Siren’s Desire: A Dark Tides Novel

by Devyn Quinn

Mason would win every time.

  Regret tugged at her. The trouble was, Mason McKenzie had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t in the running. He’d bowed out.

  Gwen laid a hand on her arm. “It isn’t as bad as it seems, kiddo. As the humans always say, it’s better to have loved and lost…”

  Addison stared at her older sister for an interminable minute. “Oh, spare me the bullshit.” She snorted. “I’ve been dumped before. It isn’t the first time a guy’s sent me packing.”

  Gwen forced a laugh. “What can I say? You’re just too damn much Mer for one man to handle.”

  Addison nodded a little overenthusiastically. “That’s right. It’s not as if I don’t have options, you know. I’m young, and a Mer’s life is long.”

  Gwen gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t be in such a hurry. The right man will come along. And you’ll know when he does.”

  Addison knew it was a stupid moment, but she couldn’t help but smile back. “Meanwhile, I guess I kiss more frogs.”

  Gwen laughed. “Right.”

  She reached up, smoothing her hands across her burning face. Damn, it felt as if she’d been put through the wringer and squeezed dry. She must look a fright, too, with her red-rimmed eyes and snotty nose.

  “Do you think Kenneth would mind if I stayed here for the night?” She really didn’t want to go back to the Sea Horse. Even though she had a private cabin, it was Mason’s space. No matter how impersonal he’d tried to make it during her occupation, the entire room had his scent stamped all over it.

  “You know Kenneth. He would love it if we were all next-door neighbors and raised our kids together.”

  Addison let out a long breath. “Yeah, he does seem to be a family kind of guy. I’ve never seen a man so thrilled his wife was pregnant. By the way he talks, you’d think he was the first man on Earth to have babies.”

  Gwen leaned back. She was about to say something that was probably profound and thought provoking, but she never got a chance to speak.

  Blake sped in. “We’ve got trouble.”

  Chapter 23

  Both sisters were on their feet in a flash. “What happened?” The words tumbled out of their mouths in unison.

  “Jovon and several of the Nyx have been wounded, badly. And it looks as though McKenzie’s gone. We need help, now!” Blake grabbed his fiancée and pulled her after him. “It’s a bloodbath.”

  Addison’s blood turned to icy chips in her veins. “Gone where?” Pressing her body into motion, she sped after Blake.

  “Gone. Just gone!” He tossed the words over one shoulder without looking back. “It looks bad.”

  They reached the deck in time to see two of Kenneth’s crewmen dragging an inert form out of the water. They carefully laid one of the Nyx out. No one had to look twice to see the creature was dead, slashed to pieces.

  Gwen’s hands flew to cover her eyes. “By the goddess…”

  Addison gave her a quick shake. “Get it together,” she barked. “These are Nyx. They’re going to need a Mer healer.”

  Hands dropping, Gwen nodded. Her fear drained away as purpose reinserted itself. Pale but controlled, she started giving orders for the treatment of the Nyx.

  “Good girl. Don’t think; just do.” Heart stalling, Addison frantically looked around. Relief drizzled through her when she saw that Jovon lay nearby. Kenneth knelt over him, applying pressure to his side. A gush of crimson seeped between his fingers.

  Addison headed over. “Let me,” she ordered. Wiping away all emotion, she fell back on her training. Render aid, don’t think about the victim. Just concentrate on saving his life. The terror ripping through her was temporarily forgotten.

  Kenneth moved aside, allowing her all access. “Be my guest.”

  “Get me some light,” she ordered. “I can’t see a damn thing.” The entire deck was chaos, but she refused to let herself be distracted. Cold and impersonal, she reminded herself.

  Kenneth commandeered a flashlight from a passing crewman. He angled the illumination over Jovon’s writhing body. “It is bad,” the Nyx gritted, struggling to remain conscious. He lay there, a ragged, soaking wet mess. There was a long slice down one of his forearms—a defense wound—and another in his side. He was in danger of going into shock from blood loss.

  “Give me your shirt,” she ordered Kenneth. “I need to make a tourniquet.”

  Kenneth complied, handing over the garment. “What else do you need?”

