Nazrin gazed into Essa’s sparkling malachite eyes and knew. The way he’d always known. There wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for her. Not a risk he wouldn’t take, not an enemy he wouldn’t cross, nor a friend betray. Everything he’d once feared he might become, he had.
Essa was both his salvation and his damnation.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Scratching his jaw, he cocked his head. Mayhap he ought to temper that.
After all, she could be the one to redeem him.
But, bloody hell, she deemed him her enemy. Feared he would eat her. Curse the sea god for letting his subjects live in such ignorance. Their races formed a truce fifty years ago and they were no longer at war.
They stared at each other for a moment. Her long, wavy locks, as dark as squid ink, billowed around her in the light breeze while she flicked her tail. Scales of rich green, accented with blues, purples, and silvers tapered, and then fanned at her elegantly forked fin. He ought to speak, but between the beast shouting at him and his pulse thundering in his ears, he couldn’t focus.
Essa was here, speaking with him.
He’d touched her, and her skin was as silky as a blossom’s petals. Her complexion, like the soft cream of a new bud. And her shapely figure—far more tantalizing than the vision he’d savored for decades.
“My name is Essa, not Sirena.”
Nazrin shook himself and returned his attention to their conversation. A drop of crimson trickled down the shimmering verdant scales of her tail. “You’re bleeding.” He extended his hand to aid her, yet she shrank from him.
Unacceptable, his raptor growled.
He crouched to her level and offered his hand again. “Easy, I won’t hurt you.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” Her voice quivered despite her words.
Damn. He dropped his outstretched hand.
“What do you want with me?” A spark of defiance curved her plump coral lips. Ah, there was the fierceness he sensed in her.
“Why do you assume I seek anything?”
“If you wished to aid me, you would’ve dropped me into the sea, not trapped me on this cliff.” Her hand rubbed against her slender throat and he caught the image of the amulet in her mind. Well played, Hades.
He smiled in reassurance and jerked his chin toward her throat. Time to employ the second part of Hades’s plan. “I am called Nazrin and I’m seeking a particular object, which my inquiries have told me is in your possession.”
She stubbornly pressed her lips together, so he spoke in her mind instead. The amulet.
Her eyes narrowed, darkening. “You.” She jabbed a finger toward him. “That was you inside my head.”
He eased back on his heels and frowned. “It’s the manner of my people. We don’t often speak aloud. Forgive me if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Yes, you did. Don’t enter my mind again.” Her lips pursed in a pout.
He inclined his head and squinted to clear the images of those pretty pink lips on his skin, and his cock. Swallowing hard, he fought back his arousal. Mission. Must complete the mission first. “Do you or do you not possess this amulet?”
Her hand rose to her throat. Shock and then dismay clouded her features, her lush, curved lashes fanning across her cheeks. “I lost it.”
“Where?”
She glared at him. “On the boat.”
“The boat?” He tore his stare from her and pretended to survey the sea. “I shall retrieve it.” Observing her from the corner of his eye, he veered toward the edge, knees bent, as he prepared to leap off the cliff.
“Wait.”
Nazrin rolled his shoulders, suppressing a laugh.
“You can’t leave me here.” She crawled toward him. The fire in those pools burned brighter with each word. “Besides, it’s my amulet. Why should I give it to you?”
He held up a placating hand. “I don’t wish to steal the amulet from you, lass. Merely to borrow it, to heal someone I care for.” It wasn’t entirely untrue. The amulet was reputed to be potent indeed, and though he’d attempted many cures, mayhap this would be the one to restore her.
“Heal?” Compassion sparked in Essa’s eyes. “Very well, but you must bring me with you.” Her tail flicked, a triumphant smirk dancing on her lips. “Search all you like. Only I know where it is. Without me, you’ll never find the amulet. Drop me in the water,” she continued, her head held high. “I shall swim.”
“Nay.” Desperate to hold her again, the command slipped from his tongue. “Time is of the essence.” He clenched his fists and recovered his composure. “Flying will be faster.”
“Rest assured, I’ll keep up.”
“Very well.” He blew out his breath. “If you’re too slow, I will carry you,” he threatened, hoped. “The boat was traveling west. With a full load of fish and a broken net, it most likely returned to dock at the nearest port. I know the place.”
“Set me in the water,” she repeated.
Complying, he scooped her and dove off the cliff. His wings opened and they glided to the water’s surface, where he forced his arms to release their grasp and let her go.
***
As the cool water struck her face and enclosed her body, Essa’s mind cleared. What happened to swim or kill? Even worse, if she didn’t return soon to her aunt’s sanctuary, they’d send someone to search for her. As the next Pythia, Essa wasn’t permitted to wander far from the temple. She wrung her fingers in indecision. Yet how could she swim away without her amulet?
Right. The choice was clear. She always strove to follow her instincts and, in this case, they said swim. If the Wind Borne wished me dead, he would’ve killed me by now.
Besides, he sought the amulet to heal someone he cared for… A wife, a lover? Her gut tightened in a strange flutter of jealousy, but she forced it aside. The chance to offer her aid was one she couldn’t resist. Why had no one told her that her amulet could heal? The talisman had once belonged to the ancient sea god Nereus, her father. Few such potent objects still existed. How had the Wind Borne learned of this one in her possession?
She spotted the dusky shadow of wings above, just ahead of her. Males. Were they all alike? Presuming she wasn’t as swift as him? Humph.
