A Mermaid's Ransom (Daughters of Arianne 3)

Dante rose to his feet warily. Was this the witch and Jonah's plan? Kill him down here and make Alexis believe he'd attacked first? Well, nothing was going to stand between him and Alexis. He wanted to see this world, but he needed her eyes to see it. He needed her energy to interpret the meanings of so many things he didn't understand.

"Many fear Hell," Lucifer said at last. "You do not, because you came from a world of chaos, pain with no end, cruelty with no mercy. There is pain and cruelty here, but it all has structure, a purpose. A purpose that serves the Light."

"I fear nothing."

When the dark-winged angel lifted his gaze, Dante thought if he stared into those eyes too long, he might lose himself in a spinning vortex that was desolate and reassuring at once. "Coming here is a soul's worst nightmare, but an answer to their deepest longings as well. They have stained the fabric of their lives so heavily with their misdeeds, they do not know how to become clean. Until they do, the world above is a painful mockery to them." His wings stretched out further, then eased to a fold against his back. His gaze returned to the abyss. "Forget violence and escape while you are here, Dante. Give yourself time to rest. It may be the last sanctuary you find for quite some time."

THE first time Lex surfaced, she learned that Dante and Jonah nearly knocked heads catching her when she collapsed. Jonah had transported her to the third level of Heaven, where Raphael examined her wings, and healed the break. The golden-haired angel treated her other injuries as well, then recommended nourishment and bed rest to regain her strength.

While she lay in a small pool in a sun-drenched room in the Citadel, the body of water large enough that her wings could stretch unencumbered, she passed in and out of consciousness, her languorous body allowing her brief minutes of awareness. The breeze coming from the blue skies outside. The distant choral voices and instruments as the music angels practiced their craft. Snippets of conversation.

Her fingers passed over her bare skin, bathed in the sun's healing rays. The symbols branded into her skin were gone, likely healed by Raphael's skill. Why did that feel like such a loss? She also heard the seawitch talking, perhaps to Jonah or Anna.

"He has changed from two decades ago. He is no longer the scavenger we knew."

Dante. They were talking about Dante. Where was he? Why wasn't he with her? Underneath the beauty and peace surrounding her, it was a disturbing undercurrent, one that made her sleep fitful.

"The decimation of their numbers from the Mountain Battle tipped the natural balance. Nature does not intend the scavenger to be the alpha."

No. Mina was wrong. There was no natural balance in the Dark One world. What if he'd been an alpha all along? What happened to a leader forced to be a slave before he even knew he was a leader, before he knew he had any power at all?

"Dante . . ."

Her mother's hand. "It's all right, love. He's fine. He's been taken somewhere while you get better."

But he needed to be here. With the third mark, could she stretch her empathic gift beyond those in close proximity, sense his moods wherever he was? If he could reach her in her dreams, why couldn't her reach be at least as far? She hit a wall each time she tried, but maybe she should seek a door, or a window. Even a crack . . .

Her effort drove her into unconsciousness again.

Time passed, but she couldn't follow the events that occurred during it. She was floating, no more than a cloud, lost in a haze in her own mind. So it was startling to wake to full consciousness at last in Anna's cottage by the sea.

She thought of it as Anna's cottage, but of course it was the legacy of the daughters of Arianne, a gift from Neptune. Anna had told her more than once it now belonged to her, as the most recent descendant. Lex knew her mother loved the cottage, though, and she preferred her town house. It was fully hers, separate from any legacies with their preconceived notions. As long as she thought of it as An na's cottage, it could be a home away from home, because every space of it was permeated by her mother's loving presence.

She was in human form, in the loft bed. At some point, she must have responded to a murmured request from Anna to shapeshift. Her mother was by her side, and the ocean was a soothing rush of noise outside. She wasn't in that awful place. She was home, the most beautiful, priceless word in the whole world.

"Lex, what is it?" Anna was leaning over her, her hand touching the tears on her daughter's face.