  Addison grabbed his hand. “Pressure here, against his side.” Ripping the shirt into shreds, she quickly bound Jovon’s forearm. By the look of things, he’d need stitches—a lot of them.

  The Nyx fought the hands pressing him down. “The Mer soldiers ambushed us,” he grated angrily. “They came out of nowhere. We never saw them coming.”

  “Don’t think about it,” Addison ordered automatically. “You’ve got a sick bay on this ship, right?” she asked Kenneth.

  He nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got a medic. Whittaker insisted he wasn’t going near the water without one.”

  Addison placed a hand on Jovon’s shoulder. “We’ve got to get you into sick bay,” she said. “Try and relax.”

  Eyes glazing over, Jovon tried to push her hands aside. “I promised my men would defend you.” A groan broke from his lips. His voice was hardly stronger as he added, “I just need a little time to heal.”

  “You won’t help yourself by being a stubborn ass,” Kenneth broke in.

  Closing her fingers around one of Jovon’s hands, Addison caught and interpreted the Nyx’s vibes. He had no trust of human doctors or their methods. That made sense, as a human physician wouldn’t know jack about Nyx anatomy. “Let me get you into sick bay. I’m a crystal healer,” she said to reassure him.

  Jovon resisted her attempt to soothe his fear. “They took the human captain.” His eyes, dulled with pain and sorrow, dropped shut. “They capsized his boat and pulled him into the water.”

  Addison’s eyes flew to the Sea Horse. Jovon must be referring to the skiff they’d been taking between the two boats. “What about the rest of the men?”

  “They are all unharmed. Magaera’s soldiers wanted only one man.”

  His words unleashed a strange ache inside Addison—an ache so strong and gnawing, she almost lost her concentration. She tightened her clasp a little. “Don’t think about that now,” she managed in a strange rasp. The thought of Mason in the hands of the rebel Mer sickened and frightened her. She’d witnessed Queen Magaera’s soldiers in action before and knew them to be utterly ruthless in their methods.

  Recollecting himself, Jovon closed weak fingers around hers. “Get me back on my feet, and I swear I will make right this terrible wrong.”

  Addison was one step ahead of him. If Magaera and her ilk harmed Mason in any way, she would defy Atargatis herself to make sure they paid—and dearly.

  “I’ll do the best I can.”

  Motioning to Kenneth, she snagged a passing crewman. “Help us get him to sick bay.”

  The man nodded, hefting the Nyx’s massive weight off the deck. Somehow the three of them managed to get him below. They had to settle on the floor since the other beds were occupied by the wounded. Those remaining from McKenzie’s escort on the skiff looked dazed.

  Gwen and the medic were already tied up with another of Jovon’s warriors. By the look of things, he’d taken a cut in an awkward spot that was hard to bandage. Gwen’s face was tight with concentration, and the stone in her hand glowed with healing light.

  Addison dropped to her knees beside Jovon. We’re spending way too much time tending the wounded, came her frazzled thought. For the second time in a single day Magaera’s soldiers had struck a devastating blow.

  Jovon was slipping in and out of consciousness.

  Kenneth glanced at the blood oozing between his fingers. He’d been trying to keep the pressure on Jovon’s side firm, but it was a losing battle. “It’s bad,” he said. “I don’t think I’m doing one damn bit
of good.” His gaze connected with hers. “Can you do anything?”

  “Oh goddess,” Addison muttered. She didn’t really have the skill or strength for a second go-round. Just tending to Mason’s burns earlier in the day had drained her dry, and his healing hadn’t been easy. “I don’t know.”

  “Try anyway,” Kenneth urged. “He’ll die in a few minutes if you can’t stop the bleeding.”

  As if she didn’t know that.

  Addison fumbled with numb fingers for the soul-stone around her neck. “Gwen,” she psychically called out, trying desperately to make a connection with her sister. “I need help.”

  Gwen didn’t even look up from what she was doing. “Tell me what you’ve got,” she replied wordlessly.

  “Deep slashes. One can’t be staunched with stitches and packing. It has to be closed or Jovon will bleed to death.”

  Across the room, Gwen’s brow tightened with concentration. “Hang tight,” came the quick reply. “I’m sending Goldstone and hematite your way. One’s a healing stone, and the other harmonizes mind and body, sending negative energy away.”

