Haunted by Pride Read online

  The soft slap of bare feet on hardwood, much louder than the silent glide of the sirens, brought my head up and I met a pair of mismatched fae eyes.

  Delu was leading my mage by a fucking gem-covered leash. His usual short beard had been shaved, making him look younger and more vulnerable. It also highlighted the old scar that stretched across one side of his face. He was shirtless and barefoot, wearing the same sort of gauzy fabric the women wore, the thin white material wrapped around his waist and between his legs to form some kind of long shorts.

  He was sporting the last remnants of a healing black eye, and I thought he might have the slight yellow of old bruises shadowing the miles of thick muscle along his ribs. I narrowed my eyes.

  "What did you do to him?" I growled, pushing to my feet.

  The queen glanced at Halstad, then at me in confusion. "He's been working on reinforcing the wards around the island. We've done nothing to harm him."

  I paced to Halstad and looked down at him. "Who the fuck hit you?"

  One purple eye and one gold eye glared up at me. Not like I expected him to be gushing with joy, but still. That glare made me think maybe I was wrong, maybe he did leave of his own free will. He crossed his arms over his chest, flexing everything. Angry magic buzzed between us like it was about to arc.

  "Nice to see you too, asshole," I muttered. "Who did this?" I gestured at the rim of yellowish black around his purple eye.

  He gave me a look that I couldn't decipher. He looked pissed off, impatient, and like he was talking to an idiot all at once.

  I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? For fuck's sake." I turned back to the queen. "Can you let him answer my damned question?"

  She heaved a sigh. "Slave. You may speak to the gryphon."

  Halstad's lips pressed into a thin line. I met his eyes. Yeah, I was right there with him. But we couldn't kill a siren and start a war. Unfortunately.

  "The mage guild did that when they fucking jumped me and stuffed me in my own damned car," he growled. Boy how I had missed that angry, gravelly voice.

  I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. He hadn't run away from me. He'd been kidnapped. Some small, scared part of me had been afraid that wasn't the case.

  "Why the fuck would the mage guild steal their own mage?"

  He arched a thick brow at me but didn't answer.

  I heaved a sigh. Right. Priorities.

  "What do I have to do to get his contract transferred to me?" I said, turning back to the queen of the fucking sirens.

  She smirked. "It really was quite expensive."

  I growled. I didn't want to start an interspecies incident. But I would.

  "There has to be some way we can come to an agreement," Kai said smoothly, preventing me from committing murder. "Gesa and her pride are quite powerful. Think of the connections you could make. The allies, resources."

  Amaka turned to study Kai. "You are one of us," she said softly. "One of the originals."

  Kai nodded, a smirk crossing her lush mouth. "Perhaps." She gestured to each of us, one by one. "Gesa leads the gryphon clan in the states. The fae is a king in his own right. The fox is a powerful nine-tail, the gem of the Miyamoto clan. Even the so-called human has connections to the witches. Think of how grateful we'd all be if you did us this one little favor."

  I didn't like the idea of being indebted to this lot. But if that's what it took to get Halstad back home.

  "Actually," the siren said, as if she had just thought of something wonderful. I wasn't buying it. Whatever it was, she'd thought of it the minute we asked for Halstad back. "He's almost done with the wards. And there is a bit of a favor you could do for us right now. The sirens of this island would be most grateful."

  Chapter 12

  "They want us to what?" I demanded, my heart thundering in my chest. I wanted Halstad back, sure. But fuck.

  Kai lifted one shoulder in a graceful half-shrug, her long black waves rippling around her in a cloud of inky silk. "It could be worse," she said carelessly as she riffled the wet bar in our borrowed room.

  I gritted my teeth and tried to keep from shouting at her. "It could be worse?"

  She came up with a bottle of rum and proceeded to drink it straight from the bottle, not even making a face as the reeking spirit permeated the air. "They are sirens, Gesa. To them it's…practical, I suppose."

  The sirens had insisted on using Kai as a mediator, since she was a fellow sea creature. I hadn't been privy to the actual words that were said, but I trusted Kai and I believed what she was telling me. What I didn't believe was the absolute fucking gall of the cold fish bitches who were currently holding my mage hostage.

