“Nic?”

At Joe’s whisper, Nic was awake between one heartbeat and the next. It was the quiet gray hour before dawn, and a misty light illuminated his cavern. He was spooned up against Cassidy, and Rianna was snuggled against her mom on the other side, both sound asleep. They’d finally had a full night’s rest untainted by nightmares.

“Coming,” he returned in an almost soundless voice. He motioned Joe into the tunnel where he closed the door so they wouldn’t disturb Cassidy and Rianna. “You saw them?”

A curt nod. “A forty-foot twin-engine powerboat. I stayed long enough to see who was on it. They’re fae—I scented them. At least two, maybe more.”

Yes. Nic’s muscles tightened in readiness, while inside, his dragon hissed with glee.

“Tell Ben and Marlin and then get back. I’ll be right behind you.”

The plan was that Ben would remain behind with Cassidy and Rianna, while Marlin and Joe provided backup for Nic. He didn’t think he’d need them—he was going to torch the boat first, ask questions later—but he wasn’t taking any chances with his family’s safety.

“Got it.” Joe headed back to the dining hall and the tunnel to the other men’s quarters.

Nic slipped back into the bedroom. He stopped next to the bed. Love swelled in his heart at the sight of Cassidy and Rianna curled up next to each other, Rianna with an arm around her ragdoll.

He couldn’t resist dropping a kiss on his daughter’s pert little nose. It scrunched, but her eyes remained shut.

He touched Cassidy’s cheek. Her eyes opened immediately. She searched his face. “They’re coming?” she mouthed.

He nodded.

She rubbed her nape. “I feel it,” she said in subvocal tones. “I’m surprised it didn’t wake me up.”

“You were both sound asleep. I hate to bother you, but I wanted you to know.”

She eased away from Rianna and rose from the bed. “I’ve been thinking—maybe we should just hide in the ocean. They won’t be able to find us there.”

He caressed her shoulders. “What happens when we want to come back to land? Do you want to be running the rest of your life?”

She sighed. “I suppose not.” Slipping her hands around his waist, she shook her head. “Part of me wants to stand and fight, but another part doesn’t want to take the risk.”

He trailed his lips along her jaw. She was warm from sleep, and so soft.

“You were one adult against four fae. This time it will be me, Marlin and Joe against them, and I’m a sea dragon. We’ll take them out, querida. It’s the only way to keep you both safe. If we run away now, sooner or later they’ll find us. I’d rather fight them here on my own turf.”

She blew out a breath. “Be careful, okay? I know you’re a big scary dragon, but these are the fae.”

“Don’t worry—I’ll be back before you know it.”

Their mouths touched, and then they were kissing. Cassidy threw her whole heart into it. Nic felt her love for him. His chest constricted. Damn the fae, anyway. All he wanted was to take Cassidy someplace private and love her for what remained of the night, but instead he released her.

“Here.” He took a sharp iron dagger from a hiding place high in the wall and handed it to her. “Ben will be here in a minute, but I wanted you to have this. I borrowed it from Joe.”

She held it by the ivory handle, careful not to touch the iron, and stared down at it.

“You know the best place to stab a fae?”

“I do,” she said, still looking at the dagger. Every fada, even non-warriors like Cassidy, had some training with knives. “In the heart. But I’ve never killed anyone in my life.”

“I hope to the gods you won’t have to this time. If the worst happens, hide. Wait them out. But if they corner you, claws won’t be enough.”

Her throat worked. “Don’t worry. I’ll use it.” She raised her face and he saw her eyes were the night-glow of her animal, fierce and determined. “They’re not going to get Rianna.”

“That’s my woman.” He framed her face with his hands. “Eu te adoro.”

“I love you, too.”

Their gazes snagged.

She swallowed. “I wanted you to know.”

Inside, Nic’s dragon gave a trill of satisfaction. Mate.

“When I come back, we’re going to have a long talk.” He waited until she inclined her head, and then gave her a hard kiss before striding into the tunnel.

