Mystic Ink

by Casey Wyatt

  She remained silent, her hooded eyes capturing his. With slow deliberation, Nix leaned back onto the island, her hand held out. “Make love to me, Cal. Help me remember.”

  Cal walked to the end of the island, grabbed Nix’s ankles and pulled her forward, his arms supporting her legs. “Oh, I’m going to love you. Every inch. Starting right here . . .”

  Nix’s heart hammered against her chest as Cal unzipped her jeans. They were off in a matter of moments. His mouth—

  Oh God! So hot against her core, already throbbing with need. And yes, she needed him. As soon as she stopped fighting their mutual attraction, her mind and body were in sync with what she’d suspected all along. He was important to her because she had loved him.

  Cal sucked and licked, adding pressure then, taking it away. Driving her crazy. She raised her hips, greedy for more. She had to have him inside her before—

  She exploded. Her orgasm came hard and fast. Spots danced before her eyes, while her blood sizzled. When her sight returned, Cal’s eyes flashed from her sex to her face. He looked like a hungry tiger.

  “I’m not through with you yet,” he said, his voice low and throaty. Placing his hand on the island, he channeled his power into the granite, warming it up. The two-sided fireplace flared to life. Cal grasped her hips and positioned her until she was at the lip of the island.

  She reached forward and tugged at his T-shirt, which he promptly pulled overhead and tossed to the floor. Her eyes feasted on chiseled muscles that begged to be touched and licked. Especially, the tight ridges of his stomach and the trail of hair that led to where his jeans . . . She frowned. The pants had to go. When she leaned forward to touch him, he laid her back down.

  “Not yet, love. If you touch me now, I won’t last.” The fire’s light caught the angles of his face, softening his features. His eyes echoed the warm hues of the flames. With slow deliberation, he ran his palms down her stomach in slow circles. He nipped the skin on the inside of her thighs, then blew his warm breath on her inner folds. She shivered with anticipation, feeling herself dampen.

  His fingers plunged inside her. She cried out his name, lost in the exquisite sensation. Another orgasm raced ahead, taking over, until her whole world was pleasure. Her back arched up and off the table as her hips rode the rhythm of his strokes. The release—electric, explosive, so sweet—drove the breath from her lungs. Suddenly, she was floating in Cal’s arms, drifting on the warm cloud of his body, moving off the countertop. The motion stopped. A cool softness touched her back. She opened her eyes to Cal’s warm smile as he lay alongside her on his bed. Somewhere along the line, all his clothes had disappeared.

  “I love you, Nix.” He kissed her, his lips tender, his pace slower. She gave herself over to him, trusting his love.

  Nix rolled onto Cal’s body, straddling his hips. She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his chin, and his throat. When he went to touch her hot wetness, she moved back and grasped his erection. His eyes rolled back as she worked his shaft. His palms traveled to her knees and gently stroked her skin.

  “Cal.” While he watched, she raised his penis, slid him under her and sat straight down, taking him all in. She rocked her hips, not waiting for her body to adjust to his size. The friction was a sweet combination of pleasure and pain.

  As she gave herself over to the sensation, she threw her head back, blissful. This moment was real. It couldn’t be erased or taken away. She was going to be free . . . She cried out, coming again. And again, until they were both spent.

  She collapsed on Cal’s broad chest. The scent of wood smoke filled her nose, the slick feel of his sweat damp against her face. Joy filled her heart as Cal embraced her, snuggling her against his body.

  She vowed to fight to the bitter end to keep him safe. Even if it meant defying her father, and her duty.

  “Rise and shine!”

  Nix cracked an eye open. “Basil, go away.” This was not how she wanted to be woken up. By a big mouthed bird. She burrowed deeper into Cal’s side, pulling the covers around her chin.

  “Out of bed, sleepy heads!” The parrot flapped his wings from his perch on the headboard, took flight, and landed at the foot of the bed.

  Cal groaned, his arms tightening around her waist. That wasn’t the only thing waking up. A warm hardness pressed along her naked backside.

  Basil dug his clawed feet into the sheets, pinching Nix’s ankles. “Time’s a wasting, Mateys. Got to sail on the tide.”

