Dark Depths Read online

  When she caught sight of him, the mermaid creature made a motion as if she would throw herself from the rock and back into the water, but she stopped shortly through it, stuck in pain from the device restraining her.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he promised, standing a few paces from her in the waves, now up to his waist. He’d made that promise, but he was not sure how long it would hold. That would depend on her actions.

  She hesitated and glanced back at him, but did not retreat. Without moving closer, he examined her once again.

  The blood on her skin was fresh, still oozing, and now he saw the source. Within this netting that she was wrapped in, tiny bones were embedded, ripping into her flesh. This was not something that she had become tangled in. Looking at it now, it was apparent that someone had bound her arms and placed it upon her like clothing. Her head was tilted slightly to the side because of her hair being tangled in the net. The lovely eyes that looked at him were red and wet with tears.

  Having seen this closely, Nathan elected to be satisfied and leave her there. What was she to him?

  Walk away, he coaxed himself. Be free of her.

  But he could not move. He knew the weight of his actions. If he left her here, he would think of her constant suffering, which he could have ended—just like those children he’d walked away from in the town. If he killed her, later he would think of her again, wondering if there could have been good in her that he had simply misinterpreted. While she was looking at him with those large, pleading eyes, he may as well have one mystery solved.

  Had she aimed to save him? And if so, why?

  Nathan edged around her, holding his hands up just above the water to show that he meant no harm.

  “I want to help you,” he said, motioning toward the net of hooks. He did not bother speaking slowly or carefully. He knew she understood. “Do you promise not to hurt me?”

  Her eyes narrowed a bit—hurtfully?—but she began to nod. What was she saying in that gaze? Of course I would never hurt you, human. How could you even suggest it? Even so, he did not feel wrong for questioning her. But even stranger than that, he believed her, even though she hadn’t said a word.

  He pressed through the water to reach her, and his eyes roved across the strange restraint, looking for the best place to start. There didn’t seem to be a place where it began or ended, but perhaps it was just too tangled. The way her hair was twisted within it did not help him make a decision.

  “It will have to be cut off,” he said, letting her know he was about to pull the knife.

  When it emerged in his hand, she flinched a bit. He watched her eyes a moment, making sure that his face was a nice distance from where her mouth could reach. After making up his mind that she was indeed as timid as she looked, he set to work.

  The knife sliced the net into pieces. He was careful around the bone hooks, seeing that some of them dangled loosely while others had pushed into her skin—some even pushing back out. The wounds were not terribly deep but he could not imagine that they were pleasant. Nathan understood how it worked now. Her own movements were what urged the hooks into her. It was punishment, and each insertion was her own fault.

  He freed strands of hair from the net as she watched him intently. He wanted to walk away.

  “I don’t know why I’m doing this,” he admitted, but immediately thought better of it. “I take that back; I do know why. It just seems like an unfair trade. Your kind ate my shipmates, and here I am doing favors for you.”

  Why are you being so self-righteous, Nathan? Did you and your kind also not devour that port town and so many before it?

  The sea nymph searched his face. He didn’t look at her, but even so, it made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

  “You don’t have to—”

  “Yes, I do,” he snapped back at her.

  In his frustration with all that had happened, he began to lose care with the net. She gasped when an unfriendly tug jerked the hooks. He took his hands away immediately in order to calm himself, offering no apology, but after a moment, started again.

  “You don’t look like those others I saw. Why? Or is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?”

  He almost didn’t expect her to answer him. He didn’t think she could be straight with him concerning that.

  “I’m imperfect.”

  He stopped his work. Had she just said imperfect? Nathan knew there was a disgusted and bewildered look on his face, but he could not shut it down. As a human, he could not comprehend. Was he not looking at her? And was she not the most beautiful woman he had ever seen? He hardly had the ability to question that notion, but he knew it had to be done.

  “What does that mean?”

  She sighed, and he suddenly remembered that she was in pain. He carefully removed a bit of bone from her shoulder.

  “I don’t look how I’m supposed to.”

  He sent her a glance, promising that her statement was obvious. She realized it with widening eyes and tried again.

  “Our ways of reproducing are not what they once were. Our king died years ago and so we—they—began to use human males as a means to impregnate themselves.” Did she blush at that? He couldn’t be sure. “It works, but because of that, imperfects are born. We are too much like humans to be acceptable. It is shameful that we look as we do, and that our tongues can speak both languages.”

  He listened to her words, seeing that they fit with what he had seen the night before. But over all else, there was one thing he needed to know.

  “Were you going to eat me?” he asked, nearly interrupting her. “Tear out my throat like those others?”

  She stared deep into the dark of his eyes. What was that in her blue-green gaze? Sadness? Longing? Disappointment?

  “Why would I?” she asked with genuine innocence. “You look like me.”

  After hearing that, he worked on in silence until he had removed the net. Gingerly, he put aside every bone he saw, placing them on the surface of the rock nearby. When he was done with that, he twisted her a bit to unbind her hands.