Ben waited in the dining hall, dressed only in jeans, his square face as severe as his warrior ancestors, his long black hair in a neat braid. He’d armed himself with two iron daggers, one in a holster around his hip, the other in his hand. His quartz hung on his bare chest, and he had a waterproof canvas bag slung over one shoulder.

“Go with the gods, brother,” he told Nic. “Your woman and pup are safe with me.”

“I know.” Nic held out his hand, and then changed his mind and pulled Ben into a hug. “Obrigado. Thank you. I won’t forget this.”

Ben murmured a Navajo blessing in return. They released each other and Nic walked to the edge of the water. The tide was high, filling the tunnel completely. Nic pushed off the stone floor with a long, low dive that shot him halfway through the tunnel. A couple of hard kicks got him the rest of the way.

Outside, the ocean was dark and wild, whitecaps frothing on the surface. Good. He hoped the pricks who’d invaded his home waters were seasick.

Shifting to his dragon, he dove beneath the surface and raced along the east side of the island, passing first Marlin, then Joe. As usual, Joe had a narrow waterproof bag cinched around the cylindrical body of his shark. The mako went nowhere without his iron blades.

Marlin wore nothing, but then his fish had a sharp, sword-like bill that he could use as a weapon. And on land, he preferred hand-to-hand combat—dirty, street-fighting moves that he performed with a deceptive grace.

As Nic drew near the area where he’d planted the tracking device, he heard the hum of a powerboat’s twin engines. He stopped fifty yards away, watching as a glossy white boat with black racing stripes turned in a slow circle. The fae had clearly located the device.

On board were two men and a woman, but he couldn’t tell if the woman was Blaer. Their features were blurry, as if he viewed them through a misty wall.

His friends caught up to him. Joe’s mako shark stayed to his left, and to his right was Marlin’s sleek twelve-foot fish.

Nic aimed himself at the boat. He could only spew lava about ten to fifteen feet, and he had perhaps ten tries in him before he ran out of energy. He had to get close enough to catch the boat on fire within the first few tries.

Fifteen feet out, he reared out of the ocean, drew a deep breath—and slammed into an invisible barrier. Energy sparked around him as if he’d run into an electric fence. Dazed, he sank beneath the waves.

He hung limply a few fathoms down, head ringing. Fortunately, Joe and Marlin had been far enough behind him that they hadn’t hit the energy barrier. They flanked him on either side. Joe nudged him worriedly with his snout.

He shook himself out of his stupor and backpedaled several yards. Still beneath the surface, he swam cautiously forward to the point where he’d hit the energy barrier and tested it with the tip of his tail. Maybe the barrier was only above water?

Electricity sizzled through his tail and up his spine. He hurriedly withdrew his tail. So much for that theory. He dropped back a few feet, narrowing his eyes and letting his dragon vision take over.

The energy barrier was just visible—a fluctuation that curved over and around the boat in every direction like a giant soap bubble. He swam ten yards in either direction, but couldn’t find a way around it.

Suddenly, the woman brought her hand down and the bubble evaporated, revealing the three tall and beautiful ice fae on the boat’s deck—two men, one at the helm—and a woman, her white-blond hair streaming in the wind to reveal a fine-boned face and a fae’s pointed ears and sharp chin.

Blaer. Make that two ice fae—and one ice fae/night fae mixed-blood.

“Dreki.” Blaer breathed the Icelandic word for dragon. “Or should I say, Nicolau do Rio.” A satisfied smile curled over her full mouth. “We meet again.”

Fuck. It was never good when a fae learned your full name. It gave them power over you.

He inclined his head in acknowledgement. In this form he couldn’t speak, and he was damned if he’d change to a man with Blaer just ten yards away. And frankly, he didn’t need to have a conversation with her. The fact that she was here was all the proof he needed—Blaer was the fae hunting Rianna. He only wished he knew how she’d uncovered his secret.

He drew deeply on his fire Gift and spewed a mix of lava and flame at Blaer.

She flung up her hand and froze it midstream. The lava turned to chunks of molten black rock and fell into the ocean with a hiss.

