Moontide

by Amanda V. Shane

  He had a look of concern on his face. She hadn’t realized that her hand had gone to the front of her neck. She lowered it and offered the Irishman a wan smile.

  “Thank you Cully,” she said.

  “I think we’re doing a poor job of seeing to the fair maiden’s entertainments, what with all this talk of gods and demons,” said James, standing.

  He rounded the head of the table and executed a very princely bow before Cindy. Ronan scowled at him but James seemed not to notice. He even took Cindy’s hand and kissed the back of it. She laughed and rolled her eyes when he winked at her.

  “I say that we move on to more festive activities,” and with that, he escorted her out of the dining area and down some steps to where a fire burned in a pit. She looked back over her shoulder at Ronan to find that his frown had deepened so she employed James’ methods and winked at him as she was whisked away.

  The mood lightened from there. It turned out that James and William, aside from being brothers, were master fiddlers. The evening progressed with music, laughter and lots more wine!

  By the time Ronan finally called a halt to things and swung her up into his arms, Cindy’s head was swimming. He carried her back into the villa as she waved at the men over his shoulder.

  “Good night fair damsel!” William called.

  “Sweet dreams, miss,” James added, not to be outdone.

  Cully blew her a kiss and some discordant sounds followed as the brothers took up their fiddles again.

  Ronan marched up the stairs with her and her head fell to his chest. Already, she was lamenting the headache she would have in the morning. He squeezed her and kissed the end of her nose.

  “Don’t worry cara. I’ll tuck you into bed. All will be well.”

  “Why did I drink so much wine?!” she wailed.

  He chuckled under his breath at her dramatics then he laid her down on his bed once they’d entered his room and helped her undress. She warmed under his gaze once she was bared to him. For a moment, he looked like an artist admiring his masterpiece and his appreciative stare made her blood run hot, even in her drunken state. She stretched her arms up over her head and arched her back up to tempt him.

  He sucked a breath in through his teeth but shook his head and brought a soft coverlet over her then turned to leave. Cindy started to protest.

  “I’ll be back in a moment,” he said, “I have something for you.”

  She stared up at the canopy over the bed. The twisted white and gold fabric started to blur then he was back with her again. He sat on the edge of the bed holding a wine glass in her direction.

  “Nooo,” she moaned, throwing her arm over her eyes and turning her head away, “no more.”

  “Take it,” he said in a firm manner that, were she not so drunk, she would have challenged, “it will help.”

  He pulled her arm off of her face and she glared at him. He waited with that regal, patient look on his face that she didn’t know whether to love or to hate.

  Then he sighed.

  “Try it, difficult cara. It’s nectar from the island. It will help you sleep and ease your head.”

  He pulled her up to a sitting position and held the glass to her lips.

  She squinted, peering at it suspiciously. It smelled sweet so, when Ronan tipped the glass up to her mouth, she swallowed. It tickled her throat like champagne but tasted like some sort of fruit punch.

  “Mmm, that’s not too bad,” she said, starting to feel sleepy again.

  Ronan laid her back down on the bed and brought the covers up under her chin.

  “Don’t go,” she whispered to him with her eyes fully closed.

  “Shhh,” he said then kissed her forehead. She felt him move away just as she slipped into oblivion.

  Chapter Thirty

  Now that Cindy was asleep, Ronan meant to get an accounting of all that had gone on in his absence. He went to look for his crew. They had much to discuss, he wanted Gades to be ready for whatever came next. There was a storm brewing out over the waters and, in Poseidon’s realm that was never a good sign.

  His search didn’t take him very far. When he stepped foot outside the villa, Finn, Cully, Will and the ever silent Bas were waiting for him in the courtyard. The only one missing was James but that wasn’t unusual since he was most likely securing the sea god’s prized horses for the night. The light mood from before had vanished. All four men wore expressions of the kind that, as a man, Ronan recognized easily. There had been trouble.

  “What goes here?”

  “Nothing all that special Captain,” Will said, “just more of the same.”

  He was cleaning his long hunting knife with a rag. Ronan deduced, from the black slime being wiped from it, that he’d met with some of the underworld’s kind in just the short amount of time it had taken to put Cindy bed.

  “Aye, a lot more of the same,” Finn added and Bas nodded in grim concurrence.

  “More beasties, more monsters,” Cully said, “’tis strange, it is, Captain. Not to say the boys here and I aren’t up for a bit of sport, but since we returned through the Tides two days ago, it’s been as if Poseidon’s portals are leaking in all sorts of foul creatures.”

  “Even some we’ve never seen before,” this came from Will.

  Ronan’s eyes snapped to the younger man.

  “What do they look like?”

  “Come with us, we’ll show you,” Finn was already leading the way out of the courtyard.

  They walked back toward the falls until they came to a grove. Ronan looked all around but saw nothing. He was just about to question his men for stopping when a rivulet of something wet and shiny caught his eye, he crouched down to investigate. The substance was thick and dark and he immediately recognized it as demons’ blood.

  “It was right here,” Cully said. “Ye did kill the thing didn’t ye Bas?”

  Ronan didn’t have time to look up and see the silent man’s nod before a screech ripped through the air as something came at them from the trees.

