Moon Borne (Halcyon Romance Series Book 1) (6 page)

Cook confirmed this by arming each hand with a long, sharp knife. “Time for some dicing and slicing, lass.” He winked at her once more, then sidled past her into the corridor.

The disheveled and odorous crew filled the passage. Swept up with them, Kyme surfaced onto the upper deck. Another vessel drifted beside the
Adrasteia
. They were under attack? Rather than cowering, the slaver’s men grinned as though eager and ready for blood. She recalled what the slaver had told her about his ship. Humans couldn’t be the ones attacking because the vessel was invisible to them. It must be some other race.

She inhaled and absorbed the energy of the sailors. After the tension of this past week, she craved a dose of fighting.

“Lamiae!” a crewman shouted. The proclamation was followed by a series of curses from the sailors on board. “Bloody, blood-sucking, cursed demons.”

She paid them no heed. She’d fought Lamiae before. Thankfully, as Kyme was female, she wasn’t their primary target.

Even so, she paused as she caught sight of dozens of graceful, seductive beings adorning the attacking ship. Heavily painted and garbed in vibrantly-hued flowing silk dresses, they could have passed for any brothel’s selection of harlots. They were pale and lovely, making it easy to forget they had come to bed the young men and drain them of their blood.

Kyme had no male parts and her distraction quickly passed. She scanned the decks and spotted the slaver racing toward his cabin. With a ship about to go into battle, why should he care where she was? Her heart skipped a beat before she gained control of its rhythm and wove through the men to the cabin. She arrived just in time to receive the slaver’s cold glare.

“What are you doing out?” The relief in his eyes darkened to irritation.

“Relax, slaver. I’m not about to swim fifty miles to the shore. I simply required some air.” She crossed her arms and returned his scowl. “Especially after the
opium
you gave me.”

***

“Not the swim I was concerned about.” Arsenius attempted to stay the irrational panic in his gut. “I’ve got a lot of lusty sailors on board. I don’t need you prancing about, distracting them.” He lowered his voice. “And nullifying your value to me.” He fought for control while Kyme huffed at him.

Thereus charged up the stairs. “What’s the command, Captain?” His words were tame enough, his admiring expression as he eyed Kyme was not. The two of them grinned at each other. A twinge of something Arsenius didn’t recognize, mayhap jealousy, went through him like an electric shock.

Arsenius unclenched his fists. “Ready the men. No one beds any of them. Destroy those whores.” He gave a curt nod to Thereus. To Kyme he ordered, “Go inside the cabin and this time stay there.”

“No. I’ve been locked up far too long, and I’m not missing out on the amusement.” She slipped behind him into the cabin, and marched up to him a moment later bearing a pair of eighteen-inch-long swords. “Perfect.”

He almost relented at how sweetly she smiled at him, but instead blocked the doorway. “What do you presume you’ll be doing with those?”

“Be thankful it’s not your throat I seek to slit, slaver.”

He crossed his arms and planted his feet apart, filling out to his full size. “Go to the bed and wait for me.”
Gods, wrong choice of words.

“While I appreciate the offer, I’m afraid I must decline. I crave blood first.”

His attempt to intimidate her into submission failed horribly. She rose on the tips of her toes. With a spark in her eyes, she placed her hand on his chest and smoothed her palm to rest on his forearm. He swallowed hard and cursed his limbs for refusing to stop her from shoving past him.

“Hell, yes!” Thereus exclaimed at Kyme’s knives. Arsenius silenced him with a deadly glare.

The first of the creatures launched onto his ship. He unsheathed his sword and leapt down onto the lower deck. His frenzy was not upon him, not yet. The thundering of his heart in his ears overpowered the din of the fighting. He wasn’t sure how long he had, but he wouldn’t abandon his men until he was forced to. The chains on the mainmast taunted him, sending an icy reminder down his spine. Gods help them all should his frenzy overtake him before he made it to the chains. Violence didn’t discriminate.

