Chapter 8

"You guys didn't have to follow me home," Blue says, "I told you. I'm good."

I'm not the only one who can't take my eyes off of Blue. It's a miracle. Yara, Sebastian, Reign, Marina and Wade have all walked with him all the way back to his house. Reign and Wade seem to be the happiest among them though. Everyone is smiling. It's not just us either. All of Atlantis is expressing this sacrifice my grandmother made, but I think all of us know that even though Blue is alive we may have to also make a big sacrifice because of it.

My grandmother had given up her immortality and everything that came with it. From now on she would start aging like a regular person. She would die like a regular person. There was no way to stop it either. She had no magic. She had no light any longer. She was just a regular mermaid. Nothing more than that.

"Can you tell us again what was the last thing you remember happening?" Yara asks.

Yara is doing what Yara does.

"I told you guys already. I told the queen what happened," Blue explains.

"One more time. I just want to make sense of everything," Yara replies with this intense look on her face that we have all become used to. Yara loved solving a case. The girl was way too smart for her own good.

"Krill and I were..." Blue starts.

He stops. He looks over at me. We were kissing. Blue and I know what we were doing. By the way that he looks at me I know that he remembers. He looks away, though. Wade is right there and it's awkward.

"You were what?" Wade asks.

Blue just shrugs, "Just um...looking for the trident. We were just facing each other. Then I don't know. That was the last thing I remember. The last thing I remember was...Krill's eyes."

"Maybe Krill stole the trident," Sebastian offers.

"Shut the fuck up. You aren't helping," Marina rolls her eyes at Sebastian.

Sebastian never really helps. He just stands there and attempts to lighten up the mood as best as he can.

"Do you remember anything else?" Yara asks, "Anything at all."

"Someone came in. I don't remember who. Some substance was thrown in my face."

"Can you describe it?" Yara asks.

"I don't remember."

"Did it have a smell?"

"I don't know. Yara we were under water. How the hell was I going to smell it?" he asks.

He has a point. Clearly he is annoyed and clearly Yara's million questions aren't helping.

"Ok, that's enough for today. Blue needs his rest," I announce.

"That's fair," Reign says but before he leaves he stops me, "Hey, Krill do you mind if I have a conversation with you really quick?"

Marina looks annoyed, "About what? We had a date."

"It'll just take a minute. It's personal," Reign says.

Personal?

I knew what he wanted to talk about. He wanted to talk about the fact that Wade and I were back in a relationship. I wasn't an idiot. Reign was feeling some type of way and honestly I think it's cute that he cares so much right now. I have to admit I love seeing Reign get a little bolder around Marina each second. He isn't even sneaking around now by saying that he wanted to talk to me in private. His girlfriend was literally right here.

"Krill come on in. It's getting late," Wade interrupts us, "You haven't spent time in my family home before..."

I look back at Reign. Reign has these eyes that says he is hopeful that I'll go talk to him. A part of me wants to do it but then I look back at Wade. Wade was going to kill himself not too long ago. He needed me to be there for him. Back on the dry land, I had left Wade to cheat with Reign. That had ruined my life. I couldn't make the same mistake that I made all those years ago.

"Reign maybe we can talk later," I respond, "I'm sure it can wait."

I don't wait for Reign to respond. I know it's rude but I follow Wade into his house at the other side of the Atlantis. I can feel Reign's eyes watching me the whole time. I can feel his disappointment. It hurts because I'm hurting Reign but at this point, I know Reign is a lot more emotionally stable than Wade. Besides...Wade had no one and Reign had Marina.

~

Wade, Blue and I are chatting the entire day. It feels like old times. I don't know how we start drinking. Wade is showing me paintings of his parents. He's telling me stories.

"Supposedly our dad was real close to your dad," Wade explains to me, "Everyone we ask in Atlantis tells us about their friendship before anything else. He was his most trusted friend and advisor."

"They were close, like you and I were," Blue says.

Blue smiles. He's been drinking heavily. He's probably drunk more in the last few hours than I'd ever seen him drink before. Maybe that is why he is so close to me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. I don't mind it. We are in the veranda area now. Wade is tending to a small bonfire that burns out in the openings. Blue has pulled his chair close to me. He is flashing me all his pearly whites. He hasn't really taken his eyes off of me for hours and honestly I barely look away from him either. I can't believe he is still alive.

