Ash had never seen Coby look so grim, not even when they were dealing with Sy-Ohna’s former compatriots. He hadn’t enjoyed having to sentence his own people, even though he knew it had to be done, but he had still appeared more relaxed than he did now. Ash knew why he was on edge and understood completely. Still, as they made their way through the cold ocean waters toward the Sarathian city, he wished there was something more he could do to ease his mind outside of comforting waves and his own presence.

He glanced over at Coby, the water rushing over his barrier like air, his body being pushed along with water propulsion, a controlled storm of intense waves and bubbles surrounding his legs. Coby appeared as he had before his awakening; blue scales, vibrant blue tail, faint blue tint to his skin. No flames, no fury.

Yet every muscle in his body was tense. Ash could see the tendons stick out on the side of his neck, his jaw clenched so hard, he was sure Coby was giving himself a headache.

“Sweet peach.” He reached over and took Coby’s hand, startling him out of his thoughts. He turned his intense blue eyes on Ash, his expression easing slightly at his husband’s tender smile. “Relax, it’s going to be fine.”

“I know,” Coby sighed, his lips turning down in a frown. “I just…what do I even say to him?”

“Nothing, if you don’t want to.”

The brightness in Coby’s eyes dimmed. “I really don’t want to,” he admitted quietly. “I get why he kept my identity a secret and that he didn’t have a choice…”

Ash tilted his head slightly. “But?”

Coby swallowed hard, fighting bitter, angry tears. “He still lied, Ashley.”

That was something Ash couldn’t comfort Coby on, especially since he knew how deeply Coby resented lying as a whole. Ash had even stopped telling his own little fibs and white lies because he knew how much it bothered Coby. It was made worse by the fact it was his own father who had taught him the dangers of lying. The hypocrisy was something Coby wasn’t sure he was ready to confront.

Ash turned his gaze forward, squeezing his mate’s hand. “Outside of Co-Hanyana,” he said, changing the subject. “How do you think the elders are going to react to your return?”

Coby snorted. “I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic,” he said sarcastically. “Given what those guys told us, Sy-Ohna’s influence went pretty far.” He jerked his thumb back at the six prisoners tied together and being led by Jin and Hemi.

“It’s been two days,” Ash said. “Gema must have told them everything by now.”

Coby grimaced, still unsure. “Maybe,” he muttered noncommittally. “Even then, there’s no telling if they believe her or not.”

“They’re not going to have much of a choice once they see you,” Ash pointed out. “You’re not coming back as Co-Bieasah the acolyte, the quiet young man who escaped with the Flame. You’re coming back as Co-Bieasah Turner, the demigod and true son of their very own sea god; stronger, more confident, and happily married to a former hot mess of a human.”

Coby couldn’t hide the smirk that tugged at his lips. “It wasn’t like you didn’t have a reason to be,” he said.

“True,” Ash said with a nod. His grin broadened as he moved closer. “You saved me from that.”

Coby rolled his eyes and smiled. “I didn’t do anything, iyshta.”

“No, nothing at all,” Ash teased. “Just showed me what true love actually is and gave it to me unconditionally. Plus, you let me do that thing with the peach slices and cherry juice on your—”

“Okay, I get it!” Coby laughed, moving in front of him to cover Ash’s mouth with his hands. He angled his body so he was swimming under Ash, the demihuman’s arms wrapping solidly around him. He slid his hands around Ash’s face, kissing him tenderly. “I love you as you are, Ashley,” he said gently. “I don’t know how to love you any other way.”

Ash caressed the side of Coby’s face with his own, loving the raspy feel of Coby’s scales against his cheek. “I love you, Co-Bieasah,” he murmured in his pointed ear, the merman’s arms wrapping around his neck. “You’re beautiful in every way, compassionate, kind, and genuine. You never do anything for yourself, always thinking of others first. Which, as endearing as it is, can also be slightly annoying at times.”

Coby smiled, chuckling softly, his blue eyes dancing over Ash’s face.

“You’re not letting your fear of whatever the Sarathian’s might think stop you from doing what you need to in order to protect them, and that says a lot more than I think you’re willing to admit.”

Coby’s gaze fell to the side, the corner of his bottom lip disappearing under his sharp teeth. A small sound escaped his throat, one of uncertainty, one that encouraged Ash to hold him closer.

“It doesn’t matter, love,” he said softly. 

