Bride of the Sea Monster - Eve Langlais Page 0,31

Upon a raised dais, squatted a throne. Sitting on it, wearing a crown of fine coral, his robe toga-style across his muscled chest, sat a man. And by man, I meant that only in the loosest of terms. His bare arms and upper chest glinted with scales. He appeared to have legs, but his bare feet showed off his webbed toes. The fingers curled around his staff were the same.

While he sported the face of a man, rugged-jawed and handsome, his ears ended in points kind of like fins. When he smiled, his teeth were sharp, not flat, reminding me of a shark. It made the fellow’s grin less than reassuring.

“Welcome to Atlantis,” he said.

“Why have I been brought here?” Never show fear. Always inspire it. One of the few things I had taken away from the book I’d studied before becoming a full-time seer. It also told you how to keep people coming back for more readings. Making a steady career out of it. However, it didn’t explain how to stop the visions from overwhelming or failing me when I needed the seeing the most.

“You are Bianca Farseer, correct?”

“Maybe.” While Lucifer always advocated lying, I preferred to hedge.

“Do not play with me, girl. I know who you are.”

“Then why are you asking?” I snapped. Stupid questions tended to irritate me. Especially because I didn’t need to see the future to realize he did it on purpose.

The king smiled. “For the record.”

“How about for the record you explain why I’m here?”

“Your majesty.”

“What?”

“You should address me with the proper rank.”

“You’re not my king.” I only served one dark lord. Kind of.

“But I will be. And soon. You can look to the future and confirm it.”

Problem being, I’d been looking at the king and saw nothing. Not even a wall of water. Just a blank spot where his future should be. “You still haven’t explained why you kidnapped me.”

“Why else but because I need you to tell me about the future.”

People obsessed over knowing. Even as knowing and influencing changed the course of everything and spawned a whole new set of futures.

“What about it?”

“I have need of certain knowledge.”

Now he was hedging. I eyed him and coaxed my power. What kind of future did this guy have anyhow?

My seeing remained quiet.

He beckoned me closer, and I took slow steps mostly because I kept trying to pierce the strange veil that hid him from me.

A shield? It made me think of the wall of water and Ian. Protections to hide the possibilities inside these men from my sight.

I hated it. I reached the dais and climbed the steps. Despite the king being seated, he remained eye-level with me.

“What do you see when you look at me, seer?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you claiming you have no power?”

I shrugged. “Meaning, I see nothing in your future. Sometimes, I have to touch someone to see it.”

He smirked. “Lay hands on me if you think it will help.”

I heard the mockery and ignored it as I reached for his hand resting on the curved edge of ivory. My fingers touched his flesh, and still, I saw nothing.

I frowned. “Your future is hidden.” I waited for him to call me a liar.

Instead, the king chuckled. “So, it does work.”

“What does?”

He tapped the choker around his neck. “A handy treasure to block those who might see too much.”

I blew out a breath. “Now you’re not making any sense. I thought you kidnapped me for my power.”

“I did. But you will use it when I need it. In the meantime, enjoy your new accommodations. Take her back to her cell.” He pointed, and my guards moved forward.

“Like fuck am I going back to that stone box. I’m leaving. Bye-bye.” I ignored the seeing trying to show me all the ways my refusing to listen could go wrong and walked down the steps.

At my back, my vulnerable back, the king of Atlantis said in a low, pleasant tone, “You act as if you have a choice. Look into your own future, and you will see. There is no escape. In a few hours, you’ll be recovering from surgery. Then a few hours after that, Atlantis will sink. And you’d better hope your new lungs can breathe, or it will be a very watery death.”

“I know.” I’d seen it.

15

Killian Kraken: I’m beginning to understand why Great-Great-Granddad ate so many people.

Atlantis had taken Sasha. Whether it was the king who ordered it, or someone else, it didn’t matter. They’d kidnapped my wife in a ploy to