Healing Kisses (Sophia and Santiago) novel Chapter 208

207
The journey to the bottom of the ocean took longer than I expected, but I think the serpent is to blame. It kind of looked like he was showing off. Cute, I admit, but not a good time for him to be playing around.
The sound he makes is muffled by the water, and it's closer to a whale's sound. You know, it was being maimed by this thing. I think I had too high expectations for what we were about to see, and l blame movies for it.
The serpent stops in front of what looks to be a massive reef. I can see what's in front of me just fine, but looking around is as terrifying as looking into the darkness of treeline on one of the darkest nights.
Oliver takes my hand. I split the bubble so we don't have to be pressed up against one another the entire time.
We both watch the giant serpent shrink down to the size of a pet python. A very beautiful and very intimidating python. He wraps himself around my arm and pokes his head through the bubble The entrance to the reef looks dangerous, and as we walk through it, I can feel my affinity instantly adjust to accommodate it. I tuck my hands behind me so l don't accidentally touch it.
"Don't touch the orange stuff," I warn Oliver.
"I'm not touching anything," he shakes his head nervously.
The walls are covered in protective spikes. Most are covered in what think is orange venom. However, the floor is sleek. It looks as if someone polished a giant concrete slab and built this reef on top of it. I don't know if it's real or artificially made, because I've never taken an interest in anything underwater.
When I wanted the volcanic reef in my home to help Ragnar charge up better, I called his dad, who is secretly just as obsessed with the damn fish tank as my mate.
Speaking of fish, they're everywhere. It's like a tiny, bustling city bursting with colors. I don't want to call it the corridor, but the only other word for the walking on the path we're on I know is hallway, and this is definitely not that. It goes on for a while before the narrow area opens up. I stop seeing that the water stops here. I raise my hand and tap the edge of the barrier to feel my affinity come to life.
I glance over at my brother and give his hand an encouraging squeeze. We both take a deep breath and step through it together. My bubble bursts now that there's no water to hold it. I feel my hair and my wetsuit immediately stick to me.
"You're smaller than I expected you to be, a thick Boston accent greets me.
The area is split up into sections. A lab, an entertainment area, a bedroom, and what I think is a kitchen or maybe a place to eat. The room is brightly lit as the man works on a chem set in the lab area.
He's wearing a wetsuit with the top part off and tied around his waist.
"You're the fish King?" I ask. He smiles and turns to glance at me.
It's only then I notice how breath takingly handsome he is. His pitch-black hair is long and pushed back with a black hair band. His eyes a piercing blue shade. His body looks like he spends all his time in the water. There are sharp symbols tattooed on his skin. The ink almost glows under these lights.
"I've been called worse things, your majesty," he says and takes a glass tube back on the rack with the others. There's a neon green glowing substance in it.
"You wanted to see me."
"Your sister is a little-"
"I know," he cuts me off and lets out a heavy sigh.
"She tries her best, but when something isn't your calling, there's only so much you care to do."
"She seems to believe that it is," I scoff.
"Yes, well, when all you know is this, you want to prove that you're worthy. It's my fault. Our parents passed when we were very young, and I raised her in my lab with me," he finally stops working on whatever he's doing and moves away from the equipment. "Please, join me. Alpha Kingston. Always a pleasure."
"Not really," Oliver sighs. The man grins, but doesn't take the insult personally.
"You think you can do a better job than she can," he says and takes a seat. He points at the couch across from the armchair. I make my way over and sit down.
"I think she's doing just fine. However, there are certain elements she can't control, and its a problem."
"Galloway was my mate," he says. "Chosen. I had never met another person with the kind of ambition that rivalled my own. However, she found her true mate. He was a slave to the vampires.
"Suddenly, her ambition turned on us all. She wanted to find a way to break the compulsion's hold on his mind so that she may take him from them. The last I heard from her was shortly after she disappeared.
She said she had discovered a way to make us stronger."
"Did you ask what it was?" I ask.
He nods and reaches for the file on the table. My stomach knots when he opens it and detailed notes on my procedures are revealed. On instinct, I reach for them. It's like putting all the rage and pain in a box that opens every time I hear her name or try to speak of her. Tears sting in my eyes as I see the body of a little girl being pulled apart and pieced back together. I toss the file back on the table and stand to leave.
"Do you not want to know what she did to you?"
"She replaced my organs with those of your kind," | answer. Oliver's head snaps to me.
"That's right. The reason you are here is because of the little girls who died to save you," he says, and I hear it in his voice. The grief. I turn around to look at him. "Their names were Melody and Mina. Our daughters."
"Your daughters?"
"And hers," he nods. "Twins are not common in sirens. They're born from a single breeding egg, and inside, the strongest survives and absorbs the other.
It's the way of our world down here. They were imperfect, and Mina was sickly as a child.
"That is why I started all of this," he looks over at the lab and sits back as if he regrets it. "I was already deep in the research when they were hatched. But it didn't become an obsession until then. Her name was Merina when I knew her, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with them. She believed that Mina would grow out of her conditions.
"What I am is not easy, he looks down at his hands. with shame. "I needed her to believe, so I placed the suggestion in her head. By any means necessary. At first, she was the perfect partner. We made progress, and it felt like Mina was getting better.
"But there's always a complication when it comes to absolute commands, and she wanted more. She wanted Mel to be stronger like her father. We were here in the university above. That is where she met her mate. Her true mate.
"I didn't see it at first because he was a top investor. thought he was our friend, but he was pulling her away. It was too late when I realized what was happening, and she took my daughters. I looked for them tirelessly, but I can't be on the surface for too long. The oxygen levels are too high for my breed."
"I'm sorry," I say, not knowing what else to do.
"You want the Oroboros company, he says, looking up at me. "Would you relocate it to your home?"
"I would work from my home, yes," I nod. "Why are there sirens on our side of the world?"
"Lycans are very territorial creatures. There are those of you who wield water better than our kind. You're more dangerous because you thrive on the surface.
There is also less to eat. Bigger predators mean less food."
"So relocating would be impossible?"
"No," he smiles. "With today's technology and an alliance, it would be more than possible. It would be ideal. It's too hot here for us."
"What do you want in return?" Oliver asks.
"The Vampire King. I want you to bring me the head of the King who destroyed my mate."