by A. K. Koonce
I should set things straight right now. I should make a choice between them right now before things get even more complicated.
“Be careful,” I say in a quiet whisper. That’s it. That’s all I can manage to say.
A line creases between Cason’s brows but he doesn’t question my odd behavior. He leans into me and presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth. I rest my head on his chest for a moment. Easy simplicity passes for just an instant.
“We can talk about you stabbing him in the heart later tonight if you want,” Cormac says with a wink.
I roll my eyes at him but his teasing words do make me smile. I won’t do that again. It might be the only way out of this curse for them but I refuse to let the dagger pull at my mind any more. I’ve started carrying it again in my boot. When I feel it clawing at my thoughts, I busy myself. I’ve cleaned every inch of this castle by hand over the last two days.
It’s been a weird few days. I don’t even know where they’ve been staying. I can only hope they aren’t really sleeping in the dungeon. Ledian checked in on me just a while ago. He was in an oddly good mood. But other than that, they’ve all been a little distant with me.
Shooting me a heated glance, Cason walks back to the balcony and waits for his brothers.
“Are you okay?” Cohen asks, his chest brushing my arm. His nearness sends a shiver through my body but he keeps his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants. He doesn’t reach for me at all.
I’m messing everything up, I can tell.
“I’m fine.” A half smile pulls at my lips. Cohen stares down at me with a serious look in his eyes.
I can’t fool him.
“Okay,” he finally says before taking a step away from me.
He looks back once before making his way down the balcony.
Tension pushes through my chest, making it hard to breath. Tonight I’ll have a serious talk with them. I should take a step back from all four of them. I’m just adding to the stress of their already stressful lives.
I nod to myself. That’s what I’ll do.
Cormac grips the rail of the balcony and just before he lowers himself down he pauses. He swallows hard and it seems like there’s something he wants to say but it won’t come out.
The light skimming of my boots fills the silence as I take a few steps toward him.
“I love you.” His light eyes never leave mine as his words ring through the room. Abruptly, I stop in my tracks. “I just had to make sure you knew that.” His lips quirk up in a smirk and he quickly lowers himself out of sight before I can even respond.
I stare gaping at the spot where he just was. Nothing but the dark glistening ocean looks back at me.
Cormac Ryken actually knows what love is.
And he loves me.
And he has the worst possible timing.
***
A single sheet of paper slips beneath my door. I’ve hoped for a letter from Hazel all winter but I instantly know this isn’t a note from my cousin.
The white parchment is stained with soot. It covers my fingertips in black dust the moment I pick it up.
I stare at the dry crumbles of black dust on my palm. It flakes off my skin and drifts slowly to the floor.
In scrawling letters is a statement that sends dread dripping through my stomach.
I have something that belongs to you, my bride.
He has a thieving tendency just like you.
If you wish to have him returned to you in one piece, meet me in the dungeon before sundown.
My fist grips the paper, crinkling it into a wadded form of wrinkled, threatening words. The crumbled note flutters to the ground, landing without a sound.
With my other hand, I pull the sleek dagger from my boot. The shine of it taunts me, daring me to use it.
I killed a man I loved once. I can surely kill the one man I hate with a passion.
Chapter Fourteen
A Fiancé and his Bride
Wren
Shadows lead me deep into the heart of the castle. I pass a single guard on my way downstairs. As he’s been trained, he doesn’t make eye contact or even nod to me.
The chill of winter bites through the corridor, wafting ominous winds against my skin. I hug my arms tightly to my body as I stare up at the arching door. It’s wide and solid. The cool metal of the handle meets my palm and it doesn’t budge when I turn it.
How did Nash Turningten get into the dungeon? No one’s been down here in nearly a century. A chill claws down my spine, filled with a sense of warning.
I push the feeling down as my heart pounds harder. The skeleton key grinds through the worn keyhole. This key’s sat in my room unused for so long I’m astounded it has a purpose. Everything does, I suppose. With a hard turn of my wrist, the door swings open, inviting me into the depthless darkness.
A dryness fills my throat as I swallow hard. I don’t look back as I begin to descend the steep stairs. Hollow sounds accompany my steps on the old boards. A thick amount of dust covers each step, not a single footprint can be seen. And then nothing can be seen. Pure shadows are all that greet me the deeper into the dungeon I go.
The moment my boot touches the damp stone floor, a light flares through the room. The blazing flame highlights every sharp bone in his slender face. It’s a flame forged from magic.
“I’ve missed you, my bride.” His voice crawls through the large room and for a moment we only glare at one another.
His lengthy frame seems taller now. Stronger somehow. His shoulders are held with a pride that I’ve never seen in him before.
A gleam slashes through his green eyes.
A terrifying look of power is all he possesses.
I humiliated this man. Nothing fuels vengeance more than humiliation.
Perhaps I should have known that then.
“And, oh how I’ve missed you, Nash.”
“Doubtful,” he replies. The light flickers in his palm and he turns just slightly to reveal the person I came here for.
Ledian lies in a heap on the dirty floor at Nash’s feet. Fear scurries through my chest, racing through me until I can barely breath.
Not a scratch is on him though. He’s entirely unharmed. For now.
