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“Seer,” they whisper amongst themselves. “Fate-touched.” Yeah, the goddess of Fate is a bitch who hasn’t learned to ask consent before touching people. Thankfully, only one person is running for their life, too busy looking over their shoulder for their pursuers to notice me. She sends us both flying as her weight slams into me. The momentum knocks the wind out of my lungs, and I land flat on my back, her straddling me in a way that makes my cock stand to attention. I haven’t let myself scent the air, yet my body already knows who she is to me.
His voice is beautiful and deep enough to make me shiver. It’s enough of a distraction that his words take a while to sink in. My eyes scan over his strong jaw and up past his cruel cheekbones to those pure white eyes. Shit, he’s a seer. Most people only remember that there’s a third goddess when they’re confronted with the evidence of Fate’s handiwork. I’m no different. The little gasp that escapes me is embarrassing, but I’ve got just enough presence of mind to remember my manners. “Thank you, Seer.” “Go!” He grabs my thighs and flings me off him. I can’t help glancing behind me at the
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The wind shifts, blowing my hair forward, and they both stiffen, their eyes flicking turquoise and back again.
“Valorean—our captain—wants to meet you first, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Noster snorts, and I glance up at him questioningly. “Who else is there in your crew?” I ask. “Not many of us,” Noster mumbles. “Val’s a bond mage, the Deadwood’s his bond ‘item’ so we don’t need a full crew to keep her running.”
“Besides him, there’s Kier, an ice fae, and Rysen, our resident vampire,”
“She’s our mate,” just loud enough for the three of us to hear. The vein in Val’s temple begins to throb, and it’s almost funnier than the idea of the dysfunctional twins having a mate.
When her first delicate hand appears over the side, bringing with it the faint scent of berries, herbs, and sweetness, something I can’t explain takes hold of me. I’m shoving Cas out of the way before I can really process my own actions. My gut clenches as I hold out my hand to help her up.
I expected Valorean’s growled, “Get her off my ship.” I was not ready for my own instant hiss of denial. The twins go straight for the offensive, their beasts giving a low, feral rumble that makes my eyebrows lift. Cas growling isn’t surprising but for Nos to make the animal sound as well? That’s rare. “She stays,” Kier’s whisper shocks me more than all our other reactions combined. Everyone turns to look at him. His jet-black hair and matching clothes let him blend into the shadow of the mainmast, but his dark, angular eyes shine as he looks at my mate. He doesn’t speak often, hasn’t uttered
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Nos shrugs. “I haven’t got a clue. I only found out that last bit while waiting for her to turn up. The only thing I can see for certain is that if we tell her who she is to us, she’ll run. I didn’t even know she was coming so soon until this morning…”
Somewhere below deck Cas howls with laughter, breaking the solemn silence between us. “She’s already good for him,” I comment. Casimir rarely makes it longer than half an hour without his beast taking over. I’m pretty sure that if Nos didn’t need him so much, the shifter would have lost himself to his other side a long time ago. “She’s a shipwreck waiting to happen.”
“You’re staring,” I point out after a few minutes. “Just mesmerised by your beauty,” he quips, but the turquoise is gone in a blink. “You’re just… not what I expected a Solar witch to be like,” he admits as the fae—Kier—joins us. Now that he’s in the light, I can properly make out his features. His jet-black hair is escaping the messy ponytail he keeps it in, and the shorter pieces at the front fall over his forehead. His iron eyes are hooded and angular, enhancing the sharpness of his ears and jaw.
It’s almost comical, watching two immortals blush like scolded schoolboys.
“You should count yourself lucky,” I mutter, instead of gracing him with an apology like I probably should. “I usually charge hundreds for protection sigils.” His eyes narrow. “Stop carving sigils into my fucking ship!”
I shake my head because I’m not about to admit that I’m nervous about a silly dream. “No one. It’s just an old habit.” “Lie.” The word echoes softly from the hall, and I grimace. The
“If you don’t like my cooking, I won’t bother to feed you anymore,” she hisses, tossing a guilty look at Nos and I before continuing to level her best glare at Val. “It’s perfectly cooked and doesn’t taste like the ocean spat in it, is that what you’re complaining about?” “I just asked where you got the fresh fruit from!” Rysen is looking between the two with a strange mixture of concern and humour on his face. Somehow he’s ended up holding that grey tabby again, and seeing the burly vampire cradling a tiny cat and stroking it with a single finger is one of the most snort-worthy things I’ve
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Vampires and mages are both impotent from the time we settle into immortality at twenty-five until we meet our mates. The only difference is my erection will eventually go away, Val’s will last until Nilsa claims him.
Subconsciously, he must know he’s hers now. He wouldn’t be showing off her marks like a preening peacock if he didn’t.
“Ry?” she whispers. “I’m here.” Is it foolish that my new heartbeat skips at the nickname?
Nilsa is a Lunar witch.
“You deserve it,” I mutter. “What you did…” I can see exactly how his curse can be broken. Kier has to find a witch who knows everything about his curse, yet loves and trusts him enough to willingly exchange full names with him, regardless.
Even if we weren't mates, she's probably gorgeous enough to have the same effect on me. But there's something different about the witch tonight. She seems...dull. "What's wrong with you?" I blurt before my brain can filter me. "Nothing, you rude asshole." Goddess, normally I love our arguments—not that I'll ever admit it—but tonight the heat isn't there.
"I need her." I know the confession is broken. Jagged. But that's what needing her has done to me. I need Nilsa. I need her blood. Her affection. Her smiles.
"Will she ever...?" His smile gives me hope but his words are grim. "Sometimes, to love someone, you have to let them go and hope they come back."
He rolls his eyes. "At least she's not as annoying as the other witch." Coming from him, that's a huge compliment.
She's trying to figure out where to begin. I'm bracing myself for an ending she doesn't know is coming.
The mage in question has been pacing the lower deck for hours. Waiting. Searching. Like the rest of us.
"I didn't mean to do it," the captain mutters, the dawn light glinting off his white hair. "It must have been her presence affecting my powers. I'm sorry, Nos. I swear to the Goddesses, once we finish up in Cawshome we'll come back. She's on this island somewhere. We'll find her."
