Saved By Your Hot Book Boyfriend

35. Saving Your Hot Book Boyfriend

35

Saving Your Hot Book Boyfriend

You

Maybe…

Maybe if you call out to Poseidon, he’ll reappear and then you can bargain with him.

It’s worth a shot, at least!

“Hey!” you call into the suddenly-eerily-calm ocean. “Hey, Poseidon! Come back! I need to talk to you…please?”

Okay, so it sounds a little like you’re begging.

And…nothing happens. You’re clearly screaming into the void here. Old Po’ shows no sign of returning. And of course he doesn’t.

An ancient god wouldn’t come back up just to answer some measly human’s demands.

Would he?

Maybe this was a bad idea.

You grimace as your lifeline tugs harder, so bright and taut, you’re a little surprised it hasn’t snapped yet. You feel dizzy, gripping the yacht’s rail just to stay standing. How much more can you take? And Ziros has been underwater for at least several minutes now.

You just hope he’s okay. Somehow.

You grab the lifeline, trying a last-ditch effort to reel him in, but no matter how hard you tug, you can’t budge it.

“Come on ,” you mutter, heaving with all your might. “Damn you, Poseidon!” You scream into the ocean, “Get up here already!”

Just then—

A huge spout of water spirals up from the surface, and there’s old Po’ himself, trident gleaming with golden magic against the first stars where he stands in front of you on the desk, golden-crowned and glaring down at you as you stumble back against the rail.

“You wished to see me, little human?”

Oh. My. God.

It worked!?

Yelling at the ocean actually worked.

Now for the, uh, harder hard part: the part where you actually have to bargain with an angry sea god. Because staring up at him where he stands glowering down at you with his trident braced on the deck, you suddenly remember exactly how small and very mortal you are.

But if you don’t do something, both you and Ziros will die anyway.

You might as well try.

“Please,” you say, hauling yourself back to your feet by the deck rail. Fighting back your dizziness. “I don’t know what bad blood you and Zir— Z —had, but that’s gotta be old news by now, right? He’s served his time and all that. Can’t you just let him go?”

“Let him go!? ” Poseidon booms, slamming his trident down so hard on the yacht deck, the whole boat shakes. You flinch, grimacing as a huge wave sloshes over the top, soaking everything aboard—including you—with freezing water.

“Um,” you say, shooting Poseidon the most sweet, hopeful look you can. “Please?”

He stares at you for a half second.

Is it working?

Then he breaks down laughing, one giant hand on his knee, bending over as he slaps the deck with his trident again with the other.

“Haaaaaa!” He wipes his eyes with one hand as he straightens again. “You have quite the guts for a puny human. But no, human , I’m afraid I cannot simply let him go . You don’t know how many years have waited for this moment! For how long I’ve waited to exact my sweet revenge!”

“Um, what exactly did he even do, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Wind roars in response, lightning flashing overhead.

“Damn Poseidon,” you mutter, clutching the rail for dear life as that buffeting gust of angry wind nearly blows you over into the ocean. “It must have been ages ago! Just forget about it already!”

There’s something cathartic about yelling into the wind right in front of him when there’s no way the angry old sea tyrant can hear you.

Another wave of dizziness washes over you as the wind finally subsides, and you hang onto the rail with all your strength.

You can’t hold out much longer. You’d better figure out a way to get out of this quick, otherwise both you and Ziros are going to be dead.

“ What did he do?! ” Poseidon roars when it’s finally quiet enough to hear himself speak again, “What did he do!? Ha! The little human asks what he did!”

More thunder booms across the water, and you wince as another gust of wind slams against you, towering waves rocking the boat like a toy in a bathtub.

Finally, when it’s quiet enough to hear yourself once again, you ask meekly, “So, uh, that bad, huh?”

You’re trying to think of what could possibly have been worth holding a centuries-long grudge over, but Poseidon only blinks, taking a small step back.

