“What is this place?” I gasped, realizing that it had been a vision.Only a vision.
“These are the ruins of Ceruleus Templum.”Finn gestured over the waters, his silver bracers gleaming in the turquoise gloom. “It was once a temple dedicated to the gods, until—”
“The battle,” I finished for him, rubbing the goosebumps that remained on my arms.
Ceruleus Templum—this was the site of the Battle of the Blue Temple. Here, Prince Kyano with his legion of Sirens and Mer, had clashed with Manannán, who commanded an army of the dead and sea beasts.
An icy grip tightened around my heart. This was where arrows from both sides had struck Siana, the woman they both loved. The woman who was my ancestor.
“Let’s get out of here.” I swallowed, forcing myself to speak steadily.
We continued in silence. Finn had returned to brooding, and my mind was filled with images of blood-soaked waters.
28
Morgana
As we neared the island of Santorini, the scenery began to change. Beneath us, massive stone terraces unfurled across the seafloor. They fanned out from the volcano’s mouth like the ribs of a giant beast. Each was the height of a twenty-story building, stretching miles in every direction.
Finn’s emerald tail flickered as he and Pháos dove closer to the terraces, and I followed. My mind whirred as Louisa’s history lesson on the Minoans returned to me. These formations must have been created by the volcano that erupted over three thousand years ago, sending torrents of molten rock flooding outward.
I froze, the hairs on the back of my neck prickling. This very volcano was said to be the one that had seen the fall of the Minoan kingdom—Manannán’s people.
We slipped into the opening of the vast horseshoe-shaped crater that made up the island of Santorini. Pháos chirped as the wall of the caldera rose beside us. Finn nodded, and the dolphin vanished into the bluewith a flick of his tail.
“He will meet us back at Thálassa.” Finn motioned after the creature.
Santorini’s volcanic wall loomed on our left, extending a thousand feet below sea level. It curved around, framing a sunken basin—the hollowed-out heart of a once-mighty volcano. We followed the curving rock face.
“I’m curious.” Finn stared at my profile, his gaze burning into my cheek. “What did you dream of at the ceremony? What is it you desire most?”
My spine went rigid. “It’s none of your business.” I kicked away from him, toward the surface. After so many days in the deep, I was relieved we would soon be making our way to land.
My chest swelled with wonder as I lifted my head above the waves to see the sun rising over the island. Jagged cliffs towered above a gorgeous natural harbor. The sunrises over Ruadán’s Port had been beautiful, but this... this was something else.
The waters around me shimmered with streaks of pink and purple, while the sky blazed a vibrant orange above the cluster of whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches perched high on the cliffs. Each one glowed beneath the sun’s morning embrace.
“It’s magnificent.” I wiped the saltwater from my eyes.
Finn’s features softened as he grinned back at me, sweeping his dark, wet hair from his forehead. The tattoos on his muscular forearms shifted as he kept his torso afloat above the waves. In that fleeting moment, I wished things could go back to how they’d been—wished I didn’t know what Finn’s family had done. But I did. And nothing could ever undo that.
The magic of my transition began to hum beneath my skin, and I exhaled, centering myself and allowing it to take hold. My furry body suit disintegrated, becoming my grandmother’s fur coat.
From where we drifted in the water, my gaze fixed on thebay ahead. Boats bobbed, and a crooked staircase led to the chalky houses high above. A pace of donkeys, draped in colorful saddle blankets, waited at the foot of the steps, ready to carry tourists up the winding ascent. I was glad the early hour meant no one was around.
So many stairs, up and up they wound. I assumed that was how we’d reach the island. My fur coat drifted around my bare body in the waves, and heat flushed my neck at the thought: when Finn shifted into his human form, he’d be naked too. The two of us, half-nude, would be climbing out of the water and up those steps.
Finn snorted a hard laugh, tracking my gaze. “Sorry to disappoint you, but we are going through the caves.”
“Get over yourself.” I rolled my eyes.Arrogant ass.
Finn flicked his tail, diving beneath the waves, moving toward the rocky expanse of the island to the right of the bay. I followed him, albeit less gracefully now that I was human, doggy paddling and trying to keep my head above the surface. I was coughing up saltwater by the time we reached the sheer rock face rising from the ocean floor.
Finn traced the stone with his webbed fingers, murmuring in the old tongue of the sea, and glowing runes twinkled to life beneath his touch. A hidden door cracked open, revealing a narrow tunnel glistening with trapped aquamarine seawater, swirling beneath light shafts that poured in from high above.
He slipped inside, and I followed, the rock walls pressing close as we swam through the submerged passage. The tunnel led us upward until the waterline met a stone ledge.
A hint of a smile ghosted Finn’s lips, magic still dancing in his eyes as he turned to me. “We have a villa in Oia, and I have some clothes. Wait here, and I’ll bring you something to wear.” Hehoisted himself out of the water, his back muscles rippling as the drops cascaded from them, and then his toned ass appeared as he swung one leg up onto the rock.
