Page 15 of Storm and Sea (Storm and Sea Saga #1)

“ W hat do you mean you’re staying?”

Nephi glared at his naive half-brother. It was the first hot morning of the summer, and the parka was sweltering. He wanted to tear it off, but his swollen scars kept it firmly in place.

“I mean exactly what I said; I’m staying,” Nyel said with conviction.

“With him? Didn’t you see what he is?” Nephi shouted, jerking his head to Atreus standing close by.

Nyel chewed his bottom lip.

“I did. And it doesn’t matter, Nephi. I don’t care that Atreus is a… a halfling,” Nyel said, his voice hesitant. “I know what kind of person he is. That’s enough.”

Heat rose high in Nephi’s head, and his stomach filled with acid. He went for a laugh, but it came out as a growl. “So glad a stranger is what convinced you halflings are more than mindless beasts.”

Nyel had the sense to look ashamed.

“I was wrong, Nephi. I was completely wrong about halflings, especially about you. You’ve been hanging around the island to keep an eye on me, and all I’ve done is complain. I’m sorry.”

Nephi didn’t mention that the prospect of running into Ludo—Leo tied him to this town more than his brother.

“What now? Halflings aren’t monsters? Just like that?” he accused, snapping his fingers.

Nephi noticed Atreus flinch at the word monster. The other male was silent for most of the conversation, but Nephi was acutely aware of the way he hovered behind Nyel like a bodyguard.

Protecting him from his own brother. How ridiculous.

“I actually met Atreus!” Nyel shouted, his voice pleading. “I got to know him before I learned what he was. There is no difference between non-mixed and mixed blood. And with you, I…”

Nyel’s gaze paused on the right side of his face. It was a fleeting look but enough for Nephi to catch, even with one working eye.

“All you see is this,” he said, pointing to the mutilation.

“That’s not what I said.”

“You didn’t need to.”

“I didn’t—don’t know who you are, Nephi. Growing up, you were always gone. And every time you came back, you were more and more—” He took a deep breath. “You scared me.”

“That, coupled with mother dearest’s attitude telling you I was the monster hiding under your bed? The one she said would come get you if you didn’t eat all your sea prunes? ”

Nyel grimaced. “Don’t pin this all on her—or me, for that matter. You didn’t try Nephi—not until now, and I still don’t understand why you even bother.”

“I don’t like to leave things unfinished.”

“So you’ve said. But I’ve made my choice. I’m staying.”

“What do I tell mommy-dear?”

“I’ll talk to them. About my choice and about you.”

At this, Nephi stiffened. “What about me?”

“That they are wrong. All of Corallina is wrong. I was wrong. You aren’t what we made you out to be.”

Nephi shifted, uncomfortable, wishing Nyel would say something he could be angry about. “And what if that’s not good enough? What if they still demand you come home?”

“I won’t go.”

“And what’s stopping me from tying you up and dragging you back?”

At this, Atreus raised his shoulders, fists clenched. He sidestepped in front of Nyel. “Try it,” he growled.

Nephi’s body responded, taking a fighting stance out of instinct. He’d love a good rumble in the sand. “You sure you want to try that, Bluey? Remember last time?”

Atreus didn’t back down, which made Nephi want to slam him into the sand all the more.

“Stop it, both of you!” Nyel placed a hand on Atreus’s shoulder. “This isn’t helping.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do then? Leave you in this human death trap?” Nephi pressed.

“You could come with us?” Nyel offered but it came out like a question.

“Nyel, what are you doing?” Atreus hissed, his attention never leaving Nephi.

“He’s my brother. ”

“He’s also a murderer.”

“What—!?” Nyel’s gaze darted between Atreus and his brother, disbelief waring in his eyes.

“How do you think he got those burns?” Atreus accused, jabbing a pointed finger. “He’s been fighting humans—probably killing them, if his lack of respect for the living is anything to go by.”

“You don’t know that. It could have been?—”

“How many Mer do you know can build a fire?”

Nyel’s mouth snapped shut in defeat.

Nephi grinned, showing off his longer-than-usual canines.