  Bas was quicker than should have been possible for a man his size. He swung a giant arm at the demon, knocking it back before it could reach his captain. Ronan was on his feet in an instant and pushed through his men to get at the creature. Just as he landed on its chest, a chorus of screeches sounded from behind. The demon’s friends had arrived.

  Looking down, Ronan was met with the glowing blue eyes of the beast. The same demons that had tried to kill Cindy were now making free with his island!

  “Anax,” it hissed, spitting up dark blood with the word.

  Once again, Ronan was caught without sufficient weaponry and pulled his boot knife up to slash a line across the thing’s throat. It took several swipes but, finally, he managed to sever the Miserian’s head from its body.

  He turned as he stood up, covered in demon blood, and went to help the others. There were just four more creatures, so far as he could tell. Bas and Finn had the upper hand of their two so he left well enough alone but Will had lost his sword and was fending off two demons with just that hunting knife of his. Ronan searched the ground and made a quick recovery of Will’s sword from the bushes, then stepped into the fight.

  With their backs to him, the demons proved clueless enough. With only two swift strokes he divested the pair of their heads. Their bodies fell apart from one another like a melon cleaved in two, a spray of black blood wet the area.

  Finn and Bas looked over at them. Both men had a badly damaged Miserian at their feet, but he knew they weren’t dead yet.

  “Clean these up,” Ronan said to Will, handing his pouch of mineral sand to the other man. Then he strode over to Finn’s kill and swung Will’s sword down to finish the creature.

  Bas got the idea after watching him and sliced the other demon’s head from its body just as it began to stir. Ronan nodded.

  “You have to take their heads to ensure a kill with these ones,” he said as Will came forward to throw sand on the bodies. The gods’ mineral sand
disintegrated demon flesh.

  “What are they?” Finn asked, wiping blood from his brow.

  “Miserians, is what they’re called.” Ronan watched the demons smolder and melt away to nothing. “They’re bastards of the underworld.”

  “A new type of hellkind?” Will asked

  Ronan shook his head.

  “No, they’re ancient, created by Titans in Tartarus and left to fester for millennia. They were entombed in an underworld prison long ago and forgotten about until now.”

  “So, naturally, they’re not a happy lot,” this came from through the trees as Cully reappeared amongst their group, wiping at his brow then cleaning blood off of his sword. Ronan had nearly forgotten the Irishman was with them.

  Cully pointed back over his shoulder into the trees.

  “I finished one that was hiding back there,” he said. “At first, I thought it was James for it wore your brother’s likeness,” he said to Will, “but when its friends let out that howl, the thing changed forms.”

  “Shifters,” Finn ground out.

  They weren’t strangers to the beasts of the otherworld on this island but, in all the time they’d resided here, they’d come to learn the different types of creatures that visited. It was unlikely that anything new would be able to start slipping through Poseidon’s portal without help.

  “Someone’s leading them,” Ronan said, “one confused straggler through the Tides would be understandable but not a whole group of them together. They are in the earth realm as well. Circle the island to be certain we got all of them,” he ordered then handed Will his sword, “we’ll come up with a plan in the morning.”

  They nodded and started off. Finn, Will and James went one way, Bas and Cully went another. Ronan watched them go then spared a look at the dark puddles on the ground. As captain, he would normally go with his men but, given what had happened on earth, he had to get back to Cindy.

  The blood fury in his veins surged and, once again, it was the thought of her in his arms, not the fight he’d just had, that provoked the feeling. He raked a hand through his hair. Maybe Thema had been right, he was a monster. She’d said that, someday, the fury would completely take over his every thought.

  He shook his head in denial and focused on the vision of blonde curls and stormy blue eyes. The warrior from his visions, the one that took no prisoners and showed no mercy, that man couldn’t have her! He’d brought Cindy to this island, he’d protect her from it, even if that meant protecting her from himself.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  The Mountain

  “State your intel, agent.”

  The cell connection was bad. Static combined with Shep’s gravelly voice to make deciphering his coded words a nightmare and Trent was already in a bad mood. He balked a little at being called “agent” like the rest of his dad’s foot soldiers but it was mainly the aftereffects of his latest ordeal that made him testy.

  “End death,” was all he said.

  Trent was up top, outside the deceptive mine entrance of The Keepers’ mountain base, freezing his ass off as icy wind blasted his sweat covered body. He was shaky and nauseous ─ always the case after he’d been through a translation.

  “That’s all?” Shep practically yelled over the phone.

  “Basically,” Trent answered, fighting to get the words out over his chattering teeth, “either that or ‘death of ending’, you know how obscure a translation is. There were also some words in a language that no one could place the origins of then Eagle Eye said something about ‘worlds thrown apart’ and ‘legions united’. Thirteen didn’t really know what to make of it.”

  “Any more intel on Aura’s exact location for when we arrive?” Shep asked.

  “No,” Trent answered and his gut twisted, “none of us have been able to reach her or Six. Thirteen has tried to make contact but her attempts have gone unanswered. She’s worried, keeps talking about having to watch those damn cats of Aura’s but I can tell she’s scared. We’re still trying to reach Harbinger too. He probably has some answers but no one’s heard from him.”

