Page 60 of Of Magic and Rum
Unease pulls my throat tight, and I press my fingertips against the moisture behind me, grazing on it as long as I can before he’ll undoubtedly force me away.
Find me, Jack.
I repeat these three words as if, by some universal miracle, Jack will hear them and use them to find me.
Nøkk cants his head to the side like he’s studying me before his hand lifts. Droplets of water float past my head, and soon, the cave wall behind me is bone dry. “Clever. But I meant it. I’ll cause you pain as long as it takes for you to agree.”
“How romantic. I’m succumbing to your charm already,” I say without emotion or inflection.
Seeing as Nøkk has no intentions of threatening my life, this has become a matter of distracting him, keeping him busy long enough for Jack to find me. Despite Jack being human, he ironically has more of an advantage over him than I do, given our aquatic powers cancel each other.
“Curious about why a powerful sea nymph has joined withpirates.” Nøkk sits at the table, crossing his legs and resting his forearm on one knee.
By the Seas. This is going to be a long night.
“