A World No One Knows (bxb) [editing and rewriting]

Chapter 11

It is only a couple minutes later when I realize that our hands are still connected, and I pull my hand from his. Getting close to him is a really bad idea, but I have a feeling that it's too late for me now. I don't know what's happening to me. One minute, I want to hold him an arm's length away, and the next minute, I want to pull him close. It's confusing, but the only thing I can think about is back when Camsir and I first started dating. Back then, every time I saw him, I would get butterflies in my stomach, but with Zander? I get lightning storms. I feel like hiding in my bed, terrified of what's going to happen. I feel like running to my parents room, wanting someone to tell me that's it's going to be okay. I feel like throwing a tantrum.

But I also feel like standing outside in the pouring rain and wanting to get struck by lighting, wanting to feel the electricity buzzing through me, exciting every nerve in my body. I want to feel the way my heart pounds in excitement, and there's a warmth in my chest like fire. It burns me to my very core, and I never want to let it go.

"Just to warn you, the shortcut goes close to lava pits, so stay close and be careful. I don't want to see you getting hurt," Zander says as he looks back at me.

Warmth spreads through my heart, but I ignore it. "Why though? We barely know each other."

"Because I like you, Blaise. I have ever since I first saw you at the hospital."

I look at him in shock. Now that I hear it, not even Casmir has said that to me. "You like me? But I—" But I already have a mate. You can't like me.

He grins. "Like me back?"

I laugh. "Not a chance."

"You will."

"How can you be so certain?"

"I have a feeling. By the way, how old are you?"

"Seventeen, and if you start talking about mates, I will freeze you in an ice bubble."

"Not a fan of mates then?"

"Not particularly." I've had my heart broken enough for my life.

"Don't worry then. I won't talk about them. At least, not until you confess your undying love for me."

I laugh and roll my eyes. "That will never happen."

"If you say so."

"How much longer?"

"Impatient, are we?"

"You could say that."

"Well, don't worry. We're almost there."

I look around us, but it looks like the rest of the ocean. I have no idea where we are. I don't even know how he knows where we are. Much less where the edge of the kingdom is. We swim close to the rocks at the bottom of the ocean, and I skim my hand along it. It still amazes me that I'm here, at the bottom of the ocean, breathing and swimming with a real merman— that I am a merman. It makes me feel giddy. I gasp as the rock underneath my fingertips disappears, and Zander swims downward. I follow him as the ground beneath my feet falls away. It's like I'm flying.

"There's a passage beneath the cliffs that leads to the outer part of the kingdom. Not many mers know about it because it passes over the lava pits. But it's shorter than the known path, so we'll get there quicker. The wiseman should be right at the other side."

We swim down to the opposite wall and then go into an opening. Almost immediately, the water starts getting hotter. It gets hotter and hotter until it's almost unbearable. My skin feels like it's burning off. I see a light up ahead, and we turn a corner and see lakes of lava giving off waves of heat.