  Seconds later, two small stones, one rusty red and the other slate gray, materialized in the palm of her hand. Both were smooth and felt cool against her palm.

  Addison fisted her hand around the stones. “Got ’em,” she said, then let the psi-connection close.

  “It always amazes me the way you girls do that,” Kenneth commented.

  Addison shook her head to clear her mind. “It ain’t easy being Mer, Ken. Believe me. But it can be handy sometimes.”

  She stared into the stones, concentrating on delving within their essences and sucking out the vital energy crackling inside their stone hearts. The crystal around her neck began to glow softly as she made the connection and began to draw out the energy.

  Heat fused with light thrummed through her veins, delivering a much-needed burst of strength, like a shot of adrenaline straight to every nerve ending. She inwardly prepared to turn the energy around and remanifest it outside her physical self.

  Slowly, she focused her heightened psychic awareness on Jovon’s grievous wound. Placing her hand palm down on his torn skin, she began to delve into the molecular level of his body, then beyond. She could feel the pulsing of his blood and the struggling beat of his heart.

  Careful, she warned herself. Don’t go too deep.

  For an instant her mind merged with Jovon’s, and she could tell that his life was unbearably close to draining away. His fear eddied up as he fought the darkness threatening to embrace him. She felt a mixture of embarrassment at witnessing his most private thoughts, as well as a deep, heartfelt agony for his pain.

  Addison concentrated on the blood vessels severed by a sharp and unforgiving blade. With just the lightest touch of her mind, she applied her telekinetic psi-force and slowly began repairing the damages. All sounds around her became a dull hum in her ears, and her vision slowly began to tunnel in, fading to a single bright pinprick of light as she sucked the energy from the stones and reapplied it to Jovon’s wounds. Pure energy poured from her body into his…

  A touch on her shoulder brought her back to consciousness. “It’s working,” she heard Kenneth saying. “The bleeding’s stopped.”

  With a long sigh, Addison felt herself go dead limp inside. The stones rolled from her weak grip, scattering into nothing but ashes as they struck the floor. She’d drained out every last bit, sucking them dry. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken centuries of erosion to have ground them down to little more than dust.

  She nodded, exhausted. It took her a minute to gather her blasted senses and refocus her eyes. Funny, but she couldn’t seem to feel her hands, even though she knew they were there and probing Jovon’s wound.

  Examining her handiwork, Addison could see that stitches would still be needed. She’d managed to repair the worst of the damages, though, and he’d suffer no internal trauma. Another few inches and the blade would have taken his bowels out of his abdomen. Good thing that Nyx anatomy was a little bit different from that of humans.

  Jovon muttered groggily, “I felt you inside me.”

  She forced herself to take a head-clearing breath. “You’ll be all right,” she muttered, more to herself than for his benefit. “Just hang in there.” Letting her mind slip into autopilot, she rapped out a few orders, requesting the implements she’d need for more traditional first aid.

  Someone—she wasn’t sure who—shoved a needle in her hand.

  Addison grimaced. Sewing up flesh wounds was always a messy business, and one she tried to get out of. There was no shirking it this time. She knew she could have asked Gwen to send more stones, but she just didn’t have the energy in her to go for another round of healing. She’d have to make do with what she could do by hand.

  Through the next few hours, she had not a breath to spare or even a thought of what might have happened to Mason. Once Jovon was taken care of, she turned her attention to the others who had been wounded. All in all, ten of the Nyx were patched up. Their casualties, too, were great. Five had perished, hacked up to pieces to feed the sharks.

  It was gruesome, bloody, and one of the greatest acts of aggression Queen Magaera had struck against them.

  This means war. It was a grim thought.

  For a long time, Mason’s sleep was like that of a dead man—without dreams, a total blotting out of mind and will.

  When he finally began to struggle back to consciousness, he was dimly aware that his clothes were wet and clung uncomfortably to his body. Although he couldn’t be sure, it felt as though there was stone beneath his body, cold and hard and uncomfortable.

  Half in a feverish daze, he rolled over on one side and drew his limbs into a tight ball. He would do anything to warm the terrible chill that had settled in his bones. All he had to do was go back to sleep. That would end it all.

