Nazrin swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, grimacing at the churning of his gut. The sea maiden before him blanched and remorse pricked at him. It wasn’t her fault he found her kiss nauseating. “I, ah, thank you.” He rubbed the back of his neck and waded toward the shore, snatching the blanket Gaven tossed at him.
“Well, how did it go?” His brother’s grin faded as he regarded Nazrin.
“Do you still have your romphaia?” His raptor squawked, but this next move was necessary, if distasteful.
“Yes, why?” Gaven’s brows drew together, his skin paling. “Gods, no, brother.”
“Fetch it, and this potion as well.” He sent his brother the description of a potion he’d once discussed with Aedre. They’d intended to employ it in battle against Apollo. Gods, he hoped she’d tinkered with it and had a batch handy.
After giving a shaky nod, his brother complied, returning a few moments later bearing the razor-edged sword and a vial.
Nazrin knelt, spreading his wings wide on either side of his body. “Do it.” He gritted his teeth, bowing his head.
There was only one way he could enter Apollo’s temple and rescue Essa—renounce himself. His wings, and all that made him Zephyrus’s son.
Gaven didn’t have to be asked twice. As a bonded male, he fathomed Nazrin’s desperation.
The blade was swift and sharp; the pain absent, then crashing upon him like a stormy wave against the shore. His large wings thumped to the ground on either side of him, his raptor keening at the grisly sight. He dug his talons into the earth and clenched his jaw. Radiating, searing agony spiked through his body.
Yet the torment was nothing compared to what he’d experience if he lost Essa.
At length, he staggered to his feet. “Thank you. Now, the potion.”
Gaven handed him the vial of green liquid, again not questioning him.
Nazrin uncorked the vial and chugged the liquid, wincing while it spiraled through his veins. With luck, this potion would mask his blood.
His resolve strengthened, he carved a Portal into the air before him, slashing with his talons and murmuring the ancient chanting few recalled. New Portals were forbidden, but hell if he cared.
Gaven squeezed his arm. Bring her back.
I will.
Never had he been more terrified that his words would prove untrue. He rolled his shoulders and stepped through. The Portal sucked him into a dim cavern. He blinked, adjusting to the minimal illumination, and sniffed. Mate. She was here.
“Release me!” A feminine cry echoed off the corridor ahead. Essa.
Instead of bolting forward as his instincts screamed, Nazrin crept along the wall, treading with care. Cassandra was Apollo’s Oracle and as such, gifted with foresight.
How could he defeat an enemy who perceived his every move?
By not making any.
He’d have to act on instinct, though he loathed the lack of planning. Halting, he scanned around the corner. Three robed females bound Essa between them. She thrashed, her hands glowing with her powers.
Nay, Sirena. Not yet. He shot the command into her mind. She froze, growing limp in her guards’ arms.
Good. He strode forward, no sense in pretending they wouldn’t detect his presence. Essa jerked forward, but stilled at the hand he held out to stop her.
“Well, son of Zephyrus, you’re far craftier than your blood would suggest. Cutting off your wings to force your entry,” the Oracle snarled. “Though I’m afraid your effort will be for naught.”
“Oh, I doubt that.” Smirking, he raked a casual hand through his hair. “Careful enchantress. I’ve lost control before, and it was bloody amazing.”
***
Lost control… Their watery vortex. Essa swallowed thickly. Her relief at seeing him warred with her trepidation.
Nazrin’s eyes swirled with mists, his intense stare pegged on Essa.
Cassandra followed his gaze. “You won’t leave with him. You’ll bear Andreas’s child, and then you’ll die.” Triumph twisted her lips into a sneer. “I have foreseen it.”
Now, Sirena. Nazrin blew out his breath and, at the same moment, Essa flamed her powers. His mists swirled through the room, a dozen funnels spinning faster and faster. She jerked backward, breaking her captors’ hold, and placed first one, then her other foot in the stream, coaxing the beads of water to her will. Shooting her aunt a smirk of pure hostility, she arched a brow. “Have you foreseen this?”
She spun on her heel just as shock crossed Cassandra’s features, and raced along the stream to the waterfall. Nazrin joined her, knocking aside guards like a charging bull.
With her left hand, Essa flattened her palm and swept it along the side of her body, her hand an oar, stroking the water. Behind her, the waters rose, but the priestesses were fast.
Not as swift as I. She forced her muscles to work harder and ignored the pounding in her head. Her right hand burned in its glowing blue flame as Essa sought the water ahead of her.
