“I’m glad you think so. Let’s hope I can convince a certain warlock who wants to get his hands on my tears for eternity that he should be scared of me. That would be quite the script flip.”
This time, when he pulled her flush against his body, Hollyn didn’t resist the contact, instead leaning into his strength. She wished she didn’t crave his touch so much. Surely, this dependence on Kai was not something she needed to cultivate long term. But right now, she couldn’t seem to care.
His chin barely rested on her head as he asked, “Are you certain you don’t want me to come with you? I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
She smiled at his insinuation, and parts of her body began to come alive with need. Maybe they could slip away for a few minutes before she went to look for the sea witch.
She let go enough to look into his gorgeous brown eyes and said, “Do you want to find a quiet place totalkabout it?”
A slow, sexy grin slid across his face as he caught on to her meaning. “I don’t know. I might want totalkall night.”
“I am feeling incredibly chatty.” Hollyn couldn’t stop the small laugh that seemed to flutter up from the butterflies frolicking in her mid-section.
Kai cupped her face and inched toward her lips as he said, “I’ll just have to find a way to distract you, I guess.”
Electricity sparked as barely a breath separated them. The rest of the world around them faded away and Hollyn waited, anticipating the soft touch of Kai’s lips on hers.
A voice behind them cleared loudly, breaking the spell of the moment. With sudden awareness, Hollyn and Kai pulled apart and turned to face Poseidon, who had a knowing grin on his bearded face.
Beside him stood a tall, muscular warrior-type, armed with spears and knives. His blonde hair flowed down to his shoulders in beachy waves, and his green eyes glowed like two bright emeralds as he stared straight at Hollyn.
Poseidon’s booming voice filled the space as he introduced the man beside him. “Let me introduce Thian Grand, my head bodyguard. I’ve chosen him to accompany Hollyn to speak with Yumia, the sea witch of Kalapua. He’ll protect you all the way there and back.”
Kai’s tone was clipped as he said, “I am completely capable of escorting Hollyn. We don’t need to take your bodyguard away from his duties.”
Hollyn glanced at Kai and noted the redness of his tan face. She’d never seen him like this. Hollyn knew jealousy when she saw it. But he had nothing to be jealous about. Her mind was set on the mission, and nothing could turn her head away from Kai. She knew she didn’t want anyone else by her side as she faced her father.
Yet, it was Poseidon who said, “Hollyn will be in good hands. I need you here, son. It’s important that you know where you came from.”
Kai did not look convinced, so Hollyn whispered, “It’s okay. I’ll be okay. It’s probably just going to be a few days.”
He stared at her and then looked back at his father. Would he be able to let this go?
“Fine! But if she’s not back in a few days, I’m going after her.”
“Of course! I’ll take you there myself.”
In that moment, a guard rushed in and spoke in a low, urgent tone directly to Poseidon.
The god of the sea looked around at the gathered people, and said, “Thian, get Hollyn to Yumia. Kai, come with me. There’s been an attack.”
Before she could protest, Thian took her elbow and began leading her away. She turned her head and met Kai’s gaze as the distance grew between them. His stern look softened for just a moment and he gave her a nod. She was sure he meant it as reassurance, but all she could think was that she didn’t want this to be the last time she ever saw him.
2
Kai finally looked away from Hollyn and the newly introduced douchebag Thian. Kai didn’t trust the guy at all, especially not with Hollyn’s safety. But he had to let her go. She needed to find a way to control her magic. It was the only way she was likely going to defeat Grigori, her warlock father. That meant she would need the expertise of another magic wielder. Kai just hoped he could trust his new-found family. They all seemed a little shifty.
Even now, as they swam toward an attack, Kai’s biological father, Poseidon, kept looking back as if he needed to make sure Kai followed. Even stranger, as they crested an underwater mountain formation, Kai saw his biological mother, Uma, standing next to the crumbling remains of an underwater cavelike structure. As they drew closer, he could see the distress on her face.
She called out to them as they approached, “Whoever did this is no longer here, but they destroyed the entire warehouse.”
Kai stopped swimming and entered the small bubble of air surrounding the warehouse that had once simply looked like an underwater cave.
He looked around before he asked, “This was a warehouse? What did it hold?”
His mother smiled at him, a sad, sweet smile that reminded him how little he knew of the underwater world to which he was born. He still couldn’t believe that this was where he was from. He’d grown up on the land with two, loving adoptive parents, Michael and Tessa Iona, but now, he was trying to connect with a world in which he didn’t feel like he belonged.
“I forget that everything is new to you down here.” She swept her hand toward the jumble of rocks that blocked any way inside the structure. “We kept food supplies here, but from the looks of things, whoever attacked took all the contents and destroyed the warehouse.”