Coby met his gaze, melting under those kelp green eyes and adoring smile. 

“It doesn’t matter what they think or believe about you, and if they deny you, so what? You’re still mine, always mine, and I’m not letting you go. Not ever.”

Coby leaned his head forward, his forehead touching Ash’s lips. “And my father?” he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

“I promised to be there when you confront him,” he said. “And I promise I’ll be there if you decide not to.”

Coby pressed closer to his mate, his powerful tail moving gently against Ash’s body as the latter kept them moving forward. 

“There is one thing you will have to do once we’re done, though,” Ash said, his eyes gleaming.

“What?”

“Take responsibility for getting my dick hard when I can’t do a goddamn thing about it down here.”

Coby threw back his head and laughed, purposely moving his tail against Ash more firmly.

“I’m serious, Co-Bieasah,” Ash said with false annoyance. “I can’t fuck you in this form, and I’m pretty sure salt water isn’t going to feel good going where it shouldn’t.”

From where they swam several feet behind the couple, Jin and Hemi chuckled, the former shaking his head as they listened to the teasing banter ahead of them.

“At least he’s in a better mood,” Hemi said.

“Finally,” Jin agreed under his breath. “Any worse and I was sure he was going to use these poor bastards for target practice.”

There was uncomfortable shifting and a few stifled gasps from the prisoners, all of which made Jin grin. 

There are some things you just can’t escape…

He glanced back at them once. “Relax, it was a joke.”

The six glanced between themselves before doing just that.

Jin faced forward. “He was going to turn you into shark bait.”

The pull on the end of the rope he held and the intense fear and distress that flowed through their energy made the former interrogator laugh. He turned his attention back to the frolicking couple.

“Hey, guys, you might want to chill on the flirting,” he called up. “We’re almost there.”

Coby, swimming upside down, tilted his head back, his smile fading. “Damn,” he muttered, releasing Ash and rolling to the side, his tail once again in motion. “I kind of hoped it would take longer.”

“So, swim slower,” Ash suggested.

“Or not!” Jin said firmly. “I’m not playing tugboat any longer than I have to.”

“We don’t have a whole lot of time left on that shield, anyway,” Hemi said, ever the voice of reason. 

“We technically still have a couple weeks,” Ash said.

Coby shook his head. “Not since I awakened,” he said. “I took too much of my energy away from the city during the change, weakening what remained. Really, there’s only a few days left of protection before it becomes completely visible to the ships.”

“Well, that changes things a bit,” Ash said, his brow furrowing. “The elders probably felt that shift when it happened.”

“No ‘probably’ about it,” Coby said. “They did. Remember, it was their energy that was stabilizing what was already there. Regardless if they believe Gema or not about me, they’re still not going to be happy that I inadvertently put them in more danger.”

Ash couldn’t refute that. One of the biggest concerns Coby’d had for months was the safety and protection of the Sarathians and their city. Knowing he’d put them in an even more vulnerable position, if only temporarily, was enough to put aside his desire to play in favor of the duty he had to adhere to as quickly as possible.

“Guess we better hurry up, then,” Ash said.

All of them put forth an extra burst of speed, the water churning in heated waves behind them. Minutes later, when the city finally came into view, Ash’s jaw dropped. Coby glanced his way briefly, a small smile on his lips.

“Is it bigger than what you imagined?” he asked.

Ash slowly nodded. “How many people did you say were in your tribe?”

Coby thought a moment. “Including the outlying villages? Somewhere around ten thousand or so.”

Ash slowly looked his way, completely flabbergasted. Coby couldn’t help but laugh.

“There’s only about five thousand within the city itself,” he said.

“How many villages are there?”

Coby shrugged. “About thirty, I guess. We’re the largest tribe in the western seas.”

“No shit,” Ash muttered, taking in the view around them. “You pretty much have your own country on the ocean floor.”

Jin laughed as he pulled up on his other side. “It’s not that big,” he said. “More like a small state. Plus, our villages are scattered out pretty far, from somewhere near the coast of Mexico to about halfway up the coast of your lovely state. There are other tribal villages interspersed throughout, but we pretty much have the run of the place.” His eyes dimmed. “The one that got decimated up north a couple months ago…that was one of ours.”

Ash looked at him. “But the city it was attached to…”

“Was destroyed years ago, I know. The relic it contained was moved elsewhere, leaving the village virtually unprotected. It hadn’t been an issue since the elders there were able to keep it hidden with their own power, just like a lot of the other villages.”

