by J B Black
Ned’s face fell. With a sigh, he shook his head. “Don’t throw away your future on that damn cuff.”
“Nereus should care about my reasons. He should ask me about them just like you should have asked that woman, and I understand that I should have explained my reasoning to him too, but no matter what power her husband had over her, if you were a sorcerer, she should have told you what she needed,” Bellamy concluded. “This isn’t all on you, and this shouldn’t be all on me.”
Gaze falling to the floorboards, Ned stepped back, reaching for the door. “There’s more than one side to every story, Bellamy. When you’re ready to see that, you’ll understand.”
Chapter Twelve
“Leon!” Castor called, chasing his son down the beach. “Don’t go too far!”
Time moved strangely for gods, and preparing for war had taken time, but to see the child who had been in his brother’s stomach running about on the beach was like a slap in Nereus’s face. Athanasius walked behind with a hand on the subtle curve of his belly. Though, perhaps subtle was pushing it.
“Athanasius?” Nereus called, stepping onto the beach as his doppleganger. When his elder half-brother turned, Nereus launched forward, clinging to him. “I fucked up!”
Castor hissed, “Language!”
Hugging the sea god, Athanasius hummed softly. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
Explaining all that had happened, he sobbed into his brother’s arms as Castor chased their young toddler son about the beach. The small boy chased the waves, giggling as they rolled in, splashing about his feet.
“It’s been so long since I thought of war…” Athanasius rubbed the curve of his pregnant belly, staring out to the sea. “Everything you’ve planned sounds like what I would suggest. I never battled under water. I wouldn’t know how to advise you.”
Nereus squirmed. His eyes traced over his brother’s gravid form. Soon, he would round. His child would grow, squirming in his belly before making their way into the world, and Nereus’s heart ached, longing for Bellamy to be by his side as Castor had been for Athanaius.
“Don’t be nervous. You have a good plan. I’m sure you will win,” Athanasius assured him.
“It isn’t that.”
“Then what is it?” Castor asked, lifting the tired toddler into his arms. “You’ve been off since you arrived. I thought that was the projected form, but you’ve been close to a curse, and it isn’t the one you described before.”
Biting his lip, Nereus shook his head. “I met my mate.”
“If they’re cursed, I can always help,” Castor assured him.
“I’m so happy you’re my brother’s mate,” Nereus told the warlock turned god. “You’re so nice. My mate wants the curse. It’s this stupid cuff. I don’t even know what it does, but he won’t take it off, and he could. I know that. The curse is an exchange for some kind of power, but it cuts off our mate bond. I thought if we...I thought if we consummated it, our bond would get through, but now I’m with child, and I mean nothing to him.”
Brows furrowing, Castor bounced the sleepy Leon on his hip as he hummed. “Tell me about this cuff.”
“It’s a golden cuff. He wears it on his forearm,” Nereus gestured, measuring out the length on his own arm. “It doesn’t look like anything special. No runes on it. No gems or anything. Just a solid gold cuff. It rejected our bond, and it has a weakness to water, but I couldn’t tell you more than that.”
“There are a lot of enchanted cuffs in the world, but not a lot of them would interfere with the matebond,” Castor murmured, frowning all the more as he handed off their son to Athanasius. “King Ulric of Aelion placed a commission over a decade ago, but before it was finished, someone stole it. Shortly after, he was killed.”
Nereus leapt to his feet. “Commissioned from who? Could they fix it? Could you?”
“It isn’t broken. It isn’t even a curse,” Castor told him. “Ulric suffered intense pain from betraying his mate and causing her death. He wanted the cuff to block that.”
Sinking back down beside his brother, Nereus blinked unseeing. His form wobbled. The water of the projection threatened to tear apart as curled up against the wall of his castle. Any tears he cried disappeared in the sea water, but he managed to keep the sobs from transferring through.
“You said your mate’s a pirate?” Castor let out a whistle. “I wouldn’t be on a boat if I had that cuff on me. Greyson, the wizard involved, had to give it a weakness to power the mate bond suppression and repulsion of any attack. If you mate submerged in water, he’s screwed. He’ll be paralyzed. Entirely locked in his body and in intense agony. Aelion was landlocked, so it was actually kind of a clever work around — if Ulric wasn’t such a d-jerk,” Castor quickly caught himself, smiling down at his son’s wide and curious gaze. “He’s literally picked the worst career for someone wearing that thing.”