Chest heaving, she approached the edge. No time to think or to question the sobriety of her plan.
Nazrin drew to a halt beside her.
“You cut off your wings to save me?” She winced at the bloodied stumps on his shoulders.
He seized both of her hands. “I would cut out my heart to ensure the beating of yours.” Leaning, he peered over the edge. “Ready?”
She nodded firmly, hoping he had a plan.
To stay was certain death.
To leap, only its possibility.
The roaring waterfall swallowed their screams as they crashed downward. Using every facet of her power, Essa cocooned herself and Nazrin in the chill liquid.
Gritting her teeth, she braced against the impending impact. Opening her eyes, she detected not ocean below them, but the spinning shimmer of a Portal. Nazrin had created it, but how?
Before she could contemplate anything else, they crashed through it, straight into an ocean.
Halcyon’s ocean.
Tendrils of salt water enclosed her, caressing her with a lover’s touch. After performing the morphos, Essa gasped and prodded her body. She was alive; she’d survived the fall.
The ocean enveloped her in its warm embrace. Its heat coursed through her, spiraled into each muscle, and stitched her together.
With each thread, a fever spread. She moaned as lust’s flames blasted through her.
The Tide. No. She cursed the ocean’s silent waters. It was too soon. Aedre’s kind words echoed cruelly, Then you’d best be with the male you’ve chosen.
Where was Nazrin? Oh, gods, not here.
Essa spun, scanning the water for him. There. Unconscious, his body drifted downward, sucked into the current along the ocean floor.
Swimming with every ounce of energy in her body, she sped toward him. She wrapped her arms about his middle and, kicking with all her might, dragged him to the surface. Once above the water, she hauled him toward a boulder breaching the surface, and collapsed upon it.
Her limbs burned with exhaustion and her body lacked the strength to swim through the wards. Pheromones flowed from her pores and her vision blurred in and out. Without intending it, she shifted into her human form once again.
Her aunt was right. Essa wouldn’t breed with Nazrin, who remained unconscious.
She’d breed with whichever male her body lured.
She tilted her face to the horizon. White, billowing sails blended into the clouds. A ship approached. An entire crew of males headed toward her. She cried and thrust out her hand, forming a wave to compel the ship away even as the force of her body drew it closer.
***
“Wake up, love-bird.”
A weight slapped his cheek. Nazrin blinked and coughed, spurting salt water. “Argh, what in the bloody hell…?” He rolled to his side and staggered to a crouch, glowering at whoever had wrenched him from a most wondrous dream.
Tipping his head, he traced long boots, then a chiton, and a female hovering with an impish smirk in her midnight blue eyes. The glow of the setting sun shone around her. “Kyme?”
“At your service.” She dipped in an exaggerated bow.
My service? His pulse quickened and he whipped around. Where was Essa?
“Easy, Nazrin. She’s onboard my ship.” Kyme planted a solid hand on his shoulder. “Only females as crew.” She chirped a laugh. “It’s not my first siren rescue.”
His mind still clouded, he stumbled to his feet. Kyme aided him into her rowboat. “We’ve finished our sweep of the area, snatched up all those stray Water Borne females.” She clucked her tongue and rubbed at a bruise on her arm, then plucked the oar and rowed them toward a large vessel anchored in deeper water. “You’d think they’d be grateful, but you’d be wrong. Speaking of which, your mate nearly sank my ship. We’ll be discussing that later, you can be sure.”
He nodded, as much to placate her as to cease her chattering. Shifting in his seat, he couldn’t rest until Essa was in arms.
“Here we are.” Kyme tied them to the ship and waved for him to climb aboard.
On the ladder, he paused. “I can’t thank you enou—”
“Oh, yes, you can.” She barked a laugh. “By taking her off of my ship. She’s quite the handful.”
Managing a smile, he dipped his head and hastened up the ladder. Kyme directed him to a chamber. His heart thumping, he twisted the knob and stepped inside. Sweet gods. His mate writhed on a low cot, her wrists bound on either side of her.
She whipped her gaze to him, panting, “Nazrin.”
“Shh, love.” He rushed to her side and stroked her hair. “I’m here.”
“I was so worried.” Moisture pooled in her eyes and she blinked. “There’s something I must tell you. The amulet, I can’t... We can’t have a babe.” Yelping, she arched her spine.
“Easy.” His talons sliced through the ropes and he scooped her in his arms. Whatever did she mean? Frowning, he determined to remove her from the ship first. Her cognizance was slipping. Gathering her to his chest, he strode from the chamber, toward the ladder.