With ease, he beheaded two of the creatures, averting his gaze from their blood. He took a moment to steady himself, and as soon as his pulse was calm enough, he sliced through the attackers, clearing a path to Kyme.

Lamiae. He detested these creatures. They were hideous even in their beauty. A great pleasure to rid this realm of a few dozen more of them.

He grimaced as one of his men, Timon, succumbed to a Lamia’s entrancing song, his eyes glazing over. Without hesitation, Arsenius sliced his sword through them both. The male wouldn’t have survived anyway. Better a swift death than the lingering agony he would have suffered.

After pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow, he blinked and found himself staring into the pool of his fallen crewman’s blood. The coppery scent and the crimson in his vision dragged him to his knees. His frenzy fed on carnage. The beast inside him waged for control.

Clutching his head in his hands, he rubbed his eyes.
Must not yield.
Not when he didn’t know how Kyme was faring. He checked his right arm. No markings yet. He could control this. He hoped.

Arsenius scrambled to his feet and continued cutting a path through his foes, barely focusing on the task at hand, so eagerly was he searching for the Amazon.

At last, he was close enough to spot her. Like a wave crashing upon the shore, his frenzy washed over him, and…dissolved. Kyme was more than safe. She was in her element.

His breath froze in his lungs while a Lamia hissed and lashed out at Kyme with her claws. The Amazon leapt backward to avoid the blow and used the motion to propel herself in a flip. She landed with her legs wide and low to the ground. Twisting her body around, she sliced through the skirts of another opponent. The creature crashed to the deck, screeching. Kyme rose and spun to pierce the first in the stomach with her other sword. As the she-devil sank, Kyme strode to the second and stabbed her in the heart.

His breath caught up with him, his pulse no longer raced. Damn, she was fast. If he hired females on his crew, he’d choose her in a heartbeat. She wielded her small size and speed to her advantage. As she hacked through the creatures, she never gave them the chance to retaliate. Her swords slashed with both artistry and calculation. Her canvas was the Lamiae, her paint their blood.

He’d always relied on his strength; he’d never considered smaller, weaker enemies to pose any threat to him, before. It did raise the question of why she hadn’t attacked him. Yet.

With his focus targeted on her, Arsenius barely paid any heed to his opponents. His hands performed mechanically as he snapped the neck of one Lamia. He didn’t recall the last time he’d fought with such serenity. Mayhap his frenzy wouldn’t make an appearance. He’d be damned if he understood why Kyme was the cause of its retreat.

Metal flashed and caught in the sun. Crimson rained down. It wasn’t long before they destroyed the creatures who had foolishly ventured onto his ship. Arsenius kicked at a corpse in disgust. When possible, he preferred to fight aboard the enemy ship—less to clean up once he conquered them.

As he opened his mouth to give the command for his crew to board the other vessel and commence the takeover, he spotted a figure climbing the mast. Gripping her two swords and a rope, Kyme swung to the Lamiae ship and continued her slaughter there.

“Kyme!” Arsenius cursed. She should not have gone first, stubborn female. He scaled the mast and vaulted off it, landing in a crouch beside her. “You might…have waited…for my command,
Amazone
,” he grated between slashes of his sword while he rose.

“You were taking too long,” she countered, thrusting a blade into the belly of a succubus.

“Lovely afternoon, isn’t it?” Thereus planted himself next to Arsenius, so that they formed a nice, tight circle of death. The crowd of Lamiae thinned, leaving the three of them with nothing but air to slice.

Thereus slapped a hand on Kyme’s shoulder. “Nice work, my Amazon friend, but you might have left a few more for the rest of us.” His deep laughter bellowed, and even Arsenius managed to grin.

“Don’t suppose you’d consider a promotion to captain?” Arsenius tipped his head toward the captain’s quarters.

Thereus’s jovial grin shifted into a somber one. “Nay, Captain. I’ll be staying with you.”

“Can’t get rid of you, can I?”

“Not for a Caravel, sir.”

