Sea Fae Trilogy

by C. N. Crawford

  “Why don’t you ask that dickhead who dumped you?” asked Ossian. “He’s a demigod, isn’t he?”

  “Mmm.” I sipped my tea. “I don’t think he’d be up for that. And anyway, he’s not bottom of the sea bad. He did sacrifice part of his soul to save me from death.”

  “I suppose.” He leaned back in his chair. “Look, there’s got to be someone we can ask for advice. A prophetess? A seer?”

  I bit my lip. “The only prophetess I’ve met wanted to destroy my magic.” I took a deep breath. “Shahar is out there, somewhere. But I’m not sure how much she learned when she was trapped in the cage.”

  “Also, she might want you dead for putting her there. It really does sound awful. Like, do you think she felt her lungs exploding that whole time because she didn’t breathe in a hundred years? Was it like a living death, stretched on over a century?”

  My stomach dropped. Gods, I did not want to imagine what Salem was enduring. But we were bonded, and I didn’t have the sense of drowning. Now, when I closed my eyes, I felt that fiery rope tugging between us, like a blazing cord. And the more I thought about him, the more my skin felt hot, burning almost.

  I shook my head, trying to clear the disturbing sensation. It wasn’t a watery grave… No, it felt like a flaming one, heat growing higher around me, searing hot on my skin.

  My eyes snapped open, and the feeling slowly disappeared again. Sweat had beaded all over my skin, and my heart was racing out of control.

  “You all right?” asked Ossian.

  I stared at him. I hadn’t yet told Ossian about the mate situation, nor had I fully accepted it. Having a mate was a liability. It was a weakness that made it hard to think logically.

  When I’d seen Salem’s wings broken, I had felt a sense of wrongness, a sense that I wanted to do anything to fix them. And now, when I closed my eyes, I felt as if someone were holding candles to my skin. I knew Salem was in pain. And I’d do anything to make him feel better.

  But why fire when he was at the bottom of the ocean? Why fire if he could withstand the flames?

  Aenor

  If I breathed deeply, slowly, I could gain control again. Trying to ground myself, I looked around the room at the cozy confines of Ossian’s home—the dark wood walls of his cluttered kitchen, the rectangular space crammed with books and knickknacks in every crevice. The warm sunlight calmed me, streaming over a row of cooking pots hanging from his ceiling.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I just feel much worse about leaving Salem at the bottom of the sea than I did with Shahar. At the time, I thought she deserved it.”

  Ossian propped his chin in his hand. “Let me just ask this one more time. Why did he lock himself in the cage? Last time I saw you two, you seemed like you wanted to kill Salem, and selfishness generally defines him. So, what happened?”

  “We just got to know each other a little better.”

  “Right. You shagged?” He put a finger to his lips.

  My cheeks burned. “Is this relevant?”

  “It still makes no sense. He can’t love. It’s not possible for him. It’s, like, the first thing he says about himself. ‘Hi, I’m Salem, and I burn people and can’t love.’” Ossian let out a long breath. “You’d actually be surprised how many women love that shit. Can’t bring myself to try it, though.”

  “He can’t love,” I repeated. I felt like bony fingers gripped my heart, and it was that sense of wrongness again. Just like with the broken wing, or with Salem trapped beneath the sea, his skin burning.

  “That’s his thing, yeah.” Ossian’s eyes were on his book again.

  Maybe none of this had anything to do with love, but instinct was driving me right now, and it was forcing me back to Salem. As I sat at Ossian’s table, every atom in my body was screaming that I need to save my mate.

  “If he told you he can’t love, I’m sure it’s the case,” I said. “And I don’t know why he decided to lock himself up instead of letting everything burn. He does have a cat he’s fond of, you know.” I heard my defensive tone, like I was trying to convince myself he had normal emotions. “Anyway, it wasn’t anything to do with saving me. Let’s face it: I drowned his sister, and he’s been on a revenge mission since.”

  Ossian thrummed his fingertips on the table, staring at me. “Hmmm. And yet… there he is, in a cage. Missing his chance at his destiny. And here you are, unburned and in my kitchen.”

