by J B Black
“He barely sleeps,” Athanasius informed his younger brother with an exhausted yet adoring smile. “You should prepare for that.”
At the reminder of his own child, grief welled in the god’s heart. “I’m sure I’ll be coming to you begging for advice until you want to run me out.”
“Never,” Athanasius promised, and burying the longing in his heart, Nereus took comfort in his brother’s kindness as he returned to the sea.
Chapter Seventeen
The sea stood clear. Bright skies allowed them to see further than usual, but as the sun rose, the keen eye Bellamy kept on Mar failed, and the god disappeared amongst the waves. High in the crow’s nest, the blond stood, desperately scanning the horizon. There had to be a sign. He had spent the night following the god. This couldn’t be how it ended.
“Bellamy, why don’t I try?” Thomas asked, climbing up beside him. The young man held out his hand, and reluctantly, the blond handed him the spyglass.
“He was there.”
Thomas patted Bellamy on the back pityingly. “We’ll find him.”
“He was there,” the blond insisted.
Before the other man could give him some ridiculous platitude, Bellamy shrugged off Thomas’s hand, ducking out of the crow’s nest and climbing down with the conch safely in a satchel at his side with the cuff alongside. His body ached. Every injury seemed to haunt him, but he pushed through. If Mar lived, Nereus was in danger. He had to find the god and kill him before he could amass power once more.
“You’re exhausted. Go to sleep,” Ned urged, but Bellamy shook his head.
“I saw him. You saw him. He was alive,” Bellamy murmured, hating the way his hands shook. “The sea is calm. Sky’s clear. How did I lose him?”
Raising a single brow, the older man sighed. “He’s a god. If he’s alive, he’s still a hell of a lot more powerful than anyone on this ship.”
Beneath them, the ship lurched, crashing as if running a ground. If Ned intended his words to be prophetic, he could not have spoken more perfectly. In the far corner of Mar’s territory, an island stood hidden and separate from the rest. A piercing point into a strange hold of realms, it could not be seen, but it could be found.
As they crashed upon the island, being thrown around as the ship teetered, held mostly by the sorcerer’s will, a paradise came into view. Towering palm trees lined the beach. White sand — smooth and finer than any the men had ever seen — covered the beaches, and the soft sounds of tropical birds sang in the trees.
“Have we died?” Bill asked.
Shaking his head, Ned inhaled slowly as if scenting the air. “This is Mar’s stronghold. He must have planned to gather here if he lost.”
Bellamy smiled, nodding. “Perfect. Then he must be vulnerable.” He raced grabbing a length of rope. Ned screamed his name, but Bellamy ignored him, leaping over the side to swing down across the shallow water and land in upon the beach. “Prepare the ship to get out. Eat nothing from the island!”
However, Bill landed behind him. “You’re not going this way alone.”
“I can’t ask you to come with me. This could be suicide,” Bellamy warned.
Other men came, landing about, including Thomas who stumbled, falling onto his knees, but the younger man stood up with a smile. “Which is why you aren’t going alone!”
Bill nodded, setting a warm hand upon the blond’s shoulder. “You might’ve had your own ship for a while, but you’re still part of the crew. You’re still family.”
Tired as he was, it was hard to fight back the tears which lined his eyes, but biting his lip, Bellamy did his best. “Then let’s go kill a god.”
Off they went, sticking together with their swords drawn. From the tall mountain at the island’s center, a river ran, and it emptied into the cove where their ship had landed. Keeping it in sight, the group trudged into the woods. If Mar came, he would hopefully stick to the water. Otherwise, finding him on the island could take days.
Traveling further into the woods, Bellamy kept one hand on the satchel. His mind bounced between the choices. If he blew the conch, he could bring Nereus to him. The god’s power permitted such a quick conclusion to this hunt for Mar, but the blond pirate loathed the idea of using his favor to bring Nereus into danger. Worse still, despite how noble he wanted to be, he hated how the god would have every reason not to permit a second favor and allow Bellamy to finally find the mother who had abandoned him.
