by Katie May
Dead.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood continued to splatter around me. The ominous sound was almost addicting, breaking apart the monotony of silence I had grown accustomed to.
“I can be Sasha if you want,” the female who wasn’t Sasha said.
“Where is she?” My skin felt too tight, and I desperately wanted to rip it off. Undress myself from my skin. Free myself of the burden.
“She?” Not-Sasha released a lilting laugh. “You’re not talking about your dead school friend, are you?” She moved to crouch in front of me. “She left you. All alone. She knows what type of person you are, what type of monster. She knows what you did to Sasha.”
“No. No. No.” I shook my head vehemently in denial. I refused to believe that. She promised she wouldn’t leave me. Maybe not in words, but it had been clear in her eyes...
Eyes gorged from her head.
Blood.
Drip.
“She left you, Jax. She left you. They all did. Your brothers chose her over you. They don’t care about you. None of them do.”
I continued to shake my head as if that could somehow dispel her words from my mind.
“You’re not real,” I whispered harshly. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and willed the images away. The illusion, as my brothers repeatedly told me. I willed away the bleeding walls, the mysterious woman, and the smell of sweat.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
When I opened my eyes, minutes later, I was alone once more.
Alone. In darkness.
With the walls that dripped blood.
TWENTY-SEVEN
DEVLIN
I drummed my fingers against the thin oak table, my father’s words going in one ear and out the other.
He stood haughtily in the front of the boardroom dressed in a pristine black suit with his hair slicked back. The similarities between him and me were eerie. Brown hair, lightly tousled, olive-toned skin, and rich violet eyes. But his eyes...
Glacial didn’t even begin to describe them. They were devoid of warmth and affection, of feeling. Looking into them was what I imagined looking into dark, purple abysses would feel like.
The meeting dragged on and on, and by the time we were dismissed, I was practically running out of the door. I moved briskly down the hallway before stopping in a tiny crook between two doors. There, I leaned against the wall and folded my arms over my chest.
Waiting. The tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife.
After a moment, Laurel appeared with a slight sway to her hips. The female Genie was immensely powerful, perhaps even more powerful than me.
As a descendant of Greed, Genies relied religiously on deals and wishes. Contracts magically crafted with numerous stipulations to ensure obedience.
Fail to hold up your end of the bargain, and your soul became the Genie’s. That was the purpose of our lamps. A cage, one would say, of souls.
And the reason I was meeting Laurel in the dark hallway away from prying eyes.
“You found it?” I asked tersely, kicking myself off the wall. In answer, she thrust a purple bag into my proffered hand, and I checked the contents.
My heart, which was beating steadily, picked up speed. I could feel it reverberating in my chest, the sound deafening. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“I granted your wish,” Laurel said bitterly, hand extending. I fumbled in my pocket for her golden lamp and passed it to her. She held it reverently in both her hands, stroking her fingers down the sides.
I knew it was taboo to steal another Genie’s lamp and ask for three wishes, but I was desperate. That desperation clung to me like a sickly poison.
Laurel finally looked up from her ogling of the lamp, and her eyes narrowed into thin slits. No doubt, I had made an enemy out of the petite Genie.
Still maintaining eye-contact, she snapped her fingers and a scroll appeared, unraveling. I knew the words printed on the contract by heart. Every phrase and clause. Every condition. My name was signed in blood at the bottom, glaring back at me.
“I remember,” I told Laurel curtly, peeling my gaze from the dreaded paper. How could something so insignificant be so damning? “I’ll hold up my end of the deal.”
“You better.” She took a step forward and jabbed an accusatory finger into my stomach. “I hate being fucking used.”
Her finger lowered, trailing down my chest, and I stepped away from her touch as if it was toxic. I imagined my eyes were glowing vividly like a flame lit beneath the surface. She must’ve seen something in my gaze, felt my power whipping through both of us, for she took an automatic step back.
“Don’t. Touch. Me.” My words were a growl, nearly inarticulate. For the first time since I knew her, true fear flittered across her face. It was there and gone too quickly for me to be certain.
“You better hold up your end of the deal, Devlin,” she whispered icily. “Or else your soul is mine.”
In response, I flipped her the finger. Childish, yes. Effective, also yes.
Cuddling my new treasure, I sidestepped the very pissed off Genie and moved purposefully down the twisting hallways. I must’ve given off a vibe that said Don’t Fuck With Me because everybody did just that.
I passed my own room, stopping in front of Z’s. Her absence hung like a sword above my head, seconds from dropping. It was all I could do not to follow her to the Mermaid Kingdom and ensure with my own eyes that she was safe and well.
Pushing open the door, I took stock of the empty room. It was exactly as she had left it, the bedroom door wide open to reveal the bed still unmade from her night with Killian.
As I stared at the crumpled bed sheets, I waited for jealousy to hit me. If it was any other guy besides my brothers, I would’ve gone insane. Instead, all I felt was...relief.
I sifted through my thoughts to get a better understanding of my emotions.
Relief and acceptance were the predominant ones.