“Are you well enough to row her to shore?” Kyme eyed his stumps, wincing.
“Aye.” He straightened his spine. With Essa in his arms, power and strength flowed through his body. While he rowed toward the shore, however, disappointment and concern warred in his mind. He wouldn’t mate with Essa this night. The bonded male in him thundered in his chest. His raptor squawked in protest. A breeding season with one’s mate was a time for unrivaled passion. Ecstasy greater than anything Aphrodite or Eros conjured.
It wouldn’t be his.
Nazrin forced his body to listen to the logic of his mind. If he mated with Essa, she might bear a child. For whatever reason, she’d told him she couldn’t. Tonight, she’d be beyond the ability to choose and he vowed to respect her wishes. Did this relate to her earlier apprehension when Aedre had discussed the topic with her? He tossed his head. Either way, they had much to discuss together before they chose to have children.
Carting her in his arms, he crossed the wards, thankful they hadn’t sealed yet. Halcyon’s gates closed each Tide. Females not wishing to breed retreated to a sanctuary at the bottom of the lake. The Tide’s effects would reach their peak when the moon claimed its zenith in the sky. Then, the dawn’s rays marked the dissolution of the Tide, and females would return to their infertile state.
He kicked at an errant rock on the path. Childbirth was always a risk, and Essa might not survive it. Damn. He refused to breed with her until she was immortal. Nazrin clenched his fists. Talons bit through his flesh and blood trickled down his wrists. He wouldn’t abandon her this night, but resisting her would be the most difficult task he’d ever faced.
With leaden feet, he trudged to his cabin. Each step brought him closer to a night he was sure would be worse than Tartarus.
Gratitude spread through his chest as he stumbled across the cloaking Gaven had cast over his cabin. Nazrin had taught him the trick, and so he stole beneath the cloaking ward without breaching it. No other males would be lured here tonight.
He paused at the doorway, shifted her slumbering form in his arms, and wiped the blood from his hand on his breeches before placing his hand on the knob.
Soon, Essa would be irresistible. He inhaled the night air and drowned in her scent. Her floral perfume was bolstered with aphrodisiacs even Aphrodite would kill to possess.
His cock stiffened at once. Images of thrusting between her sweet thighs caused beads of sweat to gather on his forehead. His mouth grew dry, the taste of his mate the only way to quench his thirst. No male had ever endured such torment. Willingly, at least.
He twisted the knob, his hands trembling. The door clicked open and he shoved through. Heading straight to the bedchamber, he deposited her on the bed and forced his feet backward.
Just as he neared the cabin door, the honeyed scent of Essa’s passions blasted through him like a warm summer’s breeze. Tantalizing. Heady.
Lethal.
He flinched, steeling himself and shuffling his feet through the door. One night, and then forever.
Nay, I can’t. Growling, he whipped around and stormed to the bedroom. Just one look. One taste.
His resolve slipped the moment he spied her, nude and writhing on his bed. Somehow, she’d stripped. Her pale skin gleamed in the shimmering rays of dusk and the rose-tipped buds of her breasts had darkened, signaling her fertility.
She could have your babe, his raptor hissed. Inside of her.
Aye, inside of her. Cold moisture broke across his skin. How he craved to be inside her.
Her hands roamed her body. One fondled her breast, the other swept between her thighs. His talons elongated and he sank them into his palms, hoping the pain would evoke clarity.
It didn’t.
His length throbbed in rhythm to the strokes of her hands.
“Essa.” Her name was a groan in his throat.
She tipped her face to him and opened her eyes. Despite the beguiling smile on her lips, her eyes were glazed. This female didn’t know him from a thousand other males.
Hell.
“Come to me.” She twirled her fingers. The ones she’d been pleasuring herself with.
Nazrin was two steps away from the bed before he realized his feet had moved.
Bloody siren. This was the truth of the myths. He had only to look at her and his will was crushed like dust beneath a giant’s footfall.
“Sirena, I can’t. We can’t.” The words flopped on his tongue as she slid her hand along her throat, her head tossed back and delicious moans escaping her lips.
The bonded male inside him forgot whatever he was about to speak. This female was his. His for an eternity. Tonight, he’d spill his seed inside her a hundred times. Then she’d have his babe.
Curse Hades. He scraped his talons along his jaw. The fog cleared from his mind. Mayhap, instead, he’d spend the night watching her.
Essa seemed content enough to let him.