Like he’s momentarily disoriented

Turning his head slightly to the side.

Blinking slowly.

“You know,” he says tentatively, somewhat thoughtfully. “I…don’t remember.”

What!?

All this and he doesn’t even remember what he’s so furious over!?

Or maybe…

Maybe .

What if it was your sorceress blood working its magic. What if calling him by his true name is what brought him to the surface to see you, and now that you demanded he forget, it came true!?

No way it could be that easy, right?

But what if…

After all, somehow your ancestor was strong enough to imprison Ziros in that book.

Maybe you’ve just unlocked a little of your true skills.

Maybe you should try this again.

Except…

You’re feeling awfully weak.

Whether it’s from the lifeline draining your magic to keep Ziros alive underwater or because you somehow managed to use magic to make Poseidon do what you asked, you can barely stand.

Clutching the rail, you ask, “Since you don’t remember why you’re angry in the first place, how about we just call all this even and you let both of us go, okay? Besides,” you pause, gesturing to the glowing lifeline, which is starting to glow a lot weaker, as if there’s just not much more energy left to go through it. “See, if he dies, so do I. And—” for good measure, you add, “It’s my birthday.”

“Your birthday?” Poseidon laughs. “Oh, well, if it’s your birthday , then I guess I have to.”

He’s mocking you.

He’s totally mocking you.

Right?

No way adding that little detail actually worked.

But he smiles a glinting, evil sort of smile.

“No, it’s the little human’s birthday,” he says half to himself. “I suppose it’s time to give her a treat.”

Oh, good lord.

What have you just got yourself into this time?

All you want is to save Ziros. And yourself.

But now…

“How about a trade ,” the angry, ancient—perhaps slightly bewildered—sea god says, dark smile glinting. “You for him, little human. What do you say?”

“Me?” You squeak, swallowing hard.

What are the chances you could use your magic again—if that’s even really what happened before—to get old Po’ here to just let you both free, no strings attached?

But your head throbs, the world starting to spin and go dark at the edges.

There’s no way you have the strength for that.

You’ve got to do something , but offering up your life wasn’t exactly what you had in mind.

“But I can’t go with you,” you protest, clinging to the deck rail with one hand as you slump down against it. “I need air, Mr. Big Dangerous Sea God.”

Oops, maybe you should have called him by his actual name, but that just sorta slipped out.

Poseidon laughs.

Does he find your mortality amusing? Is he amused by the idea of you suffocating underwater?

“You are funny, little human. Most humans jump at the chance to see Atlantis.”

Hang on.

“A—Atlantis!?” you stammer weakly, barely able to stay standing.

Atlantis, as in the underwater lost city of myth and legend!?

All you wanted was a nice night with Ziros on the superyacht. Was that so much to ask?

“Of course,” Poseidon says. “My people are quite hospitable. I’m sure you’ll find it to your liking.” He pauses. “After all, I’m sure a skilled sorceress like yourself would be right at home there.”

Uh-oh.

Does that mean he noticed you bewitched him? Even if you didn’t quite realize what you were doing, that must have been what happened.

You still can’t believe you made him forget.

But he doesn’t seem too upset about it.

On the contrary, he now seems more interested in taking you with him than he is in rediscovering his suddenly-forgotten grudge.

“Listen, Po,” you say, trying to talk as tough as you can for a person currently being held-up entirely by one hand gripping a fancy yacht railing. “You’ve got three seconds to get Z back up here or I’ll be dead. So please—” with your last bit of strength, you summon every ounce of energy in your body and yell, “King Poseidon, maker of storms, lord of the sea, bring Z back up right now !”

The last thing you hear is Poseidon laugh.

And then the darkness takes over.

* * *

When you wake, bright, blueish light streams down all around you, filtering in from a single, wide, rectangular window across from where you lay.

Rolling over, you whack your arm into something broad and warm and muscular.

It’s…Ziros!

“Ziros!” you cry, flinging your arms around him. “You’re alive! You’re okay!”