Nic dove under the boat, coming up on the starboard side, where he shot out another flaming stream. This time, he hit his mark. The boat caught on fire, but Blaer was there in an instant, sucking the energy out of the fire. It went out, leaving the hull on that side charred.

The fae at the helm muttered what sounded like a curse in his language and wrenched the wheel in the direction of the mainland.

Blaer turned her head. “No. We will stay.”

“But—”

Nic didn’t wait to see if the man obeyed. He slipped under the boat again, twisting his body underwater and surfacing at a diagonal that brought him up on the bow’s left. He sent fire at an ice fae male who shrieked and went down, his body in flames. Blaer muttered something in Icelandic that sounded like a curse and went on the offensive.

Energy sucked at Nic, a hard pull that would’ve frozen anyone else. The air around him grew cold as the Arctic, but his dragon hide protected him. He just prayed that Marlin and Joe were out of range.

But Blaer was also half night fae. A feeling of hopelessness swept over him as she worked the dark magic of despair. Night fae magic was the hardest to resist, feeding as it did on emotions rather than the physical world.

You’re losing. Blaer will rip out your heart, and then she’ll go after Cassidy and Rianna.

“Nicolau do Rio.” Blaer’s tone turned seductive. “You can’t fight me. It’s you I really want.”

Her power sucked at him. It would be so easy to give in.

Together, the two of us could rule the magical world. Fire and ice. Your power complements mine.

Images formed in his mind of the night the two of them had spent together, Blaer pushing all the right buttons until he’d been half-crazy with wanting her, but ultimately, there had been no connection—just rough, soulless fucking.

He shook his big head from side to side. The idea of sex with anyone but Cassidy repulsed him.

He snarled. Never.

Blaer changed tactics. “If I have you,” she murmured, “I promise your daughter will live. Say yes, Nic. You know I’ll get her sooner or later.”

He opened his mouth to agree. He’d willingly die for Rianna.

But—“No.”

The fae were clever at seeming to promise one thing while doing the opposite. When he examined her words—if I have you, your daughter will live—he saw no guarantee that she’d never go after Rianna. If he surrendered, Rianna would live, but for how long?

A power-mad fae like Blaer wouldn’t stop with Nic. No, she’d kill him, rip out his heart, and then with the power that gave her, go after Rianna the very next day.

And the gods knew what she’d do to Cassidy. Some night fae kept fada as pets to torment, feeding off the negative energy that the imprisoned fada emitted.

He had to fight her, or Rianna and Cassidy were dead.

Digging deep, he found the strength to wrench free of Blaer’s dark magic. With a roar, he reared back and shot flames directly at the silver-blond fae. She fought back, freezing the flames in the air, but it forced her attention from him, giving him a precious few seconds to retreat.

He dove deep where an air-breathing fae couldn’t follow and came up two hundred yards away, hidden from the boat by one of the rocky crevices that crenellated the shore.

Marlin and Joe followed, and he shifted to a man so they could talk. They needed to work out a way to deal with Blaer.

Marlin and Joe completed their shifts, and the three of them tread water within the crevice’s rocky walls. The sun had risen, illuminating a cloudy December sky. A chill wind whipped across the ocean and waves surged in and out of the narrow crevice. They clung to the wall to keep from being pulled out into the ocean.

He looked at them grimly. “That’s Lady B from the ice fae.”

“Thought so,” said Marlin. Nic had told them the story of his brush with Blaer one winter’s night around the fire.

“She’s stronger than I expected.” His jaw clenched. “A mistake on my part.”

“Something else,” Joe said. He held up a finger. “One down, which leaves two fae—Lady B and that man. But Cassidy said there were four.”

Nic looked at his two friends, fear a live thing in his stomach. “So where the fuck is the fourth man?”

They had no time to consider that. The air nearby shimmered, and Blaer appeared on the rocks above along with the other fae. The man held an iron hoop in leather-gloved hands.

Blaer waved her hand, and all three of them froze. It was the most horrible thing Nic had ever experienced, like a living death. His muscles locked and he sank, helpless to stop himself. His feet hit bottom about ten feet down.

In his human form, he was more susceptible to a fae’s magic. He had to change to his dragon.