The feeling is mutual. Wade doesn't seem to notice, though.

"Yep. Best friends," Wade continues, "Supposedly that was the reason that my father gave up his life protecting you when the sisters attacked."

"I can never thank your father enough for his sacrifice."

I nod thinking about how terrifying it could have been when the sisters attacked. There was a point that Blue resented the fact that his father had done that for me. Right now was different, though. He smiles through it.

"Your grandmother sacrificing her immortality to bring me back to life definitely repaid any debt my family had to yours," Blue acknowledges with a smile, "I'd say we are even."

He reaches his hand into mine. He shakes my hand. It's friendly at first and I smile but then I realize that Blue doesn't let my hand go. His fingers are in between mine. Every touch that we share seems to send shivers down my spine. Blue lets me feel everything and it feels like my body is coming to life just like he did.

Just then Wade turns around and I quickly snatch my hand away from Blue and pretend like I'm fixing my long hair. Luckily Wade doesn't seem suspicious. Maybe it is the alcohol that Wade has been drinking. I'm sure it's the alcohol.

"These merfolk make some good booze," he comments, "I'll be right back guys. I have to go take a piss..."

Wade leaves at that moment. He leaves Blue and I together.

The tension is so thick that you wouldn't be able to cut through it. As soon as Wade leaves Blue and I alone. I can feel him watching me. I raise my head for a moment just to confirm whether or not this is my imagination or if this is really happening. His eyes are set on mine. They are glued to me. They aren't moving. As soon as I see Blue's eyes set on mine I can't stop looking away either.

My breathing gets heavy.

My heart beats harder.

My palms sweat.

"Fuck this," Blue says at that moment, getting out of his chair and tossing it so hard out of his way that it smashes to pieces against the wall.

Blue damn near dives for me. He grabs me up and he's kissing me. He's kissing me so hard at that moment. He's kissing me so hard that my lips hurt. I don't care, though. It is a good pain. It is a pain of a million regrets and a million longings. I'm kissing Blue for all the times that I couldn't at that moment. We are kissing for all the times we hated each other or resented one another.

Our tongues clash. Our bodies mend together. The feeling is so heavy that we feel each others' hearts and there is an intimacy that transcends our physical forms.

Blue hardens. His dick pressing between my legs. My own dick hardens as well. My balls swell up fully aroused. He dry humps me for a few minutes. A wet spot forms under our kilts from the precum. His precum soaks my upper thigh as he grinds his dick in between my legs.

It's me that stops Blue even though I don't want to.

"I can't..."

"Why not?"

"Me and Wade are back together."

Blue seems shocked. He doesn't get aggressive about it like Reign did. though. He just touches his lips and takes a step back. He takes a deep breath. He's not going to push back in the same way that Reign did. I know he isn't because deep inside Blue's mind I'm sure he was having the same doubts that I was. Even if we were good together the problem was Wade. The problem between Blue and I had always been Wade.

Blue leans up against the wall. His dick is still hard but he raises his leg and lowers his hands to conceal it. He stares at the dome around the city as though trying to see something in the deep blue waters that isn't really there.

"How did it happen?" he asks seeming to find reluctance in the conversation.

"He was going to kill himself when you died."

"Dammit. Seriously?"

I nod, "I stopped him."

"Thank you," he says.

Blue hasn't looked back at me. Reign would have said it was stupid but Blue just thanks me. He loves his brother something serious. I had saved his brother's life. I expected nothing more at that moment than for him to thank me for what I did.

"Well now we are back together because of it," I say.

There is silence. It's an awkward silence. It isn't the good silence that I felt right before we kissed. There is no sexual tension here. There is just this sense of hopelessness that we share in silence. There is a sense that this emotion that we have between us was doomed from the start.

Out of no where, he asks the strangest question, "So I assume that is how it's going to have to be from now on?"

