There was a faint ripple of Calydon energy in Ryland’s mind, and he went utterly still. Thano. Your manicurist misses you. You gotta come home. He focused all his energy into his mind, thrusting out feelers in all directions. Come on, Thano. Answer me. I’ll do the rest.
And then he heard it. The sound that he’d been searching for so hard. You’re too old for this shit, Ry. Go back to bed and let the young guys handle it.
Thano! It’s about damned time you spoke up! Elation rushed through Ryland, and he immediately locked onto the warrior’s mental energy. He broke into a run, not caring about his half-burned foot or the bits of silvery scales drifting in the air behind him. He sprinted down the hall, took a right, two lefts and then stopped in the middle of a long hallway. Thano’s energy was all around him. It was weak and splotchy, mingled with something else, but definitely Thano. Where are you?
Right where I’ve been, waiting for one of you guys to show up.
Ryland looked down at the ground beneath his feet. Solid rock. Fuck that. Rock wasn’t enough to stop him.
He called out his machete as he rubbed his foot over the floor, searching for the weakest spot. Thano’s energy suddenly came through stronger, and Ryland marked it. He took a step back, focused on the location he’d identified, and then slammed his machete into the rock. Stones exploded everywhere. Three more hits, and then the hole was big enough for him to fit through.
Ryland immediately dropped through the hole, not even bothering to check and see what he was descending into. It was pitch black as he landed, so dark that not even his enhanced vision could penetrate the darkness. “Thano?”
A faint violet glow appeared in the corner, and Ry whirled toward it, his machete ready…until he saw what it was.
Sitting in the corner, his forearms draped over his knees, was Thano. His palm was faceup toward the ceiling, and a small violet flame was burning brightly on his hand. His face was shadowed by the light, showing hollowed-out cheeks. He was covered in dirt, and his shoulders were bone-thin, as if he’d been deprived of food for a thousand years, not for just the short time that he’d been missing.
But he was alive. Conscious. “Thano.” Ryland lowered his machete, his throat actually tightening at the sight of his teammate.
Thano looked up, and in those haunted eyes was the same glittering attitude there had always been. “Where have you been?”
“Looking for you.” Ryland walked across the room, and after a moment, he sat down beside Thano, draping his arms over his knees like Thano was. He leaned his head back against the wall, suddenly too exhausted to move. “You forgot to leave your new address, which made it a little tough to find you.”
“Sorry about that.” Thano held out his hand. “I’ve never been able to start fires before. Not sure what that means.”
“You’ll have to ask Zach. He knows fire.” Zach Roderick was one of the Order members. He had a special relationship with fire that none of them really understood. Ryland passed his hand through the flames. “It’s ice cold.”
“Yeah. Zach’s isn’t.” Thano turned his head to look at him. This time, now that he was closer, Ryland could see shadows in Thano’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. “Ry?”
“Yeah.”
“I want to go home.”
Ryland nodded. “Let’s do it, buddy.” He stood up, but Thano didn’t. No words passed between the warriors, but Ryland understood. He sheathed his machete, then crouched down, slid his arms beneath the warrior and picked him up.
As he carried Thano back toward the hole in the ceiling, Ryland thought of Dante’s words. The battle was his now. His to win or lose.
There was no choice. Nothing else mattered but Dante’s legacy.
Whatever the battle was, he was going to win it.
Chapter Twenty
Alice perched on the bow seat of the dinghy, watching the sun rising over the horizon as the dolphins carried them back toward Jada and Chloe. The dawn was a beautiful but quiet array of yellows and oranges, the start of a new day, of her new life as a…yeah…water dweller.
Sigh.
She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air. “This is the last time I’ll breathe air like this,” she said. “It’s the last time I’ll belong to the land instead of the ocean.” It was a bummer, but at the same time, she felt weirdly liberated. She may have condemned herself, but she’d done it willingly and knowingly, and she was proud of what she’d accomplished.
