Lords of the Abyss

Book Two

COMMANDING THE TIDES

By

Michelle M Pillow

 

 

© copyright May 2007, Michelle M. Pillow

Cover art by Dan Skinner and Jenny Dixon © copyright May 2007

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

 

 

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Note from Author

 

Even though this title can stand on its own, the author recommends that the previous book be read before this one, in order to fully appreciate the Lords of the Abyss trilogy. For more information, please visit the author's website www.michellepillow.com

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

 

Iason the Hunter swam through the murky waters of the dark ocean. The sound of drowning victims echoed in his head. No matter how often he heard such despair, it never became easier. He wished he could save them, but all he could do was push the humans toward the surface and wish them luck. Besides, by the time he and his fellow hunters got to the ship, the haul was sinking down into the ocean's depths. It had been too late for many of the mortals and there was no land for miles.

Though, honestly, perhaps saving them was crueler than letting them drown. They were in the middle of the ocean, no sign of rescue vibrating in the water. Chances were their bodies would weaken and they would die. If they managed to float on a raft, the hot sun would kill them just as surely. But, what else could he do?

Seeing a flash of silvery black fins in the water, Iason frowned. That was not the creature they hunted. He watched carefully, seeing the subtle flash again.

'I think I see Brutus or Demon,' Iason said to his fellow hunters, using their mind link. All the Merr could communicate by telepathy in the water.

Caderyn, to his right, looked at him in surprise. 'Where?'

Iason pointed down toward the ocean's floor.

Iason was part of a team of three Merr hunters-himself, Caderyn and Solon-known simply as the Hunters. There were twelve Merr hunters total, split up into four teams of three. Three brothers, Rigel, Demon and Brutus were another team, the Warriors. Rigel, the youngest and smallest of the three, led the team. There were also the Knights led by Cain and the Soldiers led by Hrafn. Both the Knights and Soldiers were taking a much needed break from hunting while the other two teams took up their duties.

Solon was the leader of the Hunters because he chose to carry the vial around his neck. It was filled with a liquid that would paralyze the scylla so they may catch it. The liquid was the only way to stop a scylla. Unfortunately, if spilled, it could paralyze the Merr as well. Carrying it was a job that took much concentration. Solon had to have final say when it came to capturing the creature because it was he who needed to get into position.

The three Hunters had worked together for years and none of them had black tails. Caderyn's was purple. Iason's was green. Solon's was green-gold.

Iason motioned his hand. In the distance they saw Brutus emerge to push a drowning human toward the surface. The mortal man was still alive and grabbed a floating piece of the ship's debris. Brutus swam quickly under his legs, making a current that would drift the survivor away from the shipwreck.

'Rigel must be close,' Caderyn said. His dark brown hair drifted around his head, floating briefly before his stark purple eyes. The silver purple of his tail whipped once, pushing him up higher. Like all Merr, Caderyn's tail and fins matched the color of his eyes. 'What are they doing here? Were they sent to aid us?'

'They track a scylla, same as us.' Solon joined them, gliding his arms back and forth to hover in the water. His hazel eyes glowed slightly as he looked around, trying to track their prey. The vial around his neck drifted easily with his movements. 'Rigel says it's been evading them. I told him we have the same problem.'

'That means there are two old ones in the water this night.' Iason frowned.

The scyllas were dangerous creatures. They were spirits of the water, mindless, reckless, forever searching. Two scylla together would be strong enough to push any one of them out of the water. One of the only things that could kill the Merr was surface air. It would burn the skin, but if breathed it would destroy.

'Aye,' Solon answered.

Caderyn swam toward Brutus, his long tail waving in the water to propel him forward. Iason could hear him calling out. Brutus turned in surprise. Soon, all six Merr were gathered together.

Brutus and his twin bother, Demon, were two of the largest of the Merr race. They were identical in every aspect, from their long black hair to their matching dark eyes. Even their fins were the same silvery black color. It made them nearly invisible in the deeps waters, even to their own kind sometimes. Their younger brother, Rigel, was a lighter version of the twins. His hair was dark, but not black, and his eyes were grey. When the sunlight shone through the waves just right, his silver fins looked like ship metal floating in the water.

'You've been away from Ataran longer,' Iason said to the other team. 'We will help you catch yours and then go for ours. You need to get home before you lose your way.'

The Warriors nodded. All knew they could only stay away from Ataran soil for two weeks before going mad. Once madness set in, they would never find their way back alone. Even going past a week was pushing it.