  Fire streaked past Basil’s port side, singeing his wing feathers. He got the hint and flew off, leaving a trail of sailor curses in his wake.

  Nix sighed. The damned basilisk was right. Time was wasting away, and she knew exactly where they should head to first. Nix eased the sheets back and tried to slip out of bed. A hard arm encircled her waist and pulled her back under the warm covers.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Cal rumbled into her ear. His lips nibbled the base of her neck.

  “To take a shower,” Nix said, relaxing against Cal’s firm body. His hands trailed down her hips, and smoothed across her stomach. When his fingers sank lower, she split her legs open, craving his touch.

  “Want company?” he breathed into her skin.

  “Love some.”

  After a long, hot shower and two more bouts of lovemaking, they finally started to get dressed. Nix hunted around the room for her clothes. She found her underwear by the kitchen island. When she stood up, she caught a glimpse of Cal shrugging on his jeans. On his left buttock, he had the same Umbra tattoo as Devlin. Weird, she hadn’t noticed it before. She must have been too distracted.

  “Cal,” she called out to him.

  “Yeah.” He zipped up his jeans and joined her in the kitchen, T-shirt in hand. “What’s up?”

  Nix ran her greedy eyes over his bare chest. Even though her body was slightly sore and well used, she could have gone for another round. She licked her lips instead. “Put your shirt on, please. You’re distracting me.”

  Cal chuckled. A full smile on his lips. Her comment obviously pleased him. “As you wish.”

  “That’s a nice piece of ink on your ass.” She watched his reaction carefully. His face clamped down. Okay, it was going to be one of those conversations. Where she asked questions and got no answers. “I’ve noticed that Devlin has one, too.”

  Cal moved so fast she didn’t see him coming. He gently gripped her shoulders, but his expression was all serious. “Nix, no joking around. Don’t repeat what you saw to anyone else. Not even Zephyr.”

  “I won’t. Promise.”

  “Do I want to know how you saw that tattoo on Devlin?” Cal grumbled.

  “Maybe if you tell me why you would get your tattoo on your ass . . .”

  Cal didn’t look amused. “Quit stalling.”

  Nix kind of liked the jealousy. “Purely by accident. Needless to say, it threw me for a loop. I had no idea that Satyrs were even allowed into . . . you know.” She left the name Umbra off.

  “Devlin is different. Which I have been trying to tell you, but...”

  “Yeah, the whole Pannis thing.” Nix shivered in the cool morning air. She was still half-dressed, and they needed to get a move on. “Let me put on clean clothes, then we can leave.”

  “Where to?” Cal whistled for Basil. After the bird swooped inside, Cal closed and locked the slider.

  “My favorite place.”

  When they arrived at the beach house, the first thing Nix did was run up to her room and head straight for the closet. “Thank goodness. Chloe hasn’t been in here cleaning.”

  The bloody shirt and sandy sneakers were exactly where she’d left them the week and half before. She lifted the shoes, careful not to loosen the sand, and placed them on her end table. “Cal, hold out the bag.” After sifting the blue sand into the plastic zip bag, they took a closer look.

  “Have you ever seen sand like this?” Cal asked, holding the bag up to the light.

  “No. It’s not from any ocean or
island I recognize.” Nix examined her T-shirt. The silver bloodstains had hardened, but were still vivid and flaky in spots. “I wonder whose blood this is.”

  Cal flicked a chunk of blood residue onto his palm and ignited it. It went up in a puff of smoke. “It’s not mine. My blood is fireproof.” He leaned over and kissed her. “See? You didn’t hurt me.”

  “That’s a relief. But, that leaves only hundreds of more possibilities.” Nix gathered up the shirt and sand. “Let’s see if anyone else recognizes this stuff.”

  “Wait. Wouldn’t the Mantle protect your clothes from dirt?” Cal asked.

  Shit. She hadn’t thought of that. “Yeah. About that.” She hesitated, unsure of how to explain the Mantle’s true nature. She should ask him, her, it, first. “But let’s get everyone together.”

  In short order, the beach house was crowded with the usual group: Jason, Devlin, Basil, and Zephyr, all assembled in the three-season room.

  “I don’t recognize the sand. It certainly has an unusual blue tinge to it,” Zephyr said. He took a closer look at the stained shirt. “The blood belongs to someone old. But I can’t tell you who exactly.”

