Bryce’s head swiveled this way and that, taking it all in. Athalar just kept crackling with lightning.

  “No one’s concerned about who’s on our tail?” Ruhn asked Sendes.

  She halted before another massive window, again pointing. “Why should they be?”

  Ruhn braced his feet as the ship plowed right for a dark, craggy wall rising from the seafloor. But as easy as a bird shifting directions, it pulled up alongside the wall and drifted down—then halted, hovering.

  Ruhn shook his head. “They’ll find us like this.”

  “Look down the body of the ship.”

  Pressing against the glass, Cormac a ballast on his other side, Ruhn obeyed. Where a mammoth ship had been, now … there was only black rock. Nothing else.

  “This ship can become invisible?”

  “Not invisible. Camouflaged.” Sendes smiled with pride. “The Ocean Queen imbued her vessels with many gifts from the seas. This one has a squid’s ability to blend into its surroundings.”

  “But the lights inside—” Tharion started.

  “The glass is one-way. It blocks the light and any glimpse within once the camouflaging is activated.”

  “What about radar?” Ruhn asked. “You might be invisible to the naked eye, but surely the imperial ships would pick you up.”

  Another one of those proud smiles. “Again, the Ocean Queen’s power fuels our ship, not the firstlight that the Omega radar is programmed to pick up. We register no signs of life, either—not even as a whale or a shark might on a radar. We are completely undetectable. To a passing Omega-boat, we are only a cluster of rock.”

  “What if they run into you?” Tharion asked.

  “We can simply drift up or down, to avoid it.” She pointed again. “Here they come.”

  Ruhn’s heart leapt into his throat. Athalar’s lightning snaked along his body once more. Bryce muttered something to him that apparently did nothing to calm the angel down.

  But Ruhn was too busy monitoring the enemy’s approach. Like a wolf stepping from the shadows of a kelp forest, the Omega-boat stalked for the canyon. Its firstlights blared into the dark, broadcasting its location.

  People continued walking past, a few glancing to the enemy closing in, but not paying it much mind.

  What the actual fuck.

  The imperial ship plunged right after them. A wolf on the hunt, indeed.

  “Watch,” Sendes said.

  Ruhn held his breath, as if it’d somehow keep them from detection, as the Omega-boat crept closer. A slow, strategic sweep.

  He could make out the paint along its sides—the imperial insignia flaking off—the slices and dents from previous battles. Along its hull was written, SPQM Faustus.

  “The Faustus,” Tharion breathed, dread in his voice.

  “You know the ship?” Sendes asked him.

  “Heard of it,” Tharion said, monitoring the warship inching past. Utterly unaware of them. “That vessel alone has downed sixteen rebel ships.”

  “At least they sent someone impressive after us this time,” Sendes said.

  Tharion ran a hand through his damp hair, claws retracting. “They’re drifting right by us. This is incredible.”

  Cormac grunted, stirring in Ruhn’s arms, “Does Ophion know about this?”

  Sendes stiffened. “We are not aligned with Ophion.” Thank fuck. Bryce sagged, and Hunt’s lightning dimmed slightly.

  “What about the Asteri? Are they aware of this technology?” Ruhn asked, gesturing to the boat around them, now vanishing into the deep, the Omega-boat blindly passing overhead.

  Sendes continued walking, and they followed her. “No. And given the circumstances under which we found you, I trust you will not pass on the information. Just as we shall keep your presence confidential.”

  You fuck us, we’ll fuck you. “Got it,” Ruhn said, offering a smile that Sendes didn’t return. The ship began drifting farther into the canyon’s depths.

  “Here she is,” Sendes announced as a medwitch came running, a team of three with a stretcher close behind her.

  “Cthona spare me,” Cormac muttered, managing to lift his head. “I don’t need all that.”

  “Yes, you do,” Tharion and Ruhn said together.

  If the medwitch and her team recognized any of them, they didn’t let on. The next few minutes were a flurry of getting Cormac onto the stretcher and bustled to the medical center, with a promise that he’d be out of surgery within an hour and they could see him soon after that.