'He's a big one,' Brutus said.

'Slipped by us twice already,' Demon added. 'Tore up this ship, though I see now that he had help. We were wondering why it went down so fast for as big as it was.'

A cold rush of current, colder than usual, crept over them. They turned to the man Brutus had helped to save. The human's legs kicked violently, and they saw the shadowed form of a scylla beneath him.

'By All the Gods!' Solon swore. 'It is huge.'

All six men swarmed into action. Rigel tore the vial from his neck, ready to blow. The creature began to drift, nothing more than a dark spot in the water. It was a near shapeless, faceless shadowing. It made a dash past Brutus and Demon. The two brothers cut it off. Iason and Solon crowded its sides as Caderyn swam below. Rigel blew the vial. The creature bucked up, knocking the human up, tossing him high above the surface. Iason heard the man scream but ignored it.

Both Brutus and Demon latched onto the scylla, fighting it as they dragged it deep into the ocean. The creatures soon became subdued and they were able to drag it more easily.

Rigel waved at Iason. 'Go. Find the second. I'll push this mortal up and will follow my team.'

Iason looked at Caderyn. His friend closed his eyes, sensing the water. Suddenly, he pointed into the distance. 'That way.'

'What is that noise?' Solon asked.

'Another boat?' Iason frowned. He reached out his hands, feeling the small vibrations of the water.

'Not another one,' Caderyn growled in frustration. 'What are they all doing out this far to sea? Why tonight? This should have been an open water hunt.'

'Come on, let's bag it and drag it before it takes this ship down as well. I'm ready to go home.' Iason waved his hand and pointed to where he detected the ship. His companions nodded in agreement. Swimming as fast as he could, he pushed into the distance.

* * * * *

Cassandra Nevin saw her life flash before her eyes as the freezing water surrounded her. She had a bad feeling about this trip, but then she had a bad feeling about everything since the doctor told her she was dying of cancer. Bone cancer. Not much to be done for it, not as late as they had caught it. She'd refused treatment, refused to prolong her life only to live in a bed withering away. Already, she'd outlived her initial prognosis, perhaps by sheer will, perhaps by dumb luck. Waiting for death to come for her had become her own sad little game, and she honestly knew that, when it did, she wouldn't be surprised. Her parents didn't understand, or maybe they did, but they didn't agree with her choice.

No one on the ship knew except Dev. He was the head of the scientific expedition she was on. Cassandra was sure he just felt bad for her and that was why he let her tag along with only a few years of college science under her belt. She wasn't one for charity, but in this instance she had taken it and gladly.

She knew that the other scientists were irritated with her because she didn't know what she was doing. Cassandra didn't care. Why should she? Life was too short to care about anything. It's why she left school before graduating with a degree. Everyone she knew cried when they saw her, even her parents. She preferred the angry scientists to the constant pity, preferred to be yelled at and hated than to be treated like a dog on its last leg.

As the boat sank, hit from below by some creature the scientists couldn't name, she'd been scared-scared of dying alone at sea, scared of that final icy breath of water, scared of the unknown beneath her in the darkness.

"Aliens?" someone had suggested as the boat was nearly tipped over on its side.

"New species of Deep Ocean fish rising to the surface to feed?" another scientist had proposed.

They were all great minds, rational minds, but the truth was they didn't know any more than she what attacked the ship. The scientists had tried to catch the creature in a net. They had some success, but the creature had gotten free before they could pull it up.

Cassandra had gotten a small peak of their attacker in the water. If she had to guess, she would say the creature looked like a merman. But who would believe such a wild story from the woman who didn't know the exact procedure to draw basic surface samples? So, she'd kept the observation to herself. It was quite possible that the pain meds were starting to affect her mind anyway. Since it was nighttime, she'd already taken her dose so she could sleep though the night.

So, yes, she'd been scared of dying the instant the water took her body. But now, as she stopped struggling and let the black ocean have her, a strange acceptance came over her. She was dying. What more picturesque means than at sea? Her body drifting forever in the ocean? It was poetic, in a beautifully sad way.

The black water surrounded her, blackened by the night sky. She watched the spotlight from the boat glancing over her head as she was pulled down and saw the faint outlines of scientists fighting for life. Cassandra felt bad for them and had to look away. The cold stung, but it was better to feel than not to. Soon numbness would set in and it wouldn't hurt anymore. The cold was nothing compared to the deep ache in her bones, the constant agony, the lethargy of pain pills.

