Page 23 of The Nymph Prince

The kiss Lorcan and I’d shared before being interrupted by the pirates was seared into my memory. The way his mouth had fit so perfectly to mine, the taste of him. It’d only been a kiss, but it’d felt like so much more. A promise.

“Make no mistake, mage,” Malik said with a growl. “If you ever betray him, I’ll rip out your heart with my bare hands.”

And with that, no more was discussed.

***

“Come again?” I asked Lorcan.

“Do you want to come with us?” he repeated, but there was trepidation in his eyes. As if it wasn’t a question at all.

“I hate to be the one to break this to you, nymph, but I can’t breathe underwater.”

When he smiled, my stomach fluttered.

“You won’t have to. The kingdom is surrounded by a barrier that keeps the water out. There are some merfolk who choose to make their homes elsewhere, like sea caves, but the majority of us reside there.”

An underwater kingdom, surrounded by some type of magical dome, where you can breathe and move around with ease? I had trouble grasping the outlandish notion.

Malik approached, towering over me.

I’d never seen a man as big as him. Even Byron, the master gunner on theCrimson Nightwho was the tallest of us, would’ve still had to tilt his head to look Malik in the eye.

“We should leave while it’s early, my prince,” he said, placing his hand on Lorcan’s back.

Lorcan looked at me. “Please say yes.”

If what Malik said was true, Kellan and Fletcher were safe. There was no need to track them down and potentially put them at risk. A bounty was still on my head, and I was a target everywhere I went. I didn’t know if the captain would break his curse, but there was nothing I could do. If the cursedidclaim him, Fletcher would need me. But did he need the danger that followed me?

I could never live with myself if I got him killed.

“I’ll go with you,” I answered.

“Wise choice, mage,” Malik said with a sneer.

Unlike when Lorcan called memage, something I secretly enjoyed, I hated when the guard did. It made me want to punch him. However, I didn’t have a death wish and stopped myself. Fortunately.

He shoved past me and headed for the water.

I glared at the back of his head, wondering what I did to piss him off. After our chat the night before, I’d thought we’d reached an understanding. Then again, he was a warrior and knew to never let his guard down. Until he knew for certain he could trust me, he’d be cautious.

Lorcan walked with a noticeable limp, and Malik wrapped his muscled arm around him to hold his weight.

Possessiveness went through me at the sight, and I bit the inside of my cheek.

Iwanted to be the one to hold Lorcan. To be that support for him. Surrendering to that possessive side would do him no good, so I stayed back and let Malik help him. The wound would cause him discomfort for more days to come, but it was no longer life threatening. With rest, he’d start to feel better.

I hadn’t known I had such powerful healing magic. Lorcan had said that after he’d saved me from the battle, I’d healed myself in my sleep. However, I had no memory of that, so it’d seemed like a story. After healinghim, though, the knowledge that I possessed such a gift astounded me.

I stepped into the water before it occurred to me that I couldn’t hold my breath for long. How was I going to journey to some magical kingdom at the bottom of the sea and not die?

Malik noticed I’d stopped walking and looked at me over his shoulder. “Something the matter, mage?”

“Aye. I seem to find myself without gills.”

Lorcan’s face scrunched with confusion before his brows lifted. “Oh. Right.” He turned to Malik with a grin. “Will you carry him?”

“What?” Malik and I asked simultaneously.