Athanasius cradled his son against his chest, whispering, “Should you tell your mate? Maybe he doesn’t know about the weakness.”
If he was kinder like Athanasius, perhaps he would have had a better mate, but fate recognized the bastard in Nereus and refused to give him anyone to gentle him. Instead, he got Bellamy Drake. A man determined to do what he wanted, how he wanted. With a war ahead of him, Nereus wouldn’t give the pirate an inch.
“Thank you for your advice and knowledge. As always, it was a pleasure to see you both. When things are settled, I hope our children can play together,” Nereus announced, giving his brother a hug and placing a kiss upon his sleeping nephew’s forehead.
Bellamy demanded a favor. With any luck, in the battle against Mar, Bellamy would fall off his damn ship, and Nereus would kindly save his life, providing a last minute rescue as his ‘favor.’ It wasn’t kind, but nothing about either of them seemed to be, so with a last glance at his brother’s happily ever after, Nereus returned to war.
Chapter Thirteen
When the flag rose on Ned’s ship, signalling that the latest meeting of the captains would take place with him, dread coiled in Bellamy’s chest, wrapping tightly around his heart. Sure enough, the tingling itched underneath his skin the moment he climbed aboard his old ship, and standing amongst the other captains stood Nereus. He shimmered — beautiful and colder than before.
“Now that you’ve all arrived, let’s commence,” Ned announced, and the final stages of their plans took form.
By the time they had finished, the others stayed for a drink, but Nereus ducked out. Of course, Bellamy stalked after him, reaching out, “That’s a projection, isn’t it? Water doppelganger or something.”
“And if it is?”
“Ned swore loyalty too,” Bellamy pointed out. “Don’t you include his ship in your territory?”
Nereus only shrugged. Distant in a way that had the blond reaching out to touch, but the god stepped out of reach. “Captain Rowell is a wonderful strategist. His maps are more detailed. We’ll have the meetings here. The few that remain.”
“Nereus —”
“Goodnight, Captain Drake.”
The sea god collapsed into a pool of water, sliding easily off the deck. Every meeting ended similarly. Nereus avoided him. Bellamy’s chest ached. Everything inside the blond ached to tear himself apart, but the cuff simply buzzed, tormenting him worse than ever.
“Switch ships with me!” Bellamy demanded of Ned.
Of course, the older man shook his head. “This isn’t just my ship. My crew and I worked hard to get this vessel, and I’m not abandoning it without their agreement.”
“Then let me use your cabin. I need to confront Nereus, and he’s avoiding me,” the younger man retorted.
Shaking his head, Ned sighed. “You’re causing both of you more pain than you need to. I’ll send word requesting an impromptu meeting. You better use it wisely. He’ll likely change ships again afterward, and I doubt that captain will be as understanding.”
Waiting in darkness, Bellamy sat with his head in his hands. All his life, he h
ad one goal. His heart focused on nothing else. He wanted no one else. The cuff weighed so heavily on his wrist, but he couldn’t take it off. He couldn’t give up after coming so far.
“Captain Rowell?” Nereus called, and when their eyes met in the darkness, the sea god scoffed, “What is the meaning of this, Drake?”
Bellamy struggled, trying to find the words to make Nereus understand, but his racing heart clouded his head. “Why are you avoiding me?”
“Avoiding you? I have a war to think about Captain Drake. You aren’t my priority,” the sea god retorted, and it would have been kinder if the man had slapped him. Pain clawed at his chest, and even the soothing numbness the cuff offered failed to reach the ache. “But if this is going to distract you, let’s get this over quickly.”
Horror should have filled Bellamy when the god stripped, but every inch of tan skin displayed had his mouth salivating. He wanted peace. Wanted Nereus to understand that they couldn’t be fated mates — but that he desired him all the same. Perhaps Ned was right. Maybe they met at the wrong time, and if they could only find a way to speak, they could make their way through the monstrous divide which threatened to grow between them.
