The Sea Queen (The Dark Queens Book 1) Read online

  “I have nothing but the highest respect for you, dear hippocampus. Your people have always been good to mine. I hope we can remain cordial during my stay here.”

  “Incarceration,” I was quick to correct, noting that his honeyed words had turned my mule of a companion into a puddle of goo.

  She now wore a sleepy-eyed, dreamy look. Zeus had once lain with a swan, so it wasn’t hard for me to believe there could be some hippocampus-and-Death Boy love a-brewin’.

  “My ass,” I snipped and slapped my palm to his rock-hard cheek—the one down there—and squeezed.

  Hades rose on his toes, glowered at me, and then swatted at my hand. “My ass. Where is my room, Calypso?”

  “Fine.” I flicked my fingers, sending him away and locking him in my room.

  It was the most comfortable room in the temple anyway. With the biggest bed and the softest bedding. He’d quite appreciate it, I was certain.

  Linx turned on me immediately, neighing in the soft, wuffly kind of way she did when she was confused.

  “Hades has probably killed Persephone or done something to her body. The pantheon has sentenced him to purgatory of a sort.” I lifted my hand. “I offered to keep him safe until they finished their inquiry into her disappearance.”

  To be honest, I wasn’t quite certain Hades hadn’t done it. Even I knew of the animosity between him and ‘Sephone.

  Did he do it?

  I shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Then why did you bring him here? I thought you were simply supposed to fix our dead problem.

  Giving her wide eyes, I thinned my lips. “I did fix our dead problem, Linx. I opened the gates.”

  She frowned prettily, causing her scales to glimmer like dusted emeralds in flame. I ask you again, Calypso, why is he here? You did not need to bring him to fix our problem.

  At the time, it’d seemed like the thing to do. Especially with Dite whispering in my ear. Not to mention my sudden interest in intercourse and my fascination with Hades’ broad shoulders and delicious rear.

  “I want him. That is why.”

  You were pawing at him.

  “I was claiming him. There’s a difference.” I sniffed.

  I don’t want him. She shook her head.

  And I could only lift a brow, because it hadn’t looked that way to me. “Well, I’m merely making sure he understands how things are going to work between us during his stay. He is my prisoner. I will sex him and then return him when his two weeks are up. I really do not see what the problem is here.”

  Linx’s velvety nostrils flexed, and I could tell, after a lifetime together, that she had more to say but wasn’t quite sure how to say it.

  “Just tell me,” I snapped, crossing my arms and beginning to get cross with her.

  Only that I’m not sure that is the best way to engage his affections, Dear One.

  “Oh,” I laughed and batted a wrist, “is that all? I don’t want his love, I just want his body.”

  Her frown grew deep. Maybe you should go visit Nimue this evening. Speak to her about this situation and see what she has to say.

  Hm. Not a bad thought at all. Nimue was wise in the arts of men. I hadn’t really thought to involve her in any of this, but now it seemed like a good idea.

  “Yes, that is just what I shall do. But first, I’ll eat a bite of lunch.”

  Nodding happily, Linx swam off to her stables, while I turned toward the kitchens in search of a quick bite.

  I was just hugging a bowl of crab apples under my arm to go sit and eat them (I’d “borrowed” a few from Hades’ orchard) when the water before me swirled a tinted pink color that sparkled with veins of glittering gold.

  Knowing immediately who was reaching out to me, I took a bite of one crabby apple and blurted, “Proceed.”

  The water formed into the image of Dite. She was much prettier down here than in the Above. Her curves were no longer built of flesh but of water, and she shone like a pale-blue beacon.

  The temple suddenly buzzed with life as glowworms crawled from out of their hiding holes to come and witness the rarely seen spectacle.

  Aphrodite smiled, and I couldn’t help but return it.

  “What?” I asked around a mouthful. I wanted to visit with Nimue as soon as could be, and as much as I enjoyed Love’s company, I had places to be.

  “How goes the seduction, Caly?”

  I shrugged. “Is that all you think about?”

  Giving me wide eyes that clearly read “What do you think?” she nodded. “Of course.”

