tree.
His heart hammered in his chest. Awe suffused him. “How is this possible?”
The women floated beneath it in the small space. There was just enough room for their community and no more to cram beneath its healing branches.
It was impossible. Unimaginable. Yet, here it was. “What human science is this?”
“Not science,” Dannika said beside him. “Scientists have tried growing it on the surface before, but even using pressurized chambers, they’ve never gotten one to sprout. How did you do it?”
“I don’t know.” Bex drifted between its branches. “The seed cracked, and Ankena thought he was burying it in the cavern floor. But it grew downward into this space.”
Its roots hugged a large sphere.
“What is this?” Ciran asked.
“We’re not sure,” Meg answered. “It’s something to do with the sacred brides and fertility, probably.”
Bex tapped it. It vibrated at a low ring. “It rang when your plane went down.”
Incredible. Even with nowhere to grow, the Life Tree had survived.
“It’s so small.” Dannika swam around its thin, sparkling tendrils. “But so beautiful.”
“I had thought I was finished experiencing wonders.” Ciran floated back. “But here is one more. No one would believe me if I told them of this. No one.”
“Right?” Meg wiggled her fingers. “Now you know what it feels like when you say we have powers.”
“Why doubt?” Angie asked her. “Aren’t you a Disney fish princess?”
“Oh my God, Mom. That’s totally different.”
“Is it?” Angie arched her brows. “Well, it seems I have no powers, Disney-inspired or otherwise.”
And that had to change.
The small group practiced for a while in the shining light of the Life Tree, but other than noting that their soul lights dimmed with disappointment and frustration when they failed to make progress, Ciran felt like he was interfering rather than helping.
“Will you tell me what to do?” Angie bent in half and touched her toes, then rotated and wriggled in the water. “I’ve gone through every pose I remember from the yoga studio when all of Howard’s work wives were so enthused with Ayurveda. It was uncomfortable then, and it’s uncomfortable now.”
“You should stop because it is not brightening your soul light.”
“All that for nothing?” She shook out her arms and legs, then scrubbed her face. “Maybe I’ve told myself no so many times I can’t find my way to yes.”
“Aw, Mom. Don’t be overdramatic. You’ll get it.”
Angie dropped her hands and cocked a brow. “Overdramatic? You haven’t seen drama, Meg. Like what will happen to our trainer if I. Don’t. Get. This.”
Ciran held up a peaceful hand. “You should focus on what is comfortable.”
“Nothing is comfortable.” Angie shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Then perhaps you should start again. You will never develop your powers with a dimmed soul.”
Angie glared daggers at him. Dannika rested a hand on his forearm to stop him from responding. Angie flexed her fingers and her toes, then shook herself in frustration.
“She must not continue on her current path,” he vibrated quietly to Dannika. “Her efforts exhaust her and only darken her soul. I do not know how to help her.”
“Mm. I’ve seen this before.”
“You have?”
“In the dating world. It’s common when a well-educated, strongly motivated, high achiever fails to find their match. They’re so used to accomplishment on the timeline they’ve given themselves to succeed that any perceived setback threatens their very identity.”
Angie