Atlantis Tide Breaker

Atlantis Tide Breaker Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Double Cross Danger

After Pearl gave another magical breath to sustain me, Gill led our group out of the grotto and into the ocean. He hadn’t said much about where we were headed as if he hated talking about the place. The tension radiated off him like a science lab agitator.

Cuda and Maris swam beside us. Pearl, Chase, Coral and Finn brought up the rear. I felt like I was in a parade, except none of us were celebrating. None of us acted the least bit excited. Gill’s gloom seemed to have infected all of us.

Wanting to comfort him like he’d comforted me, I grabbed Gill’s hand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m glad you’re here.” He squeezed my hand and sent a stiff, uncomfortable, smile my way.

Tingles shot from my fingers, but fizzled when I peered into his dull eyes. His flat expression, like he was trying not to let his emotions show, mingled with my confusion. He’d looked similar from the moment he’d acknowledged the location. He wasn’t happy to be going.

“You don’t seem okay.” I waited for him to respond and when he didn’t, I continued. “Where is this kill zone?”

“Marshall Islands.”

The name struck like a bell in my head. History isn’t one of my strengths, I’m more a science and math type of girl, but I know the name. “Isn’t that where the government did atomic bomb testing?”

“Yes. After World War II.”

History books chronicled the evacuation of the Polynesians and the damage to the islands. “Is it safe for us to go there?”

“It should be as long as we don’t stay long under the island.” His tone grew harsh. “Get in and get out.”

My stomach squirmed like the seaweed nearby. I glanced back at our group and lowered my voice. “Why are you familiar with this island?”

“My great grandparents came from under the island.” His voice sounded like gravel had been ground into his throat. “They weren’t evacuated before the bomb tests because the American government didn’t know they existed. They all died of cancer.”

So cancer affects Atlanteans like humans.

Sadness wove through me for Gill and his family. For all cancer victims. For all Atlantean war victims. For all the victims our human government didn’t even know about. “I’m sorry.”

“The end of my grandparents wasn’t the end of the cancer.” He winced, and then pursed his lips together as if trying to control the pain. “Birth defects have been found in every generation since.”

Had that been real pain or imagined pain? Worry sucked the air from my lungs. “Do you have symptoms?”

“No.” He flashed a short smile that didn’t reach his eyes, before his lips plunged into the deepest frown. “My sister died of cancer when she was twelve.”

His words hit me like a bad dive—hard, heavy, and painful. My mind pulsed with raw shock. I couldn’t imagine losing a sister or a best friend. Still holding his hand, I flipped on my back and swam beneath him. I placed my palm on his chest feeling the steady beat of his heart. “I’m so sorry. That must’ve been awful.”

“The thought of watching someone die like that…feeling powerless.” His voice hitched. “I just can’t do it again.”

If possible underwater, his eyes seemed to moisten and the whites scribbled with red lines. But it was the irises flashing fear that caught my attention.