Chapter 35

Kai swam beside me in silent support. He seemed to know when I needed words of encouragement and when I needed solitude to wrestle with the thoughts screaming in my head. My worst fear was that my father would attack Kai on the spot, and he would retaliate, striking down my father. I hoped it wouldn't come to that, but knowing my father's temper, anything was possible.

"Quite a city." Kai's deep voice interrupted my thoughts as Aquarius loomed in the distance.

I swallowed the bile that burned the back of my throat as my apprehension increased tenfold. Kai"s warm hand grazed against mine as he intertwined our fingers, and I turned to him.

I motioned to my father's trident. "Do you want me to take that? I don't know how everyone will take the sight of a man swimming into Aquarius with our kingdom's emblem in his grasp."

Kai shook his head. "No, it was my fault we had to take the trident. I intend to take full responsibility and return it to your father."

I gulped. "That's what I was afraid of."

I continued toward the gates that led inside. The guards hovered at the entrance—visible concern and confusion pulling on their facial features.

"He's with me," I said, motioning to Kai.

The guards glared at Kai, but they didn't move aside. News of how I betrayed my father must have traveled over the entire kingdom. I was sure I was no longer welcome in my own home. I eased forward with the intention of begging, but before I opened my mouth, power pulsed through the water, tickling against my skin.

The guards parted ways for us to pass so quickly that I was confident they got whiplash. Kai's fingertips brushed against my back as he pushed me forward through the gates.

"What did you do?" I asked, glancing back nervously at the guards.

"Nothing." Kai shrugged innocently. "I just introduced myself."

I blinked a few times, wanting to know more, but apparently, his ripple of power through the water had introduced him to more than just the guards. The sparse kingdom left after the wake of Dark Water crowded around us as we ventured toward the palace.

"Poseidon."

"King of the oceans."

"Master of the Seven Seas."

The voices rose in unison, reverberating through the current as they pressed forward to see him. I couldn't disguise the laughter that trickled from me when I looked over to Kai, whose lips were pulled tight into a sneer. He spun around, and the entire horde fell back in fear when the name Poseidon rose again.

I pulled on his arm, gaining his attention. "Apparently, you weren't clear when you introduced yourself." I snickered, and Kai rewarded me with his glare. "In all fairness, no one here knows what Poseidon looks like, so to them, you are him."

"Then I better correct them," Kai grumbled.

"Maybe later." I pleaded with my eyes. Kai's face instantly softened as he let his anger go with the tide.

My heart lodged in my throat as the doors to the castle crashed open. The flighty muscle increased its rhythmic beat when my father rushed through the doors, murder in his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this? Who is this man, Rhea?" my father bellowed.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Kai shoved me protectively behind him and swam up confidently before my father. I was not the fainting type, but at that moment, my head was dizzy, like the anxiety in my body was too much for it to bear.

Kai held the trident out toward my father. "I came to return this."

My father snatched it from Kai's grip, his face pinched with anger. "Who are you?"

Kai straightened, stretching to his full height that towered over a man even as magnificent as my father. "Blackheart Kai."

The entire ocean seemed to gasp at Kai's admission. I glanced at my father, whose bloodshot eyes were filled with rage. Every muscle in his body tensed as he raised the hand clutching his trident.

"Manta!" My mother's voice was a small mercy, cutting through the tension. She rushed through the doors with my sister in her wake and latched onto my father's arm. "He has come all this way to return your trident. The least you could do is hear what he has to say."

My father pulled his arm from her grip, turning his blazing eyes in my direction. "Is this what you wanted my trident for? To make it easier for this murderer to slay our kind? Have you taken leave of your senses?"

I eased forward. "Father, please."

His face was so red it turned a purple hue as he swam closer to me.

Kai moved in front of my father, blocking his path. "With all due respect, Your Majesty. Rhea didn't make me like this. My father gave me these abilities."

My father stayed his anger, if only for a fleeting moment. "And who is your father?"

"Poseidon."

An unreadable emotion flicked across my father's expression. "He would be ashamed of what you have become." My father jabbed Kai in the chest with an emotional knife and twisted.

Kai never backed away nor took his eyes off my father. "We were ashamed of each other." Kai inhaled. "We don't get to choose our family, and if it were up to me, he would have never been my father, but life often deals a dirty hand. I'm not trying to make excuses for what I have done. I have been running from my responsibilities for a long time, but Rhea helped me see past some of that rage." Warmth blossomed in my chest as Kai glanced back at me. "I don't expect you to understand, but I will not stand here and watch you take it out on Rhea when all she has done from the beginning was try to save everyone from the Dark Hydra, and she did so by abolishing the darkness that resided in me."

My father blinked like the words Kai spoke were foreign, and his brows drew together in confusion. "You expect me to believe all of this?"

"I don't, but I do expect you to have faith in the strong daughter you have raised. Because of her, the Dark Hydra is dead, and so is the sea witch."

"The sea witch is dead?" My mother gasped, easing around Kai and embracing me.

