A Mermaid's Ransom (Daughters of Arianne 3)

"And that desire drove you to do whatever was necessary," she murmured. She realized she was still leaning forward into his body, her hands gripping his biceps. His palms were under her elbows. Their bodies formed a quiet, still tent there, and she was reluctant to pull back despite her next words. "Including harm me."

"Take you," he corrected. "I have no desire to hurt you. Beauty and the Beast?" he prompted.

"In a minute. She used up her soul energy? You mean she destroyed her soul to give you that knowledge?"

"Yes. It was a reasonable thing to do. She had no more use for it after death."

Alexis gazed at him. "But what about an afterlife?"

At his puzzled reaction, Alexis realized she wasn't up for a theology discussion, at least not here. She herself had wondered if the Goddess had influence in this desolate place. "Beauty and the Beast is a story, a fairy tale," she repeated. "Did your mother tell you any?"

He shook his head. His expectant look reminded her of the manatees, the way they swam up in the morning when the staff arrived, their bright eyes vividly curious about every small new thing that would be presented to them that day. In their far-too-limited environment, anything different was of value.

"Fairy tales are considered children's stories now," she said, pausing as he moved the hand resting on her hip to her abdomen, idly stroking bare flesh and toying with the navel jewelry. "They were intended to teach people moral lessons. But time has made them more fanciful, more appealing to children. Anyhow, here's the shortened version."

"I want the longer one."

"It's difficult to talk for too long," she said, not without regret. "Hard to breathe."

"Oh. Short is fine, then."

However, because she saw disappointment in his gaze, Alexis spent more time with it than she'd intended. She set up the tale and painted the scenes, even when she had to stop a couple times to get her breath, pressing her forehead to his shoulder again to rest her spinning head. During that time his hands never stopped moving, exploring her. Stroking her hair, learning the shape of her skull. Teasing the curve of her spine, the small of her back. Fingering the scales. It was arousing, but she didn't sense that was his intention. He needed to touch her, which unsettled her further.

"In one version, as the Beast spent time with Beauty, he kept entreating her to marry him, but she couldn't get past his appearance. Not until she realized he was going to die of a broken heart because of her withheld love. Then she realized how much he needed her, and that changed her feelings. She agreed, and when she agreed, his enchantment was broken. She found the Beast was really the Prince who had been speaking to her in her dreams all along, entreating her not to be deceived by appearances." She hesitated at that, then pressed on. "There's another version, where the Beast is a terrible, cranky thing who spares her father's life if she agrees to stay with him. Through her love and kindness, he learns to be a better soul, so that he releases her, rather than hold her captive."

"He gives her up, even though she is what he wants most?"

She nodded. "It's when he releases her that he truly captures her heart."

Dante frowned. "This woman sounds hard to understand."

"The Beast realized, in order to forever keep Beauty, he had to prove her happiness was more important to him than his own. That allowed her to love him back."

"Hmm. Perhaps when the witch releases me, you'll read me the complete versions of the story."

If they brought him back through to rescue her, did he really think they'd just let him go, give him a welcome-to-Earth packet and send him on his way?

Alexis shrank back at the change in his expression, from intrigued listener to forbidding captor. "I wish you'd stop doing that," she said desperately.

He stood up, towering over her. "If they let me out of this world, I will do as I wish. They will regret it if they stand in my way."

"No." If he fought them, Mina and her father might kill him. Or they could end up killing each other. Dante had already proven more resourceful than she was sure Mina had anticipated. Thanks to his mother's willingness to sacrifice her soul to give her son her schooled intelligence, he was no mindless Dark One driven by bloodlust.

She cursed her inability to stand on human legs, hated being trapped in her merform without the propulsion of water. And now, with her wing injured, her ability to fly was hampered. In the face of his anger, it made her feel that much more helpless.

"Take me out of this room," she mumbled, fighting it back. "Please. Show me the garden."

He muttered something vile and sharp, making her flinch when he moved. Turning on the ball of his foot, he strode to the other side of the room. He sat down on the edge of his chair, his body tense, expression dark. "Why would they stop me? They have a whole world. Why would they not let me be?"

"They'll be concerned about what you want to do. Dark Ones are violent killers. You . . ." Knowing she was risking his wrath, she flicked her gaze meaningfully to the circle and the dead female there. "They don't know your intentions. What you want. What do you want to do there, Dante?"

He held that stone-faced posture, except for a quivering through his limbs she recognized as an attempt to restrain his reaction. Her fingers curled into the bedding. Despite his stated desire not to hurt her, she suspected she might be moments away from being torn limb from limb. The danger and fury emanating from him were equal to the task and far more. Her fear for Mina and her father went up several more notches. Maybe Mina was right to think he should be locked in this world.

Alexis drew in a dismayed breath, but she'd won a break. It appeared Dante was not listening to her thoughts while he brooded. Maybe he didn't have a Rewind button on her brain.

Apparently he was doing more than thinking. The door opened, bringing a surge of fear with it, but the Dark One that skulked in kept his head down, scuttling to the middle of the room without lifting it.

"As you wish, my lord," he rasped. Grasping the dead female, he hefted her onto his back while Alexis closed her eyes, said another prayer. Then the door closed and the Dark One and Dante's victim were gone.

As the short waft of air from the outside overpowered her senses for a suffocating minute, Lex felt something from Dante to balance it. Even though his emotions continued to fight like rabid dogs over what she'd told him, he was hoping the woman's removal made her feel better. While she wanted him to regret the act itself, not its effect on her, she had to pick her battles.

"Dante. You promised to show me your garden. Will you please show it to me?" She was just going to have to accept the quavering in her voice as something outside of her control. She was lucky the nervous spasms of her whole body had settled down to an every-few-minutes cycle, rather than a continuous knocking that made her teeth chatter.

Several long seconds passed. While she wasn't sure he'd heard her, she lacked the courage to ask the question again. Instead, she listened to the muted but constant roaring noise coming from outside the tower. Perhaps it was the combination of fire and wind, occasionally punctuated by a keening shriek or terrible snarl, the day-to-day of the hate-and rage-filled creatures here.

He wasn't all hatred and rage. He was exuding a terrifying level of it right now, yes, but there was that other quality to him. So far, it had helped her stay calm and maintain a thread of hope, while the rest of her feelings were a monotonous circle, the pacing of a trapped animal, anxiety continuing to spiral.

She firmed her chin, straightened her spine. "Dante?"

Slowly, his focus returned to her.

"Please. Your garden? Show it to me?"

Nine