Page 19 of Siren's Kiss & Feral Beasts
Used my grandmother’s magic.
And yet you still find that brutal beast handsome?
Can’t deny it, either. Have for a while now.
Much longer than anyone, even my best friend, knows.
I’m intrigued by the animal—want more of a man I’ve been taught to hate—even if all it can ever be is a one-time encounter. Because there’s something delicious about the forbidden, and Kai Daire is just that.
Taboo. Deadly. Beautiful.
To want him is treason. To crave his touch is a curse.
And yet you want a taste.
That wolf is an enemy to the merpeople’s crown: a direct descendant of the man who stole my grandmother’s magic and Cordis Lux stone, leaving her with a broken promise and vulnerable to attacks, something I could never forgive.
She’s in danger because of Ephraim Daire.
I can’t forget that.
My nose twitches then; a sharp note rides the cool breeze, pulling me from my thoughts.
Without consent, my steps slow as I pass a small inn, its faded wood and bougainvillea-framed windows catching the sunlight. The vines are lush and the flowers bright while a new scent curls around me…
Guaiac wood, smoky and deep, wrapped within the sweetness of pineapple. There’s also something deeper beneath it. Darker. The faint, almost whisper of leather, feels like a vine shackling me to the present.
My chest tightens.
It’s familiar yet strange, like a memory I didn’t know I had.
My fangs ache. My body thrums with renewed excitement.
Gods help me, I want more of that scent.
“I need to find it.”
7
KAI
THE GODS NEVER FORGET…
My boots are heavy as they strike the damp dock, the sharp sound cracking through the hectic, late afternoon noise of Port Avaria. The wood vibrates beneath my weight, each step louder than the last as those around me stop and give a respectful nod of acknowledgement.
This territory is under my control. Protection.
Men part without being told, while the few women offering a warm welcome to sailors pause mid-step. Yet it’s the following bout of silence that almost pulls a smile from my face.Almost.
I’m too restless. Have been for the last few days.
That fucking scent.
It haunts me. Can almost taste it in the air at every turn.
Need to find the owner. The stone will tell me.
Eyes track my movement, and I can feel it—the shift in the air as I make my way to the end of the pier. Behind me, large ships unload merchandise while others pick up deckhands to help transport goods. I don’t involve myself with their affairs; they pay for my protection, and I keep it transactional unless someone is greedy enough to involve vampires.