So my reputation precedes me. Even this far south.

“It doesn’t matter. He isn’t doing that anymore,” Nyel insisted.

Not by choice, Nephi thought.

“This is a chance for a fresh start—for all of us,” Nyel said, addressing them both. “Let’s start this over.”

“Not likely,” Nephi said, full-heartedly ignoring the small prickle of hope in his brother’s words, tamping it down with decades of bitterness and rage.

Here was the chance to make amends, to fix burned bridges, and to quell with the rage that took permanent residence in his heart. But the injustices of his life flared, and the rage returned. Hot. Familiar. Safe.

“I’ll stick around until you either see sense or the humans kill you. Fuck if I care which happens first.” Atreus let out a low rumbling sound in his chest. “Or maybe this monster will finally snap.” Nephi grinned maliciously. “What do you think, bastard-born?”

Nyel wasn’t fast enough to stop Atreus this time, and Nephi was ready. The Mer attacked, learning from their last encounter and keeping his feet firmly planted.

Clever fish.

But with a solid base and feet stuck in the suctioning sand, Nephi’s opponent was top-heavy. It was too easy to dodge his human-learned punch and headbutt his chin.

Nephi loved how the other males’ teeth clashed as he slammed his jaw shut, sending him toppling to the sand. A wave broke over the beach, half submerging Atreus as he stood. When he found his feet, he was taller, broader, and with flared fins.

That’s it. Show me your Mer.

Atreus dove, moving faster than before despite his size. A stray claw sliced through Nephi’s parka, shredding it in a burst of puffy white cotton. The tattered fabric hung like a rag, exposing his scars.

“Come at me, fucker!” Nephi roared, his glee uncontained.

Nyel shouted something, but Nephi ignored him, eyes locked on his opponent. He could have dove into the surf and transformed, but where was the fun in that? It’d be too easy. He preferred the disadvantage.

“What do you say? First to draw blood?”

Atreus responded with another dive at Nephi, claws raised. Nephi dropped to the sand, rolling on one knee and landing a perfectly timed punch to Atreus’s lower back. Atreus balked, his entire lower half momentarily numb. All Mer had a conjunction of nerves right at the base of the spine, above the tail. And Nephi loved using it. Atreus stumbled as he tried to regain control. It was all the time Nephi needed. He spun, swinging his boot into his opponent’s rib cage.

But as Atreus fell to the sand, he flung his tail, slashing Nephi’s cheek with a barbed fin. Nephi recoiled, feeling warm, sticky blood dripping down his face. He touched it, admiring the beads of red on his fingertips. Maniacal laughter exploded from his throat.

“Well done. Barbed fins, what a weapon. But if you actually knew what to do with them, I’d be cut to ribbons by now.”

Atreus stood as though to strike again, but Nephi held up a hand .

“I honor my word. You’ve bested me.” His gaze lingered on the single blood-tipped barb on Atreus’s tail. “By a scratch.”

He took a second to admire the Mer’s body. Nephi’s Mer form had advantages, but he was a defensive creature, bulky and built to withstand blows. Atreus’s body, with its size and array of natural-born weapons, was an offensive attacker—a predator.

Someone worth keeping around, Nephi mused.

He turned to his brother, who was whiter than before. His eyes followed the thin stream of blood running down Nephi’s neck.

“I will not be a part of your delusional life with these humans.”

If my Pod were here, we’d burn this island to the ground.

“But I’ll be close.”

As Atreus dried and regained his human form, he hissed in frustration at his tattered shirt; only his pants had survived the change.

“Damn it. Leo gave me this,” Atreus lamented.

Nephi was half tempted to ask about the human—about Leo—but he held his tongue.

“Spar me again sometime, Bluey. If the humans don’t kill me, I’ll likely die of boredom,” Nephi said, turning his back to them. He kicked off his boots and tossed aside what was left of his coat.

Diving into the surf, Nephi felt the shallow mark on his cheek knit itself together, the salt of Spuragin —the Spirit of Tides—healing his wound. He crested the surface, showing off his crimson fins before diving below the waves and away from the beach.