Close to the surface, she relished the sensation of both cool water and heat from the sun on her skin. A few hours earlier, she’d been leisurely exploring the ocean. Now, a growing unease tightened her stomach and gnawed at her insides. She’d been caught off-guard and she hated not knowing what to expect. Essa wove in and out of the waves, ever following the great shadow above her, never letting it get too far ahead.
The creaking of sailing vessels echoed ahead and soon their silhouettes came into view. Remaining unseen by the humans might prove a challenge. She hoped the winged male had a plan.
***
Nazrin soared above Essa, his wings drifting along the air currents, his body angled so his shadow fell across the water for her to follow. He tracked her as she sliced through the waves much faster than he’d anticipated.
He’d have preferred having her back in his arms. However, his mission required he earn her trust. If he failed…his immortal soul would be forfeit.
He clenched his jaw and forced down the weight of the threat looming over him.
His mate was worth every risk he’d taken.
Too many years had passed since he’d first learned of her existence. Like a ray of sunshine, the vision of Essa had broken through his darkness. At once, his raptor recognized the pairing of his soul. The one who would bring him redemption. Someday.
For a Wind Borne, a bonded mate was their only opportunity for purification of their souls. A rare and precious gift the Fates didn’t grant everyone. Nazrin would be damned if he’d squander his.
When he’d ventured to the Underworld two decades ago, he’d never intended to leave. Clever Persephone had refused his bargain and offered him an even greater one instead. Hades might be the scheming god of the Underworld, but his wife rivaled him in cunning. Persephone had deduced Nazrin would never choose to redeem his end of their bargain once he discovered Essa’s existence. Instead of accepting his terms, she’d offered him the vision of his mate. And then proposed a path of impossible peril—but mesmerizing reward.
His orders from the gods of the Underworld demanded he not approach the maiden until he’d been shown the sign. As part of his oath, he’d sworn fealty to them, and so had spent these last decades leading the Wind Borne in Halcyon—their sanctuary.
For years, he’d bided his time, until today, when he’d glimpsed the long-awaited sign. A small flag hanging from the mainmast of the fishing vessel carried a picture of a daffodil—the flower of the Underworld.
Nothing had prepared him for his mate’s beauty. Her eyes were of a deep green that promised intrigue, vibrant against her coral lips and the ivory cream of her skin. Gods, how he’d love to run his tongue along every luscious inch of her flawless body. To make her scream in ecstasy. Soon.
After he’d rescued her, Essa’s lithe, curvaceous form had been exquisite in his arms. Even in the decadent gardens of his mother, Kloris, the goddess of flowers, he’d never been tempted by a scent as sweet and exotic as Essa’s.
His ballocks tightened. The predator inside him roared to life, and once more Nazrin had to rein in his darker half. Patience.
He had a bargain to fulfill. A mission to complete.
Essa wasn’t his.
Yet.
Nazrin veered to his left and swooped. Dragging his hand through the water, he crooked his fingers for her to surface. Tentatively, she complied, raising her head enough to reveal her eyes. He led her to a cave chiseled out of the side of a cliff and hovered outside the entrance while she climbed onto the rocks, ensuring her body remained hidden from view of the humans.
“Do you see the boats?” Nazrin pointed into the distance.
“Yes.”
“Good. Meet me between the third and fourth ones.”
She slid under the water. In a flash, he was once again in the sky, higher and beyond the view of humans.
The port was on the outskirts of a quaint fishing town. A dozen boats of varying sizes nestled along the docks. On the shore stood several warehouses, a stable, and a few weathered merchant shops.
Once at the port, he employed a simple trick of mind to ensure the dozen humans around wouldn’t notice him. Essa obeyed his commands. She poked her head above the surface, walled in by the two vessels, the shore, and the vast ocean. He waited as she scanned the boats, until she veered her attention in his direction, where he perched low on a platform of the vessel nearest Essa.
“Where is it?” he whispered.
She closed her eyes. A second later, they flashed open. “It’s not here.”
“What? Where is it, then? You claimed the amulet was well-hidden.”
“Yes, it is.” Panic swept across her features for an instant before her brow furrowed. “There.” She pointed her finger at a middle-aged male on the shore purchasing fish.
Perfect. Just as planned. Though he could best the cyclops with ease, retrieving the amulet wasn’t his priority.
Acquiring Essa was.
Persephone had told Nazrin they’d arrange for some form of persuasion and Nazrin sensed how Essa craved the amulet. Worked for him.
The cyclops, currently in its human form, and thus possessing two eyes, was unkempt and, from the rank stench rolling off him, hadn’t bathed in months. His clothes were worn and slathered in filth. A broad sword hung at his side and his haggard red beard fell to his waist. Equally unruly rusty locks framed his plump face. From his rotund belly, he never missed a meal, or a drink.
Keeping up his ruse, Nazrin growled low in his throat. “Not good. A cyclops. This won’t be easy.”
“Indeed? He doesn’t look like much of a match for you.”
Clever lass. He forced his grin into a scowl. “Appearances aren’t always what they seem, Sirena.” One more push. “I’ll have to continue this on land. You should return to your home. Once I’ve retrieved the amulet, I’ll find you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Her lips pressed together.
“Very well.” He chuckled. “Head to the cave and morphos. I’ll meet you within the hour.”
“Morphos?” The word clashed in her mind, loud enough for him to detect.
“Yes, into a human.”
“But,” she choked on her shock, “it’s forbidden.”