Page 180 of Storm and Sea

The corners of Nephi’s eyes burned as he glared down at his victim. “Yes,” he answered, “I killed him.”

“Then do it,” Leo said, his tone resigned. He didn’t struggle, didn’t try to push Nephi away. He surrendered. “I know it’s what you’ve wanted. I saw it in your eyes from the moment we met on this beach. Do it.”

Desire and necessity collided in a chaotic dance, tearing Nephi apart. The reality for what he needed gnawed at his insides, while the yearning for what he wanted cut and tore like a hook embedded in his heart.

He couldn’t breathe.

One swipe of his claws. And it would be over. Leo’s pulse throbbed against his grip, steady and strong, pressing into Nephi’s palm like a silent demand. It wasn’t begging for mercy, only acknowledgment—that this life, this moment, wasn’t entirely meaningless.

Leo wasn’t asking to be spared.

Only acknowledged.

That his life, however short, held even the smallest shred of worth.

Nephi was unraveling at the seams, lost in the agonizing conflict of his own making. Delicate fingers slid around his wrist, not pulling but guiding.

“Do it.”

Nephi growled, yanking Leo upright, his talons digging into the skin deep enough to draw blood.

“I hate you,” he hissed. “I hate you for reminding me of him. I hate you for not being him. I⁠—”

Nephi seized Leo’s face and crashed their mouths together. It was hard, brutal, all take and no give. Only now did Leo’s hands press against his shoulders, but the fight was weak, barely a resistance at all.

Nephi pulled him in by the neck, deepening the kiss. The human gasped into his mouth, and Nephi took it all. Leo’s bottom lip slipped between his—soft, full—just as he’d imagined.

Nephi kissed him

And kissed him,

And Spirits he couldn’t stop.

He pressed his mouth against Leo’s in a frantic, desperate clash of lips and teeth. And in that moment, Nephi didn’t know who he wished this human to be.

A fang caught Leo’s lip, pricking the tender skin and drawing a whimper that sent white flames racing down Nephi’s spine. The taste of blood followed, sweet and intoxicating, making him lose what little control he had left. Leo’s hand slid into the fins atop Nephi’s head, and he couldn’t suppress the deep rumbling that tore from his throat. Then another hand moved upward, brushing against the melted scales and ruined flesh on his chest.

Nephi flinched as flashes of orange seared through his mind. He shoved Leo to the sand hard enough to send the human sprawling. Panting, Nephi wiped his mouth, swallowing the blood on his tongue.

Leo touched his lip, his fingertips coming away red. His voice was unsteady, almost hysterical. “Is that it, then?”

Nephi stumbled into the surf, his breath ragged, his mind spinning. He had to get away.

“Nephi!” Leo shouted after him, standing now, fists clenched and blood trailing down his chin. “Will you come back?”

“No,” Nephi rasped.

Without another word, he dove into the water, the taste of Leo’s blood and the memory of his mouth etched into him like a scar.

He wouldn’t return to Baia Vita. And he would never see the ghost of Ludo ever again.

It shouldn’t have been that easy. It shouldn’t have felt so seamless. Yet it was as if Baia Vita had been waiting for them—for the Mer—welcoming them like an old friend with open arms.

The island breathed.

It thrummed with life, and Atreus felt its heartbeat through the soles of his bare feet as he walked the cobblestone streets. Differences melted away, dismissed as effortlessly as if they were no more significant than a preference for one color over another.

It was more than he ever imagined.