Nephi swam the perimeter of the island, noting its rocky cliffs on one side and the bay on the other. A sandbank wrapped the edge of the island, stretching like a crescent moon, protecting the inhabitants from ships. At the tip of the crescent sat a mini island with a single lighthouse at its peak.

Nephi couldn’t explain it, but an unsettled energy hung around Baia Vita. This place had hardly seen any conflict, yet clashing species walked its shores. Corallina, a hidden village, lay below the waves. Right under where these humans fished. How had they managed to remain separate while practically on top of each other?

In the north, Mer and humans lived leagues apart. Oceans stretched between settlements, and yet they sought one another out to fight. The proximity made Nephi’s scales itch from the strangeness and the need to paint these white beaches red.

He thought of Tariq and Dema. Of Giselle and… and Ludomir. What they could do to this place. What they’d done to countless other coastal towns just like this one. The victory it would bring to the Mer.

“We are children of the sea. And we will keep our Mother pure of mankind’s touch. By the salt, we are born, and by the depths, we will fall.”

Nephi could hear Tariq’s voice as he recounted their mantra. It felt more like a prayer. They followed its words, eliminating the parasite one human body at a time. But then…

The fires of hell tasted flesh. Molten agony as scales melted into muscle. Heat so vicious it tore him apart. And the scream… the last scream.

My Ludo.

Nephi was too weak to finish the job. But after they saved him, the rest of the Pod lay waste to that human village. Usually, they only targeted the boats and fisheries. But after everything—after losing one of their own—Nephi wished he could have heard the dying squeals of the humans as they were slaughtered like swine.

Not even the little ones were spared.

Yet the revenge wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to satisfy the boiling rage inside him. He wanted to kill. To take from the humans what they’d taken from him. Baia Vita was helpless. Pathetic in its blindness.

It would be too easy.

He could find his Pod and bring them here. He was tempted. He was…

Nephi paused, realizing where he’d found himself. It was the same secluded beach where he’d left Leo’s unconscious body. The human he’d saved when he should have watched him drown.

His heart twisted as he recalled that day—the day he’d acted completely opposite of what he believed. The day emotion and heartache drove his actions rather than his conviction. The day he’d let weakness seep through the cracks Ludo left behind.

He loathed himself for it.

Nephi swam to the surface, wading through the waves until he was on the sand. The beach was on the cliffside of the island, with no way for humans to spot him unless they came around the corner. Still, he made sure no prying eyes were watching before he ascended. He pulled on a hooded sweater he’d stolen from a first-floor balcony and stashed in the rocks a few days earlier. It was damp and smelled of human detergent, but it would do. It was about double his size, and he didn’t care for the piss-yellow color, but thieves couldn’t be choosy.

As he dried, he let his stubby human toes dig in the sand, wrinkling his nose at the useless appendages. His Mer feet were at least webbed and served a purpose.

He remembered Leo’s unconscious body, lying lifeless on this very beach. Someone found him and fixed him up. Nephi hated the fact that, if not for him, that boy would be dead. He hated even more that a small part of him panicked at the idea of losing him.

A sniffling on the other side of the rocks made him pause, tuning to the sound. Nephi listened to the barely repressed sobs, wondering how a human’s pathetic life could possibly be worth crying about. Curiosity won out as he stood up and stalked to the rock’s edge, peaking to the other side.

Inju , the Spirit of war, must have heard Nephi’s desire for blood because sitting in the sand was a familiar curly blond head with bloodshot yellow eyes. Or maybe Dahest , the Spirit of life and death, had placed an offering before Nephi as recompense for the life he’d lost.

Because as he approached, his pupils constricted into slits. This human’s life now rested in his hands. And not even the Spirits could stop what was about to happen.

He pulled up his hood, tightening the strings to hide his face, forcing his eyes to relax into circles as he approached. Nephi made himself known, kicking sand as he walked.

When Leo spotted him, he quickly turned his head, wiping at his eyes.

“Sorry. Thought I was alone.”

Even his voice…

Nephi wanted to howl in rage as the boy’s eyes flickered between yellow and silver in his mind.

