Waking the Deep Read online

  “Would you kill for her?” Mansen asked. He wasn’t close with the shieldmaiden but he felt the need to test Jase’s loyalty.

  Jase glanced over to where Sheriff Holmes talked on the phone, before turning back to Mansen. “Without blinking,” he confirmed, expression as fierce as any warrior when it came to his claim.

  Good.

  “Then yes. Do this for me, and I will help you find your female.”

  Huran nodded in agreement, and the pact was made between the three of them.

  Mansen looked up to find Sheriff Holmes coming toward them, a look of concern on his weathered face.

  “We got trouble, boys. That was Miggs on the phone.”

  Doe was at Miggs’ store. Mansen felt dread pool in his gut. Shit. He shouldn’t have left her there.

  “She said there’s a stranger in town, not a tourist type, looking for someone. Doe heard them mention it and got scared. Said she panicked. Took out of there before they could talk her down.”

  “Where did she go?” Thunder cracked in the sky, underlining Mansen’s fury… and fear.

  “I don’t know, son.”

  But Mansen was already running toward the shop. He heard the sheriff get on his radio telling deputies to be on alert. With another boom, the skies opened to dump rain on the town. Wind whipped against him as he pounded down the streets, eyes sweeping for any sign of his mate.

  Please, please, he begged the gods.

  The sidewalks and alleys were packed with tourists racing to find cover from the rain. Street vendors were packing up their stations and rushing to save goods from the unexpected downpour. The townsquare was a tangle of chaos that seemed to mimic what Mansen felt inside.

  Can’t lose her. Can’t lose mine. He needed to find Doe, fast. She was his reason for living now. He’d known it the moment he spotted her in the water, he knew it the next morning watching her sleep, and he knew it when he walked away, leaving her at Miggs’.

  No one was taking her from him.

  Kill. Keep your claim. All his ancient instincts rose up in him like a beast.

  Stopping at the next corner, he let his eyes rove the crowd, but there was no hint of his female.

  He spotted a man he knew to be a permanent resident of Aurora Falls slumped under a streetlamp. Ted, they called him, and being that he was the town lush, he wasn’t reliable but he was the only one around who might be able to help.

  Mansen rushed him, probably looking murderous, but Ted didn’t flinch. He tipped a paper bag covered bottle to his lips and grinned, letting the rain pelt him.

  “I’m looking for the woman that was found in the lake. Have you seen her?”

  Ted nodded once. “Yer the one who saved her, eh? Yer… yer like a superhero now.”

  “Have you seen her?”

  “Yeah, yeah…” Ted nodded. “Saw her over at Miggs’ earlier.”

  “After that. Did you see her out here? Walking maybe. Running? Anything.”

  “Ohhhh wait just a goddamn minute.” He stopped to take another drink, and Mansen wanted to shake him until the information fell from his mouth freely. “I did see her. She was in some strange get-up.”

  A disguise. Of course. She must be terrified.

  “What did it look like?”

  “Big floppy hat. Had fish on it or sumthin’. Shades.” Ted let out a laugh. “Shades when there ain’t no sun out.”

  Mansen scanned the sea of people again but didn’t see anyone fitting the description.

  “Do you know anything else. Anything,” Mansen growled. “I need to find her.”

  Ted turned serious. “You gonna help her? Superman. Or is it Hulk? Aquaman? I think yer Aquaman,” Ted sing-songed.

  Mansen straightened, desperately trying to decide on his next move. He’d head to the lodge, check there, and then the cabins. He started to cross the street, but Ted’s voice stopped him.

  “Not that way.”

  Mansen looked back to find him shaking his head in annoyance.

  “Don’t you superheroes ever listen? They went toward the lake, North Shore.”

  Fury twisted up Mansen’s spine, making him see black. “They?”

  “Yeh. She was with that new guy… what’s ‘is name… well, shit. Can’t remember. Scary asshole though. You should probably find them fast. I think he’s a villain.”