  Devlin leaned forward and sniffed the sand, then the blood. He face reddened, as if caught with his pants down. “Sorry, Satyrs have a great sense of smell.”

  Nix prompted, “And?”

  “Nothing. I agree with Zephyr on the blood. We’re talking an ancient God or Goddess.”

  “That narrows it down,” Jason said, fingering the hoop in his lip. “The silver means it’s one of our pantheon. And if the blood belongs to an ancient, then there’s a limited pool of candidates.”

  Nix grinned. Jason wasn’t as dumb as he acted. “So let’s start a list.”

  “And call each of them. Ask if they’ve been recently hurt.” Devlin spread his hands out when Nix stared at him. “Hey, why not?”

  “I doubt they’ll just admit to involvement in whatever is going on,” Nix said.

  “Probably not. But lies are just as effective as telling the truth sometimes. We should at least ask,” he responded.

  “I agree with Devlin. I’ll work on the list with him and Cal.” Zephyr stood, then went over to the hall desk and searched for paper.

  “I’ll start going through the tattoo books.” Jason lugged the books back into the sunroom and dropped the pile on the wood plank coffee table with a dull thud. He moved Basil’s travel cage to a side table by the back door.

  “I’ll look with Jason. We need to get to the bottom of the sacred seal.” Nix took the top book on the stack. The leather cover was well worn with age, the pages hand sewn. The drawings and notations were all in Memphis’ handwriting.

  After searching two more books, Nix looked up at Cal. He was seated across the room in an armchair speaking quietly to Zephyr. The two seemed to be getting along. The male territorial behavior, the posturing bullshit, had all but disappeared.

  Nix suppressed a small smile, thinking about how she and Cal had spent the evening. Her memories of their past relationship may have been erased, but she didn’t care. They belonged together and she wanted him in her life. The Delian League be damned.

  Before returning to the beach house, she had tried to speak with the Mantle again, but it had remained silent. It hadn’t spoken since Cal yanked it off her head. As a gesture of kindness, she left it spread on the chair by the window, so it could see the surf outside.

  Green feathers flashed by the window. Basil wanted in. Nix opened the back door, and he flew over to Cal’s chair and began muttering to himself.

  Nix stood at the door, watching the calm water of the surf. The small bumps of gentle waves rolled onto the shore, beckoning her to join them. The sand gleamed in the early afternoon light. It was amazing to think that the sand had once been mighty boulders that had been worn away into smooth grains by the hands of time.

  “Chilly. Chilly.” More of Basil’s inane chatter. A bell of recognition rang in her mind.

  “Basil. What did you say?”

  “It’s a fine time to visit Chilly.” Basil groomed his feathers, his beak burrowing deep.

  Chilly . . . Chile. “Jason!” Nix turned away quickly and banged into the table holding the antique birdcage. The table wobbled, and before she could catch it, the cage crashed to the floor.

  “Shit.” When she picked it up, the cage’s bottom was misshapen, knocked loose from its rim. Nix tried to push the bottom back on, but the pieces didn’t fit together anymore, no matter which way she turned them. Frustrated, she placed the cage on the coffee table.

  “I think I broke the cage. Look.”

  Cal examined it, turning it over. “Nah, I think this piece just snaps on . . . Hold on. What’s this?” He separated the bottom from the cage and turned it sideways. “There’s a false bottom. It’s hollow. There’s something lodged in here.” He grabbed a pen and wedged the parts open. “I’ve got it.” He held up a thin sheet of golden paper, almost translucent. Fine markings were etched on the other side.

  “Whoa!” Jason joined them, leaning in. “That looks like Memphis’ handiwork.”

  “A tattoo?” Cal placed it on the table so they could all see.

  Zephyr held his hand over it, eyes closed. They snapped open, his face pale. “That’s not paper.”

  Nix touched it. Oh Gods. “It’s skin.”

  “Ewww.” Devlin recoiled. “That’s just wrong on so many levels.”

  “And the design?” Nix asked, an idea formulating in her mind.

  “The ink is special. God’s blood?” Jason tapped it with the tip of his finger. “Man, the power coming off this thing is incredible. The fusion of the skin and ink makes it almost indestructible. It won’t age or wear out with time.”

