by A. K. Koonce
Ah, what if longer than a second passed and they didn’t antagonize each other? The world may never know.
“We hit some rock and coral reef,” Sinister whispers, his gaze scanning over the edge of the ship to peer down into the waters below. “We’re too far off the shoreline to wade in. Let’s trail around and see if we can get any closer.”
Chaos lifts me with ease, and when I find my balance again, I look out at the dark island still a hundred yards away. It’s quiet here. No birds. Nothing. Even the demanding waves of the sea are a cautious, meek sound. This place feels untouched from the world. It’s a chilling sort of isolation.
“It’s quiet.” Rime’s statement is filled with severe hesitancy. “Nature itself only quiets for predators.”
Predators. Like a few harmless shifters and one sweet demon or…something else?
It takes a bit more magic for Sinister to dislodge us from the coral. Cracking and scraping rakes along the bottom of the ship, and Sin grimaces with each nasty sound that comes from far below. In harsh silence, we travel for over thirty minutes trying to find a safe place to drop anchor. When we round the island, I find we’re right back where we started after only a short amount of time. We’re not any closer than we were before. The sharp rock and coral are still an obstacle below.
Sinister halts his guiding magic. The boat sways in the breeze, but for the most part, we don’t drift far.
“Can you vanish us onto the island?” Chaos glances from the shadowed trees in the distance and then to me.
I swallow hard when I realize how easy this would be if I were a stronger mage.
“No, I have to be able to visualize a place, to know what it looks like to go there.”
Sinister and Chaos both nod, but Rime only glances down over the side of the ship.
“You could always…move the coral reefs.” Rime’s suggestion is carefully worded, and it’s like he knows my response before I even say it.
“I’m not dislodging coral just to make our lives easier. They’re a major part of the ecosystem, Rime.”
He nods as if it truly were an expected response from a beast tamer. He acts like he knows me so well.
The smallest smile pulls at my lips because I know he does and I can’t even deny it.
Without a word, Sinister walks toward the edge of the ship again, peering down at the dark, gentle waves. He seems to consider something for the shortest moment. And then he lifts his hands above his head and pulls his black shirt off in one fluid motion. His abdomen flexes when he looks down and starts unbuttoning his jeans.
Chaos glances to me with his brows furrowing together, and it admittedly takes me longer than a second to question why Sinister is stripping in front of me.
“What are you doing, Sin?”
He kicks off his boots and jeans, and he stands there as if it’s the most natural thing in the world for him to be here on a naval ship in just his underwear. A smile quirks his lips, and he strides toward me with all the confidence of a demon, but also all the sex appeal of man with every part of himself on display.
“Trust me,” he whispers, pressing his lips firmly against mine.
My fingers brush along the curve of his smooth shoulder for only a moment before he pulls away. And before he does, the faint feel of scales form over his perfect skin. My lips part, and Chaos and Rime watch the demon closely as inky scales slide down over the beautiful tattooed words on his arm. His body tenses, stiffening like even he’s unsure of what he should expect. When the inky color spreads, eating up his jawline and then his face, he looks up at me once more from his spot just near the frame of the ship.
And then he leaps out into shadowy waves.
Fresh wood sinks into my nails as I clutch the side of the ship tightly, staring down at the swaying dark waves, waiting for him; waiting without a breath in my lungs to see him come up.
Where is he?
Chaos’ palm presses the middle of my back, and he, too, watches every wave that slaps into the ship. Rime’s arm tenses against mine while his other hand grips the frame so hard his knuckles turn white.
Minutes tick by, building painful tension in my lungs.
What if the tales were true? What if the water women do exist? What if there’s something deep and dark lurking just beneath the surface here?
And it has him now.
“Sinister!” I shout his name into the sharp silence. I say it over and over and over again until the sound of it scratches against my throat with escalating fear.
I fucking lost him.
Again.
Smooth inky scales slink through the surface of the water. The lurking creature bobs up just briefly before sinking deep into the water below. The harsh tone of my voice quiets into a shaking breath, and my gaze lingers on the spot the beast just was.