  Mansen didn’t hear the rest. He was already running at full speed for the truck he’d left at Miggs’.

  North Shore, huh. That was Mer territory. If the asshole Doe was hiding from took her there, he was going to be in for a surprise. Because Mansen wasn’t a man anymore. Hadn’t been for a long time.

  He was a fucking monster.

  And you don’t take what belongs to a monster without paying a price.

  Mansen felt the power of his curse, of the gods, of the lake rise within him, and a cruel smile twisted his lips.

  I’m coming, elska.

  This time, the cost was going to be steep.

  Chapter 11

  Doe was dreaming again, but she knew the truth now as she watched from the sky, peering through the growing darkness and the thick rain that poured over Lake Sapphire.

  She wasn’t normal, never had been.

  As a child, she’d been intuitive, seeking the unnatural, the unexplainable. People called her strange but it never bothered her. Growing older didn’t change the intrigue of otherworldly things. Even within herself, there were things she couldn’t explain. The way she knew things before they happened. The way she could find things that were missing. The way she anticipated where her enemy would look for her.

  That’s what had led her to Sapphire Lake.

  It ended here. At the falls, where she’d jumped to escape him only days ago. She’d been prepared to die then. She couldn’t see anything past the falls, past the struggle with him, and the eventual end.

  Except now she saw it differently.

  It was going to end, yes. This long, exhausting life on the run from a man who was obsessed with her in all the wrong ways. Ways she didn’t want or accept. By morning it would be over.

  But it wasn’t the end for her.

  She felt it deep in her heart, there was more, much more for her beyond the fear she’d carried for much of her life.

  She watched, oddly detached, as the man dressed in black dragged her limp body up the trail to the falls. It was a restricted area, but he didn’t care. She remembered his name, but she didn’t think about it. Didn’t give it any more power than it had already taken from her.

  Powerless is how she’d felt waking up in the hospital, but it wasn’t true at all. She had power within her. The kind people never considered when they thought of strength.

  She was more than organized and detailed and smart.

  She was good inside, capable of love, and fought for what was right.

  Strengths inherited from those who were here first, a voice whispered in her mind, so faint, it was almost undetectable. Welcome home, child of the land.

  Child of the Land. She didn’t know what it meant. Maybe someday she would. But she couldn’t deny the connection she felt to the sky, the air, the water, the trees. Like they were a part of her.

  She grinned to herself, wondering what Wilma and Miggs would think of her now, if they knew she was one degree of separation from the naturalists they ribbed occasionally.

  Below, her body remained limp as the man laid her against the rocks and stood back to glare at her. He’d used poison to keep her unconscious, but now that they’d arrived at their destination, he crouched beside her, running a white stick under her nose.

  Doe felt the pull of being drawn back to her body, and familiar fear returned with it.

  Be not afraid, the soft voice said as she fell back to earth. He comes for you, as a warrior should.

  Doe awoke drenched to the bone, an angry snarl inches from her face, and lightning flashing above her head.

  “I told you this would happen if you ran.” Dark eyes, the ones from he
r nightmare, raked her body with disgust. “You’re no longer pure, MysticMaiden208. No longer mine.”

  MysticMaiden. Her screenname from so long ago.

  “Was never yours,” she spat.

  A rough hand smacked her face hard enough that she banged her head on the rock behind her.

  “Whore!” he screamed. “After all I’ve done for you. After chasing you all over the goddamn world, now you speak to me with disrespect.”

  He’d been a complete stranger before he became obsessed with her after finding her in an online forum for psychic anomalies. All he’d done for her was frighten and horrify her for years on end.

  He stood tall over her, tossing his wet hair back as he lifted his chin like he was superior. “It doesn’t matter now, because I know what I have to do. Stand up.” He reached for her, hauling her up with a heavy jerk. Doe squeaked at the shot of pain where his bony fingers dug into her arm.

  He dragged her over to the cliff that edged the falls, pressing her to the very brim. It wasn’t a long drop down but the frothing water below made her breath come quicker.