But Bellamy was weak, and soon enough, he pinned Nereus to the wall of Ned’s cabin, thrusting up into the wet heat of the god’s body. The itch vanished. Everything burned — too hot and too much as they kissed, finding pleasure in the roughness of covetous hands.
When they came together, Bellamy blacked out, the force of his orgasm sending him crashing to the ground, and by the time he recovered, the god had left, leaving him bare and alone in the dark cabin of another man’s ship.
“Damn it!” Bellamy growled, slamming his fist against the floorboards. Dressing, he stormed onto the deck, glaring at the water as he approached the side of the ship. “Don’t be so fucking petulant,” he called out to the water.
“I take it didn’t go well.”
Bellamy jumped, turning to face Ned. “No. It didn’t.”
Those dark eyes traveled over him as a spiral of fire appeared in the sorcerer’s hand. “Did you have sex in my cabin?” Bellamy ducked his head, refusing to answer, and Ned groaned. “You stupid boy. We’re heading into Mar’s territory soon. This isn’t like a normal war. This is a single assault. We’ll either win or be dead. Either way, Nereus has no reason to deal with you again besides that favor of yours.” Ned frowned. “And we both know what you’ll ask for, and it’s not going to make any of this worth it.”
Bellamy couldn’t even find the strength to argue. He spent the night in his old bunk amongst the crew who had cared for him for so long. For so long, his mother symbolized the hole in his heart. The key to everything that hurt in his life. If she didn’t ease that pain — if the answers she provided fell short of stopping the agony over her abandonment, what more was there for him? All he needed was a way to close the door to his past. Then he could face Nereus without the cuff. Then he could see if they were mates and embrace whatever that would mean.
Chapter Fourteen
The border between two sea gods’ kingdoms stood only as visible as the difference in the waters between them. A surge of blue-gray waters met a blue so deep it was nearly black. Over and over, the two slammed, never mixing together as the foam rolled down one side and then the other. An advantage gained and lost in the repetition. On one side, Mar’s kingdom sat. From above the water, the pirates swallowed, recognizing a boundary they had tred time and time again without ever knowing what lay beneath.
Beneath the waves, the waters shifted. Each breath tasted different, and the moment they crossed the line, Mar would know.
“At the ready,” Nereus commanded. Preecha signaled the ships above, and they stopped just short of the divide. “The moment we cross this line, Mar will know we have entered his kingdom. We take no prisoners. Any who would permit the taking of our compatriots in such a cowardly act deserves to burn!”
All cheered, and at his signal, they charged. Selkies and merfolk raced ahead, the transformed pirates leading the charge with a murderous glint in their eyes. Sure enough, an illusion shattered, and Mar’s army appeared the moment they crossed the boundary.
Blood filled the water, but Nereus only had eyes for Mar. Burned of face, the older god stood amongst his troops, rising higher and higher as Nereus rushed forward. None of them could have stopped him. Against a god, the soldiers were little more than useless.
“Mar!” Nereus roared. “I’ll have your head!”
Lightning flashed. The pirates cast down their nets, and the merfolk led the enemy soldiers into Bellamy’s clever traps. Sword to trident, the two gods clashed. Cold nordic waves slamming against the summer seas of the south. If they could not blend, then blood would meld the divide.
But Mar’s gaze turned upward. The nets which pulled his men from the water, leaving them fodder for the canons, drew his attention, and with each meeting of their weapons, the older god brought Nereus higher and higher until the two gods fought upon the water’s surface.
Blinded in one eye, Mar hadn’t the luxury of dividing his attention. Nereus’s blade pierced his side, and grabbing the younger god’s forearm, he growled, “You foolish child!”
Spitting blood, Mar called down the storm. Lightning struck the mast of every ship. A shield rose above some, rising from Captain Rowell’s hands, but this seemed only to draw a berserker like madness from the gray-eyed god. His coppery tresses glimmered with each flash of lightning. His roar echoed louder than the thunder.
