Risky as it was, he couldn't help but feel damned pleased at the idea of making things happen with the angel who could bring him to his knees with a single kiss.
Self-preservation? Fuck it. He was going in, and he did nothing halfway.
Chapter Five
Alice's heart began to race as she saw Ian dive through the waves in pursuit of her, his powerful body breaking through the whitecaps with minimal effort. Just like before, the mere anticipation of his nearness sent waves of awareness and desire rushing through her...along with a sense of danger.
He was too determined, and the look on Ry's face was too arrogant as he followed Ian through the waves. She didn't know what they wanted from her, but she knew she couldn't afford it.
She quickly turned her back on them and moved to the edge of the rock, scanning the surface of the ocean for the bumps that were too sleek and too misty to be natural. The pearl was secure in her pocket, still hidden there despite all that had happened since she'd thrown herself into the water.
The Mageaan had known she was in the ocean. They'd tried to kill her, which meant they were nearby, or they had been at least. Were they still around? Trying to ignore the sound of Ian getting closer to her, Alice inched toward the edge of the rock.
She quickly unzipped her pocket and removed the pearl. Glittering streaks of red, orange, crimson, and silver sliced across its surface, like the clouds at sunset on the eve of a hurricane. "Please let this work," she whispered. It was such a risk to reveal that she had the pearl. To give it away was to surrender the one safeguard she had against an eternity of hell, against the future that Ian seemed to be pushing her towards.
But without the help of the creatures in the water below, she had no chance to find Catherine. The Mageaan owned the oceans. They knew everything and everyone that passed through their waters. They would know where Catherine was, but they would never reveal it to an outsider. Not to someone who represented all they had lost…unless she had something to offer them that was more than they could resist.
The pearl was that item. She might be able to convince the Mageaan to trade information for the jewel. Of course, once she reached Catherine… A cold chill rippled through her. How would she accomplish that without Flynn? She couldn't manage by herself what needed to be done.
No. She couldn't worry about that now. None of it mattered if she couldn't find Catherine in the first place, and the Mageaan were the only ones who would know how to find the hidden lair that was obscured by magic and spells, so that no one could find it. No one knew where it was except the man who had created it, and those who haunted the ocean.
She carefully held the pearl up between her thumb and index finger so that the moon's blue-green rays seemed to refract through it, bringing it to life. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Ian was almost to the rock, his muscled shoulders churning powerfully through the whitecaps as he neared.
Alice quickly extended her hand out over the ocean. It was risky, exposing it like that, but she was over a hundred feet above the water. The Mageaan were ocean-bound, and they would not be able to steal it from her up here. "I have one of the Pearls of Lycanth," she shouted. "I will trade it for your help!" The wind seemed to strip the words from her mouth and thrust them out across the water, reverberating again and again. "You can have it," she yelled, even as fear rippled through her at the idea of giving it up. "I will offer it freely!"
A haunted call sounded across the ocean, making the hairs on her arms stand up. Faint drifts of mist formed on the horizon. Excitement shot through her. Was that the Mageaan? "I have the pearl," she yelled again, holding it out for them to see. "It's genuine. I'll trade it for your help!"
The mist swirled closer and thicker, the water churned more violently, and the wind began to howl. Her hair slashed her cheeks, her clothes snapped in the gusts. On the edges of the wind, Alice thought she heard the sound of a woman screaming. Dozens of women