Chapter Twelve.
Poseidon/Jase
T he moment he entered the water, he felt and heard the calls to defend Willow. A pod of dolphins was crying out to anyone nearby. He headed straight for the palace, knowing Willow would have holed up there and sent his own demands for an explanation on the current. The dolphins returned a jumble of images to him, which took a few seconds to sort out.
Poseidon saw Willow lying on a beach, and then she sat up and looked to the ocean. A dinghy appeared in another scene. Willow took to the water. A turtle helped her escape in shallow water until a dolphin dragged her deeper. Other images showed bullets and harpoons hitting the water. Poseidon nearly heaved when he saw how close one came to hitting Willow’s head. She’d been oblivious, but he wasn’t.
Poseidon caught images of a frantic chase through coral reefs, and his anger grew as he saw a submarine. He had a target now! He shifted into his Uber merman and swam furiously forward. Invade his waters? His realm? Attack his mate? How dare they! Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the palace appear in the distance as he quickly closed the gap between him and his mate.
The submarine wouldn’t see the palace as Poseidon had hidden it from humans. However, the congregation of sea life forming around it gave away something was hidden there. As he closed, he saw it was a four-man submersible with a harpoon and net on the outside. There were also underwater missiles attached. They’d clearly adapted the vehicle to hunt in the water. There was no doubt in his mind that these were Hunters. Who else would have such equipment?
Poseidon didn’t give them a chance to fire. He slammed a tenacle into one of the cylinders and broke it in half. Poseidon didn’t pause, and broke the other. Nobody would fire missiles at his mate.
Sea life continued to swarm to protect the palace, and Poseidon yanked the submersible around with large whales battering it to help. Sealife swarmed the submarine, and Poseidon peered inside the glass view screen. Four humans stared at him with fear and panic on their faces.
Poseidon took in their uniforms and noted the emblem they all wore. Hunters. With a roar, he used to his tentacles to begin tearing the submarine apart. Frantically, those inside began hitting buttons but too late. Sharks tore out the engines, allowing water to flood in. Poseidon’s own tentacles had smashed cracks in the screen and water was leaking in through that, too.
Those inside would drown.
He stared at the humans inside with an evil grin as they struggled to attach breathing masks.
“Hold them down on the seabed,” he ordered. “Let the drown slowly.”
“Above, danger above,” a dolphin clacked at him.
“Me take,” another called.
“Not for much longer. Tell my mate I will be back soon,” Poseidon said and followed the second dolphin towards the surface. Poseidon didn’t even bother surfacing; he ripped the bottom of the yacht out and had the whales tip the yacht over.
He reached out with his senses and found a dinghy heading towards the island he and Willow had spoken on. He sent a huge wave after it, capsizing it, and then used the water to capture the humans and drag them down to the depths. He cared little about how they died. Drowning was good enough for them.
Calmer now, but with anger still running through his veins, Poseidon ordered sharks to hunt down any humans who might have escaped. His orders were to kill.
Sharks darted off as other denizens began cleaning up any wreckage. Poseidon wanted those working with these Hunters to wonder what had happened. He could only pray that they’d not radioed in Willow’s location.
Assured that the sea life was doing as he’d commanded, he swam back to the palace and saw that it was still surrounded. He could see the glass had now imploded on the submarine, and that the humans had tried to escape but failed. Speaking to several blue whales, he told them to drag the submarine away and drop it down a ravine close by. It would be a long time before it was found, if it ever would.
At the top of the viewing tower, he could see Willow, with a dolphin curled around her. She looked terrified, and Poseidon wondered if he should shift out of his Uber merman shape. Before he could make the decision, a terrified cry hit his hearing, and Willow launched herself off the tower, straight towards him.
Slow to react, Willow was on him before he understood what she was doing. He’d expected recriminations, but he found tears and sobs as she wrapped herself around his body. Poseidon tensed; nobody had ever touched him in this form. He’d not allowed them to.
Willow’s hands on him were soft and delicate. Then she seemed to sense he was uncomfortable and began to draw away when his tentacles tucked her in tight to his chest and his arms folded around her.
“I thought they’d kill them,” Willow sobbed, pointing a stabby finger at the sea life surrounding the palace. “They wouldn’t leave.”
“You’re their queen. Their She. They would never leave their She,” Poseidon soothed, his tentacles rubbing her back gently.
Poseidon was bewildered and slightly awed. His tentacles had never touched anyone with gentleness, and yet here he was, offering comfort. And even stranger, Willow was allowing his touch and wasn’t afraid of him.