Calling out orders from his deck as his ship burned around him, Bellamy raced, calling for his men to put out the fires as he dove into the fire. His cuff protected him. The flames blazed, but they could not touch him, and the strength in his frenzy had the burning mast tossed into the sea.
“Hold together!” the blond pirate called. “She’s sunk before, and if she sinks, Nereus will bring her up. Hold formation!”
Up came the nets, the men kept to their tasks, but they had no magical barriers between them and the fire, and no matter how Bellamy worked to put out the fire, his ship seemed to burn all the quicker as if the flames came straight from the bowels of the underworld. A rage directed solely at him, and when Bellamy glanced to see how Nereus fared, he met the gray eyes of an unfamiliar god and knew that whether he could sense the bond or not — Mar could.
It was the last thing he wanted, but the writing stood clear and bloody upon the walls as Bellamy cried, “Prepare to abandon ship!”
The men raced to the row boats, and Bellamy lowered them into the water, sending them toward Ned’s ship as he struggled to ensure he didn’t lose a single man as the mizzenmast fell, sending down burning pieces of canvas and twine.
“We can lower the boat from within. Climb aboard, Bellamy,” Bill urged, but if he were in the row boat, it would draw Mar’s attention, and sharks on neither god’s side paced the waters, waiting to consume whatever dead they could.
Forcing the boat to lower, Bellamy offered one last smile. “I’ll see you at the end.”
Bill had no chance to protest as the ship creaked, falling into the water, and they had no choice but to get away from the larger ship as she sank in burner timbers.
With his men free, Bellamy raced about the decks, clearing what he could and fighting the fire even as it burned the shirt from his back. Sweat beaded upon his broad. Smoke filled his lungs, yet he pressed on. For as long as he remained able to move, he would draw Mar’s ire, giving Nereus the best chance to kill the other god.
But he underestimated the fury of a god. With a throw of high mighty trident, he pierced the burning hull of Bellamy’s ship, sending the young captain into the water.
At once, Nereus’s heart clenched. “Bellamy!”
“You can’t even protect your mate! How do you expect to protect a realm?” Mar demanded, slamming his meaty fist into the younger god’s stomach.
Pain and panic followed, feeding upon each other, as Nereus dodged the next blow, abandoning his
fight with one last slash as he dove into the water. Without a thought, he raced to Bellamy. In that instant, he forgot that his mate would survive the depths. Forget everything but the desperation to ensure Bellamy didn’t suffer because of him and the terror of what a single blow might have done to the child who had not even begun to curve his belly.
Bellamy never expected to be saved. Not by Nereus. He had pushed the god away — pulling him in and tormenting him until he could not resist the desire to touch, but though he had not felt the bond between them, he had seen the god’s agony, and he dismissed what fate might have made of them all the same, so why would Nereus risk his life for a mate who rejected him?
Yet there he was. His tan arms wrapped around Bellamy’s waist, and with his back to Mar and his sword only loosely held as he swam toward the surface, Nereus made himself vulnerable — risked everything for Bellamy, so when Mar recalled his trident and aimed it toward Nereus’s exposed back, what else could Bellamy do but pull the cuff free from his forearm with what remained of his strength and clasp it upon Nereus’ forearm as the paralysis overtook his body, sending the blond pirate into unconsciousness.
Already a dead weight in his arms, Nereus flailed in confusion when the weight shifted, and his own body tingled, feeling a numbness starting in his toes right before something tapped him on the back. Swirling in the water as he broke the water’s surface, Nereus gasped as Mar’s trident rebounded. Floating above the water, the numbness slowly subsided, but Bellamy sagged against him. Not breathing.
“No — no, please, no,” Nereus begged, ignoring the cry of frustrated pain as Mar fell into the water with his own trident deep in his back. “You can’t die,” the young god pleaded. His body cramped, and teleporting, he stumbled across Captain Rowell’s ship before falling to his knees. “Bellamy!”
Rushing from his position, the dark-haired pirate captain knelt opposite the god, pressing two fingers to the side of the blond’s neck. He said nothing. Pushing his hands against the man’s chest over and over in a steady rhythm, his dark eyes focused as the god wept, pressing a hand over his cramping abs.