I'm not sure what to think. Blue isn't really fighting for us but he isn't really giving up as easily as I thought he would now that Wade and I were back in the picture. Blue wanted this. He was pushing me towards getting back with Wade. It wasn't like all of a sudden he could just pretend like he hadn't done it. He was trying to make his brother happy. I got it. The thing about him trying to make Wade happy was that he was sacrificing his own happiness.

"I suppose."

"He'll treat you right," Blue says, "I'll make sure of it."

It's so fucking sad how Blue says it. I feel this shaking in my bones.

"Thanks," is the only thing I can say to respond.

"Well, I should go to um... I should...um...goodnight," he says.

He is tripping over his words. He moves towards the door.

"Goodnight."

I think he is going to walk away but he stops, "Before I leave I want to tell you something. I don't want you to feel guilty about anything you did. I think you made the right choice. Still. I want to tell you something. I died. And some people say your life flashes in front of your eyes at the moment you die. Do you want to know what I saw when I died Krill?"

I shrug, "Sure."

"I saw a million images of you..."

~

The next day is hard and the day after that is harder. Wade is making it clear that he is in a relationship with me. I literally am ducking everyone because of it too. Sebastian keeps showing up at my bedroom late at night, so I just start sleeping at Wade's place outside of the palace. Reign keeps trying to have a conversation with me alone but luckily either Marina or Wade interrupt the prospects of that happening. Then there is Blue.

I don't have to avoid Blue.

Blue is avoiding me.

I don't see Blue again until I end up in the library. He's standing off to the side with Yara. They seem to be doing looking for something. The library of Atlantis was a huge common area in Atlantis. Clearly, people didn't have any televisions or things like that so they spent a lot of time either at the baths, at the communal dinners or in this library.

I needed to find information on Poseidon's conch.

I turn back to Blue. He is helping Yara with something but for some reason he turns to me. Our eyes meet. He's staring at me hard. Extra hard. I can't help it. I lick my lips at him. It causes Blue to laugh a little bit and he almost drops the books that he's holding for Yara.

"You've been avoiding me," I get distracted.

I turn and see that the Sebastian is sitting at the table that I was sitting at.

"What the hell are you doing in a library?"

"The merfolk of Atlantis are some freaks," he says, "They have all these books on Kama Sutra. I'm telling you man. If you were my man we would be in here doing research and experimenting with all these positions. We can do the visitor, the toad...the eagle."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll pass..."

Sebastian rolls his eyes, "What do you want from me? I'm trying here..."

"You are trying what? All you are trying to do is put me in different sexual positions."

Sebastian sighs, "That's some romantic shit man. C`mon. Give me some advice here. How can I make you happy? Do you want to go on a date with me?"

"You would take me on a date?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Where would you take me on a date? Let me guess. A rollercoaster ride on your dick?" I ask.

He laughs, "Maybe after."

I roll my eyes back, "I knew it."

"No seriously. I want to take you out," Sebastian says, "I want to show you that I'm more than just a sexy ass guy who would fuck you into a coma with my big ass dick. I actually want to, you know, get to know you, or whatever. Like I can be romantic. Let me prove it."

"It's too late."

"C`mon please..."

"I am in a relationship now with Wade."

"Are you fucking joking me? When did that happen?"

"He's not interested. You heard the man..."

The person who talks is Blue. He's standing over Sebastian and I in the library. He has a stack of books but he seems to be able to manage his way across the library to interrupt whatever was happening between Sebastian and I. Sebastian gives Blue a heavily annoyed look but he manages to get up at that moment.

"We'll talk about this later," Sebastian tells me.

Blue takes his seat dropping a ton of books on the table. The books are so high that they separate us but I manage to rearrange them in a way that I can see his face.

"You trying to hide from me behind all those books?" I ask Blue.

Blue shrugs, "I'm being a good brother. I'm scaring off Sebastian for Wade and making sure I stop myself too."

"Stop yourself from what?"

Blue clears his throat. He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't want to flirt.

"What are you doing here?" he asks me.

"Research. You?"

"The same," he respond, "Yara asked me to come here with her. She was working with Reign's brother but dropped him. Dropped all her other assistants too. I guess I'm her next victim. I was just trying to be nice. I didn't know we'd be in here all day."