A glimmer came from in front of her, a green shimmering light unlike anything she would have expected in the dark Abyss. Hands reached for her, human hands. At first, she waited for them to touch her, but then they did and she struggled as they grasped onto her arms. They were real, too real to be a hallucination.

'No! I'm ready. Let me go!' her mind screamed. She struggled against the hands, fighting them. 'Let me go! Save someone else. I don't want to wither away. I want to drift.'

'Let me help you,' a voice ordered in her head. It was a male voice, a voice she didn't know. 'Stop struggling, woman. I won't hurt you.'

Cassandra opened her mouth wide, ready to take the water into her lungs, ready for it to be over. Let him save someone else, someone with a chance. Instead of the ocean, warm lips pressed to hers. In her shock, she stopped struggling. No one had kissed her since she was diagnosed. Her boyfriend had left her. Oh, he tried to stick around, but he'd been too creeped out by it all and soon found the tiny excuse he needed to bail.

She wrapped her arms around the man's neck, slipping her tongue past his lips. He tasted sweet, like fruit wine. Her body was starved of contact, for a feeling beyond that of sterile examination gloves and clinical exams. So long had it been since someone just held her.

Her would-be rescuer jerked as she kissed him. Why wouldn't he be surprised? She was dying in his arms, selfishly taking one last moment for herself.

The man tried to swim with her body. Cassandra didn't care. She let him pull her. Her lungs were burning and soon it would be too late for her. It felt good to be held, even as the darkness threatened. She clung to the warmth. Death was close and she welcomed it, thankful that she wasn't going to be alone when it finally came for her.

Her lungs burned, on fire with the need for air. A hand thrust into her hair. The mouth against hers widened, his lips slipping over hers. Then, blackness consumed her, and she smiled. She would never have to feel another thing again.

* * * * *

'Damn humans!' Iason swore. If they wouldn't have interfered, wouldn't have tired to capture Caderyn in a net, the hunters would have stopped the scylla in time. The scylla was the humans' true enemy out here on the water, not the Merr. But, because of the mortals' interference, there were now two ships lost as sea this night.

'Let me help you,' he said angrily to himself as he tired to save a woman's life. They had captured their prey but not before it crashed the second ship, sending the onboard passengers to their death. He tired to latch his mouth onto the drowning woman's to help her breathe beneath the waves. 'Stop struggling, woman. I won't hurt you.'

Iason almost let go of the woman in his arms as she kneed him in the gut, or at least he told himself to let her go. Had he been in human form, she would have kicked him in the balls. With a tail, it didn't hurt as bad, but it still smarted. Who was he to save someone who didn't want rescuing?

Iason gripped her tighter. He was about to knock her unconscious with a head butt to the temple when she surprised him by kissing him, really kissing him. And not just the breathing kiss he'd been trying to give her, but an intimate kiss-the type of kiss a woman gives a man when she desires him. He felt her tongue mingling with the chilly saltwater that surrounded them. There was no hesitation, only the desperate, pleading kiss of a woman starved. It had been so long, so many centuries, since he'd been kissed by a woman that for a moment he was too stunned to move.

Not that he kissed men. He didn't really kiss anyone. Unless the pleasure nymph counted.

And why exactly was he thinking of such things right now? In the middle of the ocean, far from home?

Desire stirred within him, hot and potent. He couldn't help his response as he returned the soft embrace, pulling the woman's thin body closer. But, as her mouth quit moving so violently against his, he was shaken back to reality. She was dying. The woman had stopped struggling, and he was finally able to seal his lips around hers.

His gills fluttered as he forced breath down her lungs, filtering the sea water for her so she could breathe. It wasn't long before she stopped moving altogether, passing out, and he was glad for it. It was hard enough breathing for two, without the person trying to beat him up while he did it, or trying to kiss him for that matter.

Iason flicked his tail, swimming backwards as he dragged the frail human downward to the black Abyss. She was skinny, almost nothing but skin and bones. Chances were she wouldn't survive the dive down anyway, but Merr law said he had to try.

'Got one,' Iason said to his fellow hunters, not breaking his lips from the woman's, as he watched Solon drag the scylla ahead of him. For all intents and purposes the hunt had been a success. Two scyllas were captured this night and would roam the ocean no more. But, he couldn't help feeling bad for those lives lost at sea.