  I hadn't seen Halstad at all since we arrived yesterday. The head bitch insisted he was far too busy finishing the wards and entertaining. They were using a trained battle mage like a damned pet monkey. And in order to get him out of his contract early, they wanted us to help them get rid of a bunch of siren-crosses that they deemed unfit and impure.

  "It's a simple thing, really," Kai said calmly. "There's only about half a dozen of them. And they're all pretty young. I can just carry them out to sea and eat them. It's all very ‘primordial sacrifice.’"

  I gaped at her. "Eat them?"

  Oisin lounged in one of the cloud-like chairs, looking like a king, all regal and bored. "Oh, calm down, gryphon. Kaimana is a kraken. It's hardly like it would be the first time she ate someone."

  I glared at him. Kai lifted her bottle in a toast and took a swig. "Probably won't be the last time either."

  I turned to Hisashi. "Tell me I am not the only sane one in this room."

  He looked a little pale. Which was saying something, since he was an albino. "They're just teasing you, Gesa. I think." He didn't look too sure.

  Kai waved a graceful hand. "I'll make the poor things disappear. You can claim all the credit for making their embarrassing little problem go away without them having to dispose of bodies. They'll give you your mage. Problem solved."

  I flopped down in the chair next to Kai and swiped her bottle, grimacing at the overly sweet burn of coconut rum down my esophagus. Yep, alcohol was still a bad idea. The nausea was a bit better since I got my feet on dry land, but it still wasn't gone. "What are you really going to do?"

  Kai turned and rummaged around in the bar again, coming up with a bottle of dark Jamaican rum this time. "I'll figure it out when I get there."

  I growled. "That isn't a plan. That's…." I waved my hand. "That's just winging it!"

  She shrugged again and passed her bottle to Oisin, who obligingly toasted her and took a swig. "Gryphon. This deliciously voluptuous and deviant creature is older than all your ancestors combined. I'm sure she can handle some ad-lib."

  I crossed my arms and scowled at them both. Hisashi produced a jug of sacred sake from somewhere and held it out to me with a wry, resigned smile.

  I gave the fox a look and shoved the jug away. "I'm not that desperate." That shit would fuck a person up real fast. Even a supernatural.

  I watched the fox chug it like water. Shit, my pride was a bunch of amoral alcoholics.

  Kai put a hand on my knee and squeezed. "Seriously, Gesa. They want these people off their island in any way necessary. The sirens would prefer the outcasts be wiped out of existence. They're failed crosses. To the sirens, they are something to be ashamed of. Children with siren blood who can't even enthrall people or swim the open ocean? Disgraceful. They are too weak to be sirens, and too strong to be slaves. If we don't help them out by finding a way to get them off the island, the sirens will just kill them anyway. And then you won't get your mage." She shrugged. “They are only making us do this because they know we’re squeamish. They want to get a rise out of you.”

  I worried my bottom lip between my teeth as I fumed. "I won't kill a bunch of people to get Halstad back. He's important to me, but that's just wrong."

  Kai rolled her eyes. "I won't kill them, Gesa. I promise. But you need to pretend you don't know that. Act
like the big bad predator the sirens think you are. Trust me to make this work."

  I heaved a colossal sigh. This was stupid as fuck. But I really wanted off this damned island, and I didn't see any other way to leave with Halstad in our possession, other than to appease the sirens.

  "We need to be on the beach in an hour," Oisin said, standing and stretching. "For the sacrifice." He ran a hand through his tumbled red hair, which had grown out with fae speed, so it floated about his shoulder blades. "I could think of a few ways to kill time."

  I rolled my eyes. "Walking cock," I muttered under my breath.

  He held a hand to his chest as if I'd offended his honor. "Whatever do you mean, gryphon? I was simply going to suggest we go look for seashells until it's time to sacrifice the undesirable siren spawn."

  I snorted. Yeah right.

  Hisashi slipped an arm around Oisin's waist and whispered something into his pointed ear that made the fae grin with wicked delight.

