One Soul To Share (7 page)

With their tails submerged, they looked
human. On land, they became human—outward appearance, at least, but
Melusine wasn’t a mermaid. She was a water spirit cursed, doomed to
staying as Sarina saw her now until she could find a man who would
love her as she was, her ugly inner-self fully visible in her
serpent tail.

Melusine circled around Nolan, her gaze
moving over him as if she was appraising a catch. “He passed the
test.” Her tongue flickered out of her mouth when she spoke, a hint
that her shift to snake was still progressing.

Sarina felt Nolan stiffen, but he gave no
other sign that he’d heard the sea hag’s comment.

“He did,” Sarina replied. The words felt like
dry sand in her mouth. Nolan’s indisputable success at living
underwater was also his guaranteed doom. There was no way Melusine
would let such a prize escape her realm.

“And he’s handsome, not”—Melusine slithered a
bit to one side and looked past Nolan at Sarina—“a must, but a
definite plus.”

Sarina inclined her head. She’d known Nolan’s
looks would please the spirit. Now she wished he was disfigured and
fat, so unappealing even his ability to live under the sea would
make him an unwanted catch.

But then Allera, her sister, would be
lost.

“Yes, this one, I think, will do nicely.”
Melusine leaned back to the other side. Her head tilted, and she
reached to her throat. It was then Sarina saw it—her sister’s soul
tucked into a vial just like the one Sarina wore around her own
neck.

“She—” Nolan started. His eyes moved from the
vial hanging from Melusine’s throat to the one hanging from
Sarina’s.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Melusine swung Allera’s
soul back and forth like it was a worthless piece of coral, easily
replaced. “You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you? Of the things
mermaids will do for a soul?” She slithered closer. Her hand cupped
Nolan’s face. “Well, my pretty human. They are all true, but how
lucky are you”—she tapped on his chest with her finger—“that this
mermaid wanted one soul in particular and had no interest in
harvesting one of her own.” She inhaled loudly, and her back
stiffened. Brows raised, she turned back to Sarina. “Is this a
trick? This is no human. This body…” She tapped on Nolan again.
“Has no soul.”

Fear and elation rose inside Sarina. Elation
at Melusine’s tone. She had found Nolan wanting. She would reject
him, but Sarina feared that too. She would fail her sister, lose
her soul, again.

Torn and confused, Sarina wrapped her fingers
around her vial and bit down on her lip, as if the pain would bring
clarity and focus.

“I’m a vampire.” Nolan spoke with power and
determination.

“Vampire?” Melusine raised a brow. Then,
surprise clear on her face, she turned to Sarina. “You brought me a
vampire?”

“She didn’t bring me. I came on my own.
Sarina is my”—Nolan hesitated—“guide.”

“Your guide?” The water spirit laughed.
“Mermaids are better tricksters than I realized if she convinced
you of that.” Looking back at Sarina, she asked, “Is it true,
daughter of Ianthe, did you convince this… male… that he was coming
to me of his own free will? That you were serving him?”

The air seemed to chill even further. Sarina
couldn’t breathe, and she couldn’t look at Nolan. She didn’t have
to, though, to know his reaction. She could feel shock, disbelief,
and hurt rolling off him, like living things reaching out and
slapping her.

“We…” Sarina began.

Nolan interrupted. “We had an agreement. I
knew Sarina had her own reasons for coming to this place. I didn’t
ask what they were.” His voice was cold.

Behind him, the sun was beginning to rise. A
line of pink shone on the horizon. Sarina placed her hands on her
upper arms, hugging herself against the shame building inside
her.

“So, you had reasons too?” Melusine’s
attention returned to Nolan. “Tell me, vampire, devourer of your
own kind, what reasons might those be?”

The water spirit cocked her hip and twitched
her tail. Her face took on a new, provocative expression. Sarina’s
jaw tightened.

But if Nolan noticed Melusine’s interest, he
showed no sign. “Vampires don’t devour their own kind.” His eyes
flashed.

“No?” The tip of Melusine’s tail flicked up
and brushed over Nolan’s chest. “Do tell. What do they devour?” She
enunciated the word, making it sound sensual and forbidden.

“Blood. We drink blood.” Nolan’s gaze slid to
Sarina. She flushed.

