Atlantis: The King's Return | 4

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To Kalli, for being an awesome friend and reading my books even though it weirds her out that there are sex scenes.

If you would like to purchase this on Amazon, click the external link! Paperback is also available.

"No. Just no. You aren't...what? No. There is no way that you're just... It's impossible. This is some weird-ass heaven waiting room. Or, you know what? I bet I'm not even dead! I'm probably in some friggin' reality show and they're trying to see when I crack and I think I might have just now and this can't be happening—"

Swirling, ocean blue eyes stared at her as she ranted, and Mari really did feel like she'd lost her lid. There was no other explanation. The cruise, the cheating, the sinking—it had all been a ruse by some messed up TV show, and now they were throwing another shock her way.

Mari didn't believe she was dead anymore. They didn't have large men with tails in heaven; it just wasn't heard of. No, whatever the hell was happening right now? It wasn't real. Couldn't be. She refused to believe that it was.

She nervously laughed, flicking her hair away from her face. "Alright, bud. You can take off the tail. I'm going insane, so wherever you're hiding the cameras, you can take them out. No need to record this, really."

The guy on the ground frowned at her. "I don't know what you're saying."

"Really?" she asked, her voice high-pitched and near hysterical. "Because I really  really think you do! C'mon, get up. Don't just sit there, show me where the cameras are."

He exhaled, just sitting there with that damn tail thumping against the ground rhythmically. It moved like it had a mind of its own, flowing against the ground like a solid form of water. There was no way to describe what it looked like—the costume artists had done an amazing job, she thought wildly, her chest pumping with panic.

She vaguely noticed the orb of light settle on the guys shoulder, or the way he reached up to touch it like a...like a pet. His hand disappeared into the orb, and the light around them throbbed excitedly.

Her eyes could barely believe what she was seeing.

"Seriously, get up. Please just...take off—take off that damn tail and get me out of here!"

"I can't take off the tail," he said. She closed her eyes at the dark sound of his voice, at the anxiety he was causing her.

"Do you want me to help you? I can do that. If you get me out of here, I can definitely do that for you." Mari started to move forward, wondering how she was going to begin getting that thing off of him when her hands were shaking so much. She pushed her hair behind her ear again, trying to breathe through the tightness in her chest.

Her hands were just about to touch the long, sweeping tail when it jerked away from her. Actually, it really didn't jerk. It flowed , like a filmy piece of material would when billowing in the wind.

It curled defensively around his body, and she watched with her jaw dropped as he arranged himself so that he was sitting on his knees. As he moved, she noticed several things.

First, the back of the tail seemed to be peeling. The scales, which were pressed tightly together on the top of his tail, were flaking and they looked cracked, dried, like they had been rubbing against something rough. Which, she surmised as she looked at the ground, they had been.

Second, the effort it took him move. Either the tail was incredibly heavy, which she wouldn't have doubted, or he was incredibly weak. She wouldn't have doubted that either. He lurched forward, barely catching himself, and that was when she saw his shoulders.

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