Shift.

But something about the magic prevented him. He grunted and tried again, but remained stuck in his human body.

Blaer peered down at them through the water. Her hold on them wavered, and with a heroic effort, he wrenched free and shot back to the surface. He grabbed her ankle and jerked her into the water.

Let the bitch fight them in their own element.

Joe lunged at her, knife out, but the air twisted and she teleported back to the powerboat.

Nic turned to the other man, but in that instant, he dropped the iron hoop over Nic’s head and leapt back in a move too swift to see.

Hell. The ice fae male must be a wayfarer, able to move incredibly fast. The iron seared Nic’s neck and shoulders and the scent of scorched flesh filled his nostrils.

He instinctively tried to pull the hoop off, even though it burned his fingers.

Blaer ’ported back. She said something in an ancient fae language, and the hoop tightened until it was around his neck like a collar.

Nic released the collar, his fingers blistered.

Blaer looked down at him with chill black eyes, her wet blond hair plastered to her face. “Fighting only makes it worse.”

Joe and Marlin surfaced beside Nic.

“Holy hell,” Marlin said.

“Go,” he gritted. “Save yourself.”

Blaer murmured an incantation.

Joe immediately sank underwater. Twenty yards away, Nic saw sparkles deep below the surface that told him Joe had shifted.

But Marlin lunged for Blaer. A magical net formed in her hands. She dropped it on his head and it wrapped around him.

Meanwhile, the fae male brought the powerboat as close as he dared to the rocks. Blaer pointed at Nic. “Him first, Jagger.”

He obeyed, throwing out a writhing magical rope that snagged first Nic, then Marlin.

When they were both on the boat, Blaer directed Jagger to head around the island. “His lair’s around here somewhere.”

The tall, golden-haired male nodded. “The last place we tracked the device to. She spent a good ten hours there. That must be where they removed it.”

Nic glared at the two fae from the middle seat. The iron collar didn’t burn as much anymore, but the poison had seeped into his skin. It spread through his body, leaving him feverish and lightheaded.

At his feet, Marlin lay on the floor between the seats trussed up like a fucking fish, his silver-blue eyes lit with fury.

Nic mentally kicked himself. He’d dragged his friend into this, and now the other man would die. He had no illusions about that—Marlin was expendable. The only reason he was still alive was that Blaer saw him as a bargaining chip, someone she could use to force Nic to do her bidding.

At least Joe had escaped.

At the bow, Blaer and Jagger stared around them as Jagger aimed the boat east around the island.

There was one flicker of hope. The fae didn’t have a fix on Cassidy anymore. They were going to have to track her in the caverns, where the fada had the advantage. But the seat behind Nic was stacked with scuba equipment, showing Blaer was prepared to search however long it took.

Still, Cassidy was smart—she’d keep on the move with Rianna. It might be hours, even days, before the fae found them.

And they’d have to kill Ben and Joe to get to Cassidy and Rianna.

If only Nic could get this damn collar off before it stole his strength. He tried wrenching it off a second time, but it tightened in response, searing his neck and fingers.

He cursed under his breath and released it.

“There.” Blaer pointed at a large bottlenose dolphin spy-hopping on the ocean surface. “Follow Evan.”

Jagger increased speed, following the dolphin in the direction of the den’s entrance.

Nic’s stomach bottomed out. They’d found the fourth man, who wasn’t a fae after all.

“Sea fada,” he mouthed at Marlin. “A bottlenose.”

The game had just changed—for the worse. A sea fada would be able to track Cassidy and Rianna inside the caverns. This man—Evan—might even be a spy for Blaer, planted in the Shannon base, so could already have their scents.

Hell, he might even convince Cassidy to trust him.

Marlin scowled and wriggled furiously in his bonds. To Nic’s amazement, they loosened. His friend was almost free.

Marlin gave him a victorious grin full of teeth.

Nic jerked his head at the water, silently ordering Marlin to leave. Even if he couldn’t get free of the net once he was in the water, the magic would eventually wear off and the net would fall apart. Marlin could shift to his fish and survive for several days in the ocean even bound in a net.