On the other hand, there was the cuff. God of the sea or not, Mar brought the hunt to an island, and as long as Bellamy stayed out of the water, he would be invincible against the god. Even in the water, the cuff served him better. His heart ached at the very thought. A piece of him yearned to never touch the damn thing again. That same piece longed for Nereus. Longed to touch him, kiss him, hold him once more.
Caught between his thoughts and immune to their enthralling call, Bellamy failed to see the sirens — beautiful and bathing naked at the foot of a waterfall — until his men dropped their swords about him.
Thomas fell at one of the siren’s feet, smiling dazedly up at her like a puppy. The other men fared much the same. Even Bill stumbled to kneel before the sirens. Their vicious eyes focused on Bellamy, and their song shifted. His men rose, turning upon him with rope as they attacked.
“Fuck! Bill! Snap out of it!” Bellamy pleaded, but the men kept coming, and he could not bear to strike them down. Desperate, he reached for his satchel, but it was too late. They knocked his sword from his hand, pulling his arms behind his back.
“I’ve never met a mortal immune to us,” one of the sirens huffed, letting her long hair cascade as she stood. “What are you hiding?”
“Because he is the mate of a god,” Mar announced, crossing out from behind the waterfall thundering flow.
The sirens’ eyes widened. The one who spoke, played with her hair as she eyed Bellamy with more than a small amount of trepidation. “You can use him to ransom your kingdom, then?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think Nereus would mind being free of his mate. He spoke of not needing or wanting one, and with a child already in his belly, there’s no reason for him to do anything for an unwanted, unbonded mate,” Mar informed the sirens, and the lament in his tone contrasted darkly with the cruelty in his gaze.
Bellamy swallowed. “Child?”
“Oh? Didn’t he tell you?” Mar offered a shark-like grin. “Nereus is with child. Yours, I presume.”
Heart thundering in his chest, the blond reached out instinctively for the bond, but it floated strangely, a frayed tether attached to nothing. Caught only in the breeze.
Mar clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree on that one. You likely weren’t told of his parents either. His dam treated his mate terribly. Slept with a mortal to conceive an heir without any consideration. Gods have all the power in these things. Life as a god’s mate can be cruel.”
But that wasn’t right. Bellamy struggled against the hold upon him, growling, “Nereus isn’t —”
“I had a mate once. A beautiful sorcerer who I adored. Often, I paid him favor, but the man never acknowledged me,” Mar informed the young pirate, caught up in his own grief. “I revealed our connection, requesting to court him after years of favors and gifts, but he laughed in my face, claiming a selkie as his mate. A selkie who had abandoned him! Who had mated with another! She had done nothing but hurt him, yet I was so easily dismissed!”
The story seemed eerily familiar, and Bellamy bit his tongue, holding back the thought as his mind turned to Ned. Mates sounded like pain. They were tragedies, played out over and over, and the agony of the cuff and Nereus’s leaving struck Bellamy as just another step in what seemed a long line of mates disappointing one another. Of fate tethering two people who met at the wrong time and couldn’t find the strength to overcome everything in their way.
“Perhaps the matebond was one-sided,” one of the sirens suggested.
Mar laughe
d, nodding. “I thought this too. Desperate, I begged for a kiss to confirm, and our bond fell off him like water off a duck’s back.”
The sirens awwed at once, offering pitying looks as they murmured, “How cruel!”
“For years, I mourned, but then I understood my purpose. I cut the one-sided bond. My people needed me whole, and I couldn’t protect them as I was. ” Mar stepped forward, holding up a pair of scissors. “I could offer you the same. Nereus is cruel. A child with no true understanding of the world, trapped as he was by his dam in the Underworld. I can free you from him.”
That would be the easy path. He could avoid the complications of the cuff if he cut himself off from the bond even without it. Without the longing, he could make his wish, blow the conch, and complete the one goal he had since he was a child. Those little ornate scissors would end the ache inside him. It would be so simple. What reason did he have to pick a side between two gods? None — not if Mar cut the bond away.
“No,” Bellamy whispered. “If Nereus rejects me, I will hear it from him. I need to hear it from him.”
