Page 61 of Siren's Treasure

“It is not as you think,” she cried. “Undine lived!” She lifted the coin that bore the likeness of his sister with the proud tilt of her chin forever etched in gold. “She became sylph, the ancestress of his people. He holds the blood of our people too.”

Poseidon let out a primal growl and, moving around his daughter, whipped his triton around so that its point was directed at Raggon’s heart. His stomach tightened. Once again, he faced death. The mermaid hair caught at his neck, burning into him as it had before, though this time filling him with sweet-whispered enticements, promises that would destroy him:“Son of a king… come with us to the depths of the sea, feel the love of our embrace where no man need air any longer. Drown! Drown! Drown!”

“Father!” Thessa rushed forward, even as he resisted the lull until it whispered its acceptance:“He is Undine’s… Undine’s…”

The triton hesitated at Raggon’s neck then lowered. A strange phosphorescent glow gathered in the powerful sea being’s eyes. “Heisher descendant,” he breathed.

“As I told you!” Thessa ran between them, breathing heavily with lungs that surely her father could not miss. “You will not hurt him!”

Poseidon’s stern features softened on his daughter. Thessa bit at her lower lip. He spiked his triton into the sands, for the moment, sparing his life. “—I suppose you could do worse than a prince,” he muttered, “even one who spends his days turning perfectly good ships into driftwood.”

Had their love truly been sanctioned by this fierce man? Raggon could scarce believe it—he was barely recovering from his first death, even after facing the second attempt at his life.Thessa threw her arms around her father’s waist, though her hands couldn’t quite reach around his massive form. “Thank you, father!”

“For what?” his grumbled cry turned hoarse in the face of his girl. “You will do as you please with or without my blessing, daughter… but…” he gathered her in his powerful embrace, “you can be sure that I will rise up in anger against any who dare break your heart.” The whisper against her hair carried to Raggon in a decree that was less than subtle. “Are you to really waste your days on healing these humans with the powers of your voice?”

“Yes, Father! To heal is all I’ve ever wanted.”

He squeezed her closer. “Ah, my little dancing flame. I will never doubt the goodness of your heart again!”

Thessa’s tears glistened against her cheeks, each droplet reflecting the celestial glow above. Poseidon laughed, a sound like waves crashing against cathedral caves, when he saw them. “Tears? Ah, you are human indeed.” With a weathered hand, he quickly banished the luminescence shimmering at the corners of his own eyes.

He slanted a glare at Raggon, who suddenly felt every speck of sand and salt clinging to his filthy body. “Shadow of the Tide! For the love of the deeps, strive to be worthy as my girl’s consort!”

Raggon was quick to discover his meaning as luxurious fabric materialized over his skin—a black shirt appearing as if woven from the night itself, followed by an elegant brocade coat with gleaming satin trim and decorative silver clasps. Since the wild days of his banishment, he’d never looked—or smelled—so much like a prince. What was that smell? Sea lavender? Yeah… that was reserved only for Thessa.

Glancing up from these unusual duds, he stiffened under Poseidon’s glare. The Ruler of the Seas had grown into aformidable giant, his white hair gleaming under the moon. “I deem you man and wife! Now put on your crown and reclaim your castle for my daughter or I’ll make the seas so rough you’ll heave your guts over the gunwale every time you dare set your vessel upon my domain.”

Raggon couldn’t help his own answering laugh this time, even if it was tinged with wariness and astonishment.Man and wife?He’d promise anything if it meant taking Thessa home with him. “Aye, aye, sire.”

Poseidon let out an aggravated sigh and turned back to his daughter. His massive hand gently passed over her bedraggled appearance. The ripped, oversized shirt and damp robe transformed in a shimmer of seafoam, replaced by a flowing gown the color of the waters at sunset. Raggon’s breath caught in his throat. She was stunning—stunning like the first rays of dawn breaking over wild, uncharted isles. The golden fabric caught every stir of the breeze and danced with the same natural grace that had followed her from the waves.

Her father patted her smooth cheek affectionately, just as the deafening boom of cannon fire split the air, the sound rolling across the water like the wrath of ancient gods.

The earth erupted in a violent spray of sand and coral only twenty paces away. Raggon moved instinctively for Thessa to shield her from stinging sand.

Poseidon whipped around in the water, fixing his glare on the sleek warship with blood red sails that prowled along the horizon, black smoke curling from its cannons like malevolent fingers.

“Circe,” he growled low under his voice. “I’ll banish her to the Isles of Shadows, the farthest parts of the abyss. She won’t dare travel my waters again.” His stern countenance broke into a grin when he turned back to them. “My illness has rendered me useless for far too long—I’m ready for some fun…”

Thessa’s answering smile showed their family resemblance. Now Raggon could see why she adored her father. With a gesture of his trident, the sea rose up around him in a spiraling column, his ancient luminance fracturing through the water into a thousand rainbow prisms before collapsing back with a thunderous crash.

Poseidon had returned to the seas to take care of unfinished business.

“Thessa!” A willowy arm waved from the water, followed by the face of an ethereal beauty. Moonlight caught the scattered pearls woven through the mermaid’s raven tresses. “Sister! You’ve caught yourself a dashing human prince, have you?”

“Nephele!” Thessa cried out, rushing for the waves. “He was the one to catch me… in his ship’s net!”

“Hmmph!” Her sister arced backward with a playful splash. “That’s what we all say!”

Behind them, the sea around Circe’s ship suddenly darkened to an inky black. A massive whirlpool formed, dragging the vessel downward while Poseidon’s voice thundered across the waters in a sound that screeched through Raggon’s ears.

The ship spun faster and faster until it was swallowed completely by the churning darkness—banished to the Isles of Shadows in the deepest abyss.

The mermaids barely glanced at the spectacle, their expressions unchanged as the horizon cleared, all while his heart beat an uneven staccato. No wonder Circe and Scylla had waited for Poseidon’s illness to make their move. Such displays of their father’s power were as commonplace to his daughters as changing tides. He swallowed to ease the dryness in his throat.

“Well…” Nephele drifted languidly in the gentle swells, twirling a strand of her dark hair with a shrug. “I expect an invite to the castle… and a tiara to match!” Not waiting for an answer, Nephele’s tail flicked jeweled droplets into the air as shedisappeared. Around her, half a dozen other mermaid sisters appeared just long enough to wave their farewell before slipping beneath the waves, leaving only ripples and echoing laughter behind.

“Shiver me bones! Fish folk gone!” Sterling squawked, flapping frantically past Raggon’s head in a blur of scattered feathers.

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