“Of course I am,” he says, as if it’s completely silly that you were worried at all. “Didn’t think a little thing like that could kill me, could you?”

You blink, trying to get your bearings.

That’s when you realize you’re lying beside him in bed in the luxury suite of the yacht, and the bright, blueish light you were seeing is not from a window, but in fact, from the big-screen television on the opposing wall.

“I got bored waiting,” he says in explanation, shutting off the TV with the remote. “But I couldn’t figure out how to work the damn thing.”

At least he figured out how to turn it on?

Still.

“What…time is it?” You ask groggily. Still confused about how exactly you ended up in bed.

It couldn’t have been all a dream, or else Ziros wouldn’t have responded like he did.

“Three in the morning. You slept a while. And the crew seemed pretty shaken, but we’re back at the dock now.” With a grin, he adds, “Guess Blondie is gonna be hearing about how we almost got his yacht sucked down a giant whirlpool to Atlantis.”

You stare at Ziros.

“Oh. My. God. That wasn’t a dream!?”

He just grins, taking your jaw in one hand as he leans in close enough your lips nearly touch. “No, my beautiful, powerful sorceress. That was not a dream. I can’t believe you actually ordered that crusty old barnacle around and got away with it!”

Hang on.

Did he just call you his beautiful sorceress ?

Your head spins, and you drift sideways, slumping against the bed as Ziros lets go of your jaw. Frowning.

“ Damn . Seems you’ve used too much magic for one night. You’d better get some rest,” he says, pulling the covers up around your shoulders.

Leaning in.

And for a second, you swear he’s about to kiss you on the forehead.

Then he sits up, folding his arms.

Watching you from a distance.

“Wait,” you mutter. “Aren’t you gonna tell me what you did to get old Po’ there so pissed-off in the first place?”

Ziros just laughs. “Nope.”

“Jerk.”

He laughs again.

A warm, comfortable silence stretches between you, the gentle rocking of the ocean below drawing you down into dreams.

“Happy birthday, human.”

“It’s not my birthday anymore,” you mutter from your haze of half-formed dreams.

And just before you drift away, you just barely catch it as he says, “Hey sorceress. Thanks for saving my life.”

Now—this part you’re a little fuzzy on if it’s a dream or reality, but you swear you feel his lips brush your forehead as he leans in and whispers so softly you can barely catch it— “ I owe you .”

Ziros

Damn that big watery tyrant.

He thinks he’s invincible, but human—my sorceress—she sure showed him.

And not a moment too late.

A minute longer, and neither of us would be here right now.

I could go for far longer without breathing if I had my full power. Instead, I’m limited to hers.

And with her life force draining into mine through the link, she was pushed to her limit.

And I hate it.

I hate seeing her lying there on the bed, nearly lifeless, exhausted and spent on account of me.

I’m not gonna lie. I’m starting to get attached.

Yeah, yeah.

I know.

She’s a human. I hate humans.

They’re so fickle and fleeting.

And she only saved my life because hers happens to be attached. Literally.

I’m sure that’s all it is.

Not because she likes me or anything.

But the longer I’m with her, the harder I know it’s gonna be for me to leave.

I lie on the bed beside her in the yacht, just looking at her sleeping face, watching the way she breathes, listening to the soft sounds of her just existing .

And to tell you the truth, I kinda think I could get used to waking up next to the sight of her every morning.

She’s beautiful.

Ah, who the hell am I kidding?

I push off from the bed, pacing to the window.

Now that she’s unlocked her powers, it’ll only be a matter of time before she figures out how to set me free. For a powerful sorceress like her, it’ll be a piece of cake.

I should be happy about that.

Yet—damn it all—there’s a strange aching feeling deep in my heart.

I’ve only known this human for a few days, a mere blink of time in my existence, and yet here I am feeling like I’ve known her all eternity.

And even if I haven’t, some even stupider part of me wants to keep her for the rest of time.