The monster’s eyes were cold and pitiless. “Those who go to sea must pay a price. I only ask for what is fair.”
“How is that fair?” Izzy cried.
“A life given for a life saved,” he hissed. “This is my domain and I make the rules.”
“But here’s the thing, Neptune. The days of the old gods are past, and if anyone makes the rules, then it’s me.” The Sorceress was standing beside them on the cliff top, her long red hair streaming in the wind, her arms raised, the crackle of blue lightning flying from her fingers.
“No!” he roared, his tail thumping on the surface, sending water streaming into the air around him.
“Neptune, come with me,” she shouted, her voice like a sonic boom.
“You cannot make me! I was in this world before you and your kind were even thought of. I belong here.”
But the Sorceress had begun to sing, words with no meaning, weaving them into an achingly beautiful and yet terrifying song. The monster clasped his hands to his head and began to groan, and then he shook himself, trying to be rid of the sounds.
“You tricked me. This isn’t fair . . .”
“I am the Sorceress and this isn’t about being fair. I brought Zek back from the between-worlds so that he could redeem himself— become the hero he should have been. No, Neptune, I played you at your own game. You are a liar. You’re not to be trusted. Isabel was willing to give up her life, but that wasn’t enough for you. I knew you wouldn’t stand by your word. You have no honour. Your time is over and you will leave here now.”
Her words had hardly been spoken when Neptune began to vanish, fading like an old sepia photograph, until he was utterly gone.
Zek’s hair was wet, plastered to his head, his clothes dripping, but he was alive. His eye glowed with passion as he drew Isabel into his arms, and they clung together as the storm began to wane.
“I have sent him somewhere he can do no more harm,” the Sorceress said calmly, watching them. “When you called to him during the storm on your ship, you gave him the power to command you. If you’d let him, he would have sunk other ships and drowned many more people to satisfy his bloodlust.”
“And now?” Izzy asked.
“See for yourself,” the Sorceress said, looking up.
The lighthouse was shining out, warning of the rocks. The steamer was turning slowly but surely back to sea. The tragedy had been averted, the past was changed, and Zek had satisfied the Sorceress’ commands.
The Sorceress met his gaze. “You want to know what will happen now.”
He tightened his arm about Izzy. “I know what I want to happen now.”
“A life together,” Izzy said, pushing her dripping hair out of her eyes. “A long, happy, uneventful life together.”
The Sorceress smiled. “Done.”
A heartbeat later she was gone and they were alone on the cliff top. The storm was clearing and the sea growing calmer. It occurred to Izzy that she was now a resident in another time, but the lack of mod-cons was a small price to pay for all she’d gained.
“Will you be happy?” Zek asked, reading her mind.
“Yes.” She cupped his face in her palms, kissing his cold lips to warmth. They turned back towards the lighthouse just as the sun came through the clouds, the rays weak at first but growing stronger, the lighthouse keeper and his wife.
Author Biographies
Sara Mackenzie
Bestselling author of both paranormal and historical romance (under the name Sara Bennett), she has been nominated for a RITA by the RWA.
saramackenzie.com
Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters 162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2009
“The Lighthouse Keeper and His Wife” © by Sara Mackenzie. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.
The right of Trisha Telep to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
UK ISBN 978-1-84529-941-5
First published in the United States in 2009 by Running Press Book Publishers
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.
US Library of Congress number: 2008942197 US ISBN 978-7624-3651-4
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