Dark Depths Page 11

  He felt entranced by her, and perhaps that was so, but for once he knew it was precisely what he wanted. Her lips moved close, settling against his, not for the first time. He understood then that there was no other place he would rather have been—not on any ship or in any palace; simply right here with her.

  His Treasure.

  He accepted her kiss, knowing she was not a monster. The good in her was enough to redeem her entire wicked race if she’d only asked him to change his mind. He closed his eyes, feeling her tongue glide against his. He wanted to forget what she was, just for now. She was a woman as affectionate for him as he was for her, and that was enough.

  He pushed her hair back, kissing her neck. She tasted like salt. Like flesh. His fingers trailed down from her shoulder, mapping the contours of bone and the curvature of skin. If only she were a human, he would have taken her then, and yet—

  His hands gathered her closer greedily, and then his fingers brushed the scales. Nathan cringed, halting the way his hands wandered. Despite how she kissed him—how she cared for him—he could not forget.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked when he ended the kiss, needing a breath to clear the haze.

  “We can’t do this,” he told her, but as much to himself.

  “Of course we can,” she assured him, her voice tender. “It will be fine.”

  He felt her hand on his belt and it took all the resolve in him to pull her fingers away from the buckle.

  “We shouldn’t then,” he corrected. “It’s not right for us.”

  She was quiet, and he feared he’d crushed her.

  “You think I’m no different from my sisters,” she said lowly, realizing, and was quick to protest. “But that’s not true, Nathan. I’m different. I always have been—”

  “I believe that,” he promised, touching her face, looking in her eyes. He couldn’t help himself. His thumb traced the shape of her bottom lip.

  “Yes, of course,” she said, almost relieved. “I’ve just wanted to be with you for so long.”

  His eyes once again became lost in hers. She pulled at the buttons of his shirt until she could slide her hand inside and feel the firm muscles there. She traced him lightly until she came to an abrupt halt. He knew why. Pulling back his shirt, she exposed the fresh bite mark to the night air.

  “What happened to you?” she asked, brushing her fingers across the wound.

  He looked to her worried expression, flipping over her arm to reveal the circular marks, presenting the same notion to her.

  “I might ask you the same.”

  He had seen the marks on her arms, but he hadn’t planned to bring them up. He knew of her abuse. She looked down at her own irritated bite marks before twisting her arm away from him. What, indeed? The answers to where, what, and why all brought Nathan back to the same conclusion. If she stayed near him, something bad would happen. The dark nymph had promised him this. He was wrong for his caresses and kisses.

  “Treasure…” he began, averting his gaze.

  “Yes?” The look on her face was so genuine and unassuming. Or perhaps he had misinterpreted it. Perhaps what he was looking at was fear. Was her heart racing for what he would say?

  He pulled her hand away from his wound, raising his eyes back to hers, searching for her judgment.

  “You have to stay away from me,” he told her.

  For a moment, there was pain in her eyes. Then confusion joined in. He didn’t want to break her heart, but more than that might be broken if he let her stay.

  “But I thought you said you missed me.” Her breath was quickening. Panic?

  “I did miss you, and I will,” he assured her. “But if someone finds out about you, something might happen that I wouldn’t be able to bear.”

  Yes, she might belong to Ellister then. He thought of her in that pool with those other two. He knew what went on there and he didn’t want that for her. And there was something else terrible that he hadn’t forgotten: the dark-skinned mermaid had promised him that Treasure might outlive her usefulness. There was danger on both sides, and he would not deny either.

  “There are a lot of reasons why it has to be this way,” he told her as gently as he could. “You have to trust me. It’s better for both of us.”

  She searched his eyes, seeming unwilling to accept this.

  “I can stay right here,” she bargained. “You can come see me when it’s safe.”

  “It will never be safe,” he said regrettably. “Not so close. I won’t risk it.”

  Would she let him leave now? Judging by the teary look in her searching eyes, he didn’t think so. He might go, but she would stay right here—right within Ellister’s reach.

  “But I love you.”

  The words were like soft music. Still, they seemed odd to him even though he knew they must have been true. She’d loved him since before he’d known she existed.

  “When?” he asked, unable to hold it back. His brows were still furrowed in confusion, his breath uneasy.

  “I’ve never been able to stay away from humans,” she admitted with a timid smile. “I counted them as being more like myself than my own kin, because how far of a leap is it to say that I might have legs as easily as be perfect? I grew more careless after I met you, but before, when I knew it was safe, I came to the surface and looked on at the human world.

  “I was beneath a dock one night, and a young man approached. He was muttering to himself about all the things of his life, trying to make a decision. He was very troubled over it. I watched him—clung to him because I needed to. I needed to see his life go down a path of happiness, because mine was not.”

  He shivered. She went on.

  “I knew he could be a good man and make a choice for the good—but he was conflicted. He had great anger inside. I thought it might influence him to make the wrong choice.”

  Back then? Nathan had been sitting on that wooden dock with his feet hanging off, contemplating the rest of his life after…after a thing he’d promised to stop thinking about. That was before he’d ever set foot on a pirate ship.