  “No, no.” She remembered being here before, remembered the fall, remembered why she chose to jump.

  Escape. Beat him at his own sick game. Fulfill what her gift had shown her.

  But now, she wasn’t choosing this. He was going to force her over. And this time there’d be no magic-man to rescue her.

  His shoulders sagged and he seemed to grow sad. She saw water collecting in his lids but couldn’t tell if it was tears or rain. “Why did you make me do this, huh? Why couldn’t you give in to what was meant to be?”

  She’d said it bluntly before, said it carefully too. She’d said it as many ways as she could think of over the years. “I don’t want to be with you.”

  He went suddenly stiff with anger. She could see his eyes turning hard as if becoming stone. Cruel, she’d never known a soul so cruel. “Well, sometimes you don’t get to choose,” he hissed.

  “Let. Her. Go.” A hard voice lifted over the roaring of the storm. A familiar voice. One that flooded her with relief.

  She peered through the rain to see a furious Mansen standing near the boulders that formed the falls. He didn’t touch the flowing water though, as if he couldn’t move closer.

  The pressure on her arm tightened and she cried out. Mansen’s eyes tracked the hold on her, nearly glowing with murderous intentions. Remember what I told you about deer… how hard do you think I’d fight for you?

  “Let her go, now.” Mansen’s voice was so deadly quiet, it was a miracle it could be heard at all. Yet, it sent shivers all over her skin. Her man was dangerous. Deadly. She remembered the vision of him long ago on a ship, and suddenly… knew. The legends were true. Fierce warrior. The scales on his hand that no one could see but her. His avoiding the water. The once a month visits to town.

  Merman.

  “Let her go, and I will kill you quickly instead of how I want to. Slow. And painful.”

  “Never,” her enemy growled, not afraid of the beast of a man he faced off with. “In fact, it’s good you’re here. She’s going to end up with me no matter what you do, you see. Because this is the end.” He glanced backward over the falls with a smile.

  The end, the end, the end. Like what she’d seen and known before. This was the end. Death.

  “I’m taking her with me.”

  “No,” Doe argued, but he pulled her even closer to the edge. Either of them could fall at any moment. One burst of thunder, one strike of lightning.

  “You’ll never get her,” he snarled, giving Mansen a withering look. “She’s mine.”

  And with a vicious yank, he pulled them both over the edge and into the dark of the lake below.

  Chapter 12

  Mansen watched his mate go over the edge of Shadow Falls and his chest exploded with a rage he could barely contain. It wasn’t a question of whether or not he was going to tear the skinny, mouthy bastard to pieces for what he’d done to Doe… past and present. No, the question was would there be enough time to thoroughly torture the fool before the moon cycle was over.

  But first, he needed to get his female out of the lake. Fast.

  Because he’d already sent out the call to any Mer beneath the lake to rile the serpent. Danger was in their midst. It was the serpent’s job to protect them from it. But the serpent wasn’t especially good at knowing which human was dangerous. He just went after them all and called it a day. Hence the reason the North Shore was restricted.

  Mansen ripped his shirt over his head and ran forward, using his long legs to propel himself off the cliff. He dove into the water in a clean slice and the curse of the lake took over, twisting his limbs back into a powerful, glistening fin.

  He surfaced with a splash and scanned the water for any sign of Doe. But the storm was churning the lake into froth and he couldn’t find her.

  Below the surface something brushed against his fin and he knew it was the monster who guarded them. The serpent sent by the gods to protect the Mer.

  Shit. He was running out of time.

  Mansen ducked below the choppy water, searching for human legs. He came up several feet out from the falls and looked again. Rain pelted his cheeks and the wind was cold on the water, but a lighting strike in the distance, lit up the area and he spotted Doe flailing in the waves several yards away.

  He started for her when a blow to the temple sent him spiraling sideways. Turning, he found Doe’s stalker rearing back to get in another punch. As if that bony fist was enough to stop a male like Mansen.

  No, it only excited him.