“What’re you doing here?” Nephi asked but suspected he knew the reason.

Leo shrugged. “It’s a long story.”

Nephi remained still, his reticence prompting the boy to continue.

“I guess this is the place where things stopped making sense. Maybe I’m trying to figure out why. Anyway, my life has kinda gone to shit recently, so if you don’t mind, I want to be alone.”

Nephi forced back a grin, ignoring the dismissal. “And you think this beach will help?”

“Nothing else has.”

Nephi sat a few feet from him in the sand, gazing at the horizon, but his attention was painfully focused on the human on his left. Leo didn’t argue. Either deep down, he wanted the company, or he had no fight left to protest.

It would be over so quickly. My hands around his throat. Finish what I started.

“I’m Leo, by the way,” he offered, startling Nephi out of his fantasies. He didn’t offer his name in return, so Leo continued. “You were talking to Atreus on the beach a few weeks ago.”

“What if I was?”

Leo shrugged again. “That’s none of my business.”

“How’d you know it was me?”

“I recognize the eye,” Leo said, making a circular motion around his own.

Nephi pulled the sweater tighter, hiding the right side of his face. He turned to make some rude remark, but it died in his mouth.

Leo looked at him, really looked. And he didn’t cringe. His gaze didn’t linger on Nephi’s ruined eye or the scars still visible despite the hood.

He just… looked. As though Nephi were as common as a scallop. It was surprising.

“It’s fucking hard to ignore,” Nephi replied instead, forcing his gaze back to the horizon.

“I bet.”

Nephi was like a sail on tenterhooks. Strained to the point of snapping. His insides were being pulled in all directions at once. He could end this. End this persistent itch in his brain. Kill the boy and be done with it. Leave this Spirits-forsaken island.

He’s here. He’s exposed. And he’s mine .

Nephi wanted to grab Leo, to break him. To feel the brittle snap of bone beneath his grip, to see the light drain from his eyes. To reduce him to nothing but a crumpled heap. To tear him apart…

Piece

By

Piece

However, as Nephi sneaked another glimpse, he knew he was too late. Someone else had already started chipping away at this human. It was written all over his angled body. In his red eyes, his dark circles. Painted in the sickly color of his skin.

“Why are you sitting here crying?” Nephi asked harshly.

Who did this?

He needed to know.

He needed to punish whoever hurt Leo because if anyone was going to break this human— his human—it would be him.

Nephi couldn’t pinpoint when Leo became his. Maybe it was the first time his life fell into Nephi’s claws. It didn’t matter. Leo belonged to him. His right. His obsession. His prey.

“Does it matter?” Leo responded. “And I wasn’t crying.”

Nephi’s nose wrinkled, and the beginnings of a growl rumbled in his chest.

“Awfully defensive for someone hiding on a secluded beach, definitely not crying. ”

“Awfully nosy for someone who won’t even give me a name,” Leo snapped, “or completely show his face.”

Nephi grinned, leaning back on one hand and sinking into the sand. His prey had teeth.

And he liked it .

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’s nothing I can’t handle. For now, at least,” Leo said, tossing a stone into the waves.

“So it has the potential to get worse. Is that what I’m hearing?”

Leo swallowed hard. “Yes. But it won’t come to that.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Nephi crooned.

“You have no idea what we’re talking about.”

“Oh, but I know that things that can get worse usually do.”

“That’s pessimistic.”

“It’s realistic.”

Neither could hide the amused smiles that spread across their faces. Leo let out a soft chuckle.

“Wise words coming from a fucked up stranger on the beach.”

Now it was Nephi’s turn to laugh, and when he did, it felt like a thousand sea birds diving from the cliffs.

Untethered by the world.

“You don’t know the half of it. Though fucked up is a pretty good way of putting it.”

“So, does this fucked up stranger have a name or what?”

“No, he doesn’t,” Nephi snarled, then softened as he added, “but he does visit this beach a lot.”

Leo nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

And instead of watching Leo’s lips turn blue as he choked the life out of him —Nephi watched the color return to his cheeks as he smiled.