'I don't envy you the trouble,' Solon answered. 'I much rather have my burden than yours, friend.'

Iason pulled the woman closer, adjusting her in his arms. She was as cold as the ocean and the heat from his body would only sustain her for so long. She didn't move, didn't fight, but he could detect her heart beating lightly against the sensitive skin of his chest.

Swimming down into the depths of the Abyss, Iason left the wreckage behind him. It was dark, but his Merr eyes pierced the black waters with ease. His gaze gave off a softened glow as he scanned his surroundings. Sensing the creatures of the deep ocean as if they were part of himself, he felt them moving, swimming, hunting. For the most part, they stayed away from them, avoiding the Merr hunters altogether.

Iason concentrated on breathing as he pulled the woman closer. Why did she have to kiss him like that? Now, not only did he have to fight to breathe for two, he had to try and ignore the taste of her on his mouth as he breathed. It was pure torture, but he couldn't break the seal. To do so at this depth would mean her death. The pressure of the Abyss would kill her.

Their laws were clear. Women were rare in their world and if one was condemned to a watery death and could be saved, they were to save them. Humans were so fragile that often they didn't survive the dive down into Deep Ocean, especially after the trauma of a shipwreck. Many times, the hunters tried to save them, only to have them die on the way down. It is why they only ever chanced it with those already fated to perish at sea.

Iason felt every slender curve of her body to his. Her breasts were soft against him, making a hot wave of desire flood his veins. It had been a very long time, long centuries to be exact, since any of the hunters had mated with something other than a pleasure nymph. None of them had wives to go home to.

The further away he got from the wreckage, the more ocean life swam around him, becoming fiercer in appearance. They looked nothing like their surface dwelling counterparts. Gliding downward, he weaved, automatically dodging a baby squid. It was twice as long as he was. The deep sea creatures didn't bother him, and Caderyn ignored them in turn.

He swam faster, letting the water glide past them as he headed straight down into the Abyss. Trying to will her to take the heat from his body, he felt her tremble. He didn't have long before she was dead.

* * * * *

Iason drifted into the cave leading to Ataran. He had made it, and, somehow, the woman hadn't died on the way down. She still could, but for the moment, she was alive. Her heart beat faintly against him, but it did beat.

It was with a surreal sense of pleasure that he broke the surface. Pulling his lips from hers, he gasped for breath. The air was sweet with the smell of sea flowers. The woman coughed, but otherwise breathed the cave air just fine.

"She lives?" Solon asked, his tail already transformed back into legs. They were in Crystal Caves, in the sacred heart of their city. In their human forms they didn't use telepathy. They could, if they wanted to open themselves up to it, they just didn't. Too many voices ringing in the head tended to make them edgy.

'Aye,' Iason directed with his mind, unable to use words until he was transformed back. He pushed the woman up onto the narrow rocky ledge along the cave's surface. It was shallow enough that the water didn't cover her face. 'She lives.'

"I'll take the scylla to the holding cells," Solon said, lifting his barely visible burden off the ground. "Then I'm going to rest. Good luck with that one."

Iason nodded, chuckling to himself. He flipped his fin, pushing up from the water to sit by the woman. Twisting around, he brought his tail from the ocean and brushed the water off with his fingers. They dried quickly, and he watched as flesh replaced his tail. When he could again stand as a man, he lifted the woman from the ledge and pulled her onto dry land.

Laying her on the ground, he breathed heavily from the ordeal of hunting and rescuing. He kneeled beside her, taking the opportunity to study her face. Before, he hadn't gotten a good look at her in the dark water as he tried to subdue her long enough to latch his mouth to hers. She was a tiny thing with dark red hair that fanned over her pale features. He detected a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. They were adorable.

Now that she was safe, he felt the soft press of her lips as if they were still kissing him. The breathing kiss was more intimate than other kisses practiced during love making, because it transferred the gift of life, but the feel of her tongue invading the depths of his mouth was by far the more arousing.

Her clothes were strange. She wore thin, stretchy material over her legs. Even wet it was soft to the touch. A thick black stripe lined the sides from hip to ankle. A human soldier uniform? He'd seen scavenged books that had drawings of such striped markings on the legs. The woman hardly appeared to have the body of a trained fighter. She was too delicate for that.