  Mansen lunged, wrapping an arm around the guy’s neck and dragging him deep under the water as they swam closer to Doe. He struggled against Mansen’s hold, but there was no way out. The man was right about one thing.

  This was the fucking end.

  As soon as he surfaced, he scanned the water again for Doe. She was swimming for the shore, but the current of the falls kept pulling her back. Shit.

  The human he had in a chokehold, kicked his feet out of the water, aiming for Mansen’s head. But he missed when the serpent lifted its massive slithering body from the lake with a groan that told of its age, and dove back under, heading for Doe.

  The serpent was heading in the wrong fucking direction.

  Shit.

  Mansen had to get to her first or she was going to be hurt.

  “What the fuck?” the man choked, eyes wide as the tail of the beast slapped the water, sending wake in their direction. But there was no time to fill him in.

  Mansen shoved him aside and swam for his mate. His powerful tail propelled him through the water faster and harder than it ever had.

  Can’t lose her. Elska. Love.

  He loved her.

  It didn’t matter that he’d only known her a short time. It didn’t matter if she ever loved him back. It didn’t matter if she ever broke his curse. None of it mattered more than her safety.

  He would gladly spend eternity in the deep, if it meant she survived this.

  Hear that, fuckers? He prayed to the gods, making sure they knew where he stood with her.

  Mansen could feel the power of the serpent below the water, it circled Doe, testing before striking. And she knew it too. Because she stopped swimming for the shore and scanned the choppy surface until she found Mansen. The fear in her eyes was hard to look at but it made him swim harder.

  He watched the serpent rise up out of the lake again, this time, aiming its vicious fangs at Doe. Her eyes went big as she watched the beast target her. No escaping.

  “Noooo!” Mansen roared.

  Using his fin as a last effort, Mansen shot himself through of the water, coming up near Doe. He arched his massive body, making it a protective shield around his mate, tail slapping the surface of the lake in warning. Breath heaving, he dragged her into his arms and curled his fin around her, just in time to stop the serpent in its tracks.

  The monster pulled up, falling back to t
he water with a splash that sent them closer to the bank.

  Mansen pressed Doe to his chest, looking over his shoulder at the beast. “Not her,” he commanded. “Safe. Mine.”

  The serpent’s eyes narrowed and steam puffed from its reptilian snout.

  “This one is mine,” Mansen repeated. “Can’t have her.”

  Moments crept by as the rain fell around them and the serpent challenged Mansen with a knowing stare.

  Then slowly, the beast sank below the surface, seeming irritated, and the storm slowed along with it. Little by little the water calmed and Mansen let out a shudder of relief, holding Doe so tight, he was probably hurting her.

  “You okay?” he rasped, finding her face and tipping her head back so he could examine her.

  “Yes.”

  He found her eyes and what he saw there stopped the breath in this chest. Emotion spilled from them like a waterfall.

  “I thought I was dead,” she whispered. “You… you saved me. Again. How many times do you think you’ll have to do that?”

  “A lot hopefully,” he growled, pressing her even closer. Could she feel his fin? Did it frighten her? “Because I really like the way you look at me when I do.”

  Doe went rigid in his arms and from over his shoulder, he heard the furious roar of her stalker. Mansen pushed Doe behind him and faced off with the man once again.

  It was time to end this. For good.

  With a knife in one hand, the man charged them, his eyes crazed and murderous. But he didn’t get close enough for Mansen to snap his neck like he wanted.

  A sudden vibration shattered the water and the serpent sprung from the lake, arcing up and turning its body into a daunting S. It was massive, with scales the size of dinner plates and thorny protrusions along its body. Its jaws sprang open, teeth glistening in the light of the moon, and when it came back down, they snapped closed… right on Doe’s stalker.

  There wasn’t a scream. No fight at all. In one bite, the serpent took the human to the deep, and it was finished.

  “Shit,” Mansen breathed. If there was ever a doubt about the serpent’s power, it was gone now. He turned back to Doe. “You good? Mate?”