“And mine.” She indicated the glass.
He reached up, hesitant to touch anything of hers without his gloves. But when he clutched the necklace, it overwhelmed him again, this time not from pain but love. Love far stronger than he could have imagined. First, a wave of Rekkus’ love for his mate, not simply the sexual desire—though he experienced that, too—but a soul’s burning need to be with her and a selfless affection to put her before his every need. Then Dana’s love for Rekkus, deep and complex, a mother’s care so strong she could endure anything and would all over again. And joy no one person could contain. Finally, the pain was all but forgotten.
Pulling back, he smiled a real smile not one he forced to ease his family, but real joy. “Thank you.”
Dana leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “No, thank you. For, without your need to help others, I never would not have found my family.”
“Get some sleep, you two.” He wasn’t sure how he would manage three babies, but as Rekkus laid back on his side, pulling Dana into his body, she pulled two of the babies into her embrace. He didn’t have to ask or be told. He grabbed the baby who lay wide awake. “Rhys Cyrus Duteigr, it’s time for me to tell you all about life here on this island.”
The baby looked up, wide golden eyes staring at him, and as the baby’s little hand wrapped around one of Cyrus’ fingers, something in his heart eased. Perhaps the time had come to live again. And he had three little ones to help him relearn how to do it.
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Siren’s Serenade by Dominique Eastwick
Prologue
Serena didn’t dare face her mother. Either she would tell her matriarch off, laugh in her face—or, worse, burst into a sea of tears. The final would be a humiliation she couldn’t quite deal with. For the last two centuries, Serena had listened to her mother lament to their chorus of mermaids how incompetent and embarrassing her middle daughter proved as both an heir apparent and a mermaid.
True, Serena hadn’t done her duty to either her queen or her people. She had failed to secure the line of succession. Serena didn’t understand why, but when she was born, the old sea hag had declared she would be the strength of her people. She would bring about change, and she would succeed to the throne. Serena had long ago decided someone had misheard. Serena would never be the strength of anyone and didn’t see why the old woman of the sea had the power to decide who would be next on the throne. She certainly hadn’t shown the strength her people thought she should have when she’d helped those shipwrecked men out of the watery depths.
“This is the last time you will embarrass me.” Her mother’s voice boomed through the cavernous throne room.
“I can’t kill a man whose only sin is being a man.” Serena looked at her mother and wished she hadn’t; her striking beauty became cold and harsh.
“They pollute our waters, rape our food source, and you can’t protect your people by dragging the few worthy specimens to us so we can mate?”
“Not when mating with them means they shall take their last breath!” Having known the pleasure of para men on more than one occasion, Serena had yet to understand why her mother and sisters were so keen on seeing any man die after giving a mermaid what she wanted. “I will find a man on land and mate with him, but I will not kill one.”
“You have one year from this day to do just that. You will secure the line, or we’ll force the mating on you, Serena. Do what you have to, but you had better be with child by this time next year.”
“I can’t.”
“You will. Do not defy me on this.” Her mother snubbed her, in a show of passive-aggressiveness she spun away, flipping her tail forward and away from Serena.
Gasping, Serena understood the meaning. When a mermaid did this, the recipient of the gesture was no longer worthy of her attention. For all intents and purposes, she’d been cast out until she fulfilled her destiny. Serena barely paid heed to her sisters turning tail from her as well. Not one of them had the scales to stand up to their mother.
With all the power she possessed, Serena kicked out of the great hall and toward the surface. Moving faster and faster, she focused on the sun’s light twinkling above her. Cresting, she threw her long blonde hair back with a flick of her head, tresses drying as they hit the air. And then, she let her anger mount. She hit the ocean surface with her fist and screamed with all the sorrow her soul allowed. She wanted to sing, but any sailors in the area would succumb to her sorrow.
“Serena.” The whisper seemed to come on the breeze. Her eldest sister broke the water’s barrier. Unlike her, Serafina had never enjoyed the air or the sun. Taking Serena’s wrist, Serafina dragged her back down into the depths into a cave they had played in as girls. Coming out of the water into the dark recesses of the cave, Serena followed her sister to the area lit with pools of bioluminescent fish. “There is a place run by other paras. They might be able to help you.”
Serena pulled free. What hope did she have if even the meekest of sisters couldn’t be on her side even in private? “Help me kill someone?”
“No. Help you break the curse that forces us to kill a man to get with child.”
Moving to the clear pool in the center of the cave, Serafina ran her fingers through the water. The image of a small island appeared in the pool. “They heal people. Perhaps they can heal you or at least help you to find peace with your destiny.”
“I want nothing to do with this destiny.”
“You have very little choice, my sister. This place can help. I just know it. It’s called the Wiccan Haus.”
Healing His Soul's Mate Page 15