“You get a choice. Even if the bond isn’t one-sided, there is always a choice. You can reject him,” Mar assured, and for a moment, he seemed to honestly want to make sure Bellamy understood that, but when the pirate shook his head, the sea god sighed. “Then you are a fool.”
“What do we do with him?” the sirens asked.
Mar glanced at the pirates. “They’ll rebel if you push them too far. Already, they shake at holding one of their own.” Taking a sword from one of the pirates, Mar stepped forward. “I do not want to kill you, boy. No one should die for this, but Nereus must realize his arrogance.”
“And how about you?” a familiar voice called as Ned stepped up with his own sword drawn. “Did you learn your lesson, Mar?”
Gray eyes widened, and when the sirens opened their mouths to sing, the god hissed, “Leave us!” They sputtered, hesitating, and he huffed, “I am still a god. These mortals cannot do me any harm.”
“But, my lord, he hurt you,” one of the sirens insisted, and at first, Bellamy believed she meant he had after the rebounded attack, but her eyes were on Ned.
Mar shook his head, pressing his lips together. “Such hurts were not his fault.”
“Well, that’s one lesson learned,” Ned huffed.
“He loved you!” the siren cried, moving to strike, but her sisters held her back. “Sorcerers are always such greedy, selfish monsters!”
When the sirens vanished behind the waterfall, Ned cocked an eyebrow. “Are you going to undo their spell on my men?”
“You can hardly expect me not to defend myself,” Mar gruffly retorted.
“Send them back to the ship. Move the ship out to sea. I’ve left instructions for them to return to Kallavera,” Ned explained. He sidled over between Bellamy and Mar. “Give up the feud with Nereus, and you’ll have me.”
Bellamy lunged forward, only held back by Bill who remained in a trance as the blond yelled, “No!”
“Hush, Bellamy,” Ned scolded. “This has nothing to do with you.”
Mar crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I cut the cord which tied me to you. What makes you think I even want you?”
“You sent away your sirens. For decades, you did as I asked without the slightest consideration from me. We drank together, sharing stories, and I stole every ounce of gold you told me lay hidden in the depths. Cut the cord all you like, but somewhere in that bitter heart of yours, you fell in love with the cold bastard I am, and no matter how selfish I was, you couldn’t burn me out,” Ned announced with a smirk, and his eyes traced over the god, who stepped back as if cut by the words.
“And what? You say I have you and then run away when it suits. I let you use me again and again, Edward Rowell. I have nothing left to offer you,” the god spat, a cornered cat more than the warrior he had once seemed.
Smiling, Ned returned his sword to its sheath. “We’ll bond. Fully.”
With a snort, Mar rolled his eyes. “If I give up the feud, I have no territory. I’ll be a demigod. Unable to bond.”
“Then you can keep this island.”
Bellamy gaped. “Ned, you can’t be serious.”
Glancing over his shoulder, the older man shrugged. His ever present calm which once brought Bellamy such peace only irked the younger man. “This is my choice, Bellamy.”
“But what about the selkie?” the blond retorted. “You loved her, didn’t you? Aren’t you still looking…” The words failed him, and his eyes widened as the truth unfolded before him. How had he never realized? “Did you know? From the beginning, did you always know?”
Ned smiled. “You must look like your father, but...but you have her eyes.”
Tears gathered in Bellamy’s eyes, and shaking his head, he cursed fate. Cursed love. Cursed his mother and her leaving. “I was going to find her.”
“I know, Bell. I know.”
Watching the two, Mar frowned. “Selkie? This boy — this boy is hers?” Shaking his head, the god growled, “Again! Again, I’m just a monster to be fed. A piper to be paid. I am nothing to you, and I never will be. You are a cruel man, Edward Rowell.”
Sword in hand, Mar charged. Ned barely had time to draw, but with the god’s attention on him. One by one, the men around Bellamy vanished — though whether it was Mar’s power or Ned’s doing, the blond could not tell. When Bill vanished, leaving Bellamy free. He reached into his satchel. Pulling the conch free, he lifted it to his lips, and holding the favor in his mind, he blew the call.