  Con shook his head from where he sat on the bed. "Don't encourage him, Hisashi."

  Kai ignored them all and stood, coming to sit on my lap with her alcohol. "We could go for a swim."

  I wrapped my arms around her out of habit, even if she had just admitted to eating people. I couldn't help it; I loved the ancient terror. She leaned into me, all lush curves, her smooth skin flushed with the temporary buzz of the alcohol she'd been chugging. "You better keep me occupied so I don't go on a killing spree early," she said with a grin, moving to trail rum-scented kisses up my neck.

  Fuck me. I was surrounded by degenerates.

  An hour later, I stumbled out of the house and onto the path that led to a secluded part of the beach where the honored sacrifice to the sea god, Poseidon was to take place. My legs felt like jelly, and I really just wanted to sleep off the haze of debauchery currently fogging up my brain.

  Fucking pride. Assholes, all of them.

  I should have been too wound up to let them drag me into bed. Or onto the floor. Or into the shower.

  Shows how strong I am. It only took one small fae, a kraken, a hedge witch, and a fox to utterly corrupt my brain.

  The sun was just rising as we made our way onto the pristine stretch of white sand beach. The sirens had already gathered, lounging on beach chairs and blankets, looking as cold and as perfect as always.

  In the center of the beach, six young crossbreeds knelt, scantily draped in gauzy white fabric and surrounded by a ring of pillar candles that somehow stayed lit even in the stiff breeze coming off the ocean. The poor kids were barely into adulthood. A couple of them looked scared. But mostly they just looked blank and resigned—as if they actually believed that shit the sirens were spouting about them being unfit to live.

  Halstad stood to the right of the self-proclaimed siren queen. I tried to catch his eyes, but he kept his gaze straight ahead, no emotion on his face, his entire body on lock-down as he stood at a tense parade rest. I thought I saw his fingers twitch a few times, as if he was itching to have his belt of vials and charms right about now.

  The queen of the sirens launched into a short spiel about what an honor it was to be chosen as a sacrifice for Poseidon and how the sheep about to be slaughtered should be thankful for the opportunity to die for their people.

  I had to clench my fists so tight I scored bloody lines into my palms with my own fingernails to prevent myself from shifting and killing the bitch. And I thought my clan was backward and medieval.

  When the siren finally shut her trap, Kai stepped forward, dropping her gauzy dress on the sand and wading into the water. She dove beneath the waves and swam away to deeper water to shift.

  The sirens stepped back and watched in awe as the massive purple tentacles with their pink suckers boiled up out of the water. The kraken's head and body rose out of the water as she neared shore, reaching for the poor sacrificial trash the sirens had cast out.

  The sirens watched Kai's beast form with cold calculation behind all their awed gasps. They showed no remorse for the pending loss of life, only fascination with the sight of one of their mythical brethren.

  Two of the crossbreeds broke and ran for the trees, but Kai's tentacles whipped out faster than the eye could follow, snatching them up to haul them, kicking and screaming, toward her body. The others sat motionless on the sand, some sobbing, some staring blankly at their impending death.

  Kai scooped them all up, and I watched with bile in my throat and tears in my eyes as she disappeared beneath the waves.

  Silence descended for all of a minute before the queen turned to me with a sharp-toothed smile. "Well, that was certainly more efficient than what we had planned. Your kraken is quite an asset."

  I couldn't muster a smile. "She certainly is. Now I believe you owe me a mage and some transference papers."

  I snatched the papers from the servant the woman motioned forward and turned to Halstad. He was still staring out over the water, his jaw clenched so hard I was afraid his teeth would break. His cheek flexed with suppressed emotion. He hadn't been there to hear Kai's promises. He thought we'd just murdered those people to get his papers.

  Well, I couldn’t explain it to him with our current audience. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Yo. Earth to mage. Move your ass." I gestured down the beach toward the path that led to the docks. "We are leaving. Now."

  He finally looked at me, and the expression in those mismatched eyes made my heart lurch. Pure hatred poured out of that glare. "Of course, master."