“They had weapons, they nearly shot Nester and then Ern,” Willow cried.
“But they failed. Their target was you, not them,” Poseidon said.
“Yes, and I put them in danger!” Willow sobbed. “We have to leave here, we can’t endanger them.”
“Okay. I’ll take you home for a few days,” Poseidon soothed and blinked.
Had he really just offered to take her to the castle?
Even so, Willow knew that wasn’t a good option.
“No, not there either. I don’t want to endanger the people there,” she demurred.
Poseidon chuckled. “Trust me, nobody will breach the castle. You’ll be safe.”
“What about my court? Can we send them to Atlantis? We need to move the palace, they’ll attack again,” Willow babbled.
“Shhh, let me deal with everything,” Poseidon soothed and reached out for Mary. He felt his sister in his mind, and then he swam backwards through the portal Mary opened.
◆◆◆
On arrival at the castle, Willow was still upset and slightly hysterical. Mary had called Vladimir when she realised Poseidon was bringing Willow back. As soon as he was through the portal, Poseidon shifted to Jase. Willow clung to him still, and he lifted her in his arms.
“I broke her,” he whispered, looking stricken.
“No, she’s dealing with a lot. Take her to your quarters,” Mary said as Willow clung tightly to Jase.
“I know that voice. You’re Maeve,” Willow said, lifting her head.
Mary stared at her, and Willow held her eyes. Jase felt a surge of pride in Willow. She wasn’t flinching from Mary’s visage. Jase studied his sister and knew that Mary had long accepted she looked like something from a nightmare.
Her hair was long and black and in need of a good brush. Her eyes were pure black, there was no white to be seen anywhere. Her lips were as red as roses but chapped and cracking. Her skin was as white as a ghoul, making her look like a ghost. Mary’s cheeks were hollowed out, and she looked half starved. Whenever Mary shifted, her clothes changed to exactly the same ragged torn black dress that hung in shreds around her bony knees. Mary’s fingers were clawed, and her hands were thin and bony.
“I see you, Maeve,” Willow whispered, breaking into a smile. To Jase’s surprise, Mary smiled back.
“Look after her, Jase. I’ll send Lily to you to check Willow over,” Mary said and tilted her head as a goodbye.
Willow cuddled back against Jase’s shoulder as he carried her out of the tower and down the steps leading to the main castle. Clearly Vladimir had been warned because he waited at the door that led to the tower.
“Well met, Willow,” Vladimir said, studying her.
“Hi again, Valdimir,” Willow said and closed her eyes. Her arms tightened around Jase, and he wondered why. “Are you going to kill me now?” she whispered.
“What the hell?” Jase burst out, stepping backwards and ready to defend his mate.
“No, Willow, not now,” Vladimir said and shook his head at Jase.
Jase wasn’t so easily mollified, and his look clearly stated he and Vladimir would be having words later.
“I know you’re Vampire. I worked it out,” Willow murmured sleepily.
“Clever girl,” Vladimir said as Jase sent him a warning look and carried Willow away.
Vladimir followed on his heels.
◆◆◆
“She is merely worn out. Willow has been through a lot the last few months,” Lily said as she stroked Willow’s brow.
“Are you sure there’s nothing worse going on?” Jase persisted.
“Yes. Are you claiming her, Jase? Because if not, let her go. We can wipe her mind and set her up in a different country with a different job,” Vladimir asked.
“Take my mate away and I’ll beat you to a pulp and raise your kid,” Jase warned.
Vladimir and Lily laughed.
“How the mighty has fallen,” Lily teased, causing Jase to scowl.
“I am happy for you,” Vladimir said sincerely. His expression changed and Jase braced. “I wonder, brother, if you’ll prove as virile as me!”
“Get out!” Jase bellowed as Vladimir laughed.
He held out an arm, Lily hooked a hand through it, and they left. Jase went back to watching over Willow.
◆◆◆
“Jase! Control your mate! She’s at it again,” Rhett howled through their telepathic link.
Jase stopped lifting weights for a brief second and checked what was happening.
Rhett was ducking down corridors and heading his way, with Willow firmly on his heels.
Jase’s lips twitched as he picked up on Rhett’s desire to strangle Willow alongside his terror of her. In the fortnight that Willow had been here, she’d either charmed, frustrated, or terrorised everyone in the castle.
For the first week, she’d sat with Mary in the tower, studying their shifted forms in detail. They’d not known how to handle that, as Emmaline wasn’t anywhere near as curious. Then again, Emmaline had grown up with shifters, so they were normal to her. Not for Willow. She’d pestered them all with questions, even those who had been freed by Emmaline when she’d been taken. Although Willow had been far gentler in her questions with the previous captives.
