Earwyn and her dogfish are laughing in the kitchen. They stop as soon as they see me. She arches a brow at me. “Look who’s here.”“Yes, I am. What’s it to you?”Cove and Vanya giggle while Earwyn straightens her back. “Pardon“I said, what’s it to you? You going to kick me out? Rub it in my face that you got what you wanted with my dad’s death? At my own hand, nonetheless.” I try to glare at her, but I’m not sure it works.She waves me off. “You’re high.”I ignore the comment and move closer to her. “Everyone knows you have a problem with me. But here’s the thing—I didn’t do anything against you. Ever. All the slights you feel, they weren’t my fault. I didn’t ask for the suite! I had no clue my dad tried to kill Tobi. He set all his decrees on his own. None of it had anything to do with me! You should just give me a break. All I’m trying to do is make the best of the situation. You think it’s easy to adjust to life in Valora after living on land most of my life?”She starts to say som
Her nostrils flare and her face reddens. “Who else? You’re the one who knocked out a bar full of mermen!”I open my mouth but don’t say anything. She has a point. But I didn’t do any of it on purpose. I glare at her. “You’re the one who insisted I sing with you! The only person you have to blame is yourself!”“Get out!” She raises a fist at me.“I didn’t do this on purpose!”“Like I care! Just go!” She points toward the front door.“I didn’t want this to happen.”“Leave!”Without another word, I replace the mic on its stand and head out, apologizing to everyone along the way. Nobody seems to care, and none of the guys are even stirring.I hope I didn’t kill anyone. My stomach knots. What if I did? I don’t know anything about any of these siren-like powers. The creatures are just as shrouded in mystery as the pink-haired queen herself.And nobody wants an out-of-control siren freak like me.Not like I asked for any of this.Once outside, I close the door behind me and take a deep breat
The suite door flings open. Erica drops a load of suitcases and sighs dramatically. She swims over the pile and throws her arms around me. “I missed you! Did you have fun? I’ve got to fill you in on everything that happened!”I return the embrace but don’t answer her question. I don’t want to talk about anything. The longest spring break of my life is finally over. I spent the majority of my waking hours studying before taking my exams. I’m not sure what the results are, but I sailed through each test.Isaac didn’t call or stop by once. Not that I have a shell phone, but he could’ve left a message or asked me to take the call from theErica doesn’t seem to notice my mood and goes on to tell me about her trip to the Atlantic. They explored a city and she met a cute guy who promised to keep in touch.She plops onto my bed breathless and smiles. “Now tell me all about your break. Tell me you didn’t study the whole time!”“That’s about it, really.”“What aren’t you telling me?” She tilts
He shakes his head and swallows. “He and Mary stayed at Gill’s house last night. They’re having breakfast there.”“You didn’t join them?”“No. I had to do something here.”“Okay. See you around.”He nods before going back to his food, then I sit next to Erica. She gives me a questioning glance, and I shake my head no before digging in. It’s a good thing I don’t have much of an appetite, because with weapons class first I don’t want too full of a stomach in case Mr. Brant makes us spar.Whose bright idea was it to have that class right after breakfast?Earwyn and her dogfish arrive, laughing loudly. They each glare at me before sitting and talking with their friends.Lumen turns to me. “Did you see that?”I grab a roll. “I think everyone did.”Halen glances over at them. “I wish I could’ve been there for the party.”“Me too,” I mumble. Maybe she could’ve talked some sense into me.Luckily, the conversation quickly moves away from Earwyn’s party. Everybody discusses the rest of their sp
“Whatever.”Want me to zap her dead?“No!”Everyone turns and stares at me. Earwyn looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. I probably have. Any sane person would’ve said yes.So, you want me to?I shake my head no.Earwyn holds up her blade and rushes at me, her eyes full of fury. I block the move, and my trident sparks. She swings at me around the side. I block that move too.Mr. Brant blows his whistle. “I haven’t called for you to begin!”Earwyn swings at me again. I move out of the way and aim my weapon at her. It heats up even more.I can still zap her. Don’t have to kill her.“Let me do this.” I lunge for her, slam into her, and pin her against the wall, holding the trident with all my strength. She struggles then swipes her blade against me, cutting my arm. I cry out and back up, covering my wound. My trident glows and tiny bolts of lightning spark from the tips. They band together and something tells me they’re going straight for my opponent. I pull the weapon to the side just bef
He nods like it’s no big deal.I clench my fists and hope to see some green.Nothing.I tighten them until my knuckles turn white. Still no magic, nothing out of the ordinary. I relax my hands. “I can’t do this.”“Yes, you can.”“Did you just see me try?”He holds my gaze. “You have the power. That means you can use it for your will.”“Maybe you have me confused with someone else.”“You and I are the only ones who have the power right now. Show me what you can do.”Irritation runs through me. “I’m telling you, I can’t!”He glances down. “You just did.”Sure enough, my hands are glowing green. “I’m annoyed.”“You need to learn to use it regardless of your mood.”“Good luck with that.” I sit on the desk across from him in resignation.He looks deep in thought for a moment. “Did you only ever see my brother use it when he was upset?”“Was he ever not upset?”The corners of his mouth twitch. “Hardly seemed like it. I have an idea. Why don’t you relax and think about the power? Try to draw
