25. The Lustful Nature

Chapter 25

The Lustful Nature

The Siren

W hen we left the forest path, a large, white stone palace sat ahead that seemed to dominate the massive clearing at the same time as it blended into the landscape around it. It stood elegantly, reaching toward the sky in pristinely white stone but seemed as if it belonged completely within the wilderness that we'd just traveled through to reach Proteus' home. Two exquisite waterfalls cascaded down either side of the structure into a frothing river that wrapped around the front of the building. The path we'd used to arrive in this clearing led to a wide wooden bridge that crossed the river, leading to a stone path that meandered around beautiful gardens and outdoor seating areas. A rich and lavish atmosphere welcomed us as we crossed the bridge.

The water of the island held the same salty brine as the sea, as if Proteus had routed the ocean to move over his land and into the rushing river surrounding his property. As I peered down into the river we crossed, I realized its waters sunk deeper than I'd expected. Several heads floated above the surface, many of which I recognized as my fellow sirens. A few others had multiple fins, more fish like and less extravagant than the sirens, looking more like my half-brother, Triton. They appeared more humanistic, aside from the gills cutting through their ribs.

I ignored the curious faces that watched us pass, some of them dipping their chins with respect for me as Kipp and I followed closely behind Proteus, who led us to his private gardens. A large wooden awning provided shade from the late afternoon sun, vines of white flowers wrapping around the wood leaving a pleasant floral scent hanging in the air. Another smaller pond sat not far from the benches beneath the awning, and again, I caught the scent of seawater from its depths.

"The ocean runs beneath the island," Proteus said, having noticed my curiosity toward the water of his island. "It's how I can feel so comfortable living here. It's like being in the sea even when I'm not physically within its waters."

Inhaling deeply, I smiled. "It feels like home."

Longing mixed with the heightened lust still building within my center as I took a purposeful step away from Kipp and the heat of his darkness. I ran my fingers through my hair as I took in the garden around us, eyeing the array of colors growing in well maintained patches everywhere I looked.

As I stared at the beauty surrounding me, Proteus' eyes darkened as he gave Kipp a thorough look over. The polite host had vanished, replaced by the warrior he'd been long ago. His sights narrowed. "Tell me why you are here, little Thanatos, and why you have forced Lia to come along for the ride," he demanded. He knew everything I knew—the mind link had told him all of it—but by putting Kipp on the spot like this, it gave them both a chance to be open with one another.

"I don't owe you any explanations. God or no god. Lia is helping me. She is under my protection, and I will do whatever it takes to see my task through." Kipp's voice was firm, a tinge of defiance in his tone and the set of his jaw as he spoke. "And you can call me Captain Kipp."

"You have a death glare behind those dark eyes of yours. You're on my island. I'll call you whatever I deem appropriate." He let that sink in before he spoke again. "And then what happens to her?"

"Then I let her go. She will have my protection until then."

Proteus chuckled, a knowing glint in his eyes. "Protection? Is that all? Or is there something more?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Kipp replied, letting his gaze slacken as we sat on one of the stone benches ringing the pond.

Before Proteus joined us on the benches, he asked Kipp, "So, you didn't bind her to you then?"

"I—"

"—He did," I answered, cutting Kipp off. My tone held anger, and I didn't understand what Proteus was trying to imply. This was not why I'd brought Kipp and his crew to this island.

"You have no idea what type of bond it is, I'll wager," Proteus added, his lips pressed together tightly as he watched Kipp, ignoring my interruption completely as he continued to interrogate Kipp.

Bristling at his words, Kipp's jaw tightened. "I know what it is," he replied tersely. "I won't let anyone use it against us."

"So, you meant to tie your soul to hers forever?"

Proteus' words were like a punch to my gut, knocking the air from my lungs as I replayed them within my mind. Truly, I couldn't have heard what I thought I had. My head whipped to where Kipp sat next to me, an animalistic growl emanating from my chest as I demanded, "What does he mean?"

Kipp shook his head, not even daring to look my way as he answered, "Not forever. Just until we get what I want."

"Oh, children," Proteus muttered as he finally allowed himself to sit on the bench across from us. A sad, faraway look passed behind his gaze as his fingers pressed against his temples, as if a headache now plagued him. "You have no idea what you are playing with. The binding you have done is not breakable, or reversible. It is one only the fates themselves can gift. How you were even able to perform it in the first place baffles me."