Killian needed someone in his life to take care of him, to love him, to protect him from himself. Z was capable and willing to do just that. I couldn’t fault my brother for being happy, just like I couldn’t fault my mate for making him as such. She was good for him, and he, her. He brought out a tenderness that was absent normally, even when she was with me.
I could see the way she looked at him, like he was something to be cherished and protected at all cost.
So no, as I stared at the bed, I felt no jealousy. No animosity for two people I cared about more than anyone else in this god-forsaken world.
Diverting my attention from the fluffy white bed, I walked to the couch and collapsed down. My fingers were white from how tightly I gripped the package Laurel had given me.
I could scarcely believe I held it. I kept expecting to blink and have it disappear in a cloud of smoke. To dematerialize, as if it had never existed at all.
Hand shaking, I grabbed the golden hued lamp from inside the purple bag. It was small, smaller than even Laurel’s, with a color that wasn’t quite gold but wasn’t yellow either. Umber and amber blended together, a dark shade of black at the bottom. There were no jewels encrusted on the sides like my father’s.
Simple. Relatively unremarkable. It gave no indication of the power it wielded, the power it continued to wield.
I felt as if I was going to pass out. My entire attention was fixated on the lamp in my hand. The lamp that had been missing for years now.
When you made a wish with a Genie, you had to be specific. There could be no loopholes. It sometimes took weeks, months, to articulate a wish. If you fucked up...
Well...
It wasn’t unheard of for things to become dire for you.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought of wishing for my lamp until Z had come back into my life. That would’ve saved me years of fruitless searching.
With bated breath, I rubbed my hands down the smooth sides. Cliché, most definitely. It was a stupid practice implemented at the begi
nning of time.
Unlike Laurel, I didn’t revel in collecting souls. I didn’t like granting wishes to unsuspecting people, despite my entire survival depending on it.
I took clients that wanted little. A new dog, for example. Or a roof over their heads. Unlike the other assholes, I tried to keep the wishes straight to the point. No loopholes. No stipulations.
It didn’t change the fact that the universal cost for not holding up your end of the contract was your soul. There was quite literally nothing I could do about it, no matter how hard I tried.
I only had one soul in my lamp. One soul trapped in a cage for all of eternity. One soul that had failed to uphold his end of the deal.
My hands scrubbed the sides erratically, waiting for the soul to appear.
Nothing.
Not even a wisp of smoke.
Fear strangled me, and I once more rubbed a shaky hand up and down, up and down.
I couldn’t seem to take in enough air. It wasn’t grief, not yet, but a strangling type of fear. It closed off my airways and made me light-headed.
It shouldn’t be possible. No, from what I gathered, it was impossible.
A soul didn’t magically disappear from a Genie’s lamp.
After one more ineffectual scrub down the ice cold sides, I pulled at my magic. Violet tendrils escaped me, snaking to the lamp and encompassing it in a soft embrace. My magic sputtered once before dying out.
It, too, didn’t sense anything or anyone inside of my lamp.
But that was...
I took a breath meant to calm me, but it did little to slow down my rapidly beating heart.
The soul was gone. Disappeared.
If that was the case...
I shook my head, as if fending off dizziness.
If that was the case, Z was going to hate me.
There was no doubt about that. She would hate me once she discovered the truth, once she discovered what I had kept from her.
And the rest of us?
We would be fucked.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Z
There was a certain sound the water made as the boat was steered cleanly out of the basin. I wouldn’t call the boisterous sound soothing. Loud, would be a better description. Almost comforting and hypnotic, a noise that would lull you to sleep. The slightest swoosh of water brushing the edge of the boat.
Why they had boats when the majority of the population could breathe - and were required to at least half a day - underwater, I had no idea. But I wasn’t willing to look a gifted horse in the mouth...or however that saying went.
The castle and “summer home”, as Dair called it, were located on the mainland, a couple hundred miles away from the Capital. From there, it led to an immense body of water, Leapon Ocean. Hundreds of islands freckled the ocean water, all varying in size and wildlife according to Dair.
Bash expertly steered the boat through a narrow canal, the only sound the rippling of water and puttering of the engine.
“I don’t like this,” I whispered tersely. My eyes constantly scanned the horizon. What I was searching for, I couldn’t discern. Something didn’t feel right. The unease prickled the skin on my arms, snaking to my throat and choking me.
I didn’t like being separated from my mates. Not so soon after I met them.
Not so soon after I claimed them.
I didn’t want to think about that, about them, and I once more looked out into the distance.
A tapestry of green surrounded either side of the narrow canal. Tiny dots of yellow adorned the majority of the leaves. The only trees I recognized were palms, spaced intermittently along the waterway. Another one looked like a palm tree but held the needles of a pine. Another was teetering against a trunk, seconds from toppling.
Despite the copious wildlife, there were no Mermaids present. I had expected to see at least one on my journey to the boat - and then more once we set off. However, the only Mermaid nearby was Dair.
“It’s too quiet,” Dair agreed. He leaned against the railing of the small sailboat. His father’s, he had told me, before sheepishly adding, “He stole it from a rich Genie.”
Typical.
He was right. Normally, I would be grateful for the tranquility and silence, but I was too wound up. Too suspicious. Any second now, the serenity could shatter like a rock being thrown at glass.