Ever since he’d saved the centaur’s life, the bugger had refused to depart his side. Arsenius had tried almost everything, but Thereus’s loyalty was unshakeable. He shook his head at his unworthiness of such a loyal comrade. Hell, he didn’t deserve any friends. Still, the centaur’s skills had come in handy too many times to count, so he didn’t complain.

“Tidy up then, first mate.” He clapped Thereus on his shoulder and spun to climb one of the masts, but froze as he caught sight of its flag. Swaying in the slight breeze, the ivory banner displayed an image of a daffodil.

Thereus followed his gaze. “What do you think that means?”

“Damned if I know.” He shrugged off Thereus’s question. That symbol belonged to his buyer, but mayhap it was just a coincidence.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Kyme, kneeling and stabbing her swords into the deck. After rising with the stealth of a leopard, she sprinted with long, quick strides and threw herself off the ship in a masterful swan dive.

Arsenius was one second behind her, flinging himself into the ocean. Surfacing, he scanned the waters until he locked on his target. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Damn, he sounded far too possessive for his liking.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m covered in blood,” she called over her shoulder before diving under.

He clenched his jaw at her retreating form. She might have dismissed him, but, bloody hell, he wasn’t finished with her yet.

Chapter 6

Kyme’s ire, which had been momentarily quelled by the battle, flared again. She wasn’t used to answering to anyone, other than her commander. After a good fight, no one ever questioned her actions or demanded to know where she was. The knot in her gut that had twisted since her capture tightened.

Was this how it would feel to be a slave? To never savor freedom again? She’d rather die. Give her a warrior’s death and she would rest happily in Elysium. But the life of a slave? Considering her near immortality, it would be a very long indenture indeed.

She craved nothing more at this moment than to retrieve her swords and slice the slaver open. Ignoring her straining lungs, she dove even deeper. The icy water stung her body but cleared her mind. She forced her thundering pulse to calm. Killing the slaver would achieve nothing except burying forever the identity of the one pulling his strings.

Her reasoning sobered her enough that as she surfaced, she had removed the malice from her heart. Most of it.

The second she lifted her gaze and spotted him swimming toward her, an unfamiliar ache flared in her core. Forbidden longing fanned through her body and burrowed into her heart.

Son of Ares, you are breathtaking.
Those muscles were rippling and bulging from the after-effects of the fight. He appeared even larger. His grey eyes were fierce, smoldering like the banked embers of a fire.

Her lust for blood was sated, her lust for him not even close. While she surveyed him, a most unwelcome hunger consumed her being. Gods, but the male was perfection. Never had she been so tempted.

Battles always left her a little amorous. She’d learned to temper her unbidden, dangerous passion with purposeful activities. Like sharpening swords, or as now, washing in cold water. Unfortunately, even the cool spring waters of the Aegean Sea weren’t enough to compete with the heat one look from the slaver flared within her.

Unwilling to hand him any control, she dove under and swam to the
Adrasteia
. As she grasped the ladder, the hairs on her neck rose. Slowly, she twisted around. Placing one arm on either side of her, above her head, he embraced her with the heat of his body. He closed the distance between them, forcing her against the ship’s hull.

His fiercely intent gaze burned into her. As he tilted his head, his mouth inched toward hers. Would he kiss her? She ran her tongue along her bottom lip. She’d never been kissed; her vow ensured she’d never had the chance.

A tremble coursed through her, and she cursed herself for being so weak.
Cowardly in the allurement of this glorious male.

Their faces mere inches apart, she could almost taste him. All she need do was press forward a fraction and those sultry wet lips would be upon hers. Would his kiss be brutal and hard, or soft and gentle? Of exploration or claiming? The frenzied fever inside Kyme tore through her, and still she quivered. Sweet Artemis, how she yearned for his kiss, yet how terrified she was of her desire.

She closed her eyes and prayed he would make the decision for her. He seemed to know exactly the game he played. If only he would let her in on the rules.