Over her thin form, she wore a tight black top. It formed to every detail of her figure. Iason stared at the hard peaks of her nipples and mindlessly reached out to touch one. How long had it been since he'd touched a woman's flesh, felt its softness molding against his harder frame? He tried, but he couldn't remember the exact texture of soft flesh. He imagined it would be much like the pleasure nymph. His finger brushed her breast, and he jerked his hand back, realizing what he was doing. Swallowing, he regained control over his suddenly lurid thoughts. Over the tight black top, she wore a soft jacket that matched the pants. He tugged the sides of it, dropping it over her breasts to hide the tempting nipples from view.

Hearing a splash behind him, he knew Caderyn had made it back. By the time he turned around, his fellow hunter was already out of the water and brushing the droplets from his tail. It transformed into legs. Iason watched in surprise as Caderyn lifted a dark haired woman from the water. Two women were saved this night? Caderyn brought his woman to lie besides Iason's.

Iason stood and the two hunters stared down at the mortal women. The dark haired was just as pale as his, but her features were more filled out. He wondered why he would be so attracted to one and not the other. Perhaps it was because it was her life he had saved. Or perhaps it had been the desperation of her kiss when he saved her.

Iason swallowed. His blood was stirred with desire. It was bad enough that after the hunt he always needed to seek sexual release, for passions ran deep within his kind, but to have that need aroused by a flesh and blood woman? It was torture. The pleasure of release eased Merr tensions and centered their thoughts. If they refused to cure themselves of the 'affliction', they could get sick.

"You know what this means," Caderyn said, still staring down at the unconscious woman with black hair.

"Aye," Iason answered, studying the red head, wondering what he should do with her now that he had her here. He tried to remember what humans needed, but it had been so long.

"Do you think you'll keep this one?"

"Let us see her temperament when she wakes," Iason said, remembering how she fought him in the water. The flaming color of her hair didn't bode well either. It was said that redheads were harder to control and a faint, long forgotten memory tugging at the back of his mind told him it was true.

Iason knew that he'd done what he could and didn't feel bad for taking the woman from her world to his. The gods would decide whether or not these women lived. All the hunters could do was try to save them. She made the dive down, that was a start. But why wasn't she waking up? Would they save them only to lose them?

"Aye," Caderyn agreed.

Both men sighed.

"Now what?" Iason glanced at his friend and scratched the back of his head. "Do you remember what to do with them once we save them? It's been many years since we got one this far."

"We should take them to Althea," Caderyn leaned over, sighing as if he'd come to a great decision. Not bothering to find clothes, he lifted the dark haired woman off the ground, cradling her before his chest. Iason nodded and did the same. "The healer will know what to do with them."

They were in the palace of the Atlas, capital city of Ataran. The cave walls were covered in sparkling precious gems, thus the reason they called them the Crystal Caves. The colorful stones reflected torches, vibrantly lighting the way. Iason carried the woman to the entrance of the cave. Two guards stared at them and then at the women in awe.

Both guards wore the traditional Ionic chiton of the Merr people. The short, white shirt was a rectangle piece of material folded in half and sewn up the side. It pinned along the sleeves and fell just over the knees, leaving the calves bear. A single stranded belt cinched the material about the waist. The chalmys cloak draped over one shoulder in a broad sweep of green. They pinned at the shoulder with a circular gold brooch, engraved with the ancient Merr symbol of the sun. Like most Merr, they wore strapped leather sandals on their feet.

"I saw you bagged the scylla, my lords," Vitus, a dark complexioned guard said, nodding in approval. "Well done."

"Are these women alive?" asked Brennus, a tall blond who hoped to someday be a hunter. His interest in them was evident by the glint in his eyes. The only way that would happen was if King Lucius appointed more teams or if one of the team members were killed. The only way they would be killed is if they didn't make it back to Ataran on time and were lost forever at sea, or if they were dragged to the surface world and forced to breath the mortal air.

"Aye," Caderyn agreed.

Iason adjusted the frail woman in his arms, wishing he knew what to call her. Her lips parted in breath, and it was hard not to brush his mouth to hers. He ignored the guards, unable to speak as he stared at her mouth, remembering her kiss.

What had prompted her to kiss him in that moment? The woman had been dying. She should have tried to reach the surface, not kiss him. The woman shivered in his arms, and he hugged her wet body closer.

When Iason didn't speak, Caderyn answered the guards, "We take them to Althea. Inform King Lucius. Also, call the scavengers. Two ships went down. Solon will give you directions."