Marlin shook his head, his jaw set in a stubborn expression that Nic recognized. Marlin might be a laidback California sea fada—but only up to a point. He’d clearly decided to stay with Nic no matter what. Marlin stopped his struggles, and the bonds tightened, but Nic could tell they were looser.

Nic looked back at Blaer. Distract her.

He stood up. A wave of nausea hit him; the poison was spreading fast. He clenched his jaw and fought to remain upright.

Blaer whipped around, hand upraised. Beside her, Jagger slowed the boat and looked between the two of them.

“A bargain,” Nic said before Blaer blasted him with her magic.

She raised a slim dark brow without lowering her hand. “I’m listening.”

“You promise that everyone in my den goes free—two females, three males. You will never try to harm them in any way.”

“And in return you’ll go with me?”

“Yes.”

Her lip curled. “Why should I bargain with you, fada? You can do nothing with that iron collar around your neck.”

He growled and lunged for her, but she slapped her palm on his chest. Cold streaked through him, combining with the poison to create an agonizing pain. Black spots danced in his vision.

“Attack me again,” she hissed, “and I’ll kill every last man and woman in your den.”

Nic’s breath shuddered in. “You’re a dead woman.” A cold promise.

“Perhaps.” Blaer removed her hand and gave him her back, an insult in the fada world.

Nic’s body went taut, but he couldn’t afford to let his rage rule him. He sank back onto his seat as Blaer pointed at the black arch that marked the den’s main entrance, her face alight with triumph. “That sea cave up ahead.”

Jagger nodded. “That fits the last known coordinates.”

They’d found the den.

Nic’s hunter’s brain made rapid calculations. At his feet, Marlin had nearly freed himself. Maybe he could save his friend and distract Blaer at the same time.

He struck, lifting the dreadlocked shifter and heaving him over the side of the boat—and then followed him into the ocean, iron collar and all.

He just hoped that in saving Marlin, he hadn’t doomed his mate and daughter.

Nic let himself sink. Above he heard Blaer rap out an order, and then he was too deep to hear her. The iron collar helped, its weight dragging him into the depths.

He clutched the iron collar, trying to pull it over his head, but it tightened until he could barely breathe and his fingertips were burnt to the bone.

He released it to help Marlin, who was thrashing around a few yards above Nic, trying to slip out of the magical net.

Joe appeared and ripped at Marlin’s net with his teeth. Nic kicked up to help, but as soon as they got the fucking thing loose one place, it tightened somewhere else.

Why hadn’t Marlin changed to his fish form? In their human forms, water fada could stay underwater several minutes, but after that, they had to surface to breathe. Both he and Marlin were running out of oxygen.

Above them the powerboat circled. Blaer and Jagger were probably getting into their scuba gear. It wouldn’t be long before they descended into the water.

“Shift,” he mouthed at Marlin.

“Can’t,” his friend mouthed back.

Nic stared back at him, stunned. The net must be preventing Marlin from shifting. In a minute he’d have no choice but to return to the surface.

Then Nic had an idea. He grabbed a handful of net and pulled, and when it elongated, touched it to the iron collar. The piece shriveled and disappeared. Marlin saw what he was doing and undulated his body so that he flowed past the collar, while Joe backed off to watch with cool mako eyes. More of the net shriveled, enough that Marlin could finally pull it off. He kicked forcefully away from it, Nic and Joe following.

Together, they turned and watched as the silvery strands flowed away with the current. Nic only hoped it wouldn’t trap some poor sea creature in the future.

Abruptly, the adrenalin that had carried him through their escape ran out. The iron collar felt tighter than ever, his body weaker with each passing minute.

Marlin wrapped an arm around Nic’s chest and swam in the direction of a narrow underwater passage a few hundred yards from the den’s main entrance. The passage led to a small cavern that was underwater during high tide, but fortunately, it was low tide and they were close enough that the swelling waves pushed them into the narrow tunnel.