I met my father's gaze, which had softened slightly. "That's why I wanted the trident. I needed it to save Kai so he could defeat the sea witch."

My father pressed his lips into a thin line. "I understand what you did and why you did it, but stealing the trident from me and putting the ruler of Aquarius under your siren song is an unforgivable offense."

"Manta, don't you dare," my mother threatened, but her words fell upon deaf ears.

"You are hereby banished from this kingdom." My father's words rang in my ear, sending a jolt of anguish straight into my heart. I swallowed as emotion crawled up my throat.

Kai was by my side in a matter of seconds, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close. "I had no intention of leaving you here anyway. I need you by my side."

My father's banishment and Kai's declaration of needing me had my emotions all mixed up. I was happy but had a broken heart at the same time.

My father eased forward, watching Kai with careful eyes as he approached me. He gripped my chin and stared deep into my eyes. "This doesn't mean that I am not proud of you. You never belonged here anyway." My father smiled at me. "Your place is by his side, ensuring the Seven Seas are safe for all creatures."

I flew into my father's arms. "Thank you, Father." His hand reached up, gripping the back of my head, his long fingers stroking my hair in a soothing motion I remembered from childhood.

My father's eyes climbed to Kai's. "I will bless this union, but you must swear to protect her."

"With my life," Kai's voice echoed through the water, touching my very soul.

My father pulled away, running his fingers down my cheeks. "Then it is done. This union that I have ordained, let no man nor creature come between."

"You can't be serious! Treason like this is punishable by death!" Every fiber in my being tensed as Orm rushed from inside the palace. He had his war trident gripped tightly in his fist, waving it around like a man possessed.

My father released me, and Kai latched onto my wrist, pulling me protectively behind him. "Oh yes, I almost forgot about you." Kai's lips twisted into the slightest hint of a grin that brimmed with all the evilness in the world, promising death.

I reached up, squeezing Kai's biceps as I pushed around him. "Allow me to face my accuser?"

My eyes beseeched Kai, and his expression softened, but his muscles tensed as he turned to me.

"If he touches a single hair on your head, I will rip him in half whether it's your fight or not," Kai growled in my ear, sending goosebumps across my flesh.

"He won't get the chance," I promised as I turned to face Orm. "I had a good teacher."

"You have to be joking," Orm scoffed. "The princess against the captain of the guard?" Orm stalked closer. "I will slaughter you before you take your next breath."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. She has faced greater monsters than you." Kai's whiskers brushed against my cheek as he leaned over my shoulder. "No mercy. You end him this time."

"With pleasure."

I turned to my father, who was holding the crowd at bay with the might of his trident. "Orm betrayed you, Father. He made a deal with the sea witch to be her servant in exchange for protecting him from Dark Water."

"I am not completely clueless, Rhea. Why do you think I am allowing this battle?" My father smiled, handing me his trident.

I reached for it, my hand brushing against the cool metal. "You want me to use your trident?"

"You are my daughter," my father answered with pride beaming in his eyes.

Orm rushed toward me like the coward he was, taking me by surprise. He raised his trident high, preparing to sink it deep into my skull. I glimpsed Kai out of the corner of my eye as he readied to end Orm, but I raised my father's trident, blocking his blow.

Orm's trident was so close to my face that the tip brushed against my cheek, drawing blood. I ignored the sting as I shoved against his suppressing weight. Orm's face blanched to the same color as his pale hair, and his eyes simmered with anger as he realized his adversary was more predator than prey.

Orm attacked again and again, but each time I was ready for him. Kai's words rang in my ears about studying my opponent, and this particular rival had a telltale sign of arrogantly curling his upper lip before he struck. Orm was quickly losing patience as I evaded each blow, and his anger engulfed him.

"I will not be made a fool of by a mere princess," Orm declared.

The smile that curved my lips was more deadly than sweet. "Haven't you heard? I'm not a princess. I am a sea demon."

Orm"s tail muscles tensed, a coiled spring of fury, as if the very currents themselves trembled in anticipation of his attack. The water around us seemed to hum with the impending strike.

But I was ready.

As Orm surged forward, his movements swift and lethal, I danced with the fluid grace of a seasoned warrior. With a deft twist, I parried his blow, narrowly evading what could have been a fatal strike. In that split second of vulnerability, I seized the opportunity presented to me.

With a surge of determination, I struck first.

The look in Orm"s eyes betrayed his surprise as my weapon found its mark. His pupils dilated, mirroring the shock that rippled through his body as I drove the three prongs of my father's trident deep into his abdomen. The water around us momentarily stilled, as if even the currents themselves paused to witness the outcome of our clash.

Gasps resounded in the water from the sirens, and my body began to tremble.

Orm sputtered as the water turned murky, tainted with his crimson blood. A tiny thread of guilt wove its way through my conscience as his body stiffened and sank to the ocean floor. I had never killed another siren, and even though Orm deserved it for everything he had done, I still felt guilty.