"Aye," Brennus agreed, though he didn't run off right away, as he helped Vitus to push a large round stone before the cave opening to block it off. The men gave one last longing glance to the women.

The city architects had glazed the bricks of the wall with a mixture made from the gemstones, which gave the walls the almost glowing blue cast. Light was reflected from outside during the day, but at night torches were lit throughout the palace halls.

The blue glazed stone of the palace was accented with decorative yellow and white tiles. The tiles formed beautifully intricate patterns. The halls were clean and uncluttered. Large arches passed overhead as they walked out of the cave room to the main palace hall. Caderyn nodded at the few people he passed, receiving several curious stares in return. Iason tried to do the same, but he was mesmerized by the redhead's mouth. Her lips were so full, so bowed.

Why did she kiss him?

Why like that?

Althea the Healer lived within the palace walls so it didn't take long to reach her home. Without knocking, Caderyn pushed aside the beaded door and stepped in, calling, "Lady Althea. We have need of your assistance."

The home was like many in the palace, a large square living area, an office, adjoining sleeping and bathing rooms. Those in the palace took their meals together in the hall so there wasn't a need for a kitchen or place to dine. In the living area were paintings on the walls and minimal furniture. The low bench-like couches had no backs. Their wool seats were intricately woven and quite beautiful. They should be with all the years the craftsmen had to perfect their skills. The floors were bare and swept clean.

Althea came from her office, taking one look at the men, with their damp hair and naked bodies, before glancing briefly over the unconscious mortals. She nodded for them to follow her. In her office, on the far side of the room, there were two low beds. A small stone desk was in the corner and rolled scrolls were placed along the wall in diamond shaped cubbies. The men laid the women on the beds and stood.

The healer was a slender woman, draped in the finest linen material. Oil was rubbed into the weave, making the dress shine. The light green material was plain, woven with a darker green along the edges in the pattern of seaweed. Two pins held the garment at the shoulders, leaving the arms bare. Her brown hair was pulled back from her face, fastened in an intricate coil around the crown.

"Help me to remove their clothing," Althea ordered. "Mortals cannot be left wet."

Iason readily agreed, almost desperate in his high state of arousal to see more of the woman than her pretty lips. His body was hot for her, from touching and holding her. He slipped the jacket off her shoulders and pulled the pants from her hips before ripping through the tight top, jerking the thin material apart. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Caderyn cut his woman's clothes off more delicately with shears. Iason didn't care if he looked like a brute. Althea told him to shed her clothing, and he was shedding her clothing the fastest way he knew how.

Leaning back, he admired his handiwork. His gut tightened and a frown marred his brow. Compared to the tone figure of Caderyn's woman, his was too slender. Perhaps this woman was a slave. Her bones jutted out near her hips. She was so thin, practically starved until there was no meat on her bones. Iason wasn't repulsed. If anything, he felt all the more protective of her.

Her breasts were small, the nipples pink little dots on her pale flesh. He wanted to touch them, to touch her. A thatch of curly red hair graced the apex of her thighs. It called to him. He wanted to stroke it, to smell her flesh. His heart leapt in his chest. The way she was laying caused her thighs to fall open. It had been so long since he smelled the unique fragrance from a woman's nether region. His cock stirred, growing painfully aroused, more so than it had already been.

Iason started to reach for her, eager to heal her on his own, but forced himself to hold back. For him to heal her would not be right. Men only healed their wives. Otherwise, the healer was called.

In Ataran they never knew bodily sickness. The only injuries most of the Merr people sustained were accidental or on the practice field, though they did not battle anymore except in the games. Or, for the few chosen to be hunters, they could be injured on the hunt. Only the hunters ventured so close to the dangerous mortal surface.

"One wound I can tend, my lords, the other…." Althea laughed.

Iason glanced at Althea. She was smiling as she nodded at his friend's leg. Blood trailed from the wound Caderyn had received while captured in the human's net. But that wasn't what Althea teased them about. They'd both become fully erect from staring at the women.

"Here, put these on," Althea tossed them two plain garments she kept for just these occasions. Iason draped the material around his body, knotting it at the shoulder. "Dress your own wound Caderyn and you both should tend to the other affliction. Come back in an hour and I will tell you what I've discovered."

Both men nodded, leaving the women to the healer. Iason looked back at Caderyn, ready to speak, but the man stood in the doorway staring at the women. Iason cleared his throat to get his friend's attention. Caderyn gave him a sheepish grin and followed him out of the healer's home.