  She did not make mention of any pain, but after he had freed her arms, she massaged the red area of her wrists.

  “There,” he said, putting the knife away.

  Overcome with emotion, the creature flung her arms around his neck, pressing close to him in gratefulness. Within his mind, thousands of signals set off, each one warning him to get away from her, but how often did he listen to those things? As disgusted as he felt about what she was, he was still very awed by her beauty. Was it truly just some false and enchanted allure? She was warm enough against him. If what she said was true, this flesh he saw was her true and only appearance. Cautiously, he placed a needful hand on her back, holding her skin against his, lowering his head to her shoulder until his lips touched it.

  Her head was resting in the crook of his neck with her lips against his throat, and he might have thought little of it, but an image began to reveal itself in his mind. While he held her there so carelessly, she could have opened her mouth and sank her blunt teeth into his vein, stealing his life. Nathan would not let that happen to him.

  It was only after this vision that he pushed her away. He removed her arms from his shoulders and stepped back. Looking at her, he could see that her eyes were filled with salty tears while her lips smiled sweetly at him—grateful.

  She was so strange. He could not understand her at all. But that was, perhaps, only because she was a woman.

  “What’s that look for?” he asked before he could stop himself—before he could convince himself that he didn’t care.

  “No one’s ever been so kind to me,” she confessed.

  He could think of nothing to say to that. Perhaps there wasn’t anything he could have said. After a moment of staring into her strange, glittering eyes, he resolved to let her go. She had saved him, and he had helped her in this way. He could be free of her now.

  “We’re even,” he said, as if expecting her to swim away after he’d granted
it. She did not.

  “No.”

  Her disagreement shocked him, but before he had time to question it, she explained.

  “I’m going to help you get off this island. I know humans do not live like this. They live in full groups. You need to get back to the other humans.”

  Nathan was surprised, admitting to himself that he’d not even thought of asking her to help him further. His eyes lit with hope. Was it possible? Could she get him back to the mainland?

  “My people have prayed to the sea, and she will toss the waves again in three days. The feedings are not over. Within the storm, any ship that drifts near here will be in danger of wrecking. That will prolong your stay on the island. I will come back in a while and lure a ship here to save you.”

  He stared at her incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Why would you do that for me?”

  In response, she smiled again, raising her fingers to his face. She touched the end of his nose, sliding down to waver over his lips before gliding her fingertips easily down his chin. He sighed for the sensation.

  “I will return between now and then,” she whispered. “When I am able.”

  When he said nothing more, she slipped down into the water and quickly vanished into the greater depths. Nathan stood rooted to the spot, chilled as the wind blew against him. There was no more anger in him for the one who had just left. In fact, he felt much lighter because he believed the words she had said. He didn’t know why he believed her, but she had seemed so pure that he could not help himself. Those discoveries had changed her in his mind. She was no longer a monster.

  He could have gone on about his own quest to find a ship, but suddenly, he felt no need. He trusted her. She would come back, and until then, he would survive and wait.

  3

  Thaddeus Ellister was weary.

  As crown prince, he’d always been involved in political matters, but since his father’s illness, everything from commerce to justice had been on his plate. It was not as if he didn’t care about his future position as king, but there were other things he wanted to take care of first—none of which had been dealt with yet.

  He remembered the words of his council from just moments before.

  “Another ship has wrecked off the coast. We’re certain it was natural this time, but the people keep hearing of this and it upsets them. And please keep in mind, Your Highness: if we do not have the sea, we have nothing.”

  Did they not recall that his biggest concern was the sea? Did they not realize that, if it were possible, he would be out on a ship every moment, searching for those creatures he sought to thin? But he could not be everywhere at once. He did well to see to his own desires occasionally.

  Upright and with a confident carriage, Ellister walked through the elaborate, ocean-side palace. To anyone who might have looked on, he appeared as a man who could be moved by nothing. His eyes were green and serious. His fine jacket was impeccably straight. His hair was a sandy brown color, no strand out of place. He stepped past the glorious décor—every perfect painting, every fine bit of furniture—as if it did not impress him in the slightest, and most certainly it did not. He was a complicated man, and many of those who had watched him grow from a child still did not understand him.

  Thaddeus knew that there was only one who understood him, but he had not seen her in years.

  His pace quickened as he approached his rooms. There was solitude there—the only bit he had. Later, he would visit his sick father, though he knew the man wouldn’t respond. There would be more council dealing with trade. Yes, he needed rest. He needed to be cleansed.

  He opened the doors, ignoring a servant’s greeting, and locked them once inside. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, but he was not fully at ease yet. He was still suffocating.

  Ellister peeled off his clothing as he moved past the lavish interior, overlooking it entirely. He unfastened his belt, passing through a second doorway. A large pool was set in the floor there, crafted to his liking with marble tiles that made the water gleam like the ocean. The water was still and clear therein, and by the time he’d dropped the last bit of his attire, his naked body chilled, he was at the edge.

