by Devyn Quinn
“I think you can,” he murmured in a low voice meant only for her ears.
A current of uneasiness went through her. “How?”
“By returning the Tesch dynasty to power. I truly believe you are the one to do it.”
She grimaced. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“You’ve seen the Mer soldiers in action. They are ruthless. Once Magaera begins sending them out into these waters, they will stop at nothing.”
His words chilled her, but Addison didn’t let herself react. “The humans aren’t defenseless outside the dead zone,” she said slowly. “They are well prepared to protect themselves.”
Jovon cut her a hard look. “Do you not think I know that? Why send them to die when the slaughter can be stopped?” For the first time the layers of his anger thinned enough for her to see the raw pain beneath. His concern, she recognized, was very real. He wanted what was best for everyone.
She stepped back, realizing she needed to put a little distance between herself and the huge Nyx. The emanations coming off his powerful body were intense, slamming into her like rogue waves.
As she gazed into the electric silver of his eyes, something connected between them. The pang of his longing was so powerful that for a moment she couldn’t catch her breath. The urge to comfort him pulled at her like a dangerous tide.
She hesitated for an interminable moment. He was waiting for an answer to a question that he had not quite posed but that was lurking there all along. It was one she hesitated to give because she knew it would change the entire course of her life. Once she said the words, there would be no turning back.
Addison felt heat rise in her core. Their gazes met, clashing together. There was no way she could refuse him. He was one of her own.
A strange ache came to life inside her. He needs me. My people need me.
“I’ll help you any way I can.”
One side of his mouth curved upward. He lifted a hand, gently cupping her face. “I knew you would not fail our people.”
When he touched her, Addison felt her breath leave her lungs in one quick breath. The air between them shifted, thickened. The roar of the sea outside faded to a pleasant hum.
Addison knew where this moment was leading, but she couldn’t seem to stop it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.
Jovon bent. His face was only a few short inches away from hers. He was so close, she could see the thrum of his pulse at his neck, rippling his gills. The long hair cascading around his shoulders shimmered like silk. He looked strong and incredibly handsome.
Addison felt protected by his massive girth. The sensation of his skin against her cheek was incredibly pleasurable. She started to shift away but couldn’t make her limbs obey her internal commands. His scent rose to titillate her nostrils, filling her lungs. Her body stirred in response. She felt strange tremors of heat rising inside her. Anticipation burned through her. “I want… ,” she started to say, but got no farther.
Jovon touched her lips with the tip of his finger to hush her. Something primal and possessive simmered in his gaze. “I am unmated,” he murmured in a low voice.
A quiver of need clenched deep inside her. Her hands curled around his. The skin beneath her palms pulsed with warmth. “Are you saying you want to be with me?” She knew she was playing with fire. But his presence overpowered all logic. Electricity snapped between them.
He nodded. “I am.”
Addison closed her eyes, trying to ignore the rapid beat of her heart and the slow ache building between her thighs. Even though she’d just met him, she couldn’t deny that something powerful was brewing between them.
Only one question remained: Am I crazy enough to say yes?
She opened her eyes. His mesmerizing gaze held her suspended. “I’m not sure,” she breathed.
Sensual energy poured off him in electric waves. “Then allow me to persuade you.”
Addison felt the fine hairs at the nape of her neck prickle. Her brain raced to take control of her body, but it was no use. She was as immobilized as a fly wrapped in a spider web.
Her chest felt tight and for the moment she couldn’t take a breath. She knew only that her heart was pounding, and she was floundering, unable to make a decision.
Every nerve in her body zinged with sensation as Jovon lowered his mouth to hers.
Chapter 21
Hands resting palms up on her knees, Queen Magaera sat cross-legged and naked. On each side of her, brass braziers were positioned, fashioned into the shape of octopuses. A variety of stones were piled in their depths, each chosen for the power and strength it provided.
Directly in front of her, three small statues of sea creatures were precisely arranged. Their outstretched tentacles provided the base for a circular pane of cut crystal with a silvered back, which faced Magaera. A fourth statue placed slightly to her left, that of the mythical Cracken, acted as a catchall for various pieces of jewelry. Tessa Lonike’s soul-stone hung suspended from a delicate gold chain. It glowed softly, exuding a soft pink illumination.
Magaera’s face appeared haggard in the reflective surface of the crystal, her skin stretched taut over her cheekbones, her lips colorless. It was completely at odds with the appearance she projected to others. But the reflection looking back at her was no deception. Underneath her beauty and her youth, lurked an aged crone. It was a cruel trick that she had to pull off every day. She constantly practiced the rites that kept her body intact and ageless through the ravages of the centuries.
Magaera cursed under her breath. By the goddess, why did she not know the use of Atargatis’s scepter would come with such a great price?
She groaned, turning her head away and hiding her face in her hands. Every time she used it, the scepter sucked the energy right out of her.
This, the most powerful tool granted to them by the goddess, was to be used only in times of great need or distress. It was not a wand, to be waved at one’s convenience. The imperative to use it wisely fell upon the ruling monarch. And if she did not, the scepter would punish her—dearly.