  “That was years ago,” he said with great surprise.

  “Yes, I suppose it was,” she said thoughtfully. “I watched you. Sometimes I lost you for a while, but I would always find you again. You grew older. You were different, but still the same.”

  No. He couldn’t possibly be the same as back then. He’d been an idiot then, and weak.

  “I don’t understand,” Nathan started. “What is so wonderful about me that you would see it fit to love me from a distance? What makes me different from any other human you’ve seen?”

  She ran her fingers down the contour of his jaw, admiring his face. “I knew as soon as I saw you that I needed to be close. You’re beautiful, inside and out.”

  Perhaps to your eyes, but you can’t see the bloodstains.

  “Do you remember when you said that you would never want to hurt me because I look like you?” he asked.

  She answered with a nod.

  “Well, I have hurt many who look like me. I’m a terrible example of a human being, and you should not hold me so high.”

  “You cried in your sleep.”

  Shocked to silence, Nathan could only stare back. What was she talking about? He felt guilt in the wake of his destruction, yes; but it had been ages since he’d shed tears. Before he could inquire, she had answered him.

  “That night after I rescued you: you were having a terrible dream. You looked distressed. There were tears running down your face.”

  Did he feel embarrassment over this? Was he ashamed that she’d found out these things about him? That she’d uncovered the truth inside?

  “It was just a dream,” he tried to say.

  “Those tears were real,” she countered. “You force yourself to do wicked things, but you have a good heart.”

  “My soul is not so pure, I’m afraid.” His smile was weak, his laugh nervous and faint.

  “You don’t have to be terrible,
” Treasure told him, still stroking his face. “That’s not who you really are.”

  He wondered if he ought to be turned away by the fact that she’d pursued him for so long, but somehow it was a comfort that she had watched over him—that she knew him better than he knew himself. He looked to the tiredness of her eyes, the redness that was lingering from her past tears.

  “How do you know that for certain?”

  He hoped she had an answer, and he hoped it was good enough to convince himself as well.

  “I just know. I think we can sense these things.”

  “We?” he asked, baffled a moment.

  “Women,” she told him.

  Silence enveloped the night once again. The water was no longer cold, hardly there. Nathan looked at her loving expression, and there was very much he regretted.

  “You have to understand,” he started, trying to be firm. “There can be nothing between us.” Treasure let her eyes fall to the mark on his chest, examining it once again with her fingers because she did not wish to look into his eyes. “But I promise you that I’m going to be a different man now. I’m going to do what I can for you, so you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

  “I’m afraid for you,” she said sadly. “They are planning something to retaliate against you, but I do not know what. Please, let me try to find out more and I’ll meet you one last time—”

  “No,” Nathan said, cutting her off. He knew he had to be clear with her. They had to sever ties. There was no way to avoid it. “I promise I’ll be careful, but I can’t allow it. Just please, get away as far as you can and try to be safe.”

  He was digging a knife in his own heart, but he could not stop. I cannot take her with me.

  “You have two hundred more years to live and be happy,” he said, forcing a smile. “Let me try to remedy this in my lifetime and you’ll live the span of those years beyond me. Free.”

  Treasure could not respond to that. Had she not realized that they must separate? When she answered, he thought she was only agreeing with what he expected to hear.

  “I will do what you ask,” she said convincingly, but Nathan couldn’t help feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart.

  “Thank you,” he said, already feeling relief and heartache. “Perhaps one day you will see me again, but until then, this has to be goodbye.”

  “Say you love me?” she pleaded lightly, clasping his shoulders. “I don’t care if you mean it; just say it.”

  Looking into her shining eyes, knowing this was the last time he would do so, it was not a difficult thing to ask for. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her one final time, as sweetly as he dared.

  “I believe you are the sweetest, most understanding woman that I’ve ever known. There is more good in you than there will ever be in me. I think I can say that I do love you—and mean it,” he said softly. “Probably more than anything else. That’s why—”

  “I know,” she cut in, forcing a brave smile. “I have to go.”

  It was another short moment before she released him, and with a motion that seemed far too swift, she disappeared beneath the water. Nathan’s eyes looked out over the vast sea. She would be lost so quickly beneath the waves, but her memory would always remain nearby.

  Nathan could only hope to keep her memory, and be blessed enough to forget her kiss.

  Chapter Ten

  Specific Conditions

  1

  Well before midnight, Nathan let himself into Ellister’s study. He liked the enormous map that was painted upon the wall, but he did not look at it now. He’d just said his goodbye to Treasure, who was likely the brightest star that had ever come into his life. He wished things could have been different—wished she’d been a human instead of a nymph. He would have had everything then, but he was sure he’d made the right choice. He would have to live with it.

  If Nathan had been present in this room earlier, he would have known that the prince had not moved at all, still slumped over his charts, jotting notes here and there. The advisors had left him to himself, going off to enjoy their lives and left Thaddeus to his own. The crown prince was completely oblivious to that thought however; he was immersed in his work.

