Once he had the chain secured, he turned and motioned for me to join him.
It took all my willpower to refrain from looking into the pool at whatever was at the other end of the chain. I couldn’t imagine what it would be or where the vampire king had managed to disappear from view. Maybe being a Royal gave a vampire magic that I wasn’t aware of—that list of ignorance seemed never-ending.
When I was less than three feet from him, Gwala made a show of extending his arms, palms up. “I take it that your desire is to have me clothed.”
“All things will be as you wish them.” There, I could get the hang of this game again.
Without a reply, he took the robe from me, unfolded it, and slipped it over his shoulders. For a moment, he let it hang loose, leaving him exposed. Having made his point, he cinched it at the waist.
Now clothed, he reached back, removed the chain from the hook, and began to pull it toward him without any effort, hand over hand, letting the links spiral into a small pile at his feet.
As determined as I’d been to not show any reaction regardless of what he withdrew from the water’s depths, I couldn’t suppress a gasp as a man’s hands broke the surface, a shackle on each forearm that led from chains that attached to a large circular bracket before connecting to the chain Gwala pulled toward him. Long, muscular arms followed, and within seconds a man’s head rose out of the water. Blue eyes locked onto mine. Hate pummeled at me from his gaze, so strong I actually took a step backward.
He didn’t thrash in the water as Gwala continued to pull him farther into the air. Despite his fury, his beauty was evident. Healthy, glowing skin and long red hair clung to the muscles of his bunched-up shoulders and chest the farther he was pulled out of the water.
He was naked to the waist, where some type of green skirt clung to him under the water.
After the man’s chest had surfaced, Gwala reattached the chain to the hook on the wall. The man’s form hung, partially suspended, arms above his head, his side coming to rest on the edge of the marble pool.
Gwala addressed me without taking his eyes off the man. “Get him out of the water.”
Surprised, I looked between the man and the king, trying in vain to understand what was going on—what was about to happen. Hesitantly, I stepped toward the man, already stooping to reach under his armpits.
“Use your power.” Though Gwala’s voice sounded bored, I was willing to bet he was moments from losing his patience with me.
It should be simple enough. I’d moved countless things throughout my life. The man’s expression left no doubt that the last thing he wanted was me doing anything to him.
With one final glance at Gwala—hoping he’d change his mind—and a rush of guilt, I flicked my finger up and over slightly with the intention of pulling the man out of the water without scratching his skin on the edge of the pool.
The man rose easily from the water.
His hands were already a foot above Gwala’s head when I realized what I thought was a green skirt wasn’t clothing at all.
“Holy fuck!” The awareness acted like a slap across the face, and my concentration broke. The man fell from where I’d had him suspended in the air and dropped back into the water—his descent stopped abruptly by the chains still securing him to the wall. His body jerked with such force that I was surprised his arms hadn’t been ripped from their sockets.
Despite the pain that had to have cut into him, he didn’t cry out. Only the contortion of his face betrayed how much the action had hurt. When his eyes opened once more, his hate had doubled, which didn’t seem like it should have been possible.
Unbidden, my hand rose to cover my mouth. “A merman.”
Gwala turned, hardness in his eyes. “Is there a problem, warlock?” He didn’t need to say anything else for me to know that he’d had his fill of both my incompetence and my unawareness of our supernatural world.
I didn’t reply and turned my attention back to the merman. I was so blown away by his existence that I had to focus more than I had the first time as I made his body rise in the air.
By the time the merman was fully out of the water, he was a couple of feet above Gwala. He had to be nearly seven feet in length, maybe longer. Despite my horror over what I was doing to him, I couldn’t help but be captivated by him. He was a fairy tale come to life.
Carefully, I eased him toward Gwala. Forcing him to hover longer than he needed to, I took a deep breath, terrified I was going to drop him. Slowly, I lowered his body to the cold marble. His fins touched first, then curled beneath his tail as he descended to a level where he could sit up.
“This is my prize bull.” Gwala moved toward the merman and stretched out his hand to run his fingers through the merman’s long hair.
The merman jerked his head away, the motion causing his muscles to ripple across his chest and his tail to slide out from under him. His fins slipped back into the water.
For an instant, I thought he was going to throw himself back into the pool, but before a full second passed, Gwala was behind him. He had the chain wrapped around the merman’s throat. He jerked on the chain, tightening it and yanking out hair that had gotten entangled. With another pull, the merman was lifted slightly off the ground, the weight of him causing the chain to cut into his tender flesh. One more swift jerk and Gwala released his hold, allowing the merman to rest on the floor once again.
This time, when Gwala stroked the red hair as he addressed me, the merman didn’t attempt to avoid his touch.
“He knows I won’t kill him. He is much too important. That doesn’t mean I won’t disfigure him.” Gwala let the chain fall. It formed a collar around the merman’s neck, leashing him still to the wall.
I barely managed to stop myself from using my power to help the merman. The thought of Cynthia trapped somewhere above me held me in check.