  Through it all, Bryce kept back with Athalar. Lightning still skimmed over his wings, sparked at his fingertips.

  Calm down, Ruhn said into Athalar’s mind.

  Thunderstorms boomed in answer.

  All right, then.

  The city-ship began sailing along the floor of the canyon, the seabed unusually flat and broad between the towering cliffs. They passed a half-crumbling pillar, and—

  “Are those carvings?” Ruhn asked as Sendes led them back down the hall.

  “Yes,” she said a shade softly. “From long, long ago.”

  Tharion said, “What was down here?” He scanned the passing walls of the canyon floor—all of them carved with strange symbols.

  “This was a highway. Not as you will find above the surface, but a grand avenue the mer once used to swim between great cities.”

  “I never heard of anything out here.”

  “It’s from long ago,” she said again, a bit tightly. Like it was a secret.

  Bryce said from the back, “I used to work in an antiquities gallery, and my boss once brought in a statue from a sunken city. I always thought she was fudging the dates, but she said it was almost fifteen thousand years old. That it came from the original Beneath.” As old as the Asteri—or at least their arrival in Midgard.

  Sendes’s expression remained neutral. “Only the Ocean Queen can verify that.”

  Ruhn peered through the glass again. “So the mer once had a city down here?”

  “We once had many things,” Sendes said.

  Tharion shook his head at Ruhn, a silent warning to lay off the subject. Ruhn nodded back. “Where are we going, exactly?” Ruhn asked instead.

  “I assume you want to rest for a moment. I’m bringing you to private quarters in our barracks.”

  “And from there?” Ruhn dared ask.

  “We need to wait until the Omegas have cleared the area, but once that has happened, we’ll return you wherever you wish.”

  “The mouth of the Istros,” Tharion said. “My people can meet us there.”

  “Very well. We shall likely arrive at dawn, given our need for secrecy.”

  “Get me a radio and I’ll put out a coded signal.”

  She nodded, and Ruhn admired the mers’ innate trust in one another. Would she have so easily let him use a radio to contact anyone beyond this ship? He doubted it.

  But Bryce halted at the hallway intersection. Glanced at Hunt before saying to Sendes, “You mind if me and my glowing friend here go into the biodome for a while?”

  Sendes warily considered Hunt. “I’ll close it to the public temporarily. As long as he does no harm in there.”

  Hunt bared his teeth, but Bryce smiled tightly. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

  Sendes’s gaze drifted down to the scar on her chest. “When you are done, ask for Barracks Six, and someone will point you that way.”

  “Thanks,” Bryce said, then pivoted to Ruhn and Tharion. “Stay out of trouble.”

  “You too,” Ruhn said, arching a brow.

  Then Bryce was walking toward the lush biodome, Hunt trailing, lightning in his wake.

  Sendes pulled a radio from her pocket. “Clear the biodome and seal off its doors.”

  Ruhn started. “What?”

  Sendes continued onward, boots clicking on the tiled floors. “I think she and the angel should have a little privacy, don’t you?”

  46

  There was only his power, and Bryce. The rest of the world had become an array of threats to her.

  Hunt had the vague notion of being brought onto an enormous mer ship. Of talking with its commander, and noticing the people and the Omega-boat and Cormac being wheeled off.

  His mind had drifted, riding some storm without end, his magic screaming to be unleashed. He’d ascended into this plane of existence, of primal savagery, the moment the Hind had appeared. He knew he had to take her out, if it meant getting Bryce to safety. Had decided that it didn’t matter if Danaan or Cormac or Tharion got cooked in the process.

  He couldn’t turn away from that precipice.

  Even as Bryce walked down a quiet, warm hallway toward a lush forest—pines and ferns and flowers; birds and butterflies of every color; little streams and waterfalls—he couldn’t settle.

  He needed his magic out, needed to scream his wrath and then hold her and know she was fine, they were fine—

  He followed Bryce into the greenery, across a trickling stream. It was dim in here, mist curling along the floor. Like they’d walked into some ancient garden at the dawn of the world.

