Had her mother continued to influence her in some way?
Yet that need to claim territory as hers hadn’t felt like Sabine at all. There had been no underlying taint of darkness, no pressing desire to conquer and force others to submit. Instead, she’d wanted to hold that water so that others might know safety as well. But to challenge a god?
Was she losing her mind or what?
Worried, she hurried to leave Lake Washington and saw the stars glittering above the surface. How long had she been swimming? But she didn’t want to leave yet, so she dove deeper.
She turned and shrieked when she spotted him watching her, a blur of darkness resting in already dark water. Like a shadow rippling before her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Orion, still several feet below the surface of Lake Washington.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, sounding hostile, but not overly so.
“Just swimming.”
“You came in so fast I could barely see you.” He looked her over, and she noticed him as well, clad only in trousers, his bare chest broad, his arms muscular, tapering down to large hands that waved back and forth as he remained in one place in the water. Still so handsome, violence shining in his dark eyes, but also something else. Something that tugged at her.
She floated toward him for a better look but stopped with plenty of distance between them. “I needed to swim. I feel better in here, away from everything and everyone.”
“Yeah, I do too.”
Surprised he’d share that with her, she didn’t speak, just watched him bobbing in the water, tendrils of her power unfurling to slyly kiss the currents holding him fast. He tasted of dark power and need. A need for blood? For sex? For dominance? She wished she knew.
Orion frowned. “Did you call me here?”
“To my house? No. Frankly, I thought I’d never see you again.”
He watched her. “Macy is coming by to get you later. Varu, my patriarch, needs to see you.”
She swallowed. “Is he going to kill me?”
Orion scowled. “Of course not. If anyone was going to kill you, it would be me.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to kill you.” He wiped a hand over his mouth. “I just mean no vampire gets between a vampire and his... prey.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
They continued to float, just looking at each other.
Kaia stared at him with hunger, having missed him terribly despite just a day having gone by. Orion seemed fascinated by whatever he saw, and she didn’t have the heart to ask what he wanted from her. She just wanted him to stay close.
“Did you put another spell on me?” he asked.
“What? When?”
“After Macy removed your spell at the lake. Did you put another on?”
“Why would I when I did everything I could to make sure you went free?” She flushed. “Though in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have let you drink from me. Blood can be a magical tie, though I hadn’t thought about it at the time.”
“I drank your blood?”
She blinked. “You don’t remember?”
“Not all of my time with you is clear. I remember the sea witch. Your mother.”
She flinched and couldn’t be sure, but he seemed to take pleasure in that.
“But I don’t remember all of my time with you,” he continued. “I see us laughing or playing cards. A few times I remember kissing you.” He stared at her mouth, bemused, the anger fading. “I took your blood,” he murmured and moved closer.
Which had her automatically moving back.
He stopped and watched her, his gaze calculating. “What can you tell me about Sabine Belyaev?”
“Aside from the fact that she’s my mom and captured a bunch of magir to steal power, not much.” She sighed. “She got that island from a warlock who died. I don’t know if she killed him or she just got lucky, but she snagged it and it became hers.”
Warlocks were human, witches who had turned to dark arts, intent on sacrifice and pain to bolster their power. But sea witches surpassed humanity, “sea witches” an odd, technical term for those magir tuned to water who also had power. Kaia had always wondered why her mother wasn’t called a sea sorceress, because the term fit better. She was a mage gone wrong, turned sorceri.
“Why is your mother the White Sea Witch?” he asked, mirroring her thoughts.
“Because she’s one of the most powerful sea witches born in her generation, I think. My dad might have a better answer. I only know my mom is pretty old, a few hundred years at least, and power is her drug of choice. She’ll do anything for it.” Kaia shrugged. “She tried to sacrifice my ex-boyfriend. And you, my ex-mate, er, ex-friend, I guess.”
He considered her, just watching with that intent stare. She felt pinned under it, unable to leave until he told her she could. Weak, as always.
That thought had her baring her teeth at him. “It wasn’t my fault what happened to you,” she blurted, surprising him, she could tell, though she couldn’t see any change in his expression.
“Oh?”
“I had a bad feeling after talking to my mom on the phone. I just knew she was up to no good. So when she left for her conference, I went over to the island just to look. I had no idea she’d have anyone there in chains.”
“I wasn’t in chains.”
“You might as well have been.” She frowned, wishing he wasn’t so darned handsome in the water, his dark hair floating like a crown of night around his head, his eyes piercing yet clearly visible despite the darkness all around. In the water, Kaia was queen, able to see and hear clearly. “When I saw she had you under her thrall, I did my best to save you. Unfortunately, that translated to a swap of power, mine for hers. I had no idea how I even did it or that I could do it. But with me, you didn’t suffer. I did everything I could to leave you still you.”
“But am I me?” He snarled and swam up to her in a blink, grabbing her by the shoulders. “I still feel a connection, Kaia. To you, to the beauty with eyes that bind, a soul that beckons, and blood that makes me thirst.” He licked his lips, and she saw his fangs, bright in the midnight waters. “I want you to tell me something, honestly.”
“I haven’t lied to you, Orion.”
“Did we have sex?”
“I already told you we didn’t.” When he just looked at her, she blushed. “Not technically.”
“I knew it. I know what you feel like inside. I tasted you.”
So embarrassing. “Well, yes, but just with your hands and tongue. And lips.” She felt flustered and couldn’t meet his gaze. “I didn’t mean to, but I’m attracted to you. And you’re attracted to me.”
“So no sex.”
“No, not with anyone.” She huffed. “I guess you don’t remember that embarrassing conversation about my V-card with Macy then.”
His eyes widened. “Oh yeah. Now I remember.” He watched her, still holding her shoulders, though his grip had gentled. “You fit me, little nymph.”
“I’m not that little.”
“Compared to me you are.” He smiled, no doubt liking that fact. “If I asked for a kiss to remember, would you?”