If she were going to be doomed to life beneath the sea, at least she’d done something sort of amazing to actually deserve it. There was a certain amount of pride in that.
Ian was sitting on the rear seat, his hands clasped loosely as he leaned on his quads. “There has to be another way,” he said. “A way to stop the ocean from claiming you.”
The urgency of his voice made it clear that he hadn’t fully accepted life as fish bait. He didn’t really want to join her there, and why would he? She wasn’t high on it either, to be honest. As amazing as she was, she wouldn’t blame him for not being entirely committed to a lifetime of soggy sex, with electric eels as house pets.
She thought of those horrific wails emanating from the Mageaan and all the suffering they endured. Yeah, and that. Quietly, she fisted her hands, reminding herself that she could survive anything. Except it wasn’t simply about suffering and torture. The bigger issue was leaving Ian. God, she didn’t want to do that. She really didn’t.
“Alice,” Ian pressed. “Let’s talk about this. I’m not giving up.”
“You have to relinquish that dream, Ian.” With a sigh, she turned away from the sunrise and faced him, wanting to drink in every last bit of time with him that she could. “The thing is,” she explained, “becoming a Mageaan is kind of like the sheva destiny. It just happens when an angel goes bad. My legs will disappear and become a tail. My lungs will change so that I become a water-breather.” She shrugged. “It’s not something you can will away by deciding to break the rules.”
Ian ran a hand through his hair. “There has to be a way. There are five couples now who have defeated the sheva destiny, right?”
Alice raised her brows. “Gideon said that we may have just delayed it. No one knows if it’s going to keep coming for us.”
“Well, at least we got it to stall. That’s a step forward. So, how can we do that here?” He started going through assorted options, none of which would stop the unstoppable.
As Ian expounded upon ways to change a predetermined future, Alice couldn’t help but smile at his unwavering commitment to finding another solution. It was that same unflinching resolve and determination, along with his refusal to walk away from what mattered to him, that had made her fall in love with him. Somehow, she’d made it to the top of his list, and that was worth all the tears and suffering in the world.
She might have to dropkick him out of the ocean for his own good, but he would forever be in her heart. “Ian?”
“Yeah?”
She held out her arms, asking him to come to her. “Make love to me,” she said. “Not to save us from some terrible fate, or to get your marks to appear on my arm. Just make love to me because you want to.” She somehow managed to summon a flirty smile. “Once we get to Jada’s, we don’t know how long it will be before we’ll have a chance to be alone again.” But she knew when it would be. It would be never. This was their farewell.
Ian’s face darkened, making chills of anticipation run down her spine. Without another word, he stood up, his weight balanced perfectly in the small boat. He crossed the vessel in two strides, then knelt before her, sliding his torso between her thighs and putting his hands on her hips.
Her heart began to pound as he tightened his hold on her. Without saying a word, he dragged her across the seat toward him until she was pressed up against his hard stomach. “You,” he said, as he ran his hand through her hair so it was trapped in his fingers, “are the woman I was meant to be with.”
Then he bent his head and kissed h
er.
It wasn’t a kiss of ownership or possession. It was a kiss of absolute reverence, of tenderness, and Alice’s heart filled with aching beauty for what they shared. You make me feel like I’m cherished beyond words.
You are cherished, my love. Ian kissed her again, a kiss so beautiful, so magical that Alice’s heart seemed to take flight and sail to the heavens. He slid his hands beneath her shirt, his touch warm and seductive as he traced circles on her lower back and around each vertebra.
God, Ian. It feels so good to have you touch me. How could she give this up? How could she walk away from this? This man was all that mattered to her. But even as she thought it, she knew that was why she had to give him up: because she loved him, she could not take him away from what was important to him.
But for the next twenty-four hours, she had him. Under the sun, under the stars, under the moon. She would have to make the next day last for a lifetime. No, not simply a lifetime. An eternity, because that’s how long she might live now that there was no price on her head. Funny how eternity didn’t sound so wonderful now that she was going to have to face it without Ian.
