1. Jasper

Chapter one

Jasper

I n the water, I can smell blood from miles away. I can identify the trails of prey and predators, categorize them, gauge their distance, and more. But here in the royal entertainment chamber of the Fynren palace, scents become a cacophony of things fighting for my attention, none of them earning it.

I can't focus on scent right now, anyway. My attention is squarely on the fourth princess.

Reina.

It's not the first time I've seen her, but it is the first time I've been this close to her. She's in a stunning silver gown. Her golden hair is half down, half braided in a crown from her temples. Between the braids sits a tiny tiara, one that she keeps adjusting as if she hates it there.

Her tan skin is unlike all the other socialites of the Upper Kingdom of Fynren. She gets out and absorbs as much of the sun as she can. I would know, I've watched her basking in it for hours as if she hasn't a care in the world.

The posh princess and her carefree life. I feel my lip curling back as I stare. There's a draw to her in the pit of my stomach, like hunger, but different. The need growing in my belly to capture her is something deep and primal.

No, that's squid ink. It's just my nerves. My mission requires her, and that's all. It has nothing to do with having watched her obsessively for the last three weeks.

Reina laughs at something one of her ladies has said and the guard behind her shifts, his gaze drifting my way. I'm still scowling at her…

I turn my attention to my cocktail and take a sip, then look to the gentleman next to me. "Wonderful affair," I say casually to cover the fact that I have no fucking idea how to interact with Ki'ah Ohn.

He grunts. "If only Princess Alyse was worth anything. What a paltry gift to my king."

Ah. So he's Wolish, then.

The Wolish people, from Wolfsheim across the sea to the west, are all merchants or brigands. They're a powerful kingdom in their own right and have a powerful king. That king's first son has married the third princess of Fynren tonight, ensuring a lasting peace between them.

Right.

As if Ki'ah Ohn know the word peace .

They only know violence. Conquest. Domination.

The drink sours in my mouth, but I keep my mood light. "Why do you say that?"

The man rolls his eyes. "Because of her basic magus ability. Everyone whispers, you know. The first princess was a nomaj, and the second had to go off to school to develop her skills," the man says, pausing to take a drink. "So of course, the third princess can't be much better. Though, I've heard the fourth is quite a wonder."

His gaze locks on Reina across the room and some part of me doesn't like the way he grins. My fist clenches on my drink and I consider the three-shooter concealed under my coat.

No. I can't shoot a man right here.

Can I?

I shake my head to clear the idiotic thought. I'm here to collect Reina and be on my way.

The air slides into my lungs and the scent of perfume, food, body odor, arousal, and more slides in with it. The act of deep breathing in here doesn't calm me in the slightest. I don't know how I'm going to get Reina out of the palace, but she must be mine. I have to have her.

She's my bait.

"What say you, son?" the man asks.

"Well, as it's known, one cannot judge the whole litter by one pup," I say, reciting selkie rhetoric that I hope translates.

He laughs. "I suppose that's true. The royals keep their magus abilities so secret, it's hard to know anyway."

"Better to keep the secret than let it control you," I say, then take a sip of my drink to hide my disgust.

"Hear, hear," the Wol says, raising his own glass and taking a drink.

I tire of this dull gossip.

I made it here under the guise of a Wolish captain I had to do away with. No matter. I'm here now, and while I can't stand this event, it is getting me the one thing I need: a princess of royal blood so powerful the false king of the south—Erik Vansen—won't be able to refuse an audience.

And then I can cut out his heart and reclaim what is mine.

"What's your name, sailor?" the man beside me asks as he picks up another drink from a passing servant.

Jasper Luvine. I'm a captain from Wolfsheim , I remind myself.

Fuck. This man is Wolish. What if he knows every Wolish captain?

"Sir?" he asks, adjusting his monocle with annoyance.

"Jasper," I say, jutting my hand out for a shake, something Men are so fond of.

He scowls deeply and rears back as if I've offended him. I drop my hand, a similar scowl pasted to my features.

"Been abroad a long time, eh, sailor?" he asks, sticking out his foot.

What the fuck is this?

"Too long," I say, sticking out my opposite foot.

He taps it with his own. "I'm sure. How long have you been sailing?"

I need to escape this squid ink encounter.

As if hearing my desperate thoughts, the band at the far end of the room starts playing.

"Ah, I love this one," I say, despite not knowing any of the Fynish dances. I tip my head and down my drink, then move onto the dance floor.

These feet are so fucking unwieldy compared to tentacles or fins, but I lock my gaze on one man across from me and start to understand the cadence of the movements. I keep my eyes on his feet and mirror the dance moves until we've completed two full circuits.

The dance shifts and everyone comes together in groups of four. I manage to find my place and watch carefully as we circle one another, arms up and almost touching. Then I see her through our upraised hands. The princess is on the dance floor and the guards have stayed behind.

This could be my chance.

I sidle closer to the princess when we break apart, disrupting the dance floor a bit as I steal someone else's position near her. We perform the solo motions again, Reina completely unaware of my attentive gaze as she laughs and twirls.

She looks so happy.

Guilt barrels through me like an arctic current, tightening my chest. I'm stealing her from happiness. She's done nothing to hurt me, or my people. She's innocent, only just come of age a year ago.

I can't take her…

"Promise me." My mother's voice rings loudly.

Anything. I promised to do anything to rescue my people.