  Something shook him. “Wake up,” an unfamiliar female voice pleaded. “Please, wake up.”

  Mason shook his head. The voice was like an echo inside his skull. “No,” he moaned. “Leave me alone.”

  A strong hand rolled him onto his back. A palm connected with his cheek. “Get up,” the mystery woman demanded in a firmer tone.

  Regretfully bracing himself against the chill and discomfort wracking his body, Mason opened his eyes. At first his vision was blurred, and all he saw was an indistinct shape.

  A gasp broke from his lips. Addison? He wondered vaguely and silently to himself whether it was.

  The woman reluctantly smiled and shook her head. “You’re okay,” she said to reassure him.

  Mason didn’t feel okay. He blinked hard, and things slowly came back into focus. Wow. The Lonike sisters looked so much alike that it was almost impossible to tell them apart at a glance.

  “You must be Tessa, the sister I haven’t met yet.”

  Tessa nodded, visibly surprised that he knew her name.

  Mason struggled to push himself up. The best he could manage was a semisitting position. As he’d suspected, he lay on a bare stone floor. A wad of some filmy material had been shoved under his head to ease his uncomfortable rest, and his boots and socks had been removed. The rest of his clothing remained intact, if somewhat soggy.

  Memories of the recent past simmered in the back of his mind. He sorted through the images in an attempt to recall what had happened. He remembered being on Kenneth Randall’s ship, talking to Addison, and then making a return to his own vessel. He was just about to board the Sea Horse when some dark form sailed up out of the water, flipping his boat and sending him headfirst into the sea. Grasping hands had closed around his wrists and ankles, dragging him deep, even as a rush of icy salt water poured down this throat and into his lungs.

  He pressed a hand to his forehead. His skin burned beneath his palm. “Where am I?”

  Tessa Randall settled back on her knees. “You are a guest of Queen Magaera.” She cast a glance around the dim, shadowy chamber. “And this is the cell whe
re she keeps her prisoners.”

  Mason grimaced. “Looks like a lovely place to be,” he commented drily.

  Tessa snorted. “Oh, of course. I’ve enjoyed every day I’ve spent here. Best vacation I’ve ever had, hands down.”

  His hand dropped. By the look of things, Tessa hadn’t had an easy time in captivity. Her white cotton shirt was dirty from too many days of wear, and her faded blue jeans were torn in a way that wasn’t intended to be a fashion statement. A pair of tennis shoes and a thin jacket completed her shabby outfit. Her long hair was a tangle. She’d attempted to braid her tresses, but all she’d gotten was a mass of knots. But aside from the dark circles ringing her eyes and the pale cast of her skin, she looked healthy enough.

  “At least you’re still alive.” That fact gave Mason some hope for his own well-being. If Magaera’s soldiers had wanted him dead, they could have easily drowned him. No, he’d been spared for a reason. The Mer obviously wanted him to keep breathing. What for, he had yet to find out.

  “Barely. I was beginning to wonder if the outside world existed anymore. I don’t know who you are or what you did to get here, but I hope you’re one of the good guys.”

  Mason grimaced and shifted uncomfortably. Damn, he hated clingy wet underwear. If he’d been alone, he’d have stripped off to the buff. To spare her the sight of his naked body, he’d grin and bear the discomfort. “Captain Mason McKenzie,” he said. “My team and I are exploring the magnetic interference caused by the exposure of the sea-gate.”

  Tessa winced. “My fault,” she admitted. “I’m the one who blew the temple apart and exposed it to open water.”

  His brows rose. “Must have been one hell of an explosion.”

  “I was trying to destroy it, to keep Magaera from regaining control,” she explained. “I don’t think I did a very good job.”

  He nodded. No shit. But he wasn’t about to give her a hard time. “I’ve actually been working with your sisters.”

  Tessa’s face brightened. “I keep thinking I feel Gwen and Addison nearby. And my husband, Kenneth…” Biting her lip, she glanced down at her hands. “Can you tell me, please, if Ken’s all right? I was afraid he was”—she choked, but quickly recovered her composure—“that he was hurt when Magaera attacked us.”