"Where is Dante?"

"Your father thought he should wait for you in Lucifer's realm. It's protected--"

"He put him in Hell?" When Alexis tried to shove back her covers, the world did a violent, erratic somersault. Fortunately, her mother caught her, else she would have ended up on the floor. "He can't be there, Myel. Why did he take him there? He's suffered enough. He--"

"You said it yourself." Anna tried to ease her to a prone position again. "You need to be with him when he transitions to our world. You're the only one who can read and anticipate him. They thought it would be best to put him in an environment where he could do little harm to himself or others, not that he can do that with Mina's spell, but you understand my meaning. Alexis. I may not be as strong as your father, but you are not getting out of this bed until you've sat up for a few minutes. You've been on your back for almost two weeks. Now be still."

Two weeks. Oh, Goddess. He would be going insane. "But Hell? He came from a place like Hell."

"He wasn't put into a redemption chamber, love. He's fine. He's been offered a bath and clothing, blood to nourish him. I sent him the clothes."

Alexis made herself sit up slowly, bracing on the pillows her mother arranged behind her, though her heart continued to thump rapidly. "You've checked on him."

"Often, through your father and David. He's important to you. We all understand that. Your father has more respect for you than you are giving him."

The reproach struck home. But she couldn't relax, not without him near. Watching her, Anna's brow creased. "I've never learned about vampires, but your father and Mina have knowledge of their kind. While vampire-servant relationships are very strong, the bond does allow the servant to travel wherever the Master or Mistress requires them to go, no matter how far it takes them away from the vampire. However, if the Master"--distaste crossed Anna's expression--"does not wish the servant to be away from him, it's possible that displeasure could create the restlessness you feel. We tested it by moving you here. You became far too agitated in the Heavens. When you were brought here, where you are moderately closer to him, you became more calm."

"How is he doing?"

"He's pr

owling like a trapped animal, but he's fine." Anna squeezed her hand. "Mina said you were very lucky. His blood does not bear the poisoned taint of a Dark One. If it had, you would have died almost instantly when you ingested it. Instead, it was the atmosphere of the world itself that has kept you so weak for so long."

Lex forced her mind away from Dante and onto Anna. Hearing the strain in her voice, and feeling the cauldron of emotions behind it, she laced her hand with her mother's. "You convinced Pyel to listen to me. Thank you."

Anna stroked Lex's hair, which Lex realized was brushed into smooth waves that fell over her breasts and down her back. Anna's fingers lingered on her face. "Being a daughter of Arianne often means difficult choices, obstacles to overcome. You're the first one who didn't have to face them right from birth, so I fooled myself into thinking your life would be normal. Much as I don't want to see it, that strange creature has the mark of your destiny on him, whatever part he will play in it."

Her expression darkened, her lips tightening. "The mother in me hates him for causing you fear and pain. But I see what may lie between you. I saw it in the caverns. I suspect your father did, too, which explains the anger he is carrying now, unable to do a thing with it. His Legion has been overworked on the practice fields these past couple of weeks."

Lex stared at her. "Goddess, I love you, Myel."

"And you think you may love him."

It was a simple statement, but it rocked Lex back on her heels. Anna knew as well as Lex that angels only fell in love once. Up until now, there'd been no indication if she would inherit that trait from Jonah, but the fact that Lex couldn't immediately confirm that she wasn't in love with a being she'd known only from dreams and his brutal kidnapping was worrisome.

"I don't know." She swallowed. "I can't . . . I shouldn't even be dwelling on it. He has so much to learn and understand about this world. I have to help him. I can't get bogged down in my personal feelings. I know that."

"Your personal feelings will exist, and be a factor, no matter what."

Lex sighed, freed her hands to rub them over her face. "For so long, I've wanted someone to love me, not just a response induced by my gift. If I was like any other girl who had a first love, or a first date, or a first kiss, I could play all sorts of silly head games and drive myself crazy. But I'm not. I'm not."