that it might not hold forever. I also had the location wiped from my mind, in case the unthinkable happened and I was tortured into revealing the hiding spot.”
“Tortured?” Willa croaked the word.
“There is at least one who would love to get her hands on the trident. Reva. If our existence was ever uncovered…” Aurele glanced at Max. “Well, as you can see, it has been.”
Max firmed his jaw. “Nothing that’s been said here will leave this room.”
“I know. You’re Grayson’s boy. That alone is enough to make me trust you. Beyond that, I can see the light of honesty and justice in your eyes. You’re a good, honorable man. But there are those with far less admirable qualities. They’re the reason I commissioned the mind sweeper to work his magic on Willa, as well as implant the fear of water into her psyche. As long as she never steps foot into the ocean, Reva’s sympathizers will remain clueless of Willa’s existence.”
Aw shit.
His expression must have given him away because Aurele frowned and demanded to know what was wrong. He scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “I pulled Willa out of the Atlantic. It’s how we met.”
Aurele’s complexion went whiter than a sheet. Her gaze veered to Willa. “B-but that’s impossible. Your fear would have prevented you from even approaching the ocean.”
“The leviathan,” Willa whispered before blinking. “I heard it calling my name.”
Lines of strain pinched tight around Aurele’s lips. “What leviathan?”
A bolt of electricity shot down Max’s spine, the sensation eerily similar to those he experienced while in his shark skin, cautioning of danger ahead. He’d felt this precise current moments before spotting Willa and her captor the other day. “Are you talking about the leviathan that took you?”
“What do you mean the leviathan who took her?” Aurele demanded.
Max recounted the series of events leading up to the present. Aurele swayed for a moment before lowering herself onto the couch cushion. “I don’t understand how this happened. The leviathans shouldn’t be aware of Willa’s existence, much less have been able to lure her into their domain.”
Willa’s gulp drew his and Aurele’s attention. “What if…?” Willa stopped and sucked in a deep breath, expelling it slowly. “What if it wasn’t the first time I was in a leviathan’s domain?”
Chapter Thirteen
“Please God, tell me that’s a hypothetical question.”
Willa met Aurele’s pleading stare. “Uh…no.” She shifted her focus to Max, who was gaping at her like she’d just beaned him with a two-by-four. “A few days ago, a friend of mine got into a bit of a pickle.”
Max’s eyes became slitted, reminding her of a shark. Oh yeah. He was. Duh. “What kind of trouble?”
“The leviathan contracted her soul and spirited her away to purgatory.”
He grunted. “Yep. You could say that’s a hell of a pickle.”
“Anyway, I went there. To purgatory, I mean. And let me tell you, that place sucks.”
“Oh dear.” Aurele rocked back and forth, fussing with the hem of her cardigan. “This isn’t good at all.”
“What I don’t understand is how the damn ugly beast was able to call Willa by name. How would it even know who she was?”
“At the core of their DNA, they’re soul collectors. Not all leviathans take that path, but they’re born with the necessary tools for the trade. One of those tools is the ability to read the blueprints on every soul that crosses its path.”
Willa gaped at Aurele. “Our souls come with freaking blueprints?”
“In a manner of speaking. Obviously this leviathan became curious about you. Enough to scan your soul and learn your identity.” Aurele’s fidgeting increased and she gave a low, plaintive moan. “I prayed this day would never come. Little good that did.”
“Okay, so a few leviathans know about Willa. The only way they’ll get to her is over my dead body.”
Looking at Max—oh so big, bad and buff—it was easy to imagine him defending her to the death. But the idea of him actually dying for her? Nope, not something she wanted to contemplate. She’d already lost enough of her loved ones.
The realization that she equated Max with love gave her pause.
Wow, did she actually…love him? They barely knew each other, for goddess’s sake. Then again, what she did know about Max certainly was enough to touch her heart. Like Aurele said, he was a good, honorable man. He reminded her of her dad, in many ways. Or at least, what she thought she remembered about her father. Obviously her mother had found enough reason to fall in love