  The room started to grow dimmer as clouds slid over the sun outside. Darkness seemed to be falling fast. If it was possible, I didn’t want Salem to spend another night under the sea.

  I sipped my tea and glanced down at the book again. Frowning, I tried to turn the page, but the paper seemed to be glued. “I’m not sure I’ll find anything about how to defeat the Fomorians in this book, Ossian. And some of the pages are stuck together.”

  He grinned. “Oh, yeah. I like the mermaids with the seashell bikinis.”

  “Ew! Gross…” I shut the book, then wiped my hands on my jeans. The sky outside looked dark as night now. “Looks like a storm,” I muttered.

  As I pulled another book across the table, an electric tension crackled in the air. Ossian’s birds flapped wildly around his head, agitated. One of them squawked. It seemed they could feel the oncoming storm, too.

  After another loud squawk, Gina startled awake and sat upright on the floor. “Is it night?” she asked, yawning. “I’m starving. Are there any cafés nearby?”

  I shook my head. “No, Gina, but Ossian has a weird amount of tinned ravioli.”

  “And biscuits,” he added. “And there’s a Thai place a few islands away.”

  “Just give me a second to think.” My thoughts were still with Salem. I turned away from them, facing the doorway. Inhaling deeply, I tried to clear my mind.

  When I’d been on the ocean’s floor just yesterday, I’d managed to seal the Formorians into the fissure for a few minutes. I’d used my magic and a little sacrifice. I’d nicked my skin, used a bit of blood magic—a tiny sacrifice to the sea god. With that, the chasm had iced over again. The problem was that I hadn’t sealed it for long enough.

  What I needed was more power. And that meant a bigger sacrifice. With a large burst of magic, I could freeze the chasm over completely.

  I turned around again, my thoughts racing.

  Ossian frowned. “What’s that look you’re getting?”

  “I have an idea,” I said.

  Gina crossed to me, narrowing her eyes. “It looks like she’s thinking about bringing a tsunami down on Cornwall. She gets that look sometimes if she waits too long for lunch. It’s a bit unnerving.”

  A dark melody vibrated up my spine, humming along the back of my neck. My hairs stood on end, body going cold. More power. Yes. That was what I needed. As I mulled over the words, a sort of red haze clouded my thoughts.

  And after I freed Salem, I’d make a formidable queen of Nova Ys. I wasn’t the same stupid girl I had once been. One hundred years of magical weakness had taught me a little bit of wisdom. I supposed I could thank Salem for that.

  Now, I could almost hear the bells of Nova Ys tolling for my coronation. I could see myself sitting on the throne, shining with power…

  The temperature in the room dropped sharply, and a feeling like pins and needles ran over my skin. I was clutching the table hard. More power.

  I felt as if a shadow were sliding over my soul as I spoke. “Lyr has been acting as king of Nova Ys, but I will rule instead. They’ll all bow before me, those who rejected me. Those who called me a whore. Those who thought I was unfit to rule. I will sever their heads from their bodies and decorate my gates with them.”

  Was something happening to me?

  My fists tightened on the table. “I will pluck the crown from the head of the first king, Caradoc. Then I will fertilize the fields of my kingdom with my subjects’ blood and bones. Every day, I will wear a gown stained in their blood. I will sow the pastures with dragons’ teeth and raise an army of the dead to
vanquish my enemies.”

  Gina stared at me from across the table. “That’s your last cup of tea, Aenor. You need to simmer down. Get a snack before you have any more caffeine.”

  Her words snapped me out of it, and I surveyed Ossian’s home. Shadows darkened the room. Something strange was at work here. A forbidding magic was seeping into the room like blood into soil.

  “Ossian.” I straightened. “Do you feel that? Something is happening. It’s… affecting my thoughts. I think.”

  Ossian’s lip curled in a snarl. “You are unfit to rule. I should rule instead. I will split you with a sword. I’ll drain your blood and grind your bones into dust.” He was holding his coffee cup so tightly that he looked like he might break it. Then, with a growl, he shattered it between his fingers. “Bollocks!”