  Nix focused on the design, reaching out to the power of the ink and skin. So familiar. “Zeus. He did this.”

  Zephyr spoke low and somber. “We are in deep shit. This is a key to a Titan’s cell. It keeps the one whose name is inscribed imprisoned.” He stood up and paced the length of the room, stopping to look out at the water. “Each key is different. This one just happens to be etched on Zeus’ skin.”

  “Whose prison is it, Zeph?” Nix asked. Devlin’s and Cal’s deep frowns increased her anxiety.

  “Typhon.”

  Stunned silence. No one said a word for a full minute.

  Zephyr broke the silence first. “If Typhon was set free, chaos would reign supreme on Earth. With Zeus and the other all-powerful deities gone, there is no one left strong enough to stop him, let alone recapture and inter him again. If he escapes, he could set the others free. Provided he found the keys to their prisons as well.”

  “Who the fuck is crazy enough to let that monster out?” Cal swore again and tucked the skin back into the bottom of Basil’s cage. “No one speaks a word of this outside this room. Understand?”

  Creepy crawlies raced across the back of Nix’s neck. The blue sand. “Devlin, hand me that bag of sand.”

  She felt its weight in her palm. The blue grains glided from one end of the bag to the other as she flipped it back and forth. The answer, so close . . . “I’ve got it. I know where I’ve seen this sand before.”

  The phone rang. Everyone checked their cell phones. Nix retrieved her phone, glancing at the call display. “Hello, Mother. I’m putting you on speaker.”

  “Your father isn’t missing. He’s been kidnapped. I found a note today. His captors were thoughtful enough to leave a phone number to call.” Doris’ sarcasm didn’t escape Nix. Her mother’s voice shook with anger. Doris may have seemed self-absorbed at times, but anyone who messed with her family had better watch out.

  Nix jotted down the number, her knuckles white against the pen. “Mom, we’ll take it from here. If they contact you again, call me or Cal.”

  She hung up and dialed before anyone else could speak. The line picked up on the first ring. “Portia, what have you done?”

  Chapter 18

  “My own sister. I knew Portia was
a slut and a lying bitch. I would have never imagined she was a traitor, too.”

  Cal remained silent. Better to let Nix vent.

  “How could I have been so blind? So stupid. She shows up with the Mantle and some fake story about a last mission for Nereus.”

  Cal understood her feelings. Betrayal. He had been there, done that. Trusted a sibling, hoping the blood connection was stronger than ambition. Most of the times it was. But not always.

  “She’s going to pay for tricking me into kidnapping Nereus. Whoever masterminded the plot is smarter than the average Nymph.”

  “Yes. It’s highly unlikely Portia did this on her own,” Cal agreed.

  “She wants to trade our father for Typhon’s seal. That bitch.”

  “Nix. Stop. You’re wearing a hole in the floor.” Zephyr tried to intercept her. Big mistake. She rebuffed his attempts to calm her down. Cal could have told him there was no taming the wild sea when it wanted to rage.

  “Wait. I don’t understand. How could they use a Mantle? I thought Nereus had sole control over them?” Jason’s question got Nix’s attention. She finally stopped pacing.

  “He does,” Nix cocked her head to one side as if listening to someone else speak. “Of course, if he didn’t have a chance to reprogram my last cloak, it would have still been active. She must have stolen it. And . . .” She trailed off again, distracted.

  “Is there someone else who could have reprogrammed it?” What had Nix been doing with the Mantle when he’d caught her beneath it? She hadn’t been in Destroyer mode. If she had been, the Mantle would have become body armor, covering her from head to toe in a platinum sheen. Her face and other features would have disappeared and become generic. Instead, she’d been under it, as though she had a blanket over her head.

  “I don’t know.” Nix abruptly turned on her heel and ran upstairs.

  Jason shrugged and looked over at Cal and Zephyr. “Is it me, or is she getting stranger?”

  “Never mind that. We need to talk.” Zephyr joined them in a huddle. He kept his voice low. “I think we all know that they will kill Nereus. If Typhon is behind this, then Portia probably has a God Killer.” A cursed weapon, designed to administer final death to an immortal.