The Blue Divide

Chapter 38

Poseidon's Heart was pleased to see him.

Eko's own heart pattered rapidly as he entered the vault. It was dark except for the pulsing blue light.

The Heart's music sounded smug. It knew he would come for it.

Yes, Eko thought. I'm taking you from here. Just like you wanted.

His hands quivered as he reached toward it, and the water seemed to grow colder. He recoiled, remembering the electric pain of his first touch. The weeks he hovered between life and death, his body wracked with seizures. But that same energy had restored his merrow form and brought him back to life. It needed him.

He wrapped his hands around it and lifted it from the pedestal. His vision went white.

He shook as the shockwave entered him. The Heart's mindmusic whispered to every part of his being.

He saw Krios, but he was not the merrowman he had always imagined. He was a human king. He welcomed Poseidon into his palace. He laid before him a feast, and while the god ate, thinking all was safe, Krios cut out his heart.

It was Krios who cast Atlys below the sea. He wanted to keep the power for himself and so he took it somewhere no one could ever steal it.

Eko could hardly breathe. The merrow had been human once. Did Nerine's father know this? Was this why the Upperworld was so forbidden? Was he afraid that if his people knew their heritage they would want to go back?

Like the hero of old, Eko saw himself possessing the Heart. There was no end to his power. He was like a god.

He struggled to find his true mind amidst the images the Heart sang into his head. He pictured Lainey's face. She was what mattered now.

He forced the Heart's music into the back of his mind, wondering how long he had been entrapped by it. His vision cleared and he dove for the door.

When he reached the corridor, he swam as fast as he was physically able toward the temple's exit. If Mellusine saw him with the Heart, no amount of stealth or speed could save him from her rage.

He ignored any feelings of relief as he slid out the temple doors and left the city the same way he had come in with Nerine. Outside the boundaries, he reached for the surface.

When his head broke through the water, he saw darkness. Clouds covered the stars and rain poured into the sea. The Aeolus was bucking in the distance on unsteady waves. He swam for it, cradling the Heart in the crook of one arm.

Douglas Ardent was standing on deck, wearing a raincoat and shining a bright light into the water. Eko let the light fall on him.

The man jumped in surprise. "Mr. Leventis!" he cried. "You better come out here, Sir!"

Mr. Leventis rushed out, tugging a raincoat over his button up white shirt. "What did you see?"

"He's back." Douglas gestured to Eko with the light.

"Well," said Mr. Leventis, leaning over the rail and looking at Eko. "Have you got it?"

Eko nodded.

Mr. Leventis's smile sent chills down his spine. "Let's see it then."

"Let me see Lainey first."

"What?"

"I need to make sure you haven't hurt her. Then you'll get what was promised."

Mr. Leventis nodded to his assistant, and the young man opened the hatch and went below. When he returned, he was pulling Lainey by the wrist, a gun pressed to her head. He threw her against the rail and smiled at Eko. "You see. We keep our promises too."

"It's going to be all right, Lainey. I've got the Heart."

"Eko," she thought, "what does that mean? What will they do with it?"

"Don't worry. No human can touch the heart and survive."

He lifted the Heart out of the water and handed it to Mr. Leventis.

The big man's hands locked around it and he slowly lifted it toward him. The blue light illuminated the terrifying smile on his face.

This wasn't right. He should be dead by now. Why was the Heart sparing him?

"Poseidon sends his thanks, Ekrios Fiskerd," said Mr. Leventis. "I may not be kind to Atlys, but when I am a god, I will spare you as one of my disciples."

Eko was astounded. "This is what he wanted?"

"Humanity is our true form. The way you are now is a perversion. You of all merrowmen should understand that." He held up his prize. "The Heart is wise. It showed me its plan. I had to go to the Upperworld to prepare a way for Poseidon's return, and change my body into a suitable vessel. I traveled to Greece where I found the tablet depicting Poseidon's death and the truth of my former existence. The Nyxus's power is strong. He keeps the city well hidden from human eyes, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the Heart prepared a way for its deliverance. You were that way."

Poseidon wanted to be reborn as a human. This had been his plan all along. Eko pulled at his hair. How many of his decisions had been the Heart's rather than his own?

He fell back into the ocean, his body limp. What would happen now?

Nerine burst from the water, wrapping her arms around him as she gasped for air.

He took hold of her shoulders in a grip that shuddered. "It was all wrong Nerine. This is what the Heart wanted."

Her eyes widened and then narrowed. "We can still stop this," she said. She raised a spear out of the water. It glowed with merrowmagic. She dove for the Aeolus and pressed herself against the side and then bored into it.

"Sir!" cried Douglas. "We've got the other one here too. She's knocking holes in the hull!"

Mr. Leventis was still staring at the Heart, entranced. "You're a grown man Douglas. I'm sure you can take care of it."

Douglas's hand shook as he drew his gun away from Lainey and pointed it at Nerine.

"Nerine!" Eko called. "Get away, that thing can kill you!"

He dove toward her but wasn't fast enough. The sound of the bullet cracked through the air.

Nerine's gasp was cut short as it struck her chest. There was a red eruption of blood and then she sunk into the black water.

No, Eko thought. No, no, no! The sickness of grief filled his chest and stomach.

He went under, reaching for Nerine's sinking body, just as Mellusine's roar filled the night.