“And is that what you hoped to find here?
Blood? Surely, there is blood aplenty in the human realm.”

“A soul. I heard you had a soul. I came to
bargain for it.”

Melusine’s eyes widened. She twisted on her
tail, seeming to address the herd of kelpies that still surrounded
them. “How rich! Did you hear that? He came for a soul.” With
another laugh, she turned back. “It seems we have two bidders but
only one soul to sell. Tell me, vampire, what do you think to trade
me for this soul?” She held Allera’s vial out so it glistened in
the rising sun.

Nolan blinked, and his eyes began to water.
Sarina’s palms itched. Allera’s soul was so close, but her heart
ached too.

“Anything I have to give.” Nolan held out
both arms, opening himself to the spirit. She drew closer, her tail
wrapping around him.

“Anything?” Melusine whispered.

Nolan hesitated, and his gaze moved briefly
to Sarina.

o0o

Nolan stared at the mermaid, looking for some
sign the conclusions he’d drawn from the sea hag’s conversation
were false, but Sarina didn’t look at him. Instead, her fingers
wrapped tightly around the vial at her throat, she averted her
gaze.

Would he give anything to have a soul
again?

No. He wouldn’t, but would Sarina? Was the
soul so important to her she would give anything to have it? If so,
how could he deny her?

His heart heavy and his stomach sick, he
looked back at Melusine. “I thought I would, but I was wrong. If
the soul is important to Sarina, give it to her.”

So, his family wouldn’t accept him? So, he
would continue as a monster? At least this time, the choice was
his.

“Oh.” The sea hag’s disappointment was
palpable. “No fight? No disagreement?” She looked from Nolan to
Sarina and then back. Finally, she sighed, her human shoulders
rising an exaggerated height.

“Just as well, I suppose, since I had already
decided on the victor.” The half-snake, half-human female spun. The
vial she’d held up to the rising sun dangled from her fingertips.
“You did well, mermaid, bringing me this mate. Better than I ever
dreamed.” Then, her lips curving into a smile, she tossed the vial
into the sea.

Sarina gasped, and Nolan stiffened. He
stepped forward, ready to dive into the ocean to recover the vial
he sensed the mermaid wanted so desperately, but the sea hag’s tail
tightened around his waist and thighs, making it impossible for him
to move.

The mermaid’s gaze locked onto him, her eyes
huge and sad. Then she dove into the ocean and disappeared.

Nolan’s heart seemed to go with Sarina. He
waited, tense, expecting her to return, expecting… he didn’t know
what.

“You didn’t expect her to give up her quest
for
you
, did you? Mermaids are tricksters of the highest
form, especially where men are concerned.” The sea hag slithered
closer until her bare breasts brushed against Nolan’s arm. “She did
do well, though.” Her tongue flickered out, over his face. She was,
he realized, smelling him. “Of course, you aren’t a man, are you?
Perhaps you thought you were immune to her tricks.”

“And I’m not looking for a mate.” He held the
sea hag’s gaze, his own hard. With each additional second that
Sarina was gone, his heart cracked a bit more, but he wouldn’t show
his pain.

“Really?” Melusine glanced over her shoulder
to the place in the ocean where Sarina had disappeared. “Or does
the mermaid’s thrall still lay claim to you?”

“I’m under no thrall.” Nolan was familiar
with the term and the concept. Vampires used thrall to lure in
their victims. When the human awoke from the hypnotized state, they
were confused and lacking a clear memory of what had happened
before.

Nolan’s memory, however, was painfully
clear.

“I don’t know what she did for you or
promised you, but she tricked you—used you.” The sea hag ran one
hand over Nolan’s arm. Her touch was light and seductive. So much
so that another man might have forgotten her snake half, but Nolan
wasn’t another man. He wasn’t a man at all, not any longer, and he
was immune to any touch… except the mermaid’s. He swallowed,
fighting again to hide his hurt.

Minutes had passed. Sarina wasn’t returning.
Perhaps the sea hag was right. Perhaps Sarina had tricked him.

“What will she do with the soul?” he asked.
He needed to know. Needed a reason for her desertion.

Melusine curled her fingers into her hand and
pulled her body back. She studied him from under lowered brows. “I
can’t lie to you. Did you know that? You have to love me without
tricks, with my tail visible, with all truths laid out.” She
muttered to herself, cursing, he guessed.