He shuffled backward to the door.
Her delirious gaze focused on him. “Come here, my lover.” She twirled her fingers for him to join her.
He swayed forward, caught himself, and stood firm. “I can’t, Sirena. Not tonight. Tomorrow.” He longed to be able to explain why, but the vixen in front of him was beyond reason. She knew only lust, only pleasure. He offered her neither.
Darkness flashed in her malachite depths. She rose onto her elbows. A slow, seductive curve spread across her lips. “Why wait for tomorrow? I’m ready for you now.” She opened her thighs, revealing the luscious pink flesh his arousal strained for.
Sweet temptation. He seized another stride backward and braced against the doorway, clawing his talons into the wood. His gaze rested precisely where she commanded it, but since he didn’t approach, she closed her thighs.
“I remember, lover. Like this?” She flipped onto her stomach and angled her lush bottom upward.
Nazrin shuddered. That curve of flesh had him fisting his width, ready to drive his hips forward.
Nay. This time, it was his raptor who shook him from the trance. Thank the gods, he’d grasped the gravity of this situation. His raptor screeched in mirrored agony, but together they managed to force his feet backward.
Once he crossed into the entryway, Nazrin turned his back. One night. That was all he’d have to wait, and after, he’d pump with abandon into her lush, willing flesh.
Bracing his arms on the windowsill, he dropped his head into his hands. He took in several deep, heavy breaths. The distance helped. It didn’t diminish his need, but he’d manage.
He’d waited a lifetime for her. One night wouldn’t be so bad.
She stole behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, dipping her hands beneath his breeches to grip his length with a sultry boldness. “Mmm,” she purred against his neck, flicking her tongue out and swirling it along the tip of his ear. “You want me.” She gave the head a tight squeeze. “Don’t deny us both.”
His muscles collapsed in defeat. The instinct to claim her gained ground. If he didn’t find new strength to resist her, he might lose her.
Forever.
The reminder bounded through his mind. He snatched her hand and removed it. “Not tonight, Sirena.” Sighing, he detached her other hand from his cock.
“Yes, tonight,” she hissed against his neck. Twin pricks, sharp as a bee’s stings, bit into his neck, just below his ear.
As he stumbled backward, she lunged out of his reach. He swatted at his neck, his legs buckling, and he sank to the floor. Nazrin lowered his hand to his face and stared at it. What had she done? He peered from his hand to her.
His sweet, fiery Essa didn’t stand before him. This nude temptress was consumed by instincts more ancient than the oceans. Her depths twisted into black, hollow pits while she smirked at him, hands perched on her hips. Whirling about, she swayed those sumptuous, full hips and sashayed into the chamber.
A new horror rushed through his veins. His legs burned to follow Essa, his body more under her command than his.
Damn Hades. For once, his raptor screeched in agony along with him. Had he lost this battle? Would he wake tomorrow, with the anguish of this night to forever haunt him?
Nay.
Whatever venom Essa injected him with crackled through his blood. His nearly obedient arousal pulsed with a wretched inferno of lust. Everything in his body screamed for him to follow her.
Everything, except his heart. His heart remained steadfast. Do not lose her.
Right. He swallowed a painful breath, shoved off the floor, and staggered to his feet.
His legs fought him while he struggled toward the door. He slipped and stumbled as though sliding on ice. At the door, his hands swiped for the knob and missed.
Another wave of agony shot through him. Nazrin gritted his teeth and snarled at the venom that threatened his mate.
Nay, he was the threat to his mate. Though he’d sooner slice open his throat than risk losing her.
His hands fumbled with the knob, but he managed to push it open. Weakened, he tumbled out the door. Gaven’s wards wouldn’t be strong enough to keep him out. He required something far more powerful.
Sorting through every enchantment he’d encountered, Nazrin unearthed a potent spell. One even he wouldn’t be able to break, until it dissolved at dawn.
His whole body shook with the tremors from the venom, and from his unsated passions, as he uttered the enchantment.
The spell complete, all strength departed his body and he crumpled onto the stairs.
They’d both languish for it. No one had told him of this venom; mayhap no one even knew. He was damn sure it meant Essa would suffer every inch he did. As her shrieks pierced the night air, he discovered he was right.
She banged her fists against the door. Her agonized howls tore at his heart, ripping it to shreds.
His arms stung with inadequacy. This night, he wouldn’t hold her, wouldn’t ease her. Though he longed to crash through that door and comfort her with his devotion, it was too late.
Now, not even he could breach that barrier.