  I rolled my eyes. He was going to be so pissed when he was let in on the heist.

  Of course, that was assuming Kai hadn't just lied to me to spare my feelings and keep my soft-hearted self from making a stupid decision to avoid killing people…. Gods, I hoped those kids were still alive. Somehow.

  We all marched to the boat in silence. Orion was pacing on the deck when we arrived. "All set?" he asked immediately. Then he frowned. "Where is your kraken?"

  I waved out at the water. "Swimming. She'll meet up with us. Get us the fuck out of here, incubus."

  He sketched a curt bow and hurried away to the cabin, calling out soft, but urgent, orders to his men.

  I turned to Halstad. "I brought clothes and we managed to get you a replacement for your gear and those freaky-assed goggles you insist on wearing. There's a shower if you--"

  I stopped talking as the magehole shoved past me, slamming his solid shoulder into mine in passing. "Whatever."

  I snorted. "Oh, you're welcome. You know, for coming to get your ass. And for dealing with Derek fucking White and his favors again. I probably owe him my first-born child now. No biggie."

  The mage leveled a pair of gold and purple eyes at me. "I thought I knew you, gryphon. But now I wish I didn't."

  He stomped off below deck and I let out a sigh. Fuck him, let him stew.

  But still, that hurt. I would think he'd have more faith in me—in all of us—than to just dismiss us as heartless killers.

  "Gesa!" Oisin called to me as he leaned over the railing. The boat was slowly starting to move away from the dock, and we had a visitor.

  I stood beside Oisin and looked down at a turquoise-haired mermaid. She waved and then swam away, popping up to look back at us and gesture for us to follow.

  "I see her," Orion said from the pilothouse. "Let's go see what the kraken is up to."

  Chapter 13

  We followed the mermaid escort for several miles. I was beginning to worry, when a little blip of an island appeared on the horizon. Orion followed the mermaid's directions and took us around the other side of the island, hiding us from view of the sirens' land.

  I let out a gusty sigh of relief when I saw Kai's voluptuously naked, dark-haired form standing on the beach, guarding a group of confused young siren crosses. She waved to us as we approached.

  Since there was nowhere to dock, they had to swim to us. I laughed at the ridiculousness that was my life when Kai krakened out again and lifted our new passengers onto the boat with her t
entacles before pulling herself up and onto the deck.

  The young sirens knelt on the deck, dripping wet, eyes round as saucers. They were all attractive, in that one-parent-is-a-predator sort of way. But even the most defiant one in the bunch still had an air of deference. As if they weren't good enough to exist.

  I sighed. "Glad you all made it okay," I said as Con and Orion passed out fluffy towels.

  I turned to Kai. "How did you manage that? I thought they couldn't swim the open ocean?"

  She smirked. "Well, I won't say it was a fun ride for them, but I swam fast, kept them close, and came up long enough for them to get air when they needed it."

  One of the younger ones, a guy who was probably seventeen or eighteen years old, tops, looked up at Kai with wide turquoise eyes. "I thought I was gonna die."

  I laughed. "Kai has that effect on people."

  The kraken ruffled the kid's hair in passing, wrapping a towel around herself and heading below deck. She paused to look around. "Where's your mage, Gesa?"

  I shrugged. "Down below. Pouting. He thinks we're all murderers. I decided to let him stew. If you see him, tell him he can come fucking apologize whenever his balls grow back."

  She snorted and went below to find clothes.

  I watched as Hisashi rounded up the siren-rejects, cracking jokes and herding them all toward the seating area where Orion and Con were handing out food. It was weird to see how good the fox was with kids. But then, he was almost a kid himself.

  I frowned. Gods. Fuck my life.

  Oisin popped up at my elbow, scaring the living fuck out of me, and I slapped at him. "Fucking make noise like a normal person!"

  He grinned. "Where's the fun in that. I have to keep my hunting skills sharp." He watched me watch the others. "Why are you scowling at Hisashi like that? Still mad he has nine tails and only two penises?"

  I huffed. "What are we going to do with all these sirens?" I said, deflecting his questions.