“Hurry the fuck up, fish boy,” Zane grumbled in my head as I circled back toward the beach.“It’s fucking freezing up here.”
A lithe water snake gave me a wide berth, unwilling to pick a fight with a predator like me. Not that I would hurt it. Daresh had taught me to respect the creatures that made their homes in the water, and I would never attack unless they tried to hurt me first.
Goddess, I missed my softly spoken father. Since leaving the mer kingdom behind, I’d heard nothing from him, Krillian, or my mother. Not that I expected to.
I’d been exiled.
There was no going back.
Not unless she apologized, which she never would.
Strong currents tried to pull me back out into the deeper water, but I swam harder toward where Zane waited. Just as my fingers brushed the sand, a vision slammed into me.
Raven, her wrists in cuffs.
Shadows swirled.
My mate screamed, falling to her knees.
Fear and agonizing pain paralyzed me as I crawled out onto the beach, where the incubus waited. He yelled at me.
“The fucking mage has taken her!”
The storm mage?
Before I could tell him what I’d seen, he blinked us back to the mansion.
45
Maverick
Fury, panic, and sorrow pulsed down the bond with Raven before her chaotic emotions shut off like a steel door had slammed down between us.
I pushed for a response but got nothing. My bear paced anxiously in my chest, trying to force a shift so he could hunt down his mate, but I reminded him humans would shoot us if we ran into the city.
The minute she told me Adam had taken her to meet the sour-faced witch, Willow, I knew something was wrong. I didn’t trust that fucker as far as I could throw him. Yes, he’d saved my mate’s life when the sea witch cursed her, but he’d been acting shifty since he arrived.
I flung open the door to the guest room where Nula rested.
“Where is he?” I growled, not caring if I scared her. If Adam had hurt my mate, I’d end him.
“What do you mean?” Nula blinked at me as she sat up, confused. “I’ve been asleep.”
My teeth clenched in irritation, but I swallowed down a sharp retort.
“He took Raven to meet with Willow. Something happened and now I can’t reach her down the bond.”
Nula kicked the covers back, and I averted my gaze while she pulled some clothes on.
“He wouldn’t leave me by choice!”
Goddess save me, I wanted to wring the female’s neck and demand she tell me everything, but I fought to hang on to some semblance of calm. Whatever Adam had done, Nula wasn’t a part of it. I detected no deception in her voice or scent, only anxiety.
“Tell me exactly what he said before he left you here,” I demanded.
She sat on the edge of the bed, hands trembling, eyes tearful.
“He said he wanted to apologize to Raven. I think he felt bad about…him and me. About her mother.”