When she looked back at him, her expression
was as hard and cold as the marble floors in his family home. “So
when I say the mermaid tricked you, that she brought you here fully
intending to give you to me as she might hand off a shell or other
worthless trinket, you know I speak the truth.” Her tongue darted
out again, forked in strange opposition to her claims that she had
to speak truth.

But despite that, Nolan believed her. He’d
known all along the mermaid had reasons of her own for agreeing to
be his guide, and he’d known those reasons went beyond the payment
he’d offered her. She had, after all, already been looking for a
male companion, testing them… and now he knew for what.

His stomach clenched, and he had to fight to
keep his gaze on the sea hag. He wanted to look away and hide the
emotions he was afraid she could read on his face.

“Ah, I see you already knew that. Good.” She
smiled and swayed back and forth a bit on her tail. Then, sucking
in a breath which caused her breasts to rise and fall, she replied,
“The soul is her sister’s. Mermaids and their souls are separated
at birth. Most spend their lives looking for a replacement.”

“But Sarina has hers.” He knew now why the
vial was so important to the mermaid.

Melusine inclined her head. “Her mother was…
unusual. Ianthe had the love of Poseidon. He granted her one wish.
She asked that any daughters she bore be able to keep their souls.
He agreed. In fact, he threw in a bonus. He gave Ianthe hers
too.”

“But her sister lost hers?” Nolan asked. The
tale sounded impossible, but what about mermaids could sound
possible?

“It was taken from her by pirates, over one
hundred years ago. Ianthe fought them, and while she saved her
daughters’ lives, she lost her own life and Allera’s soul.”

“And you found it?”

Melusine smiled, a slow, wicked tilt of her
lips. “Mermaids attract men, and I needed a man.”

“You stole the soul?” Any sympathy Nolan
might have felt for the creature before him dissipated.

“I told you, pirates did. I just saw an
opportunity and took it.” She snapped her tail against the yacht’s
deck. “You would judge me for that?” Her eyes narrowed. “Mermaids
are no better than I am. They’re half fish, yet men flock to them,
declare their love, give up their lives—for one kiss.” Her tongue
appeared again. Nolan ignored it and her tirade. He was watching
the kelpies.
Water horses.

If he could reach one, could he force it to
take him back to shore and, hopefully, Sarina? He’d grown up in his
family’s stables; he’d been riding horses since he was three. He
had never met an equine he couldn’t handle.

How different could a water horse be?

And what options did he have? Stay here with
the sea hag?

It wasn’t an option he chose to take. When
she turned again, he bolted to the side and leapt, targeting one of
the largest kelpies, a silver Percheron-size animal that nipped
when another of its kind got too close.

The creature had spirit. Hopefully, enough to
break away from the others and get Nolan back to shore. Once there,
he’d… He didn’t know what he’d do, and he didn’t have time to think
about it further. As his chest and legs hit the kelpie’s back, the
creature reared up and screamed. Then it lowered its head and
plunged into the sea.

o0o

Water rushed past Nolan so quickly he
couldn’t believe he wasn’t washed from the kelpie’s back. He
clutched at the creature’s mane, determined to stay on its back and
ride until the animal’s energy was spent.

Then he would direct it back to the surface
and somehow find land.

The kelpie raced to the sea floor. Once
there, its pace slowed to a trot. Confident he could control the
creature now, Nolan pulled on its mane and kneed it in the side.
The kelpie tossed its head but ignored his urgings.

It was then he realized the animal was headed
somewhere—its home or stable, he guessed. Somewhere the sea hag
would be sure to find them.

Nolan kneed the creature again and jerked
hard on its mane, but for the second time, the kelpie ignored him.
It continued its trot in steady even strides.

There was no moving the kelpie off course.
Nolan had to choose between continuing on its chosen path or
leaving the creature behind and risking the open sea on his
own.

Confident the kelpie’s choice would insure
the sea hag’s discovery, Nolan loosened his hold on the animal’s
mane and tried to push himself off its back.

His legs clung to the creature as if glued,
and not just Nolan’s pants, which he would willingly have shredded
to secure his freedom. The muscles of Nolan’s legs clung to the
animal. Rock-hard and unyielding.