Chapter Eighteen
Nereus flinched, covering his ears though it did no good. Bellamy blew the conch. No matter how much the god wanted to ignore the summons, he had a promise to keep, and a god was only as good as his word. Taking a deep breath, Nereus settled himself. With any luck, he would listen, fulfill the damn wish, and be done with his mate. Unfortunately, the words which buzzed about his brain proved harder to answer than he had hoped.
“That asshole,” the sea god hissed.
Preecha frowned. “My lord?”
“The favor,” Nereus growled at the cecaelia in lieu of an explanation before he teleported away.
If nothing else, the shield around the island and Mar’s presence were worth the trip. Throwing up a shield, Nereus appeared before Bellamy’s fallen from, frowning as he cast a wall between Captain Rowell and Mar.
“How the hell am I supposed to know where your mother is?” the god hissed at Bellamy. Seeing the man hurt.
Even knocked over and bruised, the blond looked good. His eyes burned into the god, destroying what little resistance he had, but Nereus refused to bend. Not again. He couldn’t afford to feel Bellamy’s warmth. If he did, he feared he’d go mad.
Climbing to his feet, Bellamy huffed. “I think Mar’s the more pressing matter!”
“I’m a god, Captain Drake! I made a promise, and I came here to fulfill it,” Nereus roared. Beneath his feet, the island trembled.
The blond pirate stumbled, and as the dark-haired sea god focused on keeping Mar from stabbing Captain Rowell, Bellamy wrapped an arm around him, pressing the warm palm of his hand to Bellamy’s stomach. Those dark eyes pierced Nereus to the core.
“Ship went down, Nereus,” Bellamy reminded him. “Not exactly a captain, and if you’re looking for a way to track my mother, why don’t you use our child?”
All blood drained from Nereus’s face. How did he know? There wasn’t even a visible curve yet. Laying in his own bed, Nereus sucked in the muscles of his stomach, and even then only the barest curve hinted of their child. Only Preecha had known the truth, and the cecaelia would never betray him.
Before he could question the pirate, Bellamy’s jaw dropped. “Oh fuck...Mar was right. You’re pregnant.”
“I’ll kill you, you selfish ass,” Mar roared, smashing into the shield, but he seemed uncertain who to attack. His anger and pain flared out about him in a vicious aura, but while his blows struck mostly the
shield between him and the pair, his eyes glared toward the older pirate, who looked almost guilty.
Shaking his head, Nereus focused on his task. “Fine. Your mother...then the favor is done.”
Teeth sunk into his neck, and Nereus moaned, caught off guard as Bellamy pressed up tightly against him. The hand upon his belly rubbed possessively as the pirate’s dark gaze narrowed.
“You are my mate, and this is my child, and I’ll be damned if you think you can keep me from being part of my child’s life,” Bellamy growled.
He licked over the mark of his teeth, smirking when a shiver traveled down Nereus’s spine. Conflict brewed in the god’s heart. Half of him wanted to pull away. To shove the pirate to the ground and do what he came here to do. To end whatever hadn’t been between them. Despite that part of himself, the other side yearned to lean into the touch. Pulling at him, the bond reached out, desperate to connect as it had already been consummated over and over again, but Nereus held back. This time — he hesitated.
“I need to concentrate,” the sea god hissed, and Bellamy gave a single curt nod.
Magic flared. Mar lunged, pulling water from the waterfall and river as the vines reached out for Rowell. Birds shrieked. Fire formed in the sorcerer’s hands, and chaos reigned as Nereus reached out to the blood his child shared, summoning his mate’s mother and his child’s grandmother. Mixing with the shield upon the island and the conflict of territory, the magic turned to mayhem, exploding and sending all four men back.
Bellamy was the first to rise. “Nereus!” Panic gripped his heart, and he raced to Nereus’s side, pulling the god into his lap. “Are you hurt? I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t have made you come!”
“Fuck, I love you,” Nereus sobbed weakly. The warmth of Bellamy’s arms about him stole his strength, crumbling the walls he tried to place around his heart again and again. “You’re stupidly determined and honest. Why did you have to be so brave?”