Then she decided she needed to know more about them and had picked her subjects. Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Lamia, Loch Ness, Medusa, Rumpelstiltskin, Scylla and Swamp Creature had been her targets this week. Rhett had managed to avoid her further questioning, but it looked like she was determined to pin him down. Rhett slammed into the gym, glowered at him, and held the door shut.
Jase laughed as Willow merely pushed through the other door.
Rhett looked besieged.
“So come on. Does your brain stay in your head? If it does, how do you control your body? Where does the horse go?” Willow babbled.
Rhett sent Jase a long look.
“You do know those questions are rude?” Rhett chided.
“No, they’re not. Are they rude?” Willow asked, turning to Jase for reassurance. She’d been doing that more and more often, and Jase enjoyed it.
“They could be construed as rude, but everyone knows and understands that you’re just learning about us,” Jase said. Hell, he wasn’t upsetting his mate for Rhett. And plus they were damn good questions Willow was asking. He wouldn’t mind knowing the answers, either.
He watched Willow think about it, and then she turned back to Rhett.
“So, where does your brain go? Are you a zombie? How does your head control your body when it’s no longer connected to the spinal cord?” Willow blurted, and Rhett blew out a long sigh.
“I tried, brother,” Jase said, picking up the weights again. “Willow,” he called.
Jase had discovered a surefire way to distract his mate.
She loved looking at his hot, sweaty body when he worked out. It fascinated her. They’d not moved past getting to know each other, but there was a strong sexual attraction between them.
If it freed Rhett from her questions, then he’d take one for the team.
“Umm?” Willow said, turning to face him. Her eyes hit his body and froze.
Yup, Jase thought smugly. Worked every time.
Rhett sent him a grateful look and slipped out.
“Have you had a good day?” Jase asked as he began lifting weights again. He just managed to hide a smile at Willow’s expression. She looked damn cute with her tongue between her lips and her head cocked to one side.
“Yeah,” Willow breathed, her eyes firmly fixed on his abs.
“Good. Apart from Rhett, who did you terrorise today?” Jase puffed.
“Drew. Did you know his ghoul has to eat dead flesh once a week? Drew says luckily the taste doesn’t shift with him or he’d be puking every time. And also, that stabbing a ghoul doesn’t work? His skin is so rubbery it just pushes in when stabbed,” Willow said, her eyes moving up his body to his pecs.
“Yeah, I think I knew most of that. Did you only chase him and Rhett today?”
“I think I’ve upset Vladimir.”
“How so?” Jase asked, almost preening as Willow licked her lips.
“I haven’t chased him, but come on, Jase, everybody knows about vampires. They’re a dime a dozen,” Willow said.
Jase’s enhanced hearing heard Vladimir’s pained howl at the far end of the castle as Vladimir’s sharp ears caught Willow’s words.
Damn, that was a cutting comment, and it would bug Vladimir.
“But on the other hand, Emmaline is fascinating! Have you seen her shifter side? Will I get one of those?” Willow babbled.
“Yes, I’ve seen her shifter side, and we assume you’ll get something similar. We also think that once our mate bond is fully formed you’ll be able to tap into the strengths of my Sins.”
Willow’s jaw dropped open, and not for the reason Jase wished it would.
“Say what?”
“Emmaline when she was kidnapped was able to tap into Bloodlust when enraged. We think you’ll be able to do the same,” Jase replied. He was a little put out that Willow had stopped staring at his muscles.
“You mean I can reach out and use Devastation or Self-doubt to harm someone and defend myself?”
“Don’t forget Megalomania,” Jase reminded her.
“Oh no, we don’t want to forget that,” Willow mused. “Will I need to use them one day, Jase?”
“Not as long as I’m around. I’ll protect you, Willow. But as we saw with Emmaline, you might get taken. If you do, believe me, you’ll need the bond and the Sins to draw upon.”
“Crap, I’m about to become a superhero? Can I use them to crush those who are polluting the seas and oceans?” Willow asked.
Jase put the weights down as he couldn’t control his laugh.
“No, babe, but you can do your usual shit with them,” he agreed.
“Fine,” Willow said, her eyes dropping to his biceps.
“How about you go and put something nice on, and we’ll go for dinner? What do you fancy? French? Italian? Texan?” he asked.