Is it…the spine-chilling myths I’ve always been warned about, or is it my friend?
Farther I lean over the edge of the massive ship, and Chaos’ palm wraps around my hip like he’s seconds away from tearing me away if need be. My wide eyes scan the calm surface of the washing waves, peering deep for any sign of movement.
“Sinister?” I whisper so quietly the sound barely leaves my lips.
Goddess, what if he transformed himself into some sort of loch ness monster? I love animals. I do. But I don’t think I could look at him if he was as ugly as the sea creatures my father’s men used to laugh about. What if it’s worse, though?
There are the most astoundingly unnatural things lurking at the bottom of the ocean.
What if that’s Sin now?
I swallow hard, my breaths coming in shuddering heaps the longer I look into the dark waves.
Water clashes up, reaching up and splaying violently across my face.
Magic rips to life in my fingertips. Chaos pulls me hard against his chest.
And then a sweet but strange noise filters through the air. It’s a high-pitched tone, but the sound itself is something I’ve heard countless times.
It’s the sound of a wild horse.
My eyes flash open wide. Glittering black scales shine against the moonlight while long, ebony hair wafts around the beast swimming with ease in the water below.
He isn’t a horse at all.
“He’s a kelpie.” A smile is soft on my lips, and of all the eerie animals that were floating through my mind, this beautiful sea horse was not one of them.
His strong hooves clatter against the side of the ship as he wades in the water below. It was a good choice. He’ll be able to navigate the water as well as the land once we get there.
“Come here, and I’ll help you down onto him.” Rime takes my hand and guides me toward the lowest part of the ship. The beam we used to board the ship lies off to the side and is completely useless now. A rope would be great. We could really use a rope right now.
The simple thought tosses magic right out of me. A rope twirls down, and the end of it lands in my hand, making me appear very well thought out and in control of this moment rather than just living off of happy accidents.
Rime’s pale brows rise toward his hairline, and it seems even he’s impressed with my quick thinking. Rime grabs the opposite end, and I take the time to wrap the thick rope around my waist. Everything feels unfamiliar and reckless in this moment. It’s like I’m doing all of this on autopilot but I really have no idea if it’s the right move or not. With my heels digging into the ledge, my body weight hanging over, sending fear all through me, Rime and Chaos start to lower me down. Smooth wood slides over my bare feet.
Okay. This isn’t so bad. This is easy. I can do this.
A heavy wave crashes into the side of the ship, and I’m jostled on impact. My knees give out the tension I wasn’t even aware I was carrying. The smallest shriek slips over my lips before my face slams into the side of the ship. My fists tighten onto the rope, my body bumping awkwardly onto the wooden structure.
I hang there with pain attacking my body at all angles.
To say I feel a little bit like fish bait right now would be an understatement.
“You’re all right, Low,” Chaos says calmly.
The rope that I’m strung up in lowers a bit faster now, my body not doing any part of the work to assist in that matter.
My jaw clenches as tightly as my eyes do while I just breathe in the salty sea. I reach so hard for a calming breath. Rough layers of rope bite into my palms and lower back, and still I just breathe through the pain.
And then cold water licks against my toes. The moment I feel it, a strong body slips beneath me. I’m lowered until I’m sitting on the most beautiful beast I’ve ever seen. Slowly, my fingers glide over his neck. The inky scales aren’t rough and impenetrable like the dragon shifter’s. They’re soft and slick, glistening in the moonlight. My legs and part of my skirt are submerged around his back while his long dark hair tickles my thighs. Bright crimson eyes look peacefully back at me.
Everything really is all right now.
Two crashing objects drop into the water from high above. Waves of the sea lap harder against me, dousing my stomach with cold water with the impact of their fall. Rime comes up first. His pale skin shimmers from the reflected starlight along the waters. He’s shirtless and wastes no time swimming the long distance toward the shore. Chaos comes up with a big breath filling his lungs. Water clings to his dark lashes, and he meets my eyes for only a moment before swimming through the water toward the island as well.
