Page 95 of A Warrior's Heart

“No.” I tugged him to my chest and wrapped my arms around him. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be. But you can’t lose yourself to that anger. Your people need you. We all need you.”

Lorcan thrashed around, trying to break free of my hold. “The sirens might be right about their prophecy. A vengeful son. If given the chance, I will—”

“Stop this!” Even though muffled a bit because of the water, my voice boomed throughout the room. I cupped Lorcan’s face. “This isn’t you, my prince. You are not this angry, spiteful being. You are kind.”

“You have no idea what I am.”

“You’re my son,” I said, my throat tightening. “Maybe not by blood, but I raised you as my own. I am here beside you, just as I will always be.”

Lorcan’s sharp teeth retracted, and his bottom lip trembled.

“You have a heavy burden to carry,” I continued. “But you do not have to carry it alone.”

He took a deep breath, then another, before hugging me hard. Quiet sobs shook his body. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.” I petted the back of his silver hair. “We should find the trident before these walls fall down and kill us both.”

A croaky laugh left him as he pulled back. “Okay.”

The passageway on the left side was completely caved in, so we swam toward the right, passing tall columns, broken vases, scattered chalices, and an altar where the people of Atlantis once worshipped the gods. Or one god in particular.

“It’s through that doorway,” Lorcan said, his voice shaking. Chill bumps formed on his arms. “My blood feels like it’s reaching out for it.”

We passed through a doorway into a room with high ceilings, more gems and silver, and a statue. Gold shone through the murky water, exactly as Phantos had described. The trident sat in the hand of Poseidon.

After a month and a half at sea, we had found it at last.

Lorcan swam upward and reached for the trident, but he hesitated in taking it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“What if I’m not worthy of it?” he whispered. “This is the most powerful weapon in all the sea. Even more powerful than my father’s conch. What if I use it to harm others?”

“You won’t,” I said, knowing the truth in my heart. “The trident called you to this place. It wanted you to find it. You’re its new master. And it has made its loyalty to you known.”

Lorcan deeply inhaled and grabbed hold of the trident on the exhale. When he pulled it free of the statue’s hand, he was bathed in a golden glow. His hair blew around his face and the temple walls quaked, pebbles falling from the cracked ceiling.

“My prince?”

Lorcan gasped as his face tilted upward, his eyes rolling back to where I only saw the whites of them. Runes glowed on the trident, igniting the shaft of the weapon in white light before that light seeped into Lorcan’s skin.

I caught him as he slumped forward, the trident still firmly in his grasp.

“I’m… okay.” He breathed deep and focused on me. His eyes were back to normal.

“Good. We need to leave. Now.”

The walls shook harder.

And then they began to collapse around us.

Chapter Twenty

Troy

“They’ve been in there a while,” I said, eying the entrance to the temple as I paced in front of it, swimming back and forth.

“No amount of pacing will make them exit faster.” Reif’s gaze followed me.