Rising

  The Dagonian’s dark, menacing scowl was even more frightening than Sara had remembered. Xanthus opened the door and there the demon stood—the Dagonian from the cafe, the one trying to ruin her life. His black eyes narrowed, burning with hate as he looked straight at her.

  The intruder moved inside and shut the door. “Well, little brother. I can’t say I’m surprised to see you here with this half-human.” He spoke with a heavy accent.

  Little brother? The Dagonian that loathed her was Xanthus’s brother? Looking at his sneer, she didn’t think he’d welcome her to the family.

  Xanthus stepped back and growled. “What do you know of her, Gael?”

  His brother’s grin broadened. “What would you say if I told you I’m her father?”

  Sara gasped. Xanthus paled and said, “No.”

  Gael’s laughter bellowed. “No, I’m not, but the look on your face almost makes me wish I were.”

  Xanthus white face flushed red in anger. He stood his ground and waited.

  Gael gestured toward Sara. “I must say, this foul creature is easier to look on than your bride was. It’s a shame you have to kill her.” Sara leaned away as he moved toward her. Lifting a lock of her hair, Gael pressed it to his nose and inhaled. “She smells nice too. Strange though, her scent is not nearly as compelling as a full Dagonian. Perhaps this is how humans smell when they’re fertile. I’ve never mated with a female during her time—didn’t want to deal with the consequences.” Gael shrugged. “But this half-human won’t live long enough for us to worry about that, will she, brother?” He darted a glace toward Xanthus.

  “Get away from my daughter!” Nicole scrambled forward and pushed Gael hard in the chest. He moved back, caught off guard. His hand whipped out fast, striking Nicole across her face and sending her into the wall. At that moment, Xanthus was at Sara’s ear. “Don’t believe a word of what I say next,” he whispered.

  Before Sara could even blink, Xanthus had grabbed his brother, lifted him by his coat, and slammed him into the wall. “This is my find and my kill, Gael. You will not interfere. I have special plans for them both before they die and you’re not part of those plans.

  “But you, Gael,” Xanthus said. “What is your purpose here? You know wandering off on your own in the human world is strictly forbidden and I’ve a feeling this is not the first time. The council may turn a blind eye to your other crimes. But not this one. For this, you face death.”

  The color washed from Gael’s face. “You wouldn’t. You couldn’t want me dead. I’m your brother.”

  “That didn’t mean much to you when you ordered my death. And believe me when I say, I’ll kill you in a heartbeat if you give me any more reason. Nothing would give me greater pleasure.” Xanthus threw Gael to the floor as he issued the warning. Sara was shocked to see a fin peeking from under his long trench coat. Unlike Xanthus, Gael had no human legs.

  “Leave now,” Xanthus said. “Return to the sea. And if I ever see you on dry land again, I’ll kill you on sight.”

  “I’ll leave, little brother, but I warn you.” Gael turned and shot a glare at Sara. “If you don’t destroy these creatures soon, I’ll be back with my army at my side. Then we’ll see who destroys who.”

  Gael rose from the floor, brushed himself off, and strode out the door. He moved like he had legs. Xanthus was right. This couldn’t be the first time Gael had been on land. Sara jumped when the door slammed shut. For a moment, she sat gaping at the wooden door. Then, she turned to look at Xanthus. With his feet braced apart, he scowled with barely leashed anger.

  Sara searched for something to say to ease his temper. “I heard it might be difficult to get along with in-laws, but I had no idea.”

  Xanthus turned to her, startled. Then a slow smile crept across his face.

  “In-laws?” Sara’s mom staggered up to her feet.

  “Oh, Mom, don’t get up. Xanthus, help her.”

  “No, stay away from me. I heard what you said. You’re going to kill us.”

  “No, Mom, he didn’t mean it.” Sara wheeled to face her.

  “Sara, you keep out of this. You were always too trusting.” Nicole clawed through the bag, spilling money onto the floor in her haste.

  Sara’s heart dropped when she realized Nicole was looking for the gun.

  “It’s not there, Nicole.” Xanthus held the gun up and released the magazine. It dropped to the floor with a thud. “Sara’s right. I have no intention of killing either of you. If there is anyone who should have died here, it would be Gael. I have a feeling I’ll regret letting him live.”

  Sara wheeled to his side. “Xanthus, you can’t kill your own brother.”

  “He’s not my brother.”