"What is she up to? " I ask, "She's acting weird lately."

"Has she ever not acted weird?" he asks me, "She's looking up random facts about Atlantis trying to figure out who killed me. She thinks me helping her will jog my memory. I guess it doesn't hurt though. It helps me clear my head."

"From what?"

"From you."

"Why would you want to clear your head from me?"

He clears his throat, "It doesn't matter. I just need to. I also realized that I am really good at skimming through books."

I enjoy watching Blue squirm a little bit.

"Well then maybe you can help me," I respond, "I'm looking for a magic conch."

"Poseidon's conch?" he asks.

"How'd you know?"

He hands me a book, "Take this. I read a lot of passages where it's mentioned. It's an epic poem but between the dragons, gods, titans, nymphs and satyrs I'm sure there were few mentions of a magic conch."

"Thanks."

"Yeah. That's what friends are for."

I smile at him.

"Are we friends again?"

He shrugs, "I don't know what we are. I just know I'm tired of acting like you don't exist. I don't leave my room every time you are in Wade's room. I'm scared I'll hear some moans or something that I don't like. I need to stop avoiding you. I need to stop avoiding this...thing that is going on."

"What exactly is this thing we have going on?" I ask him.

Blue shrugs, "I don't know."

"Can we find out?"

Blue hesitates. He looks like he is about to say something but he doesn't. He is distracted because someone storms into the library. They are arguing. Blue and I both turn around because the library is really quiet but right now there is a commotion breaking out. There are only two people that I know that argue without giving a damn about anyone around them.

Reign and Marina.

Reign seems to be trying to stop Marina but Marina is exploding on him. Marina walks up to me. He walks right to my face.

Then she slaps me!

I'm shocked. I'm not expecting it.

"What the fuck was that for?" I ask.

I'm embarrassed as hell. Blue actually breaks out into a laughter when I get smacked. He finds this hilarious. I'm annoyed. Marina had just fucking slapped me for no good reason in front of Blue and Reign. I'm confused.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You piece of shit. FUCK YOU!" she screams at the top of her lungs.

With that, Marina walks away. Reign looks at me and then looks at her. He seems to be torn. I am just as confused as him, though.

"What the hell was that about Reign?" I ask.

We get hard stares from people in the library. They are annoyed that we are causing yet another disruption in Atlantis.

"Can we talk now?" Reign asks.

"What are we doing?" I ask.

"In private," Reign responds.

"Can we finish this discussion in a minute?" I ask Blue.

Blue nods, "Handle your business."

He acts like he doesn't mind but I can tell that he is annoyed with Reign wanting to have a one-on-one talk with me. What I don't know is if he is annoyed on behalf of Wade or if he is annoyed for his own personal feelings. I'm hoping it's the latter but I have no idea when it comes to Blue.

Reign grabs my hand and literally takes me outside of the library pulling at me. Reign stands outside at that moment he just looks like he is going through something. I'm a little worried to be honest. I'm not sure why he is acting the way that he is acting.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

"I did it."

"Did what?"

"I broke up with her," Reign responds.

My eyes get wide. I was expecting a lot of things but I was not expecting this. No wonder Marina walked in here and smacked me like I had just done something horrible to her.

"You dumped Marina?"

"I told her I was in love with you."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I'm in love with you," Reign says.

With that Reign kisses me. He kisses me hard. His hands press up against me. He holds me there wrapping his body around me. Reign's kiss is deep. I'm blown away when he does it. I'm not expecting this. If I wasn't confused with this thing between Wade and Blue, I was definitely confused now. Reign had done something that I had not expected him to do in a million years. He not only broke up with Marina but now he was telling me that he loved me.

"Damn...I didn't think you'd really do it," I respond.

"Are you happy?"

The man I had such a huge crush on for years was telling me that he was in love with me. I remember all the times back on the island where I would just want to be in Marina's place. She would catch me staring at her boyfriend every single time. She'd made my life a living hell. Marina was the first one to start spreading rumors about me on the island. She was the one who told everyone I was a slut. She even started rumors that I had STDs that I never had. She could care less how low she went when it came to Reign.