  “Ossian?” I asked in the calmest voice I could muster. “Rage.” That was all I could get out to express that there was a spell messing with our minds and that I thought it was making us aggressive.

  He stared at the broken shards of his mug. Hot tea spilled over his new leather pants. “Kill. You.”

  Why did I feel like I wanted to chop him up and scatter his remains as food for his birds? And why did I have a desperate compulsion to light his house on fire?

  Was I turning into Salem?

  Every muscle in his bare chest had gone taut. “Head. Crush.”

  The cold, tingling feeling grew stronger over my skin, dancing up my spine, and it took everything in my power not to bring a tidal wave down on the island. I drew a shuddering breath, gripping the table, fingernails digging into the wood.

  My teeth chattered as I started losing control again. From the corners of the room, blood spilled across the floor, glistening red. It was inches deep. The next thing I knew, I was standing, holding a knife. I wasn’t even sure where I’d gotten it from, only that the urge to destroy, to cause pain, overwhelmed me.

  Something terrible was about to happen. I glanced at Gina, whose panicked expression told me she was already freaking out.

  “Gina!” I roared. “Get the hell out. Get as far away from here as you can.”

  Salem

  For a moment, I knew where I was again: the soul cage at the bottom of the sea. The enchanted driftwood had weakened me, ripping my magic from my body.

  I had a few moments of quiet, only the sound of the sea lapping gently around me…

  Then the music of the spheres pulled me back to the heavens, ripping me through time. Divine music filled the air around me, and I burned in the sky with the colors of twilight. I was whole again—perfect in my completeness. My light blended with Shahar’s, the morning star.

  The sound of drums boomed around me, and I began to fall, plummeting to the earth. Wind whipped over me; frigid air and darkness enveloped me. I didn’t exist anymore, not as I once had. In that void within me, my soul was growing warped and twisted. Corrupted like a sickness, a blight.

  I was rushing toward the earth, falling fast to hell. The agony in my soul was indescribable. I couldn’t remember my name.

  I slammed into the earth, cratering it, breaking through the crust. Rocks tumbled around me, burying me alive. Now, it was just me and the cave. Pure isolation from now through eternity.

  A boom echoing off the cave walls thundered over my skin. So dark in here… I needed light. I needed everything to burn. And the hunger… the insatiable hunger was tearing me open.

  I stood tall in my cave, power thrumming through my veins. Evil slid through my blood like poison. Divine on the outside, monstrous beneath the surface. A beast.

  Here I was, in the darkest hollows of my memories. I took a step into my dark cave. A woman stood before me, chosen as a sacrifice. Charred bones littered the floor at her feet.

  Through the cave’s mouth, I could see the setting sun sliding lower in a rusty sky, lengthening the shadows across a barren field. The sunlight interested me, but the woman interested me more. Human. A beautiful animal. As she fell to her knees, hatred burned in her eyes.

  My lip twitched. They loathed me, the humans, but they gave themselves to me anyway. It was only fun if it was a sacrifice.

  Bow before your god. The little woman was all mine.

  The cave—my home—reeked of scorched flesh, and blood streaked the rock. I no longer burned in the skies as a celestial god, but the human bodies blazed for me, lighting up the rocks around me. They’d keep me warm, give me light. Their families beat drums to drown out their screams, and the rhythm pounded in time to my heart. It was the sound of my magic, of hell.

  Some of them called me Moloch—king. Some called me Lucifer. I couldn’t remember my real name anymore. I could only remember blood, rock, flesh, and screams, only that my appetites drove me mad.

  I’d fallen, and now I was the beast god. Lord of torment.

  I didn’t burn everyone. If the women were beautiful enough, like this one on her knees before me, I’d keep them around for other pleasures.

  From the ground, she looked up at me, fear flickering in her eyes. Ahh, that made my pulse race. She didn’t know what I was going to do. I breathed in her fear, her rage, and it exhilarated me. I slid my gaze down over her body, taking in the swell of her breasts under her thin dress. I crossed to her, grabbing her around the ribs. I lifted her up, pressing her against the wall, and her breath quickened.

