Beware the Darkness

by Alexandra Ivy

  “Here,” Inga said, holding out the Tryshu.

  Sabrina offered Inga a sad smile, as if sensing Inga’s horror at being thrust into her current position. “It doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid.”

  “I don’t want it,” Inga insisted.

  Unexpectedly, it was Levet who answered. “You wanted a home, ma belle. And a family,” he reminded her. “Now you have both.”

  Inga paused. He was right. She’d gone from being a blight on her family to being warmly welcomed by her cousins, and presumably her mother who was supposedly searching for her. Even the gathered mer-folk were beginning to eye her with more curiosity and less fear.

  “But…” She wasn’t sure what she was going to say. Thankfully the room was distracted as the tall, gorgeous-as-sin vampire strolled out of a hidden door and crossed the floor to wrap a possessive arm around Waverly’s shoulders.

  “Is he dead?” the mermaid demanded before she was wrinkling her nose. “Sorry, that was a stupid question.”

  Tarak smiled, his fangs flashing in the glow of the overhead chandeliers. “You never have to worry about Riven again.”

  There was a collective sigh of relief through the room. No one was going to mourn Riven. Which might have been sad, if he hadn’t been such an ass.

  Tarak glanced down at Waverly, as if he was impervious to the numerous eyes watching them with avid interest. As if they were alone in world.

  Inga felt another pang of envy. If only…

  “Now I believe you promised me a few centuries on a deserted island,” the vampire growled.

  Waverly bit her lip, glancing toward Inga before her gaze shifted to her sister. “I should stay.”

  Sabrina lifted her hand to make a shooing motion. “Go,” she commanded. “I will be here to assist Inga. Plus, Poyson will return as soon as she discovers her daughter is home.”

  The young mermaid wavered, clearly torn between her duty to her people and her desire to be alone with her mate. At last she heaved a small sigh.

  “You will let me know if you need me?” she asked her sister.

  Sabrina smiled, giving another wave of her hand. “Go.”

  Snuggling close to Tarak, Waverly lifted her hand to create a portal. Then, with a wave toward Sabrina, the two were moving forward to disappear from view.

  There was a brief silence before Sabrina was bustling toward Inga with a determined expression. “Come along,” she said as she grabbed Inga’s arm in a firm grip.

  “Where are we going?” Inga demanded, alarmed to discover herself being urged toward the front of the room.

  “To place you on the throne,” Sabrina told her, as if it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing anyone had ever said in the history of the world.

  Panic thundered through Inga as she glanced around, searching for a way to halt the inevitable.

  “Levet?” Her gaze skimmed the crowd, searching for the tiny demon. He was nowhere to be seen. “Damn.”

  Sabrina shoved her onto the dais before turning toward her people. “I give you Inga, Queen of the Mer-folk.”

  Without warning the crowd began bowing in her direction, their silk rustling like waves.

  Inga’s heart forgot how to beat. Oh…hell. Life was never, ever going to be the same again.

  * * * *

  In the end they didn’t travel to a deserted island. Waverly had been right. Beaches and vampires really didn’t mix. Instead they chose his isolated lair on the cliffs of northern Scotland.

  The castle was a crumbling ruin when they arrived, but the underground tunnels were still intact and thankfully dry. Best of all, it was miles from the nearest town.

  No. Tarak shook his head. That wasn’t the best thing.

  Waverly’s joy as she played in the vast ocean that spread as far as the eye could see was the best thing.

  He’d been enchanted the first time he’d seen her transform into her mermaid form. With a burst of magic her lower body had been covered in scales that shimmered like rainbows in the moonlight. Then she’d been skimming through the water and he’d gaped in sheer wonderment.

  He could feel her sheer ecstasy as she’d danced among the schools of fish and surfaced to splash him with the icy water.

  The only drawback to the location was that it wasn’t as private as an island in the middle of nowhere.

  Already Chiron had tracked him down. Not that Tarak regretted the visit from his clansman. The two had enjoyed a long overdue reunion. The younger vampire had tried to apologize for not finding Tarak sooner, but Tarak had refused to let him feel guilty. Those who were to blame for holding him captive were dead.

  He was far more interested in how Chiron had gone from a vampire who had been banished by the previous Anasso, with nothing but the clothes on his back, to acquiring a chain of fancy spas and casinos that were spread around the world.

  As they chatted and laughed about the time they’d spent together, Tarak had felt the bitterness inside him begin to fade. It reminded him what it meant to be a part of a clan.

  Now, standing alone on the edge of the cliff, Tarak barely noticed the wind that tugged at his hair and chapped his cheeks. His concentration was consumed by the exquisite female emerging from the water.

  Eventually they would leave this place, he silently acknowledged.

  Waverly wanted to spend time with her sister, as well as make sure that Inga was settling into her role as the Queen of the Mer-folk. While he wanted to discover what had happened to his clansmen.

  But not tonight.

  Stepping off the edge of the cliff, Tarak plummeted downward, landing in front of Waverly. She sucked in a startled breath before her expression softened and a welcoming smile curved her lips.

  Wrapping her in his arms, Tarak buried his face in her wet hair. Behind them the ocean crashed against the rocky shoreline, and overhead the sky was spattered with a million stars.

  It might not be tropical, but they’d found their paradise.

  Together.