Erica sets her fork down and looks me in the eyes. “Are you okay?”I’m anything other than okay, but I can’t talk about that in the middle of a meal surrounded by all the students in the academy.“Mila?”I move my fork around the plate. “Let’s talk later.”“Right after the meal?”“Sure.” I turn my head just enough to be able to see the band at the end of the table. Isaac is turned toward them, so I can’t see anything other than the back of his head. If only I could see his face, I could gage how he’s feeling. Does he want to work through things or break up with me?Tears blur my vision. I realize Erica speaking, so I turn back to her. She’s talking with Lumen, which is a relief. I don’t think I can pull myself together enough to hold down a conversation. There isn't anything I want to talk about anyway. Not my parents, not Isaac, not the fact that I’ve angered Earwyn again. When she and her friends arrived at the table, they each made a point to glare at me before sitting.I should ta
“If he pulled the stunts you have, you’d better believe it!”“I find that hard to believe.”Her nostrils flare. “That’s because you’ve underestimated me from the beginning, you slimy little eel.”I ignore the dig. “You think you haven’t underestimated me? I have the Walker power, and I’ve killed a king! You really want to test me?”“I managed to get you out to the woods your first night. That was just the beginning of what I can do!”Anger swirls around me. “Did you happen to notice I got away?”“Took you all night. That’s hardly impressive.”My hands heat as the green glow brightens and a ball forms between my palms.“You think that scares me?”“It should!” The ball grows and casts an emerald light on us and the walls.People have gathered on the stairs watching us from above and below. Hushed whispers run through the onlookers.“Why would that scare me?” Earwyn demands.I turn my attention back to her. “Maybe because I’ve killed a king with it!”She pretends to yawn. “You keep bring
She'd wanted to see his face for more than that brief glimpse. Did he fear what she would see? Beauty and the Beast was one of her favorite fairy tales, because an empath could see it all. The monster beneath the flesh, no matter how beautiful the mask. The beauty of the soul, no matter the disfigurement. But she hadn't wanted to assess the balance within him. She'd needed to look into his eyes for a reason she couldn't define, but it had been all-consuming. If she'd seen the darkness in him outweighing the light, would she have clung to him anyway, because he needed her? It was a desperation that went deeper into the soul than even she'd ever delved. Down to the dark, frightening places where children screamed but no mother came, pain and fear were the air one breathed, and the earth had no magic beneath the soles of the feet."Isaac?"A warm light had spread over her skin. She raised her gaze to her father's dark eyes. Apparently when she hadn't responded right away, he'd intensifie
. How on earth did she know what brimstone smelled like?Maybe she remembered it from that time she'd ended up in the outer catacombs of Hell, looking for the caverns where her parents had first met. She'd been twelve, and fascinated by the story of how Anna had hidden Jonah there when he was hurt and being pursued by Dark Ones. Of course, Lex hadn't been thrilled to run smack into Lucifer while on her romantic quest. She'd been told in no uncertain terms she would not be swimming down into his realm again, not if she knew what was good for her. She was twenty-one now, but the memory still made her shudder.God, she loved her parents, but they had such scary friends. The Lord of the Underworld was her father's best friend, while Mila was the seawitch Mina, a creature whose name no merperson would speak aboveBut whether or not Isaac was smelling brimstone, this had to be a dream. Mainly because that part of the mind that kept things from being too frightening in dreams said so, even
His hand slid up, his thumb finding her nipple and making her moan softly. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to focus. Goddess, it was as if he hadn't sated his lust in eons. What was it about her? Rationally, he knew it could be something the witch had done. But his heart knew differently, for an angel's heart knew truth."I'm off balance, because despite all that, I'm enthralled by the way your hair lies on your shoulders, how anger flashes in your eyes like heat lightning. The flush of your cheeks, the way your nipples have hardened against that thin shirt just from my barest touch." He folded his hand around her throat and cheek, tucked her head under his chin, and let sensuality give way to comfort.When Mila let out a resigned sigh, coiled her arms around his upper body, he felt that curious relief again. "I'm angry, because in the midst of all these things, I want you. So I strike out at your desire for me, so new and clean. It's beautiful, Anna, a miraculous gift to any male
