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The woman sitting beside him was as stunning in human form as she was in her siren’s skin. Her creamy pale skin glowed with a healthy sheen, no longer a cross between a corpse and a fish. Her eyes, even from the side, caught the light of the moon and shimmered a radiant green. Shimmered, like the lucky strands of her fiery red hair plaited in a simple braid over her shoulder.

The unexpected sight struck him deep in the chest, robbing him of his next breath. He dug his fingers into his knees in a poor attempt to ground himself. Aria had always been a beauty. She was a demigod, after all. But her beauty was something beyond natural. Beyond divine.

The awe and pain he felt was so strikingly raw she might as well have dug her claws through his sternum and ripped his heart out all over again. It was a stark reminder of why the prince of Alamari fell for her all those years ago when she made the deal with the eight-legged whelp of a witch and a human wizard. Aria didn’t need her voice to woo the human. Then again, the princeling needed little to be wooed aside from a pretty face, lush breasts, and a place to warm his cock. Caspian could never bring himself to ask whether Aria had given herself to the beast beneath the crown. The jealousy that roused whenever he thought of the two of them together had been crippling, sickening. He could handle her with another merman, someone who would respect her and treat her like the princess she was.

That person was never Prince Jethro. King Jethro, now.

Her profile glowed like an ethereal being come to grace his cavern. It took him longer than he cared to admit to regain his composure and control of the conversation.

“Why did you come here, Aria? What have you engaged in with Dima?”

Aria lowered her head, her fingers tangling in her lap, that blasted bracelet a blistering reminder that, again, she wasn’t hereforhim, but tousehim. “Would you believe me if I told you I wanted to come here before Dima came to my mother’s kingdom?” Hesitation resonated in her every move until she finally looked up at him with saddened eyes. “That I wanted to reconcile?”

He thought about that for a moment before shaking his head. “No. I wouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because, princess, ten years is a long time to decide to reconcile differences. It’s an awfully long time to hold a grudge. I let the past go many years ago.”

“That’s why you remain here? In Alamari, of all places?” She flung a hand to the cliffside and beyond. “That castle perched up on the top of the hill there isn’t a constant reminder of why our friendship ended? Your dealings with the very king who threatened our people, our race, isn’t a thorn in your side? Evidence of the evil that lurks above the surface of the water?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand how you could let something go years ago, yet insist on remaining in the dark heart that is the very root of all our troubles. Many might consider you a traitor.”

“Pity.” He drew out the word and forced a tight smile. “There is more to my decision to stay in Alamari than you obviously are aware of. Jumping to conclusions is never a safe tactic, don’t you agree?”

An endearing flush brushed over her cheeks. Her luminescent gaze widened, those lush pink lips parting on a soft gasp. Caspian quirked a brow in question before shrugging.

“Must I remind you that I tried to warn you of Jethro’s intentions? That he was seeking you for nothing more than your beauty and would have had you executed the moment you were of no use to him, as he had with his previous mistresses? Did I not try to warn you of what I saw him engage in, the ruthless torture of animals, humans, and creatures alike? Did I not warn you that should your true identity become known, you would be in peril?” He straightened his back and rolled his shoulders. “You insisted I was a jealous imbecile. That I knew nothing. That I couldn’t know what true love was because I didn’t have the mind to care about settling down. I knew nothing because I was a foolish boy prince who thought playing a simpleton was my answer to the problems I didn’t want to face.

“Little did you know, princess, that I walked these streets with you. I watched the horrors Jethro enforced behind the closed doors you were forbidden to pass through. I saw the blood and the bones and the flayed skin. I saw more than you will ever know.”

Her eyes narrowed on him. “How is that so, Casp? You said you never came on land before.”

He raised a finger. “Ah.” And wagged it back and forth. “That particular admission came long before your rendezvous with the darling Jethro. You were my friend, Aria. My dearest friend. Of course I’d check into a man, a mortal at that, whom you claimed to love. You didn’t like the information I returned with, is all. And you didn’t give my news much heed, casting it in my face.”

Aria’s shoulders slumped and she turned back to the ocean.

“So, tell me, why would I believe you seek me out now to reconcile if it were not for your benefit in what I believe is a very dangerous game? Why don’t we forego the pleasantries and get right down to the truth.”

“Why did you come back to Alamari?” she asked.

“Answer my question first.”

If she knotted her fingers any more, they’d certainly break at the joints.

“I honestly don’t know when she arrived, only that one night, we were watching a vocal performance and toward the end, our castle crumbled like the ocean floor shifted violently. Her trident vanished from her hand and waterspouts erupted from the ground, separating us. I tried to escape, but Dima caught me. She gave me one chance to save my family. I had seven days to return you to her.”

“What happens to your family if you fail?”

“She has them confined, surrounded by sharks.”

Caspian snorted. “Sharks might be a desired demise if Dima gets what she wants.”

“What do you mean? How could death by sharks be desired?”

“Trust me, princess. Dima’s promises of release from one hell will result in capture and torture on a new level. You think Jethro is bad? Mix magic into the punishment.”

“I don’t understand. What is it she wants with you? And why my family?”

“Okay.” Caspian laughed briefly, earning a less-than-impressed glower from his two-legged sea goddess. “You really shouldn’t have to ask that second question. Your mother is a goddess. What better leverage than bartering for the life of a deity? The power of a deity? But your initial question? That answer is very convoluted and a topic I’d rather steer away from.” He kicked the cliff’s side with his heels. “At its simplest, I possess magic and power. It’s apparent she wants it.”