Joe came up beneath him, sliding between Nic’s legs so that Nic could ride him. Marlin let go, and Nic wrapped his arms around Joe, light-headed from lack of oxygen, his strength almost gone. Between Joe and Marlin, they got him through the narrow passage, their bodies scraping against the rough basalt. They reached the small, dank cavern at the end and broke the surface.

Nic and Marlin dragged in a breath at the same time. Marlin found a ledge to stand on and pulled Nic up with him. They were waist high in the water. They sucked in air while Joe swam in tight circles nearby.

A few feet above was a narrow ledge. Nic forced his leaden arms and legs to obey his will so he could clamber onto it.

Marlin gave him a shove, and then followed him up. The two of them sat on the ledge.

The dreadlocked shifter looked at the iron collar. “We have to get that fucking thing off you.”

Nic spread his hands, showing Marlin his seared, bloody fingers. “But how?”

The other man inhaled sharply.

Joe didn’t shift—too many shifts drained your energy—but Nic could tell he was listening.

“Joe,” he said. When the mako turned in his direction, he continued, “Watch the tunnel. The fourth man is a sea fada. A bottlenose.”

The shark fada moved his bullet-like head in assent.

Nic stared down at his bleeding hands. The iron seeping into his skin prevented them from healing. If there were any true sharks in the vicinity, they’d be on him in a flash if he tried to go back into the ocean.

“We need a pair of wire cutters,” Marlin said.

“Or one of Joe’s knives.” They looked at each other, and then at the pack strapped to Joe’s back.

“Iron will cut iron,” Marlin said. “Even fae magic can’t prevent it.”

Joe shifted to man. “Let me.” He withdrew an iron blade from his pack.

“I’ll keep an eye on the entrance.” Marlin dove into the water and changed to his fish.

Joe didn’t so much as climb up to Nic as flow up the rock, the dagger’s ivory handle between his teeth.

“This has diamond dust to make it sharper.” He angled the blade to show Nic. “I should be able to cut through the iron, but it’s going to take a few minutes.”

Nic tilted his head so that the other shifter could access the collar. For a dominant fada, exposing his throat to a man lower on the hierarchy was damned uncomfortable, but he clenched his jaw and muttered, “Just get the fucking thing off.”

Joe slid the blade beneath the collar and started sawing. He had worked for a couple of minutes when they heard thrashing at the other end of the tunnel.

“What the fuck?” Joe sawed harder.

“Hurry, damn it.”

“Doing my best,” Joe snapped back. He stilled. “Hell. Someone’s coming.” He withdrew the blade from beneath the collar and crouched on the ledge, a knife in either hand, scanning the darkness with eyes an eerie night-glow silver.

The water swelled in and out of the passage. By some trick of acoustics, it made a mournful wail similar to Nic’s sea dragon’s howl.

Fine hairs arose all over his body. He forced himself into a battle-ready crouch, even though the iron burned like a fire in his veins. If he had to die, he’d take a fae with him.

A dull thud sounded and a bottlenose dolphin floated into the cavern belly up, blood leaking from its body. It was larger and heavier than a typical bottlenose. Joe’s breath whistled between his teeth.

“That’s Cassidy’s fourth man,” Nic said, “although he’s apparently a sea fada.” Bottlenoses generally were. “But was he local or from Ireland—or even somewhere else?”

Joe’s nostrils flared. “Dead,” he said flatly.

“Good. Saves us the trouble of killing him.” Nic scanned the passageway into the cavern. Marlin must have killed the dolphin—but where was he? If only this damn cavern wasn’t a dead-end, but the water-filled tunnel was the only way out.

A glimmer of light appeared in the water, and then two scuba divers swam into sight, their way lit by fae lights. Their long, lean bodies and blond hair left no doubt that it was Blaer and Jagger.

Joe moved like a flash, leaping at the nearest fae, who happened to be Jagger. The wayfarer never had a chance to evade him. Joe wrapped an arm around his neck and slashed his throat in a swift stroke that confirmed Nic’s suspicions that the shark fada was a trained assassin.

But when Joe turned to Blaer, she disappeared, only to reappear on the ledge next to Nic. She sent a blast into his collar.

Pain seared down his spine. His back arched—and then he blacked out.