“They were still found,” Coby said flatly.

“And we don’t know how,” Hemi added. He glanced back at the prisoners, none of them giving any indication they knew what their captors were talking about. “I don’t want to think betrayal was involved, but with the timing of everything, I can’t discount it.”

Coby’s brow furrowed, his fists curling at his sides. “Da-Hana,” he growled.

“Or someone else,” Jin said. “The village was attacked after Da-Hana died.”

“That means nothing,” Ash said. “The bastard could have given the traffickers a lot of information regarding a lot of different things. Unless we get our hands on those bastards ourselves, we’re not going to know.”

Jin was quiet a moment, the trio angling upward slightly. “Maybe we should,” he finally said in a low voice.

Coby and Ash looked at him, but he didn’t look back. His jaw was set, gaze determined. Ash didn’t need a link to know that Jin’s mind was working overtime, a plan formulating behind his eyes. Ash suspected that when he was ready, Jin would tell him.

“Here’s good,” Coby said, drawing Ash’s attention back to the situation at hand. The demigod slowed to a stop and motioned to Jin and Hemi to take the prisoners a safe distance away. They complied, leaving the Turners suspended miles above and outside the huge city, ready to fulfill Coby’s final duty to the Sarathian’s.

As he looked over the area, Coby frowned. The energy barrier was thinner than he’d anticipated, more so than what Gema had told him. He suspected it was already thinning when he took the energy into himself during his awakening. He could be upset with his cousin for not giving him the actual status of the barrier, but he wondered if she really knew just how bad it was.

Not that it mattered anymore, anyway.

“Ready?” Ash asked from just behind his right shoulder.

Coby nodded, a streak of electricity running down his body, changing his fins to fire, his scales red, and his tail longer and more powerful, the flames at the tailfin dancing in the currant, sparks licking the water behind them. He held up both hands, red energy gently swirling before him.

“Should I say something cool?” he asked out of the blue.

“What?” Ash turned to him, a tiny laugh of surprise rising from his chest.

Coby shrugged, sliding a glance at him, smiling ruefully. “In those books we read, the hero sometimes says something cool right before he does something big.”

Ash laughed, rubbing Coby’s lower back, just above where his tail began. “‘Knock knock, motherfucker’ was cool enough,” he said.

Coby giggled, and sent the energy forward, leaving a trail of iridescent sparks in its wake. Once it was hovering just above the center of the city, he spread his hands, dozens of small flames appearing and shooting toward the outskirts of the city, moving quickly around it in a wide circle, all of them spaced evenly apart. Ash held up one hand, a thick stream of his own blue-green energy flowing forth to connect the flames. Once they were all attached, ribs of light spread in all directions curving up and around until they formed a netted dome that surrounded the entire city.

Coby chuckled softly. Ash smiled; he knew what Coby was thinking as they watched the process take place before them.

Ash was creating a shield to strengthen Coby’s own energy field.

The energy orb at the center exploded outward, a sheen of red coating the net as it made its way out and down. When it hit the center ring, the flames burst into an array of blue and red light that cascaded throughout the barrier, imbuing it with more protective magic than before, making it virtually impossible for anyone to find it, either on the surface or in the sea. Unless they were a Sarathian, or someone close to them, they would not know where the city was.

“The villages?” Ash asked.

Coby grinned, pointing at a mass of blue flame orbs that were flying away from the city. 

Ash snorted softly. “Very cool.”

Finally, the energy touched down in a four mile radius around the city, the colorful sheen fading away, leaving the barrier completely invisible. The entire process took less than five minutes, but to Coby, it was a lifetime. He lowered his arms to his sides, staring at the only home he’d ever known, full of people he’d called family his entire physical life. He’d made so many memories here, learned so much. He owed the Sarathians more than just a protective shield. He owed them his very life.

“You know,” Ash said as they watched the final glimmering glow of the energy fade away, his arms folded over his chest. “They don’t have a relic to revere anymore.”

Coby turned his gaze on him. Ash met it with a tiny shrug.

“They were expecting the Flame to come home with you.”

Coby turned back to the city. “Yeah, they were,” he agreed. “I guess I better not let them down.”

With that, they headed toward the city, Hemi, Jin, and the six prisoners right behind them.

**