  She hated me, but my divine beauty was enough to make her heart race anyway. I traced one fingertip over her collarbone, and her breathing grew even shallower. Then I slowly slid down the top of her dress, exposing her. Her eyes grew heavy-lidded as she felt the warmth from my body. My divinity was an aphrodisiac to her.

  Pulling her dress all the way off, I looked at her naked before me.

  I frowned, bored with her already. Although she was beautiful, something was wrong with her. She was… the wrong person. Not for me.

  I didn’t know what it meant, but my desire was quickly snuffed out, like fire doused with cold water. Wrong. She needed to smell like the sea. Like wildflowers. Hair the color of the sky.

  My mate. That was what I needed.

  Then, as if the world was responding to my desires, she began to transform, her hair shifting to a beautiful blue, her golden body perfect and glimmering with sea magic. She smiled at me, naked and mine. Yes. I knew her by her smell.

  My blood pounded, red hot.

  I moved for her, thrusting my fingers into her hair. I gripped her by her nape. She moaned lightly as I pulled back her face to kiss her deeply. Mine. Her body felt hot against me, breasts brushing against my bare chest. As her hips moved against me, I could scent her desire for me. We were the beginning and end. We were eternal.

  Her heart beat louder, a drum echoing off the walls. I’d claim her here in my cave, two beasts twined together until the end of time.

  But this was hell, and heat closed in around us, sacrificial fires encroaching…

  Aenor looked up at me, green eyes now burning with lust. I gripped her by the hair, running my hand down her spine. But the rock was growing too hot beneath my feet, and the flames were moving closer, licking at my skin. I shielded my mate, and she kissed my neck. She didn’t seem to understand that we were about to burn. I wanted to warn her, but I couldn’t remember how to speak.

  When I looked toward the mouth of the cave, it was an inferno.

  A hollow roar was rising in my throat as I scrambled to think clearly, but I was too much of an animal. She kept kissing me, moving against me. I lifted her by the waist, trying to move her back to the far wall of the cave. The fires were moving closer. Why didn’t she notice?

  Fear gripped my mind as the flames roared into the cave, filling it. It surrounded us now, inches away from me, the heat unbearable. I tried to shield her with my body, pressing her against the wall. Panic crushed my chest like rocks.

  As the fire started to consume our skin, the scent of burning flesh filled my nostrils. Now, her screams pierced my eardrums. The sound was worse than falling. I remembered wh
o I was now. I was Salem.

  Her body disappeared from the cave, turning into smoke, and I was holding nothing. It was just me—a fallen god dying alone.

  The fire scorched me, burning every nerve ending until I could see my skin charring, cracking open.

  In the heavens, the gods had no corporeal forms. We were simply consciousness, able to perceive the birth of stars, the expansion of the universe, the vibrations of the cosmos. We lived in the music of the spheres. In the heavens, there was no flesh to char. Pure souls, nothing more.

  On Earth, we lived as monsters and beasts in a broiling crucible. A soul couldn’t burn, but a body could—burn with lust, burn with fire, with hunger or rage. A body tormented us. We burned to fuck, to kill, to conquer. We were incomplete and broken, and there was no peace.

  As we hunted the thing we desired, we turned to ash, skin flaking off, cinders caught in the wind. That was what it meant to fall.

  The flames here in this cave, they were my punishment—mortification of the flesh. But I wasn’t purifying. No, I was growing more depraved. Even as I burned, I thought of blood, ripping open throats. I dreamt of women moaning with animal lust. I was devolving here. I wanted them before me, the human bodies splayed out. Heads blazing like torches. I’d use them for my most base impulses, like an animal.

  Now, as I looked around the cave, I realized the flames were inside of me. Not around me. They would always be with me. Evil under my skin—but it had always been there, a hissing and crackling inside my mind.

  I was a dormant volcano, a slumbering Mount Vesuvius ready to unleash. But even when I looked calm, under the surface, the molten heat still raged.

  Now, that ancient, fiery wrath was ready to erupt again, and to take down anyone in my path.

  Aenor