“What do you want?” The words are spoken to him in a clipped, sharp tone.
Wind churns through the room, breezing through the frail cobwebs. Dust floats between us and within a second, no space at all separates he and I. Magic like I’ve never seen before burns through him. I didn’t see him move but now his hand is gripping the back of my hair until I’m forced to look up into his seething face.
“I want what is owed to me.” His words fan across my face but I refuse to flinch back from him. “You were promised to me. A title was promised to me. A new life was promised to me.” His chest heaves against mine and the toes of my boots skim across the dirty floor as I try to keep my teetering balance while he holds me harshly up to his face.
It’s now, in this chaotic moment, that I realize why I love Ledian, Cohen, Cason, and Cormac. It startles me to admit it even to myself.
I love them because they’re everything Nash is not. They’re the opposite of the disgusting man that’s breathing down on me now. And I met Ledian when I should have been falling in love with a caring fiancé. Instead, I fell in love with a thief and three men who shouldn’t truly exist.
“The world does not owe you anything Nash Turningten.” From behind my back, my hand flies up between us. The minimal light within the room is drawn to the blade. It’s aimed carefully for the evil heart of the one person who deserves to have it embedded deep within his soul.
But, he’s too fast. His flickering form is breathing down on me and then gone entirely. Without his hold on me, I stumble before finding my footing.
The magic he held in his hand fades out along with his image and blackness falls across the dungeon once more.
The slow sound of boots circling the room sends fear spiraling through me. He’s all around me
and yet, nowhere to be seen.
“You didn’t really believe I was as helpless as I appeared, did you?” The whisper is spoken from a distance but the sound of it crawls over my skin. “If I were as flaunting with my powers as your precious mermen, would you have accepted me then?”
The hilt of the dagger bites into my palm as I grip it tighter, my eyes shifting over the dense shadows.
“You’re nothing like them,” I whisper to the darkness.
The air is knocked from my lungs as he shoves me down by my throat. The clattering sound of the dagger skimming across the floor is all I can focus on. His body covers every inch of mine and his fingers press into my neck.
“I didn’t ask you to love me, you pathetic little bitch.” His words spew across my face as I sink my nails into his cheek. “I asked you to accept me.”
A choking sound is my only reply. My nails rake across the grimy floor, cold stone is all I can feel, nothing to aid me at all. The only thing I have is myself.
Nash isn’t the only one who isn’t as helpless as they appear.
With all the energy I possess, I bring my knee up hard. My knee meets his crotch and his grip on me releases. The air meets my lungs in gulps and before I even stand, I blindly bring my fist back and do my best to aim where I hear his groans coming from.
My knuckles smash against his cheek with a satisfying sound. Then he’s gone again. I scatter away from the spot where he was, my attention on high alert as I listen intently to the silence.
“I’m done playing games with you that you cannot win,” he says from across the room.
White light flares through the room once more and my heart sinks when I see him. He’s lowered himself, until he’s eye level with Ledian. In one hand he holds the glimmering magic, in the other he holds the dagger.
“Do you know what will happen to a human heart on impact of the dagger?” The question sounds curious, as if he really wants to test the outcome. The tip of the blade brushes roughly against Ledian’s five o’clock shadow, it trails down his strong jaw, across the pulse at his neck, over his collar bone.
“Stop.” My voice shakes despite the anger that’s beginning to overcrowd the fear within my chest.
With that one word, the light in his hand flickers. It dims and pulses, as if something is surging the power from it. His brows tense as he looks at his palm in confusion. Wind begins to circle the room once more and that too seems to startle Nash.
“We’ve actually grown somewhat fond of the thief. It would be in your best interest to step away from him.” Cohen leisurely walks up to my side, his bare shoulder brushing mine. In his hand is the tattered and wrinkled note that lead me here.
Water clings to his short hair and damp pants. The smell of the ocean floods my senses. It’s like he ran from the sea just to be here for me.
“You’re still cursed. She loves you and, yet, she doesn’t have the courage to release you from your curse,” Nash muses. “Love is an ugly thing. A dangerous thing. It’ll get you killed.” He tilts his head at me and then at Cohen.
The dim light in his hand soars until it hits me solidly in the chest. I feel it all through me, it pulls at my limbs, slicing its way into my nerves. It isn’t a tingling sensation as I felt before with Cason and Cohen. It’s constricting and painful. Like needles beneath the skin. The feel of it crumbles me to the ground and a sharp scream sounds through the room. The sound of it scratches up the high ceilings.
My scream.
Chapter Fifteen
The Wrath of the Sea
Cohen
The sound of her pain is all it takes.
My limbs shake with the demands of unreleased power. As my heart thunders in my chest, my fingertips arch, searching for the source I can feel trembling around us. The castle walls quake, as if they haven’t been standing for over three hundred years. It’s as if this structure hasn’t seen multiple natural disasters and still made it through every one of them. It’s as if the energy soaring through me is enough to let it come crumbling down around us.
This little man inherited dark power but he hasn’t had a hundred years to culture it. It’s strong but it isn’t a match for me.
He should have asked his dear, sweet grandmother for advice before fucking with the people I care about.