Movement captured and ensnared my attention. Dair was slowly undressing, and despite the direness of the situation, I found myself taking in his golden expanse of skin. He had delectable back muscles, and two dimples leading down to his ass. I never knew that would turn me on so much.
When he shucked his pants, bending down to pull his feet out, I got a good view of his ass and balls. Pleasure swirled in my lower stomach, and I bit my lower lip.
“Stop fucking gawking,” Bash bit out. He turned his glare onto Dair. “And stop giving her a show.”
Dair smiled cheekily at me over his shoulder, winking once, before he dived into the water. Once he was gone, the mood instantly turned somber, and I spun on Bash.
“Why are you such a fucking prick?” I asked, and his eyes narrowed.
“Because this is serious, Z. Or don’t you understand that?”
“Of course I understand! I understand that better than anyone. It’s my life on the line, Bash. Not yours. Not Dair’s. Mine. And it’s all the lives of those men in that dungeon. And maybe even Ryland’s! But we don’t fucking know anything.” I threw my hands up into the air in agitation. “Excuse me for enjoying one moment of normalcy. One moment with my mate before shit hits the fan.”
Bash’s hand tightened over the steering wheel. He looked as if he wanted to run to me, but I couldn’t tell if it was to strangle me or kiss me.
“You still don’t get it,” he settled on at last, dismissing me with a slow shake of his head. I narrowed my eyes at the pompous asshole.
“What don’t I get? Why don’t you fucking speak in words instead of these cryptic codes?”
I balled my hand into a fist, seconds from decking him. I could learn to drive a damn boat if the need arose, and I was sure Bash would be quite tasty fish food.
Bash turned abruptly, face red.
“If you die, we die,” he seethed. “It’s that simple. Maybe not literally, but mentally. You saw what happened when the Shifter King lost his mate. He went fucking insane! Did you know that he begged for death?”
His question took me by surprise. For some reason, it was almost a physical blow to my stomach. I staggered back a step until my thighs were resting against the teal leather seats at the back of the boat.
“What?”
I tried to visualize what he had said. The Shifter King may be evil, an asshole of massive proportions, but he was the epitome of strong, alpha male. He practically exuded raw masculinity from his gruff voice and burly appearance to his condescending remarks. The picture Bash painted was impossible to imagine.
“Even he couldn’t survive the death of his mate, and he didn’t like her very much,” Bash continued. His voice had lost its initial heat and now sounded subdued. Tired. Weary.
“Like us?” I mused, and heat once more flared to life in Bash’s eyes.
“They’re nothing like us,” he protested vehemently. The fire in his eyes grew to an inferno.
“You hate me.” My voice was weak, even to my own ears.
“I don’t fucking hate you,” he snapped.
“What about Cassie?”
“Who the fuck is Cassie?” He looked genuinely confused, and I couldn’t help but snort.
“The girl you left the ball with.” I mentally winced at how jealous I sounded. A pathetic, needy girlfriend. What had these men done to me?
Understanding flickered in his eyes followed immediately by horror.
“Is that why you have been such an icy bitch to me?” he asked, mouth agape. My hair rose on the back of my neck.
“Wow. Thanks.”
“Guys!” Dair’s voice floated to us from down
below, and I risked a glance over the railing. His golden hair was spun with darker shades of umber as he bobbed in the water. Waves rippled over his chiseled, nicely defined chest. As he moved, I caught sight of his tail.
It was a deep, cerulean blue, and two times the size of his torso. I knew from experience that the tail was a rather sensitive area for the male Mermaid.
“You leading the way?” I asked Dair, turning my back on a fuming Bash. He was right. The conversation - and maiming - could wait until we were done with this ridiculous task.
“Yeah,” he called back, swimming in front of the boat. His muscles flexed with each swipe of the water, and once more, I had to remind myself not to drool.
But my damn vagina wanted to pee on him and claim him as my own. Shameless hussy, that one.
Bash sullenly moved back to the wheel.
“Can we go faster?” I asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. We had barely made a dent in the long strip of canal, slowly puttering along.
Bash glared at me like my question was the stupidest thing he had ever heard.
“It’s shallow here,” he snapped. “Unless you want the boat to get stuck in sand and break.”
“It’s not my fault I’ve never ridden a fucking boat before,” I retorted back. He muttered something in irritation but thankfully did not respond. I wasn’t sure I could last another comment from him without ripping his dick off his body.
The silence stretched, thickening.
“I didn’t do anything with Cassie,” Bash bit out. He sounded...frustrated. Frustrated and appalled. From where I sat behind him, I couldn’t see his face.
“You left with her,” I pointed out. There was no bitterness in my voice. Instead, it was a statement of fact. He had left with her, he couldn’t deny that. Maybe he didn’t sleep with her or even kiss her, but he had left.
I closed my eyes and took a steadying breath.
The sun was bright and blinding today. Behind my closed eyelids, it painted a picture of dark red and black. I knew that my skin was burning, unaccustomed to the blistering heat.
I kept my eyes closed as Bash released a sigh.