  Nathan, in dry clothes but still drenched with heavy heartache, sat down in a chair opposite Ellister without being invited to do so. He poured himself a drink and leaned back in the plush upholstered seat without words, until the crown prince broke the silence, though still giving full attention to the maps.

  “Did you cut yourself?” Ellister asked abruptly.

  The man’s words, at times, were strange in starting, as if he expected the person he was speaking with to be on the same trail of thought. Cuts, yes; Nathan had wounds. That nymph in Ellister’s chamber had bitten and scratched him. Was that what the man spoke of? This time, Nathan elected to feign ignorance.

  “I beg your pardon?” he asked politely.

  “Fran said she thought there was blood in the pool. You were nowhere around after that, she said. Thought you’d hurt yourself.”

  “Oh yes, that,” Nathan acknowledged. “I did cut my arm while reaching for the buckets. I left to tend to it. A few drops must have fallen into the pool.”

  It was a complete lie; he knew that. His only concern, however, was if Ellister knew it.

  “It’s quite fine,” Thaddeus assured him flatly. “Though do try to be more careful with blood. I would hate for those nymphs to develop a taste for it.”

  Relief came over Nathan at that. “I will. I apologize.”

  The crown prince never once lifted his eyes, and Nathan wondered if the man meant what he’d said. Could he have been cast out of Ellister’s good graces so suddenly? It wasn’t his fault that those creatures—which the prince counted as lovers—had attacked him, but of course it would do no good for him to say anything of that sort. From now on, at least for a while, Nathan would have to keep his eyes open.

  He swallowed down more of the liquid he’d taken into his glass, hoping to blur the beautiful face he still saw when he closed his eyes.

  “Nathan…” the crown prince said suddenly, drawing his attention.

  Ellister was looking down at the chart as if something had just jumped off the page at him and slapped him across the face. Nathan only sat, watching the man for a moment. He didn’t have time to inquire before Ellister was talking again.

  “Change clothes and tousle your hair. Dirty up a bit. I need you to go to the docks. There is a shoddy tavern there called the Shipwrecked Sailor, run by a man named Gideon. I need you to go to him and ask if he believes the conditions are right.”

  The docks? Yes, that was a place Nathan did not need directions to. He wasn’t sure that he knew a man named Gideon, however. And what was all this other talk?

  “What conditions?”

  “He’ll know what you mean,” Ellister promised. “I suspect he’ll inform you when you arrive. I need this done swiftly. He’ll put you up for the night, but I expect you to return promptly in the morning. It’s important.”

  Nathan was lingering over his chair when Ellister finally raised his eyes, looking tired and strained. He wondered if he should ask any more questions, but the prince’s expression was telling him to go. Was this strange, Nathan wondered. Considering Ellister, it was not so odd. The man was known to seem random, when actually he worked off a long and intricate pattern of thought. Who was Nathan to question it, especially since very little effort could have him thrown in prison, awaiting a walk to the gallows. With that thought in mind, he rose up fully.

  “Of course,” he said. “I’ll be back in the morning.”

  2

  Deep in the darkest depths of the ocean—through the absence of light and life—the mermaid swam.

  Treasure did not know for how long she had been pushing herself through the waters, only that she would stop when she reached her destination and not before. Her eyes allowed her to find her way, but after she had traveled so far down, she no longer needed to look throug
h the dark.

  Light shone faintly though the water as she swam further into the abyss. Wrapped in black, thriving weeds was the remnant of a pirate’s ship that had somehow managed to be swallowed this far down into the belly of the sea. The holes of the ship’s windows were lit with an eerie, supernatural glow. Few was the number of those who had visited this place, but unlike them, Treasure was not afraid. She was firm in her resolve, and if she could not have what she wanted, she would rather be dead.

  She moved toward the slimy deck of the ship, where an open hatch led down to the lit layer below. Treasure did not hesitate to slip down through the hazy water, dirtied with broken bits of algae. She moved into the hull without announcing herself, pausing just inside.

  The water was strange here, shifting back and forth and carrying the snow of algae with it. Every time it shifted, moving her hair and tangling it, she was chilled to her bones. The current, however, seemed nonexistent. Everything else was still and quiet.

  Treasure moved cautiously, pushing herself past several transparent anglerfish that moved along the walls, the lights that suspended from their dorsal fins burning brightly. They were terrible-looking—with their jutting jaws and razor teeth—but they moved as if in a trance, completely unaware of her presence. In any other instance, she would fear them. On this occasion, she did not.

  On crooked shelves lining the walls, there were many sorts of organisms in water-filled jars. Some were still alive, while others were simply mutilated pieces of creatures—sea and land dwellers alike. Treasure tried not to look at them, but her curiosity kept leading her to glance. There were bones and portions of guts. There were brains and samples of blood. It was not until she glimpsed a withered hand that she was drawn to the shelf. The fingers were very much like hers, and she wondered if it had been lobbed from the wrist of a human or an imperfect. Either way, it was disturbing to her.

  Looking at it in disgust that immersed all her senses, Treasure was startled when a voice reached her ears.

  “I knew jou were coming. Did jou have a nice journey? I must say, it is very sweet of jou to pay me a visit. It’s been so very long.”