Grinding my teeth, I clench my eyes closed and brace myself for what I can feel coming.
A thin trickle of water skims across the stone tile, darting this way and that, before stopping patiently at the toe of Nash’s boot. Intense winds shake the windows and his eyes widen.
Quickly, he ignites another bout of magic with his palm. I tip my head up, interest sparking my eyes. The magic darts from his fingertips, aimed for the span of my chest. Without even moving, I snuff it out. The glimmer of light dissolves into an insignificant ember wafting through the air.
Terror seeps into his hollow features.
The outside door that was peculiarly unlocked for us, bangs open. The wind of a hurricane flings it from its hinges. I hear it before I see it. The sound of rushing, rapid waters. A roar of violent waters storm down the stairs and flood the room in an instant. Wrenley’s breath catches, I hear her over everything else, as if she holds my sole attention.
I grip her small hand in mine just as the magic in Nash’s palm fades out beneath an angry wave. The water sways us, throwing us from one spot to the next, but I won’t let her go. The solid wall scrapes against my shoulder and I hold her tighter to my chest. A tingling feeling skims down my body and I feel the shift; the change from human to merman. The ocean demands this form of me. I called it here and with my power there is a price.
The clear waters rise, until we’re pushing up against the rafters of the ceiling. Ledian’s nowhere to be seen. The princess’s gaze searches him out in the pale moonlight. Among the rush of waves, I see a pale hand rising from the waters.
Nash’s hand.
Tension fills my body and with all my force I pull the sea back, it arches at my command, bowing through the room like a ten foot wave. It holds him tightly, the power in the waters clings to that disgusting little man. With Nash clutched in the palm of the ocean, I breath hard and force the waters back where they came from.
Back to the deepest, darkest part of the sea.
Chapter Sixteen
Dungeon Promises
Wren
The dagger clatters ominously to the stone floor. It’s as if it’ll always be here with me, taunting me with its demands of death.
I glare at it for several seconds before searching the room.
“Ledian.” His name is just a breath on my lips. I stand from the cold, hard floor. Saturated strands of my hair cling to my face as I search the room with wide eyes.
“He’s on the shore with Cason.” Cohen tells me as he stands, holding his torn pants in front of him. The tattered piece of material hides his length from me but my eyes dwell too long on the smooth skin that he’s displaying.
“How do you know? How do you know where he is and if he’s alright?”
His cold fingertips skim across the back of my knuckles, sending a shiver through my core.
“Because that is where I dropped him off at.” A small smile pulls at his lips. “Cason will take care of him. He’s tough, he’ll be fine.”
With one hand, he pulls me into his strong chest, my cheek settling against the slick muscle of his shoulder. My fingers brush across his lean back before holding him to me.
The wild pounding of my heart subsides and realization slams into me.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” I whisper.
“I’ll never let anything happen to you.” His grip on me tightens as he presses his lips to my tangled hair. His hand drifts back and forth along my spine.
My heart flutters before sinking hard.
In less than a month, I might never see Cohen Ryken ever again.
I blink hard against the emotions rising within me.
He doesn’t have the power to make such
promises to me.
“I love you.” The words fall from my mouth like a gasp.
The movement of his hand halts, his body tenses beneath me.
I love them all. Like an idiot, I’ve opened my heart up to these men that I cannot keep.
“I love you, too.” He pauses for just a moment. “I think the witch knew we’d love you. I think she wanted us to feel the same heartache she’s felt for the last century. She knew before we even met that we’d fall in love with the beautiful princess of Aveil. The princess we’ll never have a future with.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard.
A feeling comes over me, overwhelming my senses. Fear of losing him, the need to have him. To have them. As if I can persuade him, I reach up grabbing Cohen by the back of his neck, greedily pushing my lips against his. He stills only for a second before he melts into me.
I run my fingers over his body, every dip and curve of his muscles. My stomach tightens. Every fiber within my being screaming, practically begging.
He responds as if he hears my thoughts, pushing into me harder as if we can become one. His hand traces along my jaw until it tangles within my hair. Cohen pulls away, searching my eyes. His eyes mirror a soft sadness, possibly something else.
Is he thinking what I’m thinking?
A heavy breath breaks his lips before his head dips low to press kiss after kiss down my neck. My hands run over his broad shoulders before falling to tug at the laces of my dress. With a rejuvenated feeling of eagerness, Cohen pushes my dress and undergarments off until I stand naked before him. The chilly air and atmosphere of arousal pebble my nipples. He smiles. A real smile. A smile made of pure sex.
My heart beats rampantly inside it’s cage under his gaze. He takes a single step back from me before dropping his torn pants to the ground between our feet. All of me begins to burn with desire just at the look of him. That stone hard chest, the sex lines of his abs that lead below his hips.
His hands skim up my chest, cupping my breast before he bends down to run his tongue over my nipple. Each flick out of his wicked mouth only fuels the fire. Lightly, my fingertips touch the hard muscle of his abdomen, his body tensing beneath my touch. The small trail of hair below his navel meets my palm and soon my palm wraps around smooth skin. My hand eagerly strokes against his cock. A pleasant moan vibrates against me through his chest.