Frowning slightly, Magaera could not stay a shiver that coursed through her with unexpected force. A slight moan of despair broke from her lips—half gasp, half whimper. Her right hand flew up to her shoulder as if a lash had come down across her naked skin.
Was it courageous to go through with her plans, or was she being foolish? She quickly squashed the doubt. It was not that she wanted to proceed with her plans.
I must.
Recent events had revealed that the Mer were not the only sea-born shifters inhabiting these waters. Although she would have believed them to be extinct, her soldiers had encountered one of the only beings who could match them in the water, stroke for stroke.
The Nyx.
Like salmon going upriver to spawn, the exiles seemed to be once again trying to return to their homeland.
A shiver coursed up her spine, sending a slight, telltale trembling through her. It did not come from fear or cold; it came from hatred—hatred directed at the rogue queen who had single-handedly tried to destroy the Mer’s domination in these waters. Queen Nyala had almost wrecked their entire civilization.
She alone must rebuild it. But now she had not one enemy to face, but two.
Extending her hand, Magaera reached for Tessa’s soul-stone. Since claiming it, she’d been able to fool the sea-gate into believing she was Tessa by mimicking the young Mer’s psychic resonance. It had also enabled her to pick up psychic vibrations sent out by Tessa’s sisters in an attempt to contact their older sibling. Tessa’s stone often flickered with surges of energy her sisters were attempting to feed her way to strengthen and reassure her that they were close.
Closing her eyes, Magaera rubbed Tessa’s stone between her palms. Both her sisters were close—very close.
She concentrated, attempting to sort through the mass of psychic visions filtering through Tessa’s stone.
Her chin dropped, then lifted in resolution. “Those girls
could be the key to my damnation,” she murmured. They were strong, and they were determined to reach their sister. They had help. The humans who presently kept her island quarantined from the rest of the world had weapons the Mer could not even begin to imagine…
Shaking her head, she frowned and raised her hand, sending the hateful visions away. Control somewhat regained, her mind began to tick, methodically planning.
Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of what she wanted.
She made a brief gesture, snapping her fingers. It was a signal. A silent figure glided out of the shadows.
“Jake?”
“Yes, my lady.” Ever vigilant and sensitive to her wants and needs, her human consultant was ready to serve. Since revisiting Ishaldi, he walked as if on shells, treading carefully and doing nothing to offend her.
“The Nyx. Are they still in the water?”
He wiped a nervous hand across his forehead. “Yes. They remain outside the perimeters of the dead zone, guarding the ship Addison is aboard. According to the latest report, one of the Nyx has joined them on deck.”
Magaera digested his reply. “The Nyx will seek an alliance with the humans, and with Nyala’s descendants.”
“Would peaceful relations with the humans and the Nyx be so unacceptable?” he asked. “The world has changed in so many ways since Nyala sealed the sea-gate.”
She lifted a single brow. “Do you think that fact has escaped me?” she returned coldly. Although she could foresee some form of truce with the land-walkers, she didn’t envision the Nyx in the bigger picture. Her people had worked long and hard to breed out the more undesirable traits of the sea-born. The gills and fins and webbed fingers were hideous.
As it stood, the Mer had evolved into the perfect species—intelligent, long-lived, and aesthetically pleasing in face and form. They were as close to godlike as beings of flesh and blood could be.
We must keep our bloodlines pure, she thought with concentrated bitterness.
To do so meant not only continuing to deny the Nyx access to their homeland, but also weeding out those humans who didn’t meet the criteria for perfection.
She’d once found Jake Massey attractive. Now, not so much. Still, he had his uses…
“It is time for us to make our peace with the humans.” Her voice tightened with command.
He smiled uncertainly. “Is that what you wish?”
Magaera nibbled her lip. He was afraid, as he should be. “Yes.”
He seemed disappointed. “How shall we go about it?”
Magaera fingered Tessa’s soul-stone. “We are going to offer a truce with the humans—but only if they turn over Addison and Gwen.”
Jake Massey’s gaze darkened. “They would never do that.”
Magaera tapped the face of her crystal mirror. “They will, if we present them as enemies of the Mer. As descendants of Queen Nyala, they must pay for her treason against our people. In return for giving us the girls, we will offer to reconstruct the damper around the sea-gate and remove the obstacle that so cripples their instruments. It is then we can begin to negotiate how the Mer will fit into this world.”
His eyes flickered with understanding. “And you will need an ambassador to arrange this.”
She smiled to herself. Though she was outwardly calm, anxiety twitched inside her heart. She was nervous. She had to do this in a convincing way. It would be best not to arouse his suspicions. “Of course.”
She was still in a vulnerable position. Several members of her council had yet to completely agree to an alliance with the humans. They were wary, watching her every move, analyzing her every word. If they withdrew their support, the Mer would be divided. Divided, her people would turn against themselves.
Lose them, she warned herself, and they may seek to depose me.
There was only one more thing she had to do.
