“Are we leaving or what?” He walked into the water. “I’ll just go grab her.”
He found the sea nymph floating listlessly across the lake underwater in her clothes, her eyes a bright blue and so sad he hurt deep inside. Which made no sense.
“Yo, nymph, it’s time to go.”
She looked at him with longing, which confused him. There was no sense of shame for her actions or hostility that he’d been freed from her spell. Just a well of grief atypically found in a sea nymph, who were known for their free lifestyles filled with sex, fun, and joy.
He studied her, having no problem whatsoever with her looks. She was gorgeous, much prettier than the sea witch who’d nabbed him. Then again, the sea witch had used her face to trap him, though it had been artificial. Nothing like the true beauty before him.
“Hey, Kaia, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did we, ah, did we have sex? Is that what we did all week while we were here?”
“No.” Hell, she looked even sadder. “I didn’t want to bind you to me against your will, and I worried that intimacy would make us mates in truth.”
“Huh. Okay.”
He’d swear she was crying, though in the water it was hard to tell. That she might be upset bothered him more than it should. He rubbed his heart. “Well, it’s time to go.”
“Okay.” She drifted by him, and he stopped himself from reaching out. He supposed he shouldn’t blame her for what her mother had done. The young nymph had saved him. Well, she’d gotten him out of there before he’d had a chance to rip her mother’s throat out. He didn’t think he’d been mistreated with her. But not having his memories or control over what he’d done the past week enraged him.
He forced himself to wait until she left the lake before following, needing some distance so he didn’t harm her.
But when he left, he saw her wiping her eyes and wondered why it felt like he already had.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
“I’ve been taking care of your kid’s meal,” Kraft was telling him, and it took Orion a moment to realize the vampire was referring to his kitten. “Smoky’s been crying a lot, and he started sucking up to me. I think he misses you, and since I’m the only one close to your size, he’s tolerating me. Even sleeps on my bed.”
Orion grunted. He sat in the back, letting Kraft take the front passenger seat while Duncan drove with a smooth confidence. Then again, the revenant did everything smoothly, Mr. Sophisticated with fangs.
Kraft continued, “Varu and Fara have been working hard with the third stone. It’s different than the first one. The second one has been pretty quiet. But this third one talks to Varu all the same.”
He had nothing to say to that and out of the corner of his eye watched Duncan and Kraft exchange a look.
Duncan said, “Every now and then, it talks to me too. It’s weird. It actually has a decent accent.”
“He means it sounds like a Londoner.” Kraft snorted. “Not like a red-blooded Bavarian.” He mouthed off in German.
The two vampires exchanged quips before devolving into a discussion about pantheons and who had more strength during battle.
They drove in the SUV he’d stolen while Kaia rode with Macy in one of the Night Bloode’s vehicles. He didn’t like the separation from the sad sea nymph. Though pleased to be free of witchy influence, no longer bewitched, now he felt empty, as if a part of himself had gone missing.
Perhaps Macy had screwed up and taken a piece of his non-existent soul, giving it to Kaia. Wouldn’t that suck goblin balls.
“Why so quiet, Orion?” Kraft asked.
“Leave him be, Kraft. He’s been under the spell of a witch for days. Trust me, I know how that feels. It’s not pleasant, even if you do end up mating her.” Duncan chuckled. “Though I have to admit it was fun making Macy pay.”
Kraft asked him about bloode magic—in particular, what it felt like to be Macy’s bitch since Duncan had to provide her bloode.
“I’ll give you a bitch, you bloody wanker,” Duncan shot back.
“I do like to be bloody, lightweight.”
Orion didn’t listen, focused on his own befuddled discomfort.