Some of the fight seemed to have left him as his shoulders drooped, yet he still replied defensively as he said, "A powerful seer told me how it could be done."

"Let me guess," Proteus said with a smirk as he shook his head disbelievingly. "An old woman prone to spitting when she speaks? Only one eye? Am I right?"

I groaned, realizing exactly who Proteus implied. He meant a fate. Kipp opened his mouth but thought better of it, snapping it shut.

Leaning back, Proteus added, "I get it. Centuries of desperation will make even the smartest and deadliest of us incompetent and prone to mistakes in our desperation." He sighed before his gaze darkened. "But not at the expense of my young friend here."

I turned to Kipp, my knee brushing into his as I glared up at him. "Tell me you didn't get the binding spell from a fate, Kipp."

Kipp's lips remained sealed as he turned his gaze to mine, the dark ripples of inky black bedding into his irises. The darkness sat just below the surface, but I didn't care. His stupidity would cost us greatly, and I feared there wasn't much to be done about it now.

"Interesting," Proteus said, "and you say a sea witch did this to you?"

Kipp hadn't said anything about the sea witch. This was information Proteus was only privy to thanks to our mind link. I replied quickly, hoping Kipp wouldn't question how Proteus knew more than what we'd spoken.

"Not just any sea witch. Circe," I replied, my gaze boring into his, the seriousness evident in my tone and words.

Proteus laughed then. "Your mother's little sister! Well, isn't that just rich?"

"Her sister?" I asked, leaning forward, shook by this revelation.

"I forget," Dionysus called as he came around a set of thick hedges into view. "The young were never told these things." He paused, taking a seat on the other side of Kipp. He didn't seem to care that the darkness brewed within him like a wicked storm that could ruin us all.

"Where is my crew?" he asked. "They left with you, yet you've returned without them. Where are they?"

Dionysus smirked. "They are preoccupied at the moment entertaining my dryads." He shrugged. "They will be fine."

"Enough with the pointless banter," I interjected, cutting through the tension crackling between us. "We didn't come here to be questioned by you. We came for answers." I wasn't in the mood for his teasing, or his games.

Proteus raised a brow, his playful demeanor shifting to seriousness as he watched me, knowingly. "Straight to the point as always, Lia."

"We need information, and I know that you can provide it," I stated firmly, locking eyes with Proteus. "We need to find Circe, and I don't care who she was to my mother."

"Are you going to tell him who you are?" Dionysus asked, flicking a thumb toward Kipp as I glared at him.

"I know who she is," Kipp replied through gritted teeth. He fought for control over his darkness, but it clearly costed him greatly to do so. Every muscle in his body sat tensed and coiled as he held himself at bay.

"Really?" I asked, turning toward him. He couldn't know. I hadn't told him everything, only what he needed to know. "Who am I then?"

He barely looked at me as he said, "The golden ring around your eyes means that you are royalty, and only from the direct line. It shows your claim to the throne. You can only be the daughter of the late siren queen."

I flinched at the memory of my mother's brutal passing, and I could have sworn the darkness retreated a fraction from his gaze as it softened. I'd lived with the constant reminder of her death in the scar along my thigh. We'd been pushing through the sea, racing from a school of sharks maddened with bloodlust when some sort of power seemed to have seized my mother, giving the sharks the opening that they required to tear her to pieces right before my eyes.

Dionysus opened his mouth as if to add the other half of my heritage to the table, but with a warning glance, he shut his mouth with an audible snap.

"It doesn't matter what I am, or who I am. Daughter, relative. It doesn't matter. This bond doesn't even matter right now. What does matter is this quest we are on to break this curse. We need to get this over with," I said, shoving the pesky emotions from my godly heritage down as best as I could. I needed to remain as cold and detached that was common to my people.

Kipp asked Proteus, "Will you help us or not?"

With eyes that glimmered mischievously, Proteus flicked a glance over his shoulder as he gestured behind him. "I have already sent out my dearest friend, Raidne, to inquire."

A tanned skin man, completely nude, strode toward us, uncaring that he, and all his masculine glory, was on full display. I heard Kipp's growl but ignored it as I raked my gaze along this male's body, from his feet to the impressive, yet placid, member between his legs to the ethereal handsomeness of his face, which held a knowing smirk as our eyes met.

"Raidne, meet my friend, Talia, your future queen," Proteus introduced us. There was no need for the secrecy now that Kipp shared his knowledge with us. How he knew so much about my people, I couldn't know, and right now, I didn't care.