She glanced toward the braziers loaded with crystals. Such energies were no longer sufficient to sustain her hungers. She needed a more vital source of nutrition, one that would ensure her continued use of the scepter just a little while longer.
Nothing mattered except her own selfish wants and needs. Insanity had made her temperament a strange and uncertain thing. She would do anything necessary to satisfy her desires. Lying, conniving, and murder were all within her realm of operation.
Allowing Tessa’s soul-stone to slip through her fingers, she rose from the floor. Naked, she stood, stretching her arms. Jake smiled, eyeing her figure. “You are still a beautiful woman,” he murmured.
“Do you think so?” Magaera’s hands skimmed over her slender, perfect figure. Her body was in its prime, as she had rejected the needs of the physical body at an early age. Physically, she was merely twenty-two years of age, even though more than seven centuries had passed since her youth experienced its first bloom.
Jake gave a courtly, almost ritualistic bow. “Absolutely. It has always been my pleasure to serve you.” Lust glinted in the depths of his blue eyes.
She gazed at him in silence through a long moment. She had other plans for Jake. As her lover and adviser, he’d served his purpose. He had something else she required—desperately.
And it was time to take it.
Magaera held out her hands in a welcoming gesture. “Come to me,” she commanded, offering her most alluring smile.
Jake closed the distance between them. His hands eagerly circled her slender waist, drawing her into a crushing embrace. She could feel the hard ridge of him against her belly, shocking her senses and igniting the brief desire she’d held for him since when they were lovers. He had satisfied her.
But not enough to keep him.
Catching both his hands, she laced their fingers together palm to palm to form a contact point.
Jake grinned. “Oh, you want it a little rough today?”
Magaera tightened her grip, digging her fingernails deeper. “Oh, it will be rough on you,” she purred, “but very fulfilling for me.”
Jake betrayed his confusion and made to pull away.
Magaera held on. Forcing him back against the wall, she brought her knee up between his legs, crushing his balls against his body. She did it with such practice and dexterity that he didn’t have a chance to resist. Her strength more than matched that of any human male.
“Your essence to mine,” she murmured in a breathy voice. “Your youth to me, your life to me.”
Bucking beneath her hold, Jake shook his head vehemently. “No! I don’t deserve this. I’ve served you…”
She smiled. The sharp, sweet dizzying scent of his fear burned her nostrils. He didn’t have a chance against her, and he knew it. “And you have proven where your loyalties are, many times.” Her voice had a knife’s edge, sharp and cutting. “Unfortunately, I can no longer sustain myself through crystal energy alone. I need a more vital life force to keep up my strength.”
Jake shook his head numbly. “I will get you other humans,” he rushed. “As many as you like.”
“Others like you will come,” she replied softly. “There will always be humans to feed us. To breed with us. To serve us…”
Redoubling her grip, she closed her eyes and focused her concentration to make a psychic connection. As she groped, her own soul-stone, which was almost black from inner decay, began to flicker.
She psychically delved beneath his skin to attach herself to the spark of vitality within, which was the life force of every human. The connection was easy and instantaneous. She felt a spasm of panic closing his throat. He stiffened, every muscle going tight and rigid with agony. The screams that built in his lungs were never unleashed.
It was time to sacrifice her pawn. If Jake had seriously expected to play any part in the rebuilding of her regime in the human world, he was horribly wrong. She had no respect for a man who would turn on his friends to save his own ass. For a while, Jake had proven useful.
Now he could serve her, one last time.
The tension grew, throbbing between them.
Beneath her grip, Jake’s skin started to shrivel, aging at an incredible rate as she lapped away the energy from his body.
As a sponge takes in water, Magaera felt his vitality pour into her veins, an almost visible pulsing of power that lit her skin from within. Seconds later her nerves exploded, sizzling as if on fire.
Beyond the point of reason, she kept her grip tight, refusing to let loose until Jake crumpled to the floor. One last fretful whimper fell past lips stretched taut in horror. His emaciated body twitched one last time, shriveled and lifeless.
Her feeding was complete.
Magaera’s mouth twisted with disdain. The air around her felt strangely void and empty. It was the blackest of blasphemies for a Mer to use the D’ema, the death magic. It was little more than psychic vampirism, and forbidden to all. But she no longer had the power to know the difference between right and wrong.
There was only her way.
Filled and flooded with a sense of infinite strength, Magaera raised eyes that teemed with devious plans. But her throat tightened with an emotion long unfamiliar and unwelcome. She squashed it like an insect beneath her heel. She didn’t regret her decision. She’d decided a course for the Mer people. Now she must make it happen.
“This will satisfy my need for the present.” Casting a final look at Jake’s withered corpse, she made a brief dismissive gesture. There was only one drawback to using the death magic to sustain her physical self.
Soon, she would need another.
Chapter 22
I’m not seeing this, Mason told himself as he walked into the atrium to find Addison. The sight of her locked in an embrace with the tall Nyx felt like a punch to the gut. Fury and desire and a thousand other emotions suddenly poured through him with every beat of his heart. No. How could she be with him?