would have cast her aside - females never left the nymphs. Correction: females rarely left the nymphs - and would not wish to help the nymphs in any way if they had.
"Tell us what you know of them," Valerian demanded. "Please."
Kreja smiled, smug. "A please from your lips...irresistible. They were given to us by the gods," she said. "Therefore, they belong to us."
A young girl pushed her way through the masses. Kreja grabbed for her, saying, "Lily, no!" but the child squirmed for freedom and rather than hurt her, the queen let her go.
She approached, spear in hand, eyes wide. "Pretty," she breathed, gaze locked on Dorian, an irreverent dark-haired warrior who preferred variety over quality.
"As are you." He winked at her indulgently. "Perhaps we'll meet again in a few years."
The queen watched the exchange, looking both proud that the girl was brave enough to approach the warriors and worried for her safety. As if the nymphs would ever harm a child.
"I'm old enough to have a slave," the girl called Lily said, chin lifting. "His name is Brand the dragon. I made him wash my clothes and fetch my breakfast this morning. I could talk to my mother about keeping you instead."
His lips twitched. Even Shivawn smiled at that. "No, thanks," Dorian said. "Perhaps another time."
"Lily!" Kreja shouted, and the little girl jumped.
"Until then," she said, turning and running back to the females. Instantly they absorbed her into their midst, leaving no sign of her presence.
A muscle ticked below Valerian's eyes. "Where are you harboring the men? They have information we need," he said, returning everyone to the business at hand.
"Information I now have. Information I will share only because I have every intention of demanding payment for it one day. You worry for your missing soldiers, I presume. They were taken to an island, far from us," she said. "They told me of sun, moon and sand, where mers swam and the gods could freely exercise their power. Something they did often, testing the warriors mercilessly. Both nymphs were alive when the vampire, Zane, and the dragon, Brand, were brought to me."
Valerian glanced at Shivawn with dread before refocusing on the queen. "What island?"
"They did not know."
"You realize the dragon and vampire armies will come after you if you keep those men, yes?"
"Yes." She grinned with relish. "Let them come. Amazons enjoy combat, if you hadn't heard."
"I am ally to both. Should they ask me, I will fight at their side and do all in my power to bring you down."
Rather than frighten her, the boast merely intensified her giddiness. She sent an eager gaze over the army. "Out of fond remembrance of our week together all those years ago, I will warn you not to try."
So they had been lovers. Curious, Shivawn thought. Before settling into their current residence, the nymphs had wandered Atlantis from palace to palace, race to race, taking their pleasure wherever they found it but never remaining in one place for long. The Amazons, however, they had always avoided. They didn't desire companions; they desired slaves. For a time. It wasn't in a nymph's nature to submit. Well, not outside the bedroom.
"One youthful mistake," Valerian said on a sigh. "I will do what I must, Kreja, memories or no."
She smiled. "You always do. Do it, then. Fight us. Mating season soon approaches." A horn sounded in the distance, and all of the Amazons stiffened. Frowning, the queen glanced behind her as the horn echoed once more. "Until we meet again..." What that, she and her followers stepped backward in unison and simply disappeared.
"Alyssa," Shivawn said.
Realizing what he wanted, she gripped him all the tighter and flew him to the top of the cliff. Down, down he looked. The women had stepped off the cliff and into a churning lake. They made a splash when they hit, then surfaced and swam to shore, waving coyly up at him.
"First they challenge you, and then they run," she muttered. "What odd creatures."
They floated back down, and Valerian sighed. "Where could this island of sun and moon and mers - " He pressed his lips together, head tilting to the side. "Wait. I know where it might be. Come with me."
As quickly as their centaurs would allow, they traveled to the nymph palace. Valerian's queen was waiting for him when they arrived. The nymph king dismounted and ran to his pale moonbeam, swinging her around while she kissed his face.
Alyssa bit Shivawn's shoulder, an action of possession,