Ian scooped her up and laid her in the bottom of the boat, stretching out beside her on the hard planks. Greedily wanting access to all of him, Alice tugged his shirt over his head. He did the same to her, then his jeans and her shorts were tossed aside, until it was just them, with nothing between them.
Reverently, Alice ran her hands over his chest, his marvelous strong chest. “I never had time to bask in you before,” she said. “You were too busy pounding me into oblivion.”
Ian grinned, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he rolled on top of her, his weight pinning her to the bottom of the boat in the most delicious and erotic manner. “I plan to pound you into oblivion some more,” he said. “But feel free to bask while I’m doing it.”
Alice laughed, loving his sense of humor. It felt so good to be here with him, not in a rush, with nothing to focus on but each other. A flash of sadness touched her, knowing that it wouldn’t last—
“Hey,” Ian tucked her hair behind her ear, his brown eyes so tender and gentle. “Why the sad face?”
She smiled, tracing her finger over his whiskers. “I’m worried about Catherine,” she said. It was true, but not the whole truth. “And I feel bad about you leaving the Order for me—”
“No.” He cut her off with a kiss, a kiss that was more intense now, more powerful, designed to strip away her thoughts. I’m a big boy, Alice. I know how to make my own choices. His kisses grew more demanding and more devilishly manipulative. She felt her resistance sliding and crumbling under his sensual assault. Desire began pulsating low in her belly. Hunger for him crawled through her. Untamed passion rose to a crescendo.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, gasping as his hands roamed her breasts, her hips, her belly, and her thighs. God, yes, Ian. This feels so incredible.
Sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Then he wedged his knee between her thighs and thrust deep, connecting them in one swift move.
Alice gasped, her body convulsing at the feel of him inside her. It felt so amazing, so perfect, and she knew she would hold this moment, this man, in her heart forever. Then he began to move, sliding in and out in the most addictive and compelling rhythm, stoking fires inside her that seemed to ignite her very soul. He caught her mouth in a ravenous kiss, as if he were equally lost in the sparks flying between them.
As amazing as it had been between them before, now it was so much more. It was as if the heavens had brought them together, as if their souls had never been complete until they’d found each other. The orgasm began to build inside her, sending streaks of searing desire humming through her.
Ian began to move faster, driving harder and deeper, ruthlessly binding them together. Scorching fire suddenly exploded between them, catapulting her over that beautiful, magical edge into a whirlwind of ecstasy. Ian. She clutched his shoulders as his body went rigid. He shouted her name as he was thrust over the precipice, freefalling into her arms and her soul.
You will always be mine, Alice. Ian’s voice was raspy and intense, fighting for words through the searing blaze of the orgasm that raged between them, merging their spirits and souls into a single unit of forever and ever. And I will always be yours. I love you.
Tears filled her eyes. I love you too, Ian.
As they crested in a surge of unmatched, untamed, and unstoppable passion, Ian sealed their declarations with a kiss of intense commitment and love, and she knew she was lost to him. And for this last time, she decided to simply allow herself to be spirited away by the moment. Life would intrude again too soon. But for the next day, she was going to stop obsessing about what was coming for her. Instead, she would simply let herself live.
And love.
And be loved.
And to be ruthlessly manhandled by the man who made her heart sing.
*
Ian straddled the rear seat of the boat, his mace out and ready as the dolphins eased to a stop beside the base of the large coral reef they’d escaped such a short time ago. Prepared for Jada to try something deadly, he had one hand locked on Alice’s wrist. He could feel her pulse fluttering nervously.
It was time.
Ian looked over at her, frowning at the tight press to her lips. After an entire day of lovemaking that had been the best day of his life, no exaggeration, Alice had begun to withdraw. She’d barely spoken since the dolphins had taken them below water. He didn’t like the emotional distance she’d erected, but he felt none of the grief or despair from the curse. When he’d died, the curse had apparently been satisfied, and he’d been freed.