  She halted in a small clearing, the floor covered with moss and small, white flowers shaped like stars. She turned to him, her eyes glowing. His cock stirred at the glittering intent in them.

  Her lips curved upward, knowing and taunting. Without saying a word, she lifted her soaked T-shirt over her head. Another second and her purple lace bra was gone too.

  The world, the garden, vanished at the sight of her full breasts, dusk-rose nipples already peaked. His mouth watered.

  She unfastened her pants. Her shoes. And then she was shimmying out of her purple underwear.

  She stood totally naked before him. Hunt’s heart pounded so wildly he thought it’d burst from his chest.

  She was so beautiful. Every lush line, every gleaming inch of skin, her beckoning sex—

  “Your turn,” she said huskily.

  His magic howling, begging, Hunt had the vague sense of his fingers removing his clothes and shoes. He didn’t care that he was already fully at attention. Only cared that her eyes dipped to his cock and a pleased sort of smile graced her mouth.

  Naked, they faced each other in that garden beneath the sea.

  He wanted to please his mate. His beautiful, strong mate. Hunt must have said it aloud, because Bryce said gently, “Yes, Hunt. I’m your mate.” The star on her chest fluttered like an ember sputtering to life. “And you are mine.”

  The words rang through him. His magic burned his veins like acid, and he grunted against it.

  Her eyes softened, like she could sense his pain. She said hoarsely, “I want you to fuck me. Will you do that?”

  Lightning sparked over his wings. “Yes.”

  Bryce ran a hand up her torso, circling the glowing star between her full breasts. His cock throbbed. She took one step toward him, bare feet cushioned by the moss.

  Hunt backed away a step.

  She lifted a brow. “No?”

  “Yes,” he managed to say again. His head cleared a fraction. “This garden …”

  “Closed to the public,” she purred, the star’s light shining through her fingers. She took another step, and Hunt didn’t retreat this time.

  He couldn’t get a breath down. “I …” He swallowed. “My power—”

  She paused a foot from him. The scent of her arousal wrapped invisible fingers around his cock and stroked hard. He shuddered. “Whatever you need to throw at me, Hunt, I can take it.”

  He let out a low groan. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t.” She smiled softly—lovingly. “I trust you.”

  Her fingers brushed over his bare chest, and he shivered again. She closed the distance between them, mouth grazing over his pec—his heart. Hunt’s lightning flared, casting the garden in silver. Bryce lifted her head.

  “Kiss me,” she breathed.

  Hunt’s eyes were pure lightning. His body was pure lightning as Bryce opened her mouth to him and his tongue swept in, tasting of rain and ether.

  His power flowed over her, around her, a million sensual caresses, and she arched into it, gave herself over to it. He palmed her breast, power zapping at her nipple, and she gasped. He drove his tongue deeper, like he’d lap up the sound.

  She knew Hunt needed a way to work off his magic, a way to reassure him that she was safe and his. My beautiful, strong mate, he’d growled as he looked at her naked body.

  His other hand kneaded her ass, pulling her against him, pinning his cock between their bodies. He groaned at the touch of her stomach against him, and she writhed—just enough to drive him wild.

  Lightning danced down her skin, along her hair, and she basked in it. Took it into herself, let herself become it, become him, and let him become her, until they were two souls twining together at the bottom of the sea.

  Bryce had the vague sense of falling through air, through time and space, and then she found herself laid gently, reverently, on the mossy ground. Like even in his need, his fury, he wanted her safe and well. Feeling only pleasure.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, arching into him as she nipped at his lip, sucked on his tongue. More. She needed more. He clamped his teeth on the side of her throat, sucking hard, and she arched again, right as he settled between her legs.

  The brush of his velvety cock against her bare sex had her shaking. Not with fear, but at his closeness, that nothing now lay between them and would never lie between them again.

  He slickened himself with her wetness, his wings twitching. Lightning spiderwebbed on the moss around them, then up the trees overhead.