"Remove this bilge from my sight," my father called to the guards, who quickly rushed forward to dispose of the body. He smiled as I handed the trident back to him. "You have impressed me today with your strength."

I looked at Kai whose face seemed to beam with pride. "We should go."

Meleea rushed to me, enveloping me in a tight hug. "I"m going to miss you, but at least now I can be queen."

"Aquarius will be much better off with you as queen." I smiled, gently pulling away.

"Yes, with me as the queen and you as their protector, along with that gorgeous being." She winked, nodding toward Kai, and I laughed at her remark.

My heart dipped as my mother approached and crushed me to her chest, holding me like she never intended to let me go.

My father pulled her away, hugging my sobbing mother to his chest. "Just because she is banished doesn't mean we'll never see her again." His words held a promise that had a smile blossoming across my face.

Kai pulled me to his side, wrapping his arm protectively around my waist.

"I love you all," I exclaimed before Kai shot through the water, pulling us back to the surface—and to our destiny.

The sun had setby the time we reached the Wraith. The skeleton crew on deck greeted Kai and me as he sat me back on the deck. Cael rushed forward, offering me his shirt as Kai gave me back my legs.

Sorrow weighed heavy in my chest as I wondered if and when I would ever see my family again. I was banished, so I couldn't just show up whenever I missed them. Kai's eyes bored into mine, concern reflecting in them. He pressed his lips lightly against my forehead before heading below.

I hugged the white shirt tighter as the cool wind blew across my exposed limbs. I should follow Kai below and change into suitable clothes, but my tattered emotions would not let me go down, not yet.

Cael stood at the wheel as I approached the helm to join him.

"Your mission was a success?" he asked. I leaned onto the railing as he guided the ship farther away from my home.

"If you call being banished from your home a success, then yes, it was."

"Don't worry. Rulers can always change their minds. Look at Kai."

I smiled at Cael's words. He was the epitome of knowledge and always knew what to say to make me smile. I may not have my blood family, but I had something just as good in my unlikely but loyal crew.

Strong arms encircled my waist, and my worries skipped right out of my mind as I was engulfed in Kai's warmth and salty, masculine scent. "You'll see them again. Even if I have to go there and drag them to the surface. I promise you, you will see them again."

I smiled as his words soothed my soul. We both straightened, and I rested my back and head against Kai's chest, gazing across the moon-drenched sea.

"What are your plans now? I don't think we can continue hunting sea creatures after that statement you made," Cael said, turning to Kai.

"We're going to do what we should have done all along. We're going to be a bridge between the land and sea dwellers and ensure that one does not hurt the other." Kai's voice rumbled in my ear, and I wasn't sure if it was his deep baritone or his words that made my flesh break out in goosebumps.

"I'm proud of you both," I said, smiling at Cael, who was trying to hide the elation from his impassive face.

"You're going to have to give up your lavish life. I don't think people are going to pay well for you to protect sea creatures instead of killing them," Cael said.

Kai's deep laughter vibrated in his chest. "I don't see why. That's what this little sea demon is for. She knows where all the sunken treasure ships are. The ocean will provide for us." Kai turned me in his arms, his deep blue eyes swirling with longing. "Besides, I do believe you owe me one sunken ship already."

My pulse skidded to a halt under his gaze that heated my body to an uncontrollable temperature. "About that…" I ran my fingers lovingly up his chest. "I may have exaggerated a bit about the worth of that cargo." I rewarded Kai with an innocent smile that was anything but guilt-free.

Kai's vibrant eyes were ablaze as he bent low, whispering in my ear. His stubble brushed against the shell of my ear, sending bolts of energy to my heart and turning me to sea slush in his arms. "I'm going to take that out of your hide, sea demon."

A screech escaped my lips as Kai tossed me over his shoulder and started toward the lower deck.

"I hate to interrupt this little tryst, but what's our heading, Cap'n?" Cael bellowed, and Kai spun back around. My body swayed helplessly in his arms.

"Turronto Port. I still have a bone to pick with Dante, especially if he's still entrapping leviathans and using them to do his dirty work."

"Aye, Cap'n." Cael chuckled.

I sat up with a victorious smile etched across my face, bracing my elbows on Kai's shoulders and resting my chin in my hands.

The scuff of Kai's boots across the deck and stairs had my heart tripping over itself the closer we came to his cabin. He eased me from his shoulder, my body pressing against his as my feet hit the floor. Kai bent down, brushing his lips across my cheek. The light touch sent shivers to all my extremities and made my entire body tremble. Then he ventured to my lips. The kiss was like pure lightning, backed by all his power and might, scorching its way through my body.

My knees weakened and buckled, but Kai's grip around my waist tightened. "Do you remember when we first met and I swore to you that I would never touch a creature like you in that way?"

My brow scrunched in confusion as to why he was bringing up the horrid way we met and how he practically spat in my face that he would never desire a creature such as me. "Yes?"

Kai backed me toward the bed. "I lied."

THE END