  “He’s not?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Enough of this,” Nicole screamed and stomped her foot. “I need to know what is going on and I need to know right now. And if I don’t like what you say, Dagonian, I’ll kill you with my bare hands. And don’t you think that I can’t.” She hurled the bag against the wall. A hundred bullets clattered and rolled across the hardwood floor.

  Sara thought her mother’s statement about killing Xanthus was ludicrous, but she wouldn’t have dreamed of mentioning that with her mother in this state. Truly, if anyone could scream someone to death, it would be Nicole. And she was just on the verge right now.

  “Mom, wait. We’ll tell you everything. Really we will, won’t we, Xanthus?” Sara turned toward him, trying to signal him with her eyes that the situation was desperate and they’d better do as she said.

  Xanthus narrowed his eyes and sighed. “Yes, Nicole, we will.”

  A long while later, Nicole was satisfied with their story, albeit not so happy to hear her twenty-year-old baby daughter was engaged and planned to leave her forever to live somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.

  During Xanthus’s lengthy explanation, Sara wheeled to the mess of money and bullets. Maneuvering out of her chair, she sat down on the floor and began to clean up. Xanthus glanced her way and coolly asked, “Nicole, are you going to let your disabled daughter clean up your mess?”

  Startled, Nicole stood. “Sara, I can get that, baby.”

  “It’s all right, Mom, but I’d appreciate help.”

  Xanthus and Nicole pitched in and, in no time, it was all cleaned up. Xanthus lifted Sara onto the sofa beside him.

  “So let me get this straight,” Nicole said. “Your brother Gael hates you and he thought he caught you fraternizing with a half-human girl, which is a capital offense, by the way. So when you told him you planned to kill us, he no longer had any wrongdoing to pin on you. But he broke the law himself, coming up on land. So now that you’ve threatened him, he wouldn’t dare return. Am I right?”

  “Right,” Xanthus said.

  “Okay, I understand.” Nicole yawned and stretched. “This has been a really long day and I’ve had way too much excitement for a woman my age.”

  “Mom, you’re in your thirties.”

  “Exactly.”

  Nicole sauntered down the hallway. She paused before stepping into her bedroom. She turned to Xanthus. “Remember Dagonian, my daughter is fertile right now. If you get her pregnant, I’ll rip your penis off and feed it to the seagulls.” Nicole glared for several long moments, then stepped into her room and pulled the door closed behind her.

  Sara’s face burned with embarrassment. If only the couch would swallow her whole.

  When she chanced a glance toward Xanthus, he looked dumbfounded. “I’ve never met a more unusual woman.” He smiled. “She is like being caught in a whirlpool. She’s moody, unreasonable, childish, overprotective, and by the gods, I’m beginning to like her.”

  “I know how you feel. I love my mom. I just couldn’t live with her. She was driving me insane.” Sara sighed. “Do you really think it’s safe to stay here?”

  Xanthus pulled her onto his lap. “It’s safe, Mou. My brother’s no match for me.”

  “He mentione
d your bride. Were you married before?” Sara’s face felt warm and she knew she was blushing.

  Xanthus smiled as he caressed her cheek. “I was engaged many years ago. It didn’t work out.”

  “You don’t think Gael can get an army and come back here, do you?” Sara put her hand over his.

  “No, I don’t. In order to tell anyone about you and your mother, Gael would have to admit that he had traveled among the humans without permission. That action carries a death sentence, even for Gael.”

  “But you’re here.” Sara touched his nose.

  He took her finger, pressed it to his lips, and then continued. “King Triton granted me permission. And no one argues with him. That is, unless they have a death wish.”

  “You’re sure I’m safe from your brother?”

  “Sara, you have to trust me. You’re safe from Dagonians for the time being.” Xanthus put the tip of her finger into his mouth and suckled. Sara’s heartbeat quickened and goose pimples broke out over her arms and down her back.

  “Did you love her, the Dagonian woman you wanted to marry?” Sara’s voice hitched.

  “I thought I did. But my feelings for her don’t come close to what I feel for you.” Xanthus looked in Sara’s eyes just before he lifted her wrist to his lips and began to nibble up her arm. The temperature seemed to rise ten degrees in the last few seconds and she began to tremble.

  “You don’t think… that maybe, when I’m not fertile anymore… You don’t think your feelings about me will change, do you?”

  He laid her arm against his chest. “Moro Mou, it’s because I love you that I put myself through this torture. If I didn’t love you, I would keep myself far away from you, away from temptation. I’ll tell you this much, our marriage had better come soon. My self-control is being sorely tested.”