At a slower but more majestic pace, Sinister leads me through the ocean. Every step he takes is fluid and almost gentle toward the surrounding ocean life. The move of the sea horse’s legs, the strength of his body, is completely careful as he glides over and around the ancient but sharp reefs and jagged rock.
The bottom of the sandy shore comes into view through the clear water when we’re just a few yards away from the beach. Big trees shade the island into an even darker appearance. The white sand is a stark contrast to the deep shadows.
Everything about this place feels…unnerving.
The silence Rime mentioned is thicker now, if that’s possible. The waves of the ocean settle, and I look out to the blanket of water to find it unmoving. It’s a flat, slate surface. The breath in my lungs catches as I stare out at the sea of glass.
It’s unnatural. I can’t decide if it’s a form of magic doing it or if my mind is just playing tricks on me.
Slick, delicate scales skim against my calf. A slicing gasp rips from my throat, and I pull my leg closer toward Sinister’s side. The kelpie huffs through his nostrils, his gills along the side of his neck moving with the intake of air.
I swallow down the irrational thoughts as my gaze looks toward Sinister’s scaly tail flicking through the waters. It was just his tail. That’s all it was. It was nothing. I’m just nervous and thinking too much. I’m sure the sea isn’t as calm as it seems either. I bet it’s rippling and crashing just as it always is. Just as oceans do. I’m imagining things, that’s all.
Rime and Chaos stand with the still water just below their knees now. They’re only a few yards from the bank. I’m several feet behind them, trailing at a slow, gracious pace.
Another flicking feeling of slimy scales skim against the bottom of my foot, tickling there. The feel of it jolts right through me and the kelpie beneath me has the same reaction. His front legs reel up high, clashing from the waters and stomping down hard with heavy beats of his big hooves. The gallop of the beast is thrashing, making my fingers dig in the long strands of his mane. A slashing, pent-up wave crashes into us. It blinds me with salty water. The jarring steps of the kelpie dislodges me. I teeter, my palms gripping, sliding, and eventually falling away entirely from the person I trusted most in all of this.
Sinister’s strong body washes away like debris in the sea. A wave claims me. I’m sucked under. The slashing movement of my hands meet the surface of the water before another crash of the sea sweeps me right back under. I can’t tell which way is up and which way is down. Until sharp pain slices into my palm. Salty water stings the wound. The jagged feel of reefs catches at my skin and slices through it so easily I’m cursing my love-hate relationship with nature in this moment.
Rime was right.
Fucking Rime was right. I should have just moved the ancient reefs.
The feel of slick scales tightening around my torso halts my thoughts and slashing movements entirely.
All I feel is the slimy constricting way the thing is slithering over my stomach, my arms, my neck. My eyes widen into the darkness of the sea.
Flashes of movement sway, but nothing can be seen.
Fierce fire consumes my lungs with every breath I refuse to take beneath the waves.
The hold on me tightens, sharp nails bite into my arms, and then her alarmingly beautiful face haunts into my line of sight. A serrated white crown made of delicate bones is pressed against her temple.
The last thing I see of her is the jagged sharpness of her smile, the long, wafting white hair that sways around the most angelically frightening face.
As I said, it’s the last thing I see…
Before Sinister’s lithe body drifts down behind the water woman. He looks fragilely human now. The shape of the kelpie is long gone, an only a demon is here to fear. His fingers wrap around the woman’s throat, just over the thin slits of her gills. The twisting tail of hers loosens as she struggles in his arms. The slithering tail unwinds from me. But it twists right back onto another body. She snakes herself around Sinister, and I’m slashing my way toward them at a painfully slow pace.
The more she entangles her grip around his chest, the harder she stares into his eyes. The glint of her silver gaze shines with a romantic promise. The shift in his glaring gaze changes so quickly into a hooded, sated sort of look. I feel it. I feel the tingling energy of whatever magic she’s working. His body slackens, his hands relaxing against her slender throat. Her hold on him tightens unbearably while her sharp teeth reveal just an inch from his mouth, and then my own power rumbles to life at the sight of what she’s doing to him.
