Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,47

had to breathe in.

As I sucked in a huge gulp of water, the arm was torn away. No longer restrained by a spectral arm, my natural buoyancy rocketed me to the surface with a pop, coughing and spewing water. I watched dazedly as a lithe, muscled man made entirely of gold wrestled a mostly invisible, enormous fish woman. There was no other way to describe her. As they fought, I scuttled to the corner. “Aries!”

I grabbed a towel and skirted the pool, slipping over the tile along the tub’s side just as Aries burst through the door, his eyes finding me as surely as a magnetic pull. They raked over me, assessing my skin for damage. “Pisces is… near,” he breathed. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, but he’s not!” I pointed to the golden man fighting the fish woman, whose scales had morphed from transparent to the orange and white of koi. Her eyes blinked at me languidly as she circled him, sloshing water all over the floor.

She wasn’t afraid of her attacker at all, or of Aries. Why was she looking at me like that?

The gilded man looked at Aries and nodded, extending an arm from his side where a trident appeared, golden as the sun. He stabbed it toward the fish woman, who slipped out of his grasp into the water and disappeared again. He speared the water once more, but she was gone.

Aries held his arm out and I slid closer to him. The mark wasn’t on my face anymore, but that fish thing didn’t care.

“Pisces,” the golden figure spat, slapping the water’s surface and causing a mammoth splash. “I’ve been tracking her. She’s been with Taurus, Libra, and Sagittarius. They’re planning more attacks.” The strange newcomer focused on me. “You held your breath longer than I thought you’d be able to. Well done.”

Uh… thanks. I coughed in response, nodding to him and clutching my towel tighter. “Who the hell are you?” I finally asked.

The young man chuckled. His trident shrank and then sort of absorbed into his gilded skin. He stepped out of the water wearing a tiny cloth, like the one Aries had woken up in. It, too, was gold.

“Aquarius. Water bearer,” Aries greeted with a bow. “I owe you my thanks.”

“I should be angry,” the man responded brazenly. “And at first I was, but ultimately the rest was good for me. It gave me clarity at a time I needed it most.”

Aries inclined his head. “The way things were headed would have been catastrophic.”

“At least you had the foresight and wisdom to see it and the courage to do something about it. That’s more than I can say for myself and the others,” Aquarius said.

Aries called for Kes, who showed up looking absolutely terrified. “I’m fine,” I told him.

“Where were you?” he stepped toward Aries menacingly.

“I went to retrieve something from my rooms. I was only gone for a moment,” he defended, but the hurt in his voice made my heart wobble.

“A moment is all they need, Aries.” Kes turned to me. “I am so very sorry, Larken. I never should’ve left you.”

“You can’t watch me twenty-four-seven. I told you that, Kes. There are times I’ll have to be alone. Times like this.”

They were just scared. So was I. Emotions were running high and Pisces must have been waiting for a moment like this. One where I was in water. One where she was in her element and could catch us off guard.

“How did Pisces find her?” Kes asked Aries.

“She washed my blood off, but it was still in the water,” he mused. “That must be it.”

“Pisces would have scented it in an instant,” Aquarius agreed.

“So, now that it’s off, she won’t be able to find me?” I asked, hopeful that this mess was over and needing confirmation that not having his blood on my face was a safer option.

A muscle ticked in Aries’s jaw as he stared at the water angrily.

“Easy,” Aquarius calmed him. “The girl wasn’t harmed.”

“She was nearly drowned while I ran a thirty-second errand!” he raged, swiping my things across the counter. My cosmetics, or what was left of them, clattered to the floor.

Kes grabbed Aries by the horns. “Look at me.” His eyes snapped to my brother. “Calm down. I’ll drain the water and then I’ll watch over her. In the meantime, you two go talk,” he advised the two Zodia, letting go of Aries’s horns.

Aquarius led Aries from the room, but we locked eyes before he turned the corner.