“You’re spoiling our time together,” Siana cried, reaching for her seal skin and holding it against her naked body.
Manannán strode up and down the beach, his brow furrowed. He was shirtless, wearing only loose pants, and his bronzed muscles tensed as he moved. “It’s killing me that Kyano is Mer royalty and the two of you can go to land whenever you like.”
“I’ve told you we are only friends. It is you who is tearing us apart with this insane jealousy.”
“Insane, am I? You try rotting in that bleak, joyless castle day after day, every bone in my body aching to be with you as a man. And all the while, you’re up here, doing gods know what, while I wait... helpless until the veils finally let me walk above the seas.”
“I spend time with you in my seal form.”
“It’s not the same, amor meus!” He rushed to her, running his hands down her curvaceous womanly form, taking in her full, dark-nippled breasts and then tangling his fingers in her ebony hair. “I just wish I could have this always.”
Siana cupped Manannán’s face in her hands, and his olive eyes softened as he looked down at her. Then they were tearing at each other, panting and gasping. She tore at his pants so his cock sprang free, and the two of them fell to the ground in a heated embrace.
There was a strange quietness in the air as the ruins materialized again, broken only by the murmur of other visitors. I leaned over a railing, drawing shuddering breaths and feeling oddly aroused.
Part of me felt guilty. My mind magic was still unrefined, and I could only summon visions of Manannán. Yet another part of me knew it mattered. I needed to understand what had driven the God of the Drowned to such jealousy—jealousy so all-consuming he’d waged war against Kyano, the Mer Prince ofA?tlanticus.
But Kyano had been no different; he’d met Manannán in that battle with equal fury. So blinded were they by rage that neither had noticed Siana’s lifeless seal form drifting above the bloodstained battlefield until it was too late.
I fingered the bracelet clasped around my wrist. Protection from the evil eye.
33
Morgana
Finn was pacing the villa when I returned, and he swung to me, exhaling in relief as I opened the door. “Where have you been?”
“Sorry—I got inspired to be a tourist.”
“Well, I’m glad you bought some new clothes.” He observed the bag of dresses in my hand, laughter dancing in his dark eyes as he scanned my donkey shirt.
“This lovely outfit you bought me will vanish when I put on my Selkie coat, and I’m not complaining.”
He shook his head, still chuckling. “The shirt has kind of grown on me.”
“I’ll go get my things,” I muttered, glancing at the sky, which had deepened with the shades of early evening.
A moment later, I stepped out in my fur coat, fastening my dagger over the atrocious parachute pants.
I followed Finn down the stone steps from our villa to his family’s secret sea cave, and we slipped into the water. As we moved through the submerged passage, the water beside me thrummed as he dove, clothesshredding and disappearing, revealing his merman form. I watched the muscles in his back flex as he ran his hands along the rock face that opened to the sea, whispering his command.
My jaw began to tremble as I looked at him. Had anything between us ever been real? Or had it all been about doing his duty to the king? I guess it didn’t matter now, because what his family had done was unforgivable. But once we’d claimed the box, I would confront him and get my answers. If he’d done what I’d suspected then... then I’d kill him. I released a shaky breath, the thought sending a shiver down my spine as I paddled to catch up with Finn.
A gasp escaped my lips as the rock face shifted and the open sea unfolded before us, awash in pink and purple as the sun dipped below the horizon. The magic of my transition vibrated through my skin, and I slipped beneath the waves. My hideous outfit vanished, replaced by the sensation of magic twisting around me, revealing my sleek seal suit.
I dove beneath the crystalline waters alongside Finn, and we surfaced together just as the sun’s final rays vanished. The sky had deepened to a dusky mauve, with the evening star gleaming against its velvet backdrop. We turned in the water, scanning the dark rocky cliffs of Santorini’s caldera.
“All the old man said was that the cave was in the caldera. It runs the length of the island—it could take all night to find. Maybe even days.” I let out a frustrated breath.
Finn rubbed his chin, water droplets falling from his muscular arm. “Yes, it does present a problem.”
“Do you think magic calls to magic, like your family’s sea cave and the runes?”
“It’s worth a try.” Finn swam to the closest wall of rock with a flick of his tail and swept his hands along the stone.
I followed suit, pressing my palms to the jagged rock of the caldera, concentrating on the spot where the sea met stone.
Nothing. I felt nothing.