Magic swirls from my fingertips, but instead of casting that angry power at her, my fingers twist harshly through her hair, and I’m pulling her down, deeper into the dark sea. A vengeful part of me just wants to rip her apart piece by scaly piece for using her lusty power on someone I love. Magic sparks through my fingertips as I wrap them around her delicate throat and I sting that fiery feeling right into her skin.
A high-pitched shriek echoes peculiarly through the water. Her grip on him falls away, and her body convulses uncontrollably the more I shove the thrashing energy into her. I lose sight of any source of light as we fall lower and lower into the shadowy depths of the sea. And before I can fully process what happened, a hand takes mine. Long, tattooed fingers pull at my arm, and Sinister tears me away from the sinking water woman. The strong kicks of his legs move rapidly, and my head lifts the violent waves in a matter of seconds. Cold air hits my lungs, burning all through me, making it painful just to fucking breathe.
“You’re out of your mind, love. You were going to drown down there just to watch that woman die.” Sinister holds me against him as he makes quick, seamless strokes through the sea.
He’s right. I was fully prepared to murder a mythical mermaid just because she’d glanced at Sinister the wrong way. Maybe I should pause to consider just how much of a crazy girlfriend I really am.
In my defense, she fully wanted to eat his heart out.
Chaos and Rime swim into my line of sight.
“What the fuck was that?” Rime reaches for me, and Sinister releases me, falling back to a slower pace. His breaths fan out in heavy heaps, and he looks like he needs just as much assistance right now as I do.
“Water women. They’re very much real, it seems.” Sinister keeps swimming toward the shore, and Chaos falls back a little to swim at his side.
Rime’s gaze flashes over every move the sea makes, his fingers digging into my hip so painfully I ga
sp, but he never releases his hold from me. Even when he starts to wade through the water, he simply cradles me to his chest and keeps me close. My fingers dig into his slick shoulders, my head feeling weighted and tired.
“You killed one of ours,” a voice like the howling wind says from behind us.
The stiffness of Rime’s shoulders becomes impossibly more rigid. He turns, keeping me tucked against him.
A beautiful, enchanting woman sways in the sea. Pale skin is tinged with a hint of soft blue, while big silver eyes look from me to Chaos, who stands just two feet from the dangerous mermaid. Her shiny black hair clings to the perfect curve of her breasts, and the small of her stomach disappears beneath the waves, leaving the rest of her body a mystery. But I know. The tail they have isn’t glittering and pretty like other mermaids. It’s long and snake-like. Dangerous. Deadly.
“I like trades, though. Perhaps we can trade.” The glint in her steely gaze slides toward Chaos.
The moment her attention falls on him, a spell of some sort falls across my mate. I can see it in the way his big shoulders settle, his lips parting without words.
An icy breeze sends a chill shooting down my spine, and without thought, I’m shoving away from Rime to stand in the deep waters. She slithers a little closer, closing the distance between her and the shifter standing senseless in front of her. Her long, thin fingers reach out to him like knives waiting to sink right in.
“Wait.” Rime halts her movements, and with confident steps he moves past me, past Sinister, coming closer and closer to the beautiful, deadly woman. The ice dragon is just as dangerous, though. His confident steps should be a warning to her. Rime walks in water like he’s walking on air. Nothing is in his way.
Not right now. Not when a water woman has her sights set on Chaos.
“I like trades, too,” Rime finally says when he’s near enough. A soft, boyish smile that I’ve never seen before tilts Rime’s lip. It’s a flirtatious look, even if he shyly never meets her eyes. His bare arm slides against Chaos, and the empty look in Chaos’ eyes is hard sight to see. “I think a woman like you is deserving of more than just one man, don’t you?” Rime tips his jaw up to her, and that sparkling, hunger grows in her gaze.