Except for that one picture. The one that said she hoped for something better.As he came back up her body and sheathed himself again, pushing them both over the edge they needed, he knew he was going to embark on this journey with her. Not because he believed the seawitch, or that the darkness in his heart needed healing, but because suddenly the most important thing was that his little mermaid knew that someone believed in her.And hellfire, he still couldn't bring himself to go back, reach out to Lucifer or the Lady. Or any of them. What would a week matter? Time was relative, when one was an angel.SHE woke alone. The thunder was shaking the house, coming close together, flashes of lightning illuminating the cottage so she could see him standing on the deck, the sliding glass door open to the driving rain. His hair was plastered to his head, his face tilted to the sky, the wings a heavy weight on his back.She didn't dress, but moved down the stairs, stood in the open door, steppe
"What the hell did you let her do to me?""She was trying to save your life. The Dark Ones--""She is a Dark Spawn. Damn it, I never should have trusted her. Or you, a child stupid enough to think a Dark One can be your friend. I--""She may be dead because of you, my lord." Mila thrust hard against him, but of course he didn't budge. "Because of me. Because I brought her into this. She led the Dark Ones away from us.""Perhaps that's what she wants you to think." He had no patience for her feelings right now. With disgust, he released her and managed to make it to his feet this time, though he had to fight the desire to lie back down. Because his voice was hoarse, he cleared it twice before he got the words out. "What did she do to me?""You're human." She flinched at his expression. "It's only temporary. At dusk, your true form will return. Until . . ." She bit it off and looked away. "It will return at dusk."His eyes narrowed. Gods, his head felt like someone was pounding a mallet
"What have you been doing?" Erica demanded."What do you mean?""The Dark Ones were loose and swarming about the ocean floor, seeking one of the winged ones. And it's all over you, his aura. You are fair glowing with it." Erica was already rummaging through her stores, reaching into crevices in the rock used for storage for her healing tonics and potions."He said I would be safe as long as I wasn't with him.""Idiot.""Erica," Mila gasped. "He's an angel.""And an idiot. Here, drink this quickly. It will purge you and you'll be rid of that glow. Go on or I'll pour it down your throat."Anna hesitated. "What do you mean, purge? Not . . . forget?"Erica stopped, stared at her. "No," she said at last. "It's a cleansing, not a . . .""Cleansing. How . . . Does that mean . . ." He'd said he could voluntarily withhold his seed, but what if . . .Erica peered at her. Now her gaze traveled more slowly over Mila, apparently seeing far more than auras."Mila, you lay with him.""It was necessa
How do you know about that?"She shrugged. "I've spent time in the human world. I've studied their history.""So have I." The shadows were back in his eyes again, the dangerous set to his mouth that made him seem so formidable. But he regarded her curiously. "Won't someone be missing you? Your family? Your great-grandsire?""I don't stay in one place for long. They're used to my absences.""So no one looks after you.""I look after myself," she said with a trace of irritation. "I got you here.""Despite my command to leave me.""It wasn't a command," she protested.Isaac snorted. "It most certainly was, and you ignored it."She rose, went to the water. For a moment he thought she was going to dive, metamorphose into her other self and leave him there. Rising, he came up behind her, not yet touching her but standing just at her back. Feeling her hair brush his chest, his abdomen, he gazed down over the top of her head at the swell of her breasts, the pink tips so recently suckled. One
Her features were so fine, small. He put his finger up beside the line of her nose, just to judge, and it seemed the tip of his finger would almost cap it. Her lips were a tiny bow, and despite himself, he imagined what it would be like to stretch them . . .While he knew human mythology suggested angels were above such things, that myth was not based on the warrior class of seraphim. The nourishing energy they required made carnality a vital part of their strength, one of the easiest and fastest ways to replenish their powers. Many of the humanoid races freely offered themselves, and he was all too aware that many felt they had no right to refuse an angel. While he tried not to take advantage of that, fortunately, not many had the desire to resist.But as the years had passed, there was a lack of intimacy to such couplings that bothered him in a way he didn't care to examine too closely. He'd begun to prefer recharging by going into seclusion, drawing from the elements, a slower, med
He would die without her. Let me die . . .No, by Neptune's Trident. She would not. And she wasn't dying here, either. This wasn't how she was going to go, damn it.When her tail encountered a flat surface, and moving water pushed against her face, telling her the tunnel had become horizontal again and was widening, she sobbed in relief. She was able to switch arms and swim forward, using the additional propulsion offered by a wider sweep of her tail. And then, the darkness began to have shapes. Rock formations in the walls, the curve of the tunnel on all sides. Light. There was light coming from somewhere. Seafans with waving tendrils and myriad corals began to blanket the walls again, scraping at her knuckles. Bless the Lady, the water was getting warmer. Much warmer. As the tunnel directed her up, she pushed against the wall with her free arm as well as pumped with her tail, suddenly desperate to know that what she was seeing, sensing, was true and not some odd type of mirage in t