  The crown prince stepped down into the water, feeling the familiar icy cold between his toes. He continued forward and the water rose up onto his legs, urging his pores to tighten. While to most, the sensation was unpleasant, for Thaddeus, it brought on a strong arousal. He was awakening now, becoming free. He moved down into the pool until it had risen to his chest. Standing there in the stillness, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  He was motionless within the pool, taking in the silence. After a moment, he felt the water stirring. Soon following, hands.

  Two pairs of hands caressed his legs, climbing up his form. Arms wrapped around his shoulders. He could feel shapely warmth pressed against his chest and back. There was breath in his ear; hungry lips against his neck. Brushing against his legs were two long, slick fishtails. He breathed deeper at the feel of it.

  These beautiful ones were his only pleasure, but the two of them alone were only satisfactory. He needed more. To separate the wicked from the desirable. That was his purpose in dealing with the sea. He cared very little for those wrecked ships and the men upon them. The nymphs were his concern. He had a promise to keep.

  “I have business shortly,” he said quietly. “Work swiftly. Be thorough.”

  His sea nymph lovers were nameless. They said nothing. They were not allowed to speak to him. But why would they need to? Their lusts were as strong as his own, and when he came to them, they wanted nothing less than what was expected.

  Together, they tended to his body.

  Chapter Four

  Unwelcome

  1

  Far back on the shore, Nathan had made his bed away from the waves. He slept on a pallet of waxy leaves with his coat bundled beneath his head, knife at hand. Whether there might be a lurker from the trees or water, he vowed not to be taken off guard.

  He was as comfortable as he could possibly be in the humid night, and he’d laid his head down with every intention of sleeping until the light of the sun woke him. Against his wishes, he only managed to sleep for a few hours before the dreams came.

  The images were pleasant in the beginning. He was lying on the sand with the sun shining on his face. There was a beautiful woman against him, touching his cheek, running fingers through his hair. Her eyes were like the water. Her pale hair hung in waves like the gentle sea. He knew her, but he did not know her name. Even so, he smiled at her. They stared at one another for a long time, saying nothing until finally he managed to speak. His voice was as clear as the dream.

  “You’re never going to abandon me, are you?” he asked her.

  His words were not a question of hope, but came out as a confirmation that he’d just had the pleasure of realizing. She was there always, looking after him from a distance, and she had been there for a long time already, even though he had not been aware of her.

  She smiled at him with her pretty lips.

  “Only death will make me leave you,” she assured him.

  He thought little of the matter after that, wrapped in the perfect euphoria of the dream. She kissed his mouth, and it did not take much more than the thought of her to arouse him. His want swelled, and he knew she could free him.

  He gripped her and pulled her on top of him—fin of scales, or legs, or not; he did not care. He clenched her neck, grasping her hair at the small of her back as he pushed inside her. There was room, a place just for him, and it felt as fine and fleshy and wet and anything he’d ever had.

  He could feel her presence all around him as she hovered over his body, using her arms to leverage her motion, her fingers clenching the sand. Nathan ran his hands over her generous curves and she sighed, closing her eyes. Her mouth was a circle of pleasure as she enjoyed him; her sighs—a song.

  He was set on her only, needing this release. He could fe
el it building—and then her eyes grew wide with protest. Before he could understand what had frightened her, she was ripped away from him by a terror unseen, much stronger than himself.

  Above him, the sky turned gray. The sea before him turned black. He leaned up, trying to grip her outstretched hand, but it was too far away from him. Nathan saw what had ensnared her then. He saw the cracked, ash-colored arms dragging her back into the sea. Small mouths with sharp teeth hissed at him as he tried to follow, but she was gone, forced away beneath the water.

  He hauled himself upright, his feet splashing down into the dark sea. He was desperate to know what to do, but knew he could not go after her.

  “Give her back to me!” he shouted over the water, but there was no returning sound. The waves swallowed up his voice—merely one more way the ocean fed off him.

  He hesitated there in the stillness before taking one more step into the sea, pressing forward, resilient—and then the ground gave way beneath him and he plummeted into the depths.

  That was when the dream began to make him feel dizzy. It made his stomach churn. He opened his eyes to see nothing but stinging darkness. Soon, shapes emerged in that darkness. He recognized them as those terrible monsters of the sea.

  Jou are hope-less, said a feminine voice in his mind. It was not one he recognized, heavily accented.

  He struggled against the water, but he could move neither up nor down nor sideways. The bodies of the Blood-Red Siren’s crew drifted past him with ragged, bloody holes torn in their flesh. It was then that he realized he couldn’t breathe.

  Jou are worth-less, Nathaniel Thomas.

  He clawed at the water to reach the surface, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not break through. He kicked upward but seemed to be going nowhere. The breath in his lungs became sour, useless. He needed to breathe. Nathan opened his mouth, taking water into his lungs—

  And he awoke on the island’s beach, gasping for breath. The night surrounded him, expelled only by the moon’s light reflecting off the pale sand and sea. His insides were churning much like his head. Nathan leaned over and emptied his stomach onto the ground.