"I've been wanting you to break up with her forever," I respond, smiling even though I really don't want to, "Of course I'm happy."

The world seems so small for a minute. The more I look at Reign the more I realize that he is the only one who could ever really compete in my mind right now with Blue. Reign is looking at me and I'm feeling as though I'm the only man in the world. He broke up with the girl that he had been dating since he was a kid to be with me. I feel like this is perfect. I feel like I've been waiting way too long for this moment and now it was here.

I've never smiled so hard as I am smiling right now.

I feel like a child.

Reign runs his hand through my long hair. He pulls it away from my face and kisses me again. Then again. Then again. It's almost as though this time he's not trying to sneak kisses. This time he seems to finally not care who sees. He's expressing himself.

"I'm so glad, man," he responds, "I was worried. I was scared I lost you for good..."

"It's just. Fuck. Now? Why now Reign? I told you I was with Wade..."

"That's why I did it."

It's clear now. He was doing it because he felt some type of way about me and Wade. All of a sudden someone comes outside. I'm surprised when I see Yara come outside.

"Can I talk to you?" Yara asks me.

"Can it wait?" Reign asks.

Yara ignores Reign and looks at me, "I have to confront someone anyway. Meet me at the public baths when you are done here, Krill."

"Um...ok..."

"Krill seriously come and come alone..."

"I'll be there Yara."

Yara doesn't say anything else. She turns around and runs out as though she is in a rush to do something. I don't get what it is but whatever it is seems important. Yara is so goddam strange. I never understand her really.

"That was weird."

"Not for Yara it wasn't. The girl is a weirdo," he responds before turning to me, "Now let's talk about us."

"That's the problem."

"What?"

"I'm confused on why you only break up with Marina whenI get with Wade," I ask, "I don't get it."

"I felt like when you got back with Wade you were giving me an ultimatum."

"Well now I feel like the only reason you are doing this is because you felt that way," I explain, "Things are complicated in my life Reign. Right now I need to just think."

"Are you serious?" he asks, "I just broke up with Marina."

"And I appreciate it. Trust me I do, but I need to figure things out for myself."

Reign takes a deep breath.

"Why the fuck am I so scared you will leave me hanging here?" Reign asks me, "You know we belong together. We always have. Remember what I told you. If Wade hadn't caught us that day we both know what would have happened. We would have been together for years now. Maybe now is the time for us to start to rewrite history. Maybe now is the time that...FUCK WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYONE INTERRUPTING US TODAY?"

"Whoa calm down," Blue says.

I'm shocked that Blue is out there. Reign is annoyed.

"Sorry man, it's not you it's just..." Reign looks over at me, "Life."

Blue is confused.

"I get it. I get it more than you know," Blue says staring at me as well, but then shakes the thought out of his head, "Did you talk to Yara though Krill?"

"No. We were busy," I respond, "I told her we needed to talk later."

"Are you joking?"

"Why would I be joking?"

"Yara figured it out. She figured out who killed me," Blue explains.

My mouth drops. Reign is shocked as well.

"Who?" Reign asks.

"She wouldn't tell me. She wanted to talk to Krill first. I sent her out here to talk to you. Where the hell is she?"

"All she said was there was a traitor and she figured out who it was," Blue explains.

"Fuck. I have to go," I respond.

I don't wait for Reign to respond. I take off as fast as I can to the public baths. I wish I knew that Yara had actually cracked the mystery and knew who the person was. The fact that Yara only felt comfortable telling me was weird though. It didn't make sense why she hadn't told Blue. Why would she not want to tell him?

I make it to the public baths in under five minutes.

It's quiet. Mostly everyone bathes a lot earlier in the day. Right about now everyone is getting ready for the big communal dinner that is about to happen. No one is usually going to be here until later in the night when some people are going to come swim off their meals or wet their fins.

As I approach the water I realize that I'm wrong.

Someone is in the water. It is Yara. She is in her mermaid form.

"Yara!" I call out.

I'm excited to know what Yara has figured out. I approach the water. I tap Yara on her shoulder. Her fin flail slightly. Her body turns over. I see puncture marks. Puncture marks that came from a trident.

That's when I realize that Yara isn't moving.

Yara is dead!

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