The memory steels my resolve and I move into the circle with the princess, finally catching her gaze. Her eyes drift down my arm to my waist, then back up to my face. I smile at her, my most debonair grin, and she blushes.

Good.

I have her attention.

Now, to keep her away from the guard.

The song ends and I'm still close to her. I stride forward, my sailor's uniform chafing under the arms and in the groin. Who the fuck would want to wear this, I have no idea. I can't wait to get back into loose clothes. Or better yet, nothing but the sea to caress me.

"Hello there," I say, turning up my charm as far as I can manage. I've only spent ten years as a man, but I studied their behavior endlessly.

She turns, her tan skin glistening with a thin layer of sweat from the dance. "Hello. Who might you be?"

I give her a bow. "Jasper, my princess."

" My princess," she chuckles. "A little presumptuous, isn't it?"

My grin widens. "Well, your older sister just wed my prince, bringing our countries closer together than ever. I believe I can call you mine , as it's nearly true."

Oh, how much truer it'll be in a few minutes when she's in enchanted chains on the boat to Illya with me.

She straightens, her face going shrewd. "Good evening, sir."

Then she turns away, leaving me with a gaping mouth.

What did I do wrong?

Within a few steps she's back under the protection of her numerous guards, who are—once again—staring at me like I'm prey.

Fuck .

I turn toward the banquet table and shake off my nerves. She rejected an innocent comment. A true comment. Perhaps she inferred something I didn't intend. I'm still not aware of all my faux pas when using their language since Illyan was the first Ki'ah Ohn language I learned. Each one has their own dialects and turns of phrase.

I pick at the selection of fish on the banquet table, fueling my magic with the flesh of the dead. Most of the creatures in my repertoire are seafaring, and while there are cliffs just outside the window behind the band, getting the princess to them is going to be more work than I can manage as a Man.

"He's killed me!" a panicked voice screams, and the banquet hall falls into quiet murmurs.

Everyone turns toward the noise, and I spot the third princess, Alyse. She's covered in blood and completely nude.

She smells like death.

Alyse laughs manically, grabbing the person closest to her. Then she starts crying.

It's more than death. There's something very wrong with her.

"Let me go!" Reina's voice draws my attention and my gaze snaps to her.

A guard is holding her back as she struggles to get to her sister. Suddenly, her skin flares bright blue under the guard's grip. He jerks his hand back with a pained cry, and Reina runs across the dance floor.

Alyse grasps the hem of the queen's dress from the ground, mumbling something up at her. She's covered in filth and blood, her pupils fully blown.

"He said it would make it better. The dust for my nose," the third princess says.

Drugs, then.

"Healer!" the queen roars over her shoulder.

I slip between the people crowding Alyse and make my way to Reina. This is just the distraction I've been waiting for.

"You'll be all right, princess," a tall guard says as he drapes a cloak around Alyse's shoulders.

She clutches the fabric tightly and vomits blood.

She's fucked.

"Alyse!" Reina screams, pushing against the guards keeping her away from her sister. My heart aches as I watch. There's genuine pain and fear in her expression. She loves Alyse.

The hairs on my arms stand on end and I scent ozone in the room.

Instinct takes over.

I drop to the floor as lightning smashes through the back side of the entertainment hall with a massive boom. Bodies fly and people scream, but the sound is dimmed through my damaged eardrums.

I yawn once, twice, and shake my head as I search the flaming rubble for the princess.

There. Tanned skin and golden hair with a silver dress. She lifts her head to look for help, but then her eyes flutter shut and she falls back. There's blood dripping from a cut on her forehead. Everyone, including the queen and her guards, are flat on the ground but starting to move.

This is my only chance.

I pull Reina into my arms and run through the smoldering hole made at the back of the hall. It's a two-story drop to the grass below, and I grunt as I take the weight of myself and the princess against my knees.

A dragon bellows from the sky, but the tonal shift informs me that it's just moved out of range. But in a few more seconds we could be in the path of its next attack.

I charge across the smoldering grass for the cliff's edge as the dragon comes around. The powerful beat of its wings echoes in my still-aching ears. The sound makes my heart thunder as loud as the dragon's magic.

Ozone fills my senses and crackling courses through the air. The cliff is too far. I won't make it…

Lightning slams against the palace behind me and the shock wave of destruction makes me stagger forward. I take a quick knee and look back at the palace. The queen and her guards are rallying, but they can't see me this far out in the darkness.

Guilt surfaces again as I look down at the unconscious woman in my arms.

I could still take her back. I could leave her behind and think of something else.

As I stare at Reina, the tug in my gut swells. She's my bait, my only way of saving my people.

Mine.

I swallow my remorse and curl the princess close to my chest. I run the last few feet and leap over the edge of the cliff into the crashing black waves of the sea. My form contorts and bends as we fall, folding my Man-shape in perfect condition inside itself as my octopus emerges. I wrap the princess in my many tentacles to protect her from the impact.

The slap of water against my body feels like the sweetest relief, but I don't waste any time relishing this small victory. There's a ship waiting for me just off the coast, and I can't be late. They'll depart at sunrise with or without me, and then I'll be well and truly fucked.

I tighten my grip on the princess as I spear through the water, holding her just above the surface. Her bodyweight is barely noticeable in my massive tentacles yet her presence so significant I can't help but focus on her.

She is their salvation, and my greatest bounty yet.

One step closer.