  “It is?” Her voice shook.

  “Oh yes,” he growled. “But, you can trust me not to shame you. I’ll wait until we’ve spoken our vows. Even then, we should still put off our joining. I want you safe inside my castle before you carry my child.”

  “Why don’t… Wait. You live in a castle?”

  “House, fortress, castle… My home is very large and well-protected.”

  “Oh, wow.”

  Xanthus smiled, leaned forward, and pressed his lips down on hers for a moment. As he pulled away, he tugged her bottom lip with his teeth and released it with a smile.

  “What was that for?”

  “I loved the way your lips looked when you said the word ‘wow’. I couldn’t resist taking a taste.”

  “Oh, wow,” Sara said, drawing out the word.

  “Don’t push your luck, Moro Mou. You are still fertile.”

  “Why am I? I thought I was supposed to be for only two weeks. It’s been almost four.”

  Xanthus shrugged. “No female is exactly the same. For some, it lasts a few days and for others, it’s over a month. For most, it’s two weeks. Lucky is the Dagonian who has a wife whose time is longer.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Mmm, although right now, it makes things more difficult for me. Keeping my hands off you takes a concerted effort.”

  “Gael said I didn’t smell as compelling as other females.”

  “He was wrong.” Xanthus shook his head and sighed. “To me, you smell ten times, no more like a hundred times as compelling. In fact, I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me. Other males would lose their senses in the presence of a fertile female and I’ve never had any trouble resisting. Not that they didn’t stir me, but you, Moro Mou, are a constant battle for my self-control and you’ve tested me to my limits.”

  “I’m sorry.” Sara trailed her fingers over his chest. He clasped her hand in his and held it still.

  “There’s no need to be sorry. There’s nothing you can do about it. And once we’re married, it’ll be a good thing. But right now, I could use a good swim, but I won’t leave you and your mother unprotected.” Xanthus sighed. “Maybe I’ll take one of your human cold showers.”

  Her human cold shower. That reminded her, she may not be half-Dagonian after all, but fully human. Actually, she didn’t know what she was. All she knew was that her dad had blue eyes. That pretty much ruled out Dagonian, didn’t it?

  “I’ve grown to like that contraption,” Xanthus said, “and a cold shower is just what I need right now.”

  “Uh-huh.” Sara knew she should tell Xanthus about her dad. Or maybe she shouldn’t. Nicole had to be wrong. Nicole was probably imagining that Sara’s dad had blue eyes because she wanted Sara to have her dad’s eyes. Besides that, her dad had legs. Sara didn’t know what to think of that. Her mom was crazy. That’s what she thought. Sara couldn’t believe anything Nicole said.

  She refused to think about it anymore. She was a Dagonian and that was all there was to it.

  “—Sara, what’s wrong?”

  “Hm?”

  “Sara,” Xanthus’s voice rumbled, “you haven’t heard a word I was saying.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I miss anything important?” Sara yawned and feigned sleepiness.

  Xanthus raised an eyebrow. He didn’t look convinced. “No, nothing terribly important, Mou.”

  “Oh, okay.” She laid her head on his shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired.” Sara wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “You know you can tell me anything, right? There’s no place for secrets between us.”

  “I don’t have any secrets from you.” At least, she hoped not. Please let her mom be wrong. She wanted so much to belong with Xanthus.

  “Okay Mou. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

  “Mm hm.”

  “Let’s get you to bed.” Xanthus cradled her as he stood. She directed him to her bedroom and enjoyed the ride wrapped in his strong arms. Xanthus opened her door, flipped on the switch, and jerked to a stop.

  His eyes widened when he found himself surrounded on all sides by teen posters. Movie stars, music bands, and countless baby-faced boys were plastered like wallpaper across her walls.

  “Oh, um, this is embarrassing,” Sara said. “My mom hung these posters for me years ago. I’ve asked her to take them down over and over again, but she’s always been too busy. And they are out of my reach or I’d take them down myself.”

  Xanthus chuckled. “What have I gotten myself into?” He shook his head.

  “I should have just gotten a broom stick and ripped them down.”

  “Sara…” Xanthus smiled. “So you were a typical teenager. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I do need to know one thing.”

  “What?”

  “If I had a poster made of me, would I be on your wall too?”

  “Baby, if you had a poster made of you, it’d be the only one I’d have. Everyone else would look too ugly hanging next to you.”

  “Good answer.” Xanthus’s smiling mouth descended on her lips.

  He left her room a few minutes later to have his cold shower.