The man smiled warmly before he knelt before me, his head bowed but his gaze still on mine. "My princess, it is a pleasure to meet you. How may I be of service to you?"

I took in his warm brown skin that contrasted with his pale blue eyes, the broadness of his shoulders, and the long, thick strands of his curly hair. He wasn't from Atlantis, most likely from a clan from the faraway oceans. The accent he spoke with and the coloring of his skin held similarities to their numbers.

"I can think of at least one way," Dionysus quipped with a smirk and a lifted brow.

Raidne beamed up at me, still knelt before me, as he said, "If you should need me for that task, my future queen, it would be my honor."

The lustful nature of a siren became painful and harder to control as they came into their power. It had been something that had been frustrating for me since I'd been captured by Kipp. I'd planned on sating these desires after claiming my power, but that obviously hadn't quite worked as planned.

"I appreciate the offer?—"

Kipp moved then, standing in front of me and getting in the way of Raidne. A growl emanated from deep in his chest. "The only person," he said between his tightened jaw, "who will be performing tasks for her is me." His body loomed over Raidne, his muscles rigid and tense as he glared down at the naked male knelt before me.

Dionysus clapped his hands and tapped his feet. "Oh! This is so much fun!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad that I came to visit you today, Proteus."

"I'm not sure you understand what that means," Proteus said calmly to Kipp as I covered my eyes with my hands. They all seemed to enjoy my suffering.

"We don't have time for this," I demanded, wanting more than anything for them to get off this topic.

"And why not?" Proteus asked, his gaze on Kipp as if he were assessing who would win in a fight as both men glared daggers at one another in a silent challenge.

"Because Kipp's darkness is deepening. We are running out of time. Do we really want to find out what kind of weapon he will turn into for her if we wait too long? If we don't stop Circe soon, it could be disastrous for all involved."

They all ignored me.

Proteus stepped forward, placing a hand on Kipp's shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie that seemed to catch Kipp off guard. "Talia will choose her, uh… what was it that you called it? Task? Yes. She will choose her task… completer."

He barely managed to get the words out before he and Dionysus fell into laughter that made me want to sink into the pond's depths not far from the benches we occupied. This was… embarrassing. A feeling I had never felt before heated my cheeks. This mortal form was messing with my mind.

Kipp's dark eyes darted between us, uncertainty clouding his features as he struggled with what was going on until his gaze landed on me and understanding dawned. The bastard then had the audacity to smirk before asking, "In that case… who does she choose?"

That damn dimple winked at me as I ground my teeth together. "No one, you fool."

"Minnow," Proteus warned.

"I know." I gave him a warning look. "I'll be fine."

With a shake of his head, Proteus said, "Stay the night at least. In the morning, I will tell you where Circe is."

"Agreed," I answered, moving around Kipp to the male still kneeling. I offered my hand to him, helping him to his feet. "I am honored for your willingness to support me in any of my needs, Raidne, but I must pass." I wrapped my hands around his cold ones and dipped my head in a sign of respect. Our minds linked, and I asked, How is the sea kingdom?

He shook his head. Poseidon is giving the throne to a new creature. His son. The sirens are fighting the change of power. Many wonder where you are in all of this.

I nodded, knowing that would be the case but hoping Poseidon would have at least waited for my return. Suddenly, my hands were ripped from Raidne's as Kipp barreled forward and snatched my arm back. He glared at the siren male, his tone deep with an edge of steel as he practically snarled, "Touch her again, and I will chop that pretty tail of yours off and cook it for my crew."

Raidne hissed. "She is not yours to protect, pirate."

"She is mine until I decide otherwise, and until then, you will not touch what is mine." Kipp growled, the darkness breaking free as his muscles tensed, his breath heaving from his lungs.

I bristled at his words, but I didn't dare move. His claims didn't help the burning desire that I'd just barely been holding at bay all these weeks, but I knew it was merely the darkness within him making him animalistic and out of control.

Proteus chuckled. "Stop this. Raidne, thank you. I no longer need your assistance."

Raidne's eyes widened as he stared at me and then the pirate. He gave his head a disbelieving shake as he turned, walking away and leaving us. Kipp watched him go, his body frozen in place as if he were afraid any movement would turn him deadly.

"You will be safe here. Stay the night, we will talk more in the morning," Proteus said, and then he too left us alone.

Like any terrible pirate, with everything that had just happened, it felt as if my ship was sinking fast. What the hell did I get myself into?