  “Hunt,” Bryce gasped. They could explore and play later. Right now, when death had been hovering so close, right now she needed him with her, in her. Needed his strength and power and gentleness, needed that smile and humor and love—

  Bryce wrapped a hand around the base of his cock, pumping him once, angling him toward where she was absolutely drenched for him.

  Hunt stilled, though. Gritted his teeth as she pumped the magnificent length of him again. His eyes met hers.

  Only lightning filled them. An avenging god.

  The star on her chest flared, merging with his lightning. He laid a hand atop it. Claiming the star, the light. Claiming her.

  Bryce positioned him at her entrance, panting at the brush of the blunt head of his cock. But she released him. Let him decide whether this was what he wanted. This final bridge between their souls.

  The lightning cleared from his eyes—as if he willed it. As if he wanted her to see the male beneath.

  Pure Hunt. No one and nothing else.

  It was a question, somehow. As if he were showing her every scar and wound, every dark corner. Asking if this—if he—was what she really wanted. Bryce only smiled softly. “I love you,” she whispered. Shuddering, Hunt kissed her and slid home.

  Nothing had ever felt so right.

  Hunt worked himself into her, filling her deliciously, perfectly. With each gentle thrust, each inch gained into her, her light flared brighter. His lightning cracked, over and around them.

  His back flexed beneath her fingers, his wings tucking in tight. His chest heaved in great bellows, pushing against her breasts, the star between them.

  Another inch, another shudder of pleasure. And then he slid out. And out. And out.

  His tongue flicked against hers as he slammed back, right to the hilt. Light spilled from her like an overflowing cup, rippling across the forest floor.

  Bryce clawed at his back, his neck, and Hunt’s teeth found her breast, clamping down. She went wild, hips driving up to meet him, power clashing with power.

  Hunt set a steady, punishing pace, and she laid her hands on his ass just to feel the muscles clenching with each thrust, to feel him pushing into her—

  He claimed her mouth again, and Bryce wrapped her legs around his waist. She moaned as he sank in, and his thrusts turned harder, faster. Lightning and starlight ricocheted between them.

  She needed him wilder. Needed him to release that edge of fear and rage and become her Hunt again. She tightened her legs around him, and flipped them. The world spun, and then she was staring down at him, his cock buried so deep—

  Lightning flowed over his teeth as he panted, all those abs flexing. Gods, he was beautiful. And hers. Utterly hers.

  Bryce lifted her hips, rising off his cock—and then plunged back down. She arched as he kissed the star on her chest. She rose again, a steady, taunting slide, and then impaled herself.

  He snarled against her skin. “Merciless, Quinlan.”

  Close. So close. She rose once more, luxuriating in each inch of his cock, nearly pulling herself from his tip. And as she drove down, she clenched her delicate inner muscles around him.

  Hunt roared, and she was again on her back as he slammed into her. His power flowed over her, filled her, and she was him, and he was her, and then his cock hit that perfect spot deep in her, and the world was only light—

  Release blasted through her, and Bryce might have been laughing, or sobbing, or shouting his name. Hunt rode her through it all, nursing every last drop of pleasure, and then he was moving again, punishing thrusts that sent them sliding across the mossy floor. His wings were a wall of gray above them, his wings were—glowing.

  They filled with iridescent light. He filled with light.

  Bryce reached a hand toward his blazing wings. Her own fingers, her hand, her arm—they radiated the same light. As if they had become filled with power, as if her light had leaked into him, and his into her—

  “Look at you,” he breathed. “Bryce.”

  “Look at us,” she whispered, and lifted up to kiss him. He met her halfway, tongues tangling. His thrusts turned wilder. He was close.

  “I want to go with you,” he said against her mouth. Sounding … almost normal again.

  “Then make it happen,” she said, hand sliding for his balls. His fingers caressed her clit. Began stroking.

  Bryce kneaded his balls, and a shudder went through him. Another. On the third stroke, she squeezed hard, right as lightning streamed from his fingers and—

  She was falling. Had the distant sense of screaming her pleasure to the surface miles above, of an orgasm rocking through her, reducing her mind to rubble. She was vaguely conscious of Hunt pumping into her, spilling into her, over and over—