Now that the curse was obsolete, Ian knew that his feeling of isolation about her distance was simply his own need for her, not something fabricated by a spell. It was all real, and that was good. So, yeah, it was great to know he wasn’t going to stab himself in the heart every time his woman decided to get moody, but he damn well wasn’t going to let her shut him out. That wasn’t what they had between them. Alice.
She glanced over at him, and he saw trepidation in her eyes. What?
Are you worried about not being able to save Chloe?
Her face paled, as if she hadn’t even considered that possibility until now. I’m not sure how to save her.
You’ll find a way. Do not, for even one minute, consider the option of not succeeding. Be ruthless in your confidence. Accept nothing less than success.
Alice managed a smile. I know, I know. Failure is not an option.
He sensed her commitment to doing what she had to do, and nodded with satisfaction. How far his angel had come. While she was figuring out how to save Chloe, it was his job to try to find a way to break that damned Mageaan fate. Just as he told her not to give up, he had to do the same.
There had to be a way out…but at the same time, he knew enough about the powers of fate and destiny to realize that, in this case, there really might not be a loophole that would allow Alice to remain an angel.
Failure was possible.
There was a loud grinding, and then a portion of the coral reef vanished, revealing the same room where he and Alice had been trapped. On the cot where they’d made love was Chloe, under a turquoise blanket.
Alice stood up, her gaze fixed resolutely on the girl. As she stepped off the boat into the room, Ian knew that she was going to succeed in saving Chloe, and grant them the chance to live. She had that aura about her, the attitude of a warrior who would not be defeated. Damn, I’m proud of you, Alice.
She glanced back at him, and this time the smile was real. Thanks.
Never forget it. As Ian prepared to follow her, he couldn’t help but glance up toward the surface of the ocean, toward the life he was leaving behind. Would he ever set foot on solid ground again? Or would he be completely severed from his old life? Would he grow a tail, too? Damn, he hoped not. There was something sort of girly about iridescent tails.
He saluted the surface of the w
ater, and the team that had meant so much to him for so long. See ya later, guys. He sent the message out to his team, having no idea if they would hear him.
There was no reply, and a strange sense of isolation settled over Ian. It was fucking weird not to be with his team, and not to have a future with them. Even after they’d kicked him out of the Order, he’d still felt his bond with them, and he’d had no doubt that they would stand by him, exactly as they had.
This was different, though. This was forever, and it made him feel adrift and aimless. What the hell would he do with his life if he wasn’t fulfilling Order duties? Then, as he stepped into the room and saw Alice kneeling beside Chloe, her auburn hair streaming down her back, a sense of absolute rightness settled over him, and he knew that it was the correct choice.
Alice meant everything to him, and if she had to stay there, then so would he. Even if he grew a damned tail, it would still be a better life than a thousand years on the front lines of the Order without her. She was what mattered. If she had to stay, then he would remain there with her.
End of story.
*
Alice focused on the young woman before her. Chloe’s face was dangerously pale, her eyes were closed, and her lips were ashen. Her heart was barely beating, but she seemed to be in a suspended coma of some sort, as if Jada had put her in that state to keep her from dying before Alice could come back.
The kiss of an angel of life was all she needed. So simple, and yet, so difficult.
For a long moment, Alice studied the girl, knowing that if she simply tried to kiss her, it wouldn’t work. So, what now? How could she do it?
“Alice? You got any ideas?” Ian crouched beside her, looking at the girl.
“I need to kiss her.”
“Well, try. See if anything has changed.”
Alice glanced at him, then shrugged and bent down toward Chloe. When her mouth was a fraction of an inch from Chloe’s cheek, her muscles froze, locking her down. Frowning, she shook her head and retreated. If she pushed it again, the repercussions would be worse. “No, not working.”
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