Severed Read online

  Stupid, right?

  “No!” The hissing, echoing voice of Tanta Loro drew us out of our little circle. “There musst be no one elsse!” she declared, pointing one long, many-jointed finger at Drace and Lucian. “Thisss female child isss bound to your fate—you will find no freedom without her.”

  “What are you saying?” Lucian demanded. “Is there still some way to sever the bond between Drace and myself if we keep Rylee with us?”

  Tanta Loro threw back her head again but this time she didn’t laugh. Instead her dark purple, jewel-like eyes rolled back in her head, revealing the milky whites. Her curving, ruby-red mouth pursed and her tentacle hair floated free and began to twist and braid itself around her pale face. Slowly, in a measured pace like someone reciting poetry, she began to speak.

  “One chance has been given and that was enough

  One chance, but you shall have two

  To sever your bond, your kinship to slough

  Listen well to what you must do

  First find the key of Tanterine Gray

  Lost and then found again soon

  Gain it and go to the Temple of Ganth

  By the light of the Quarreling moons

  Within find the treasure—also a blight

  The Claw that can sever your bond

  But beware when you use it, you do what is right

  Once severed, your love will be gone.”

  “God,” I whispered softly when she appeared to be done. “What is all that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s a prophesy,” Lucian murmured.

  “Just what we need—another fucking prophesy,” Drace growled.

  Tanta Loro’s eyes went back to their normal position and she let out a little gasp. Her long, spidery legs seemed to buckle under her and her tentacle hair went suddenly flat and limp.

  “That isss all I have to give you,” she whisper-hissed at us. “Go and do not return.”

  “But what does it mean?” I asked.

  Tanta Loro suddenly drew herself up to her full height—I swear she towered up nine feet tall—and glared down at us.

  “GO!”

  Her voice echoed through the seashell house, nearly deafening me with its power. Clearly, we weren’t getting anything else out of her.

  “Guys,” I said, dragging on both their arms. “Come on—let’s go!”

  Under the watchful glare of the two lobster-centaur guards, who had apparently come to see what all the shouting was about, we headed for the exit.

  But as we were leaving, I threw one last glance over my shoulder and saw that the crab-woman was looking at me—just at me—her deep purple eyes blazing.

  “Binder!” she hissed, swaying towards me. Her voice seemed to carry to my ears only because neither of the guys looked back at her. “Binder, beware the shadowsss and the thingsss that lurk in them! It is your death…your death.”

  I didn’t know what she meant and I didn’t want to know. I turned back around and ran.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lucian

  “First find the key of Tanterine Gray,” Drace muttered, pacing up and down the length of the food-prep area. “What in the Frozen Hells does that mean?”

  We were back aboard my ship—finally warm and dry though I still felt waterlogged. Visiting the Half-Folk who lived beneath the seas was always an undertaking. Drace and I were wearing our sleep trousers again and Rylee was dressed in her long white sleeping gown. We weren’t actually planning to go straight to bed—I think we all just wanted to be comfortable.

  And we were comfortable—physically, anyway. Mentally and emotionally, I was in a turmoil. The strange prophesy kept echoing in my head, making it hard to think past my misery.

  Drace was too upset to sense my inner turmoil but Rylee seemed to pick up on it at once. She offered to take on the cooking duties, as long as Drace and I didn’t complain about what she made. I had agreed absently and then sat myself down at the table with my head in my hands, trying to make up my mind what to do.

  “The key of Tanterine Gray,” Drace repeated again, still pacing. “For fuck’s sake—what is she talking about?”

  “Lucian knows, don’t you, hon?” Rylee asked softly. She came to the table and sat a plate in front of me and then put another down in front Drace’s place. “There—cheeseburgers. And remember, no complaining.”

  “He does? You do?” Ignoring the food, Drace came to the table and stared down at me, a frown on his strong features.

  I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Damn Rylee for guessing.

  “Yes,” I said heavily. “I know.”

  “Well, what is it then and how can we get it?” he demanded. “And why the fuck didn’t you speak up earlier?”

  “I didn’t want to!” I shouted back. “Because—” I broke off, shaking my head.

  “Because of what, Lucian? You can tell us.” Rylee put a hand on my shoulder and her other hand on Drace’s arm. I felt a current of calm run through me—was that coming from Rylee? Was she even now binding me closer to my temporary bond-mate—to the very male I was trying to get away from?

  A Binder—she’s a Binder! You should pull away!

  And yet even if she was a Binder, as Tanta Loro had said, I couldn’t make myself want to shake her hand off. Couldn’t ask her to stop—her touch and through her, the touch of my bond-mate, felt too good. Which was damn scary.

  “The key of Tanterine Gray refers to an artifact found at one of the sites of our earliest prehistory,” I said in a low voice, not looking at either of them. “It’s not really a key—it’s a kind of triangular stone made of Tanterine—a rare mineral that’s considered very valuable in some circles.”

  “And you know this how exactly?” Drace demanded, frowning.

  “Because…” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “Because it was sold at auction in my home city of Y’brith not too long ago and bought for a large sum by a private buyer.”

  “That’s great!” Rylee exclaimed. “Who bought it? Do you know?”

  “I do,” I said heavily. “It was bought by an off-worlder who makes his home in Y’brith—a Cantor male who goes by the name of Lord Mandrex. He’s extremely wealthy and notoriously eccentric.”

  “That’s the first piece of the puzzle solved then!” Rylee looked excited. “We can just go back to your home town and ask to meet with this Lord Mandrex and see if we can buy or borrow the key from him.” She frowned at me. “Why do you still look so upset, Lucian?”

  Drace answered for me. “Because going back to Y’brith caries a risk of someone seeing us and finding out we’re bonded.” His voice turned bitter. “Because Lucian here doesn’t want to face his fucking upper-crust parents and admit to our bond. Do you?” he threw at me.

  “Would you want to admit it to your family?” I snarled, glaring at him. “You don’t know my parents—my fathers are the chiefs of our clan and my mother is the social leader of the city. If it gets out that I bonded with another Alpha—especially one from our clan’s greatest rival—it will ruin them.”

  “Why does it have to get out?” Rylee asked, frowning at both of us. “Honestly, you two are such drama-queens. Why can’t we just sneak quietly into the city and make a private appointment with this Lord Mandrex guy?”

  “Actually, we can,” I said slowly. “It would mean landing the ship outside the city limits and going through the desert but a stealthy approach could be made.” I frowned. “It would be dangerous, though. The desert around Y’brith isn’t called The Sands of Death for no reason.”

  “The Sands of Death?” Rylee sounded nervous. “That doesn’t sound so good, Lucian.”

  “I think we should do it,” Drace said, surprising me. “We can sim some protective clothing and go in at night. It’ll be fine.”

  I looked at him gratefully. “Thank you—it’s good of you to understand.”

  “’Course I fucking understand,” he said roughly. “I didn’t mean to ride you so hard about your parents—it’s just…we