  “Fabulous.” I swallowed my bite of apple, took another, swallowed that one too, and then grinned. “He sports quite an erection when around me. I think I should have my wicked way with him this evening.”

  She giggled, and I frowned.

  “Oh, this should be fun, I’ve been waiting for the day that Hades was forced to yank the stick out of his ass.”

  I wasn’t entirely sure what that had to do with me, but I said, “Mmhmm.” Then, quickly switching subjects, I asked, “Any news regarding Persephone?”

  “None yet.” She shook her head. “It is like she and Cerberus vanished from the face of the earth. Apollo is scouring the grounds of Elysia as we speak. After that, he’ll head into the Above while he still dominates the skies of Olympia.”

  “Hm, well, let us know.”

  “Will do.” She seemed as though she meant to vanish, but with a small shake of her head, the Goddess of Love turned back to me. “Calypso, I’m well versed in matters of the heart. You should know that while Hades appears coarse and even at times cruel, he is lonely. More lonely than any one of us. Treat him kindly.”

  I’d had no intention of not treating him kindly. “I would think having sex every night would be a boon and not punishment, Dite.”

  “He is a man, darling. But that is not of what I speak. Be yourself with him. Do no other, beneath the hard exterior beats the heart of a man. Remember that.”

  That literally made no sense to me. But I nodded anyway.

  “May I come and visit again?” she asked.

  “Of course. But no other, I find the lot of you Olympians to be thoroughly disreputable.”

  Her tinkling laughter rolled through the waters, casting a dizzying spell on all that heard it.

  With a gentle pop, Aphrodite vanished.

  Smiling from ear to ear at this point, I downed three more apples, washed them down with a jar of honeyed mead, and drew a hand down my body., twisting my form yet again into the one Nimue was now familiar with, that of a scullery maiden who also happened to be one of Nim’s very best friends.

  Humming happily to myself, I made a mental note to ask Nim which position men liked best before our visit ended.

  Chapter 4

  Hades

  I dropped my head into my hands. Here I was, sitting on the tongue of a massive clam, alone in a room that smelled heavily of flowery perfume and dripped with chains of pearls and prisms of radiant crystals that cut through walls of coral, and I wondered all over again if it’d been worth it.

  I was used to the disdain of my family. Used to the side-eye glances and even, at times, disdainful looks.

  I was Death.

  I dealt in it.

  Lived among it.

  It was not a life I’d chosen for myself, but it was one I’d grown to respect and appreciate through the turning of the centuries. But to be so easily discarded, to be told that I could not return to my own realm, my people, made me seethe. Made me murderous.

  I clenched my fists, breathing heavily.

  I was a god, yes, but one against many. Alone, even I didn’t stand a chance. My touch could not kill any of them. Hurt them, yes, if I choose it. With Cerberus by my side, I might have at least stood a chance of defending my gates, but with him gone, I’d known I’d had little choice but to submit.

  The indignity of it infuriated me most.

  Suddenly the pressure of the room tightened, as though the water were being suctioned up by
a vacuum. I glanced up in time to see the waters spiral pink and then shimmer with gold.

  Aphrodite stood before me as a pillar of water, her curves more luscious and sensuous than ever. The undulation of water had always held a strange fascination for me.

  “What?” I snapped the instant she’d finished forming.

  Planting hands on her hips, she gave me a kittenish pout. “Now, Death, is that any way to speak with a friend?”

  “Why are you meddling here?” I asked, in no mood to play nice.

  She rolled her eyes. “I should think it obvious. The two of you are snapping and sparking like a wildfire burning out of control.”

  I narrowed my eyes.

  A gentle current swayed through the tips of her hair, causing them to swirl like charmed snakes around her face.

  “And you just can’t help yourself. Well, Love, I can assure you that the very last thought on my mind is engaging with Calypso. I have bigger problems.”

  She scoffed. “You’re an idiot, Hades. Of course, I always thought you were. You had Persephone. You lost Persephone.” She flicked a wrist. “You are lonely by your own doing.”

  She had no idea what she was talking about. I’d never wanted or asked for the other Olympians’ friendship. They could go burn in Tartarus for all I cared.