  “Did Eagle give us anything else? Anything about a protector?”

  Trent shook his head in the dark. He had to get inside soon, before the deep sleep that followed a translation hit him. He always resisted the consequent exhaustion as long as he could to put off the dreams that came with it. It was hard to tell which was worse, receiving the oracle’s visions or the aftereffects.

  “No, I’m almost wondering if it could be Harbinger himself, but that would suck, since I can’t stand the guy.”

  Another grunt came from Shep’s end of the line.

  “Let me know if anything else comes up,” Shep’s voice was getting harder to hear and Trent couldn’t tell if the signal was breaking up or if his fatigue fogged brain just couldn’t process anymore, “we’ll be on base tomorrow.”

  “Sure thing Commander. Over and out.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Ronan rushed into the villa to get to Cindy. When his feet hit the threshold though, the ground started to shake. It was just a rumble at first but then it became violent. The walls heaved and things crashed to the floor. Eventually, he was thrown down in front of the fountain. Water wet his back and neck and his hands slid on the floor until, as suddenly as it began, the upheaval stopped.

  All his senses heightened in awareness as he felt a being in the room with him. His head was down but he didn’t have to see to know that the presence was a greater entity than any that had ever visited the island before. Power surged from a central point, just a few feet away from where Ronan was, and it filled the space with wave after oppressive wave of intensity. Not even Thema could compare. He tried to bring his head up to meet this new foe but the brilliance of light and energy coming from the fountain made him drop it again instantly.

  He squeezed his eyes shut and felt a searing heat on his skin. Just before he thought he would burn, the feeling receded. Ronan sagged into the floor, all his strength drained. He fought to breathe. The power had been dampened but the energy this other possessed hummed all around him like a warning.

  “Give me just one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you and your men right now!”

  The voice seethed and thundered in a multitude of tones that further vibrated the walls and shot Ronan through, right to the core of his bones. He cringed and curled in on himself until the cacophony faded and honed down to a single tenor before dying into absolute silence. Through the pain, he thought about how fortunate it was that he’d given Cindy the island potion earlier. Hopefully, she would remain asleep and he could keep her hidden from whatever malevolent force this was.

  He tried to glare his defiance at the presence but, when he did, bile rose up in the back of his throat and he coughed to keep from retching. The pressure all around him eased a slight bit then and when the voice spoke again it was in a single tone.

  “Well, messenger, what have you to say for yourself?”

  Ronan knew then that this immortal was one he’d never dealt with face to face. This being hadn’t graced the island with an appearance since the time of legend. For him to come now did not bode well. Poseidon hadn’t been here since before Atlantis had fallen.

  Ronan brought his head up. The god had chosen not to appear in tangible form for this meeting. Still, his projected image was nothing short of impressive. He stood eight feet tall coming up out of the water of the fountain, his divine form heavily muscled. His hair and full beard were the color of dark burnished copper that gleamed in the god’s aura. A trident rested in his right fist and his eyes swirled dark blue, green and black with the angry intensity of a tempest as he leveled them on the space where Ronan stood.

  “I say,” Ronan answered through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse, “that you have either gone senile over eternity or are nothing short of a fool to have trusted Nereids to plan out your mission…God of All Seas.”

  Poseidon’s eyes flashed like a lightning bolt and the air sizzled w
ith fearsome energy. Ronan turned his head to the side to shield his face and didn’t look at the god directly but he held his stance rigid. He’d had enough of being toyed with, first enslaved to Thema and now at the beck and call of the sea god himself. He was through appeasing these frivolous beings that saw earth and its inhabitants as diversions. Anger boiled up inside of him and he spoke again though he did not look up.

  “You gods sit on your golden thrones off in another dimension, laughing your asses off at the havoc you wreak on the human world!”

  A great trembling shook the room and the god’s sentiment of, I should crush you where you stand, was felt rather than heard.

  “How dare you judge the gods?” Poseidon roared. “All my efforts have gone to defying prophecy and saving humans from a horrific fate.”

  Ronan furrowed his brow, not knowing what to make of this revelation. Still, he crossed his arms, the picture of defiance.

  It must have been the waif that had come into his life like a wrecking ball, dangling divine charms and railing at him every chance she got, that made him buck against his fate of confinement. He wanted to be free to be with Cindy, to be her protector. If Thema got her wish and the blood fury took over his soul, he would have to send her away from him or give her to his men to protect. The thought tore at his gut. She was his! He would fight the demons, even the very gods for her. For the human world too if it came to that.

  Another, somewhere inside him, heard his unspoken declaration of possession and smiled. That same one licked its lips with greed and hunger at the mention of war. Ronan struggled against the feeling as the beast inside him roared to life. He shook his head against the wave of the curse and, when he brought his eyes up, he stared directly into those of the sea god.

  Poseidon’s eyes widened and he dipped his chin.

  Pain lanced through Ronan’s head the instant he met the god’s eyes and his knees buckled underneath him as he crashed to the floor again. He clutched at his temples as an onslaught of every vision he’d ever had rushed through his mind in a sickening blur ─ and then there were more…so many more.