Jase had been amused to discover that Willow loved a variety of cuisines, but her favourite was steak and ribs. She loved nothing more than sitting down to a rack of ribs and coleslaw. It was even funnier because she would use a knife and fork on them instead of picking them up to eat.
Jase felt he was making strides to repairing the damage he’d initially caused. He’d searched his feelings and found he actually did care about Willow, which had stunned him. Archere and Mary had taken great joy in pointing out that he’d been showing all the signs of possession and caring. Mary even used the word love.
Jase wasn’t certain he loved Willow, but he was rapidly becoming enraptured by her. Vladimir claimed Willow had him wrapped around her little finger, much like Emmaline did him. Jase didn’t deny the accusation, but he found he did manage to stand his ground with Willow over one thing. He refused point blank to let her see his Sins feed.
Willow was proving more and more of a surprise as the days ticked past. He’d known she was dedicated to her cause and what she believed in. He was also more than aware of her sharp tongue—and her willingness to use it. Jase had also witnessed her inherent kindness and generosity, but there was still more to her.
Willow was quick to temper and just as quick to forgive a small slight. Larger insults, Willow would hold a grudge over. She was also as stubborn as an ox, highly intelligent, and very adaptable. Willow didn’t struggle with change but embraced it. Jase had overheard her telling Maeve that you only got one life so live it to the best of your ability. It had resonated with him strongly.
Jase had been a little surprised when he realised she was estranged from her parents. This had been a hard thing for Willow to discuss. She’d gone from being the apple of their eye to an embarrassment over her environmental stance. Jase had surmised her parents thought she should maintain a dignity and protest in other ways.
“Ribs!” Willow exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together.
Jase rolled his eyes. There she was, his girl, happy to eat ribs. He could take her anywhere in the world using the mirror network, and she wanted Texan ribs.
Like most Legends, Jase was careful when travelling the world. You couldn’t appear in the USA and then in England five hours later. Sphinx or Sela in her shifted form was their go to for forging electronic files. As Sphinx, Sela held all the knowledge of the world, but as Sela, she was a master hacker. Jase had never seen anyone so comfortable behind a computer. Sela had made her fortune devising computer games and was known as a reclusive designer.
“Ribs it is,” Jase agreed. As they’d eaten twice in Texas in the last five days, Sela wouldn’t have to fudge a flight plan for them. And they’d not eaten anywhere else.
The Legends could eat at the castle or travel to find a meal. Vladimir loved taking Emmaline out, and Jase was much the same. But Jase was also a good cook and didn’t mind making something in the kitchens to feed his mate.
“Great!” Willow said, smiling.
Jase noted her eyes were still on him.
“I better go shower,” Jase said and rubbed his face with a dry towel.
“Yes,” Willow drawled slowly, her eyes taking on a faraway look.
Jase didn’t have to ask where her mind had gone. “Willow?”
“Yes?” she asked, visibly shaking herself.
“Are you coming?” he asked as he walked to the door.
Willow blinked as Jase looked over his shoulder and caught her eyeing his butt. With a wry grin, Jase left the gym knowing Willow was on his heels.
Willow
Damn that man. He had her so befuddled she didn’t know what way was up or down. Willow had never known attraction like this. It was something she was unaccustomed to. She’d lost her virginity at college, a quick fumble that was an unpleasant and painful memory. And since then, she’d not slept with anyone again. Simply because she’d not had time.
Willow wasn’t one for casual one-night stands, and most of the men she encountered wanted exactly that. Or bragging rights that they’d boned her. Yeah, none of them had appealed.
But Jase, his looks, smell, attitude, swept her off her feet. He challenged her mentally while looking damn good. Ever since she’d been attacked, Jase had changed his attitude towards her.
He was now over-protective and eager to please. It was a complete turnaround from his attitude as Poseidon, who’d hated her. At one point, Willow had asked Maeve if their monster side and their human side had different personalities that shared a host. Maeve had laughingly said no, Jase was Jase, no matter which form he took. She’d also learned that his monster form was called an Uber merman, not the mermonster she’d called him.
The presents he kept bringing her also puzzled Willow. Some of them had been highly expensive, and she’d asked Vladimir to put them in a safe. Valdimir had laughed and said there was no need here for that. Instead, they now rested in a drawer in her room in Jase’s quarters. But other things were simple gifts, a conch shell he’d found. A rounded pebble with unusual markings. Jase seemed to know that she loved them even more than the expensive gifts.
Willow had to wonder. Was Jase courting her? She was so inexperienced; she honestly had no idea. But one thing was certain: she was beginning to fall in love with him.