  Huffing, she crossed her arms in much the same pose Calypso had taken earlier, but somehow, it failed to make much of an impression on me.

  “She is smitten with you.”

  “She is a virgin goddess. I hardly think—”

  She snorted. “A problem she seeks to rectify immediately, I’d imagine. Look, Death.” She curled her lip. “I recognize lust when I see it, and that woman plans to make you scream her name.”

  Chuckling because the thought actually made me not so angry at all, I leaned back on my hands in a relaxed pose. “I’d not kick her out of my bed.”

  Her eyes darted around the lush room. “Her bed. And you might find her to be a bit of a spitfire.”

  “I know this.”

  I vividly remembered the clawing at the back of my head with that kiss. Gods, that kiss. I almost groaned thinking about the salty, sweet taste of her tongue. The absolute power of her. She’d barely even given me a taste of it, she’d held so much of herself in check, but I’d be a liar if I said I hadn’t craved much more than a sampling.

  My groin tightened, but then I thought about the teases that Athena and Artemis were. How they made sport of making us sweat, making us males believe they’d be virgin goddesses no more, only to then turn around and mock and laugh at us for thinking we’d ever be good enough for either of them.

  I glowered. “She’s a cock tease and nothing more.”

  Her lips curled into a crooked smile, and her eyes twinkled like cut gems. “Whatever you say, Hades.”

  “Why are you here, Aphrodite? Answer me once and for all.” I grew tired of her silly games and only wished my rest.

  This day had been hell, and the next two weeks would only be worse. I knew they’d not find Persephone. All fingers would come pointing back at me, and a thousand years of torment was what awaited me.

  I was tired and in a foul mood.

  “Because I like her. And enthusiastic as she is, I do not think she quite knows what she’s doing. When the rest of us took bodies, Calypso stayed in her primordial form, remaining so for almost her entire life. She knows little of how to be human,” she finger quoted. “She is ancient, but in many ways she is naught more than a young woman—a young woman suddenly aware of her sexuality and her desire for relations. Be patient with her.”

  I frowned. I was very aware of her dichotomous nature, both the power that nestled inside her tempting body and the woman that spouted such nonsense I couldn’t help but laugh in confusion.

  She was both old and young. Her words were ridiculous. But her touch burned me to my very core. I’d not been touched the way she’d touched me in many lifetimes.

  Blood rushed between my thighs at the thought of laying her down beneath me and filling her body with my heat and need.

  I clenched my jaw. “In two weeks, I leave. I don’t know what you expect me to do for her. If she does truly wish to shed her virginity, then perhaps she should consider one of the other gods.”

  But the thought of any of them—Zeus, Apollo, or even Poseidon (who’d once been her betrothed)—made me want to throttle them all and toss them into the River Styx.

  Betrothal meant nothing to my kind. Zeus was married to Hera and still found time to sire at least a thousand bastards a year. Poseidon was rumored to be sleeping around with a bevy of selkies, and Apollo...well, he wasn’t much competition. Unless Calypso suddenly sprouted a one-eyed snake, the God of the Sun would hardly notice.

  Swiping my tongue across my lips, I still tasted a salty hint of her on them.

  I glanced up when I felt the heavy press of Aphrodite’s eyes. Her smile was broad.

  “Do you not know, God of the Underworld, that still waters run deep? The sea can bring life and redemption. Remember that.”

  “Yes, and it can also drown a man.” I thinned my lips.

  She chuckled. “She is a tempestuous beauty, to be sure. But no one ever said falling in love with the Sea came without its share of hardships.”

  “Falling in love,” I scoffed. “If she wishes to bed me, that I can accommodate, but nothing more.”

  She shrugged. “Your funeral. Anyway, beast, gotta jet. Hephy’s making me eyeball stew for dinner. Mm.” She rubbed her stomach, laughed, and disappeared in a glittering shower of gold dust.

  “Bloody women.”

  ~*~

  Calypso

  A hand grabbed my ass and squeezed.

  I squeaked, jumping nearly off my tail fin at the rough treatment to my now-throbbing backside. Twirling, I nearly snapped the human man’s hand off but then remembered I was in disguise.

  Grinding my teeth, I gave the male a waspish smile. I knew him well. He was a troll of a man. One of the maidens had brought him down to sire a child late last year, but still they’d made no fry yet.

  Jeffery, as he was called, was a short, round man with boring brown hair but pleasant-enough-colored eyes—a soft green, his most attractive feature to be sure—but he had the manners of a pig.

  He was always sneaking about Nim’s castle, harassing the staff.

  “Jeffery,” I snarled, “don’t ye belong back wi’ Merida? Last I checked, she were headin’ for home.”

  Jeffery, the scoundrel, smiled a pudgy-cheeked smile and shrugged. “She can do as she pleases.”

  He had a willing maiden and yet here he was, day in and day out. I hadn’t mentioned him to Nim yet, mainly because while he was a rat, the man was harmless. But now he was annoying me.

  I aimed to teach him manners and didn’t want my daughter-in-law involved in what would surely be a bloody affair. Bruce, I was sure, was quite hungry today, my poor little beastie.

  My head was full of visions of evisceration when the doors of the kitchen were flung open and a heavily pregnant Nimue waddled in.

  My heart was full to bursting to see her thus. I’d never dreamed that someday I’d actually become a grandmother. I’d felt the life pulse of the babes and knew something my Nim did not.

  She was having twins. One boy, one girl. One would only ever have human form, but the boy, the boy was a changeling. The first mer-male born since Sircco eons ago.

  Of course, I couldn’t tell her these things, as she had no idea who I really was, and then the peg would be up, as they say.

  Was it peg? Oh well, whatever.

  As she swiped at her long hair, Nimue’s eyes found mine immediately.

  “Janita!” She smiled serenely.

  The pregnancy had her fair skin glowing like porcelain. She’d already been lovely, and now I could only find her doubly so.

  “You are here. I’d hoped you worked a shift today.”

  I curtsied quickly. “Consort.”

  Her smile quic
kly vanished, however, when she spotted Jeffrey. A twitch of her eyebrow was enough to make the vermin scuttle off.

  My Nim was steely to the core. Human she might be, but pirate’s blood ran through her veins, and the power of the Sea was at her disposal. No man was fool enough to mess with her.

  Grabbing my hands, she gave them a quick squeeze once Rat Face had gone. “I’m famished, and I’d hoped to find you here.”

  Grinning, I turned and lifted a basket of food from the coral counter, dangling it happily before her.

  There were perks to being me, namely that with a mere thought, I could create a masterpiece of foods. None in the kitchens knew that my divine creations hadn’t truly been made by my hands. I was a master at remaining hidden when I wished to be.

  “I’ve made all your favorites, Consort. Mashed cod with parsley flakes. Steaming lobster bisque, and kelp drop biscuits.”

  “Mm.” She groaned, rubbing her massive belly. “I hope you brought some for yourself.”

  I chuckled. “I’ve already eaten, my lady.”

  “Well then.” She latched her arm through mine. “Come join me as I devour this sumptuous feast.”

  Glancing at the rest of the staff, she nodded her head.

  Every maiden within Seren had fallen prey to Nim’s charms. She simply had that effect on others. I was well pleased with my son’s chosen consort.

  In the hall, we passed Sircco. I glanced off, pretending to straighten an already straight picture frame on the wall.

  “Beluga,” Nim murmured his name softly but with a wealth of love behind it.

  I fought my grin. I thought that tonight, while I was drowning Apollo’s mansion in saltwater and extracting my revenge on Jeffery the rat, I might spare a moment to surprise my children with a little bauble. Nim was rather fond of my golden pearls.

  Sircco wrapped her in his arms, nuzzling the side of her neck, and I experienced a soft pang of longing.

  I wanted sex because of what they had.

  I wanted the intimacy of their shared words. The union of their souls. How they seemed to innately know the thoughts and wants of the other.

  “Are you to sup, then?” he asked her softly.

  She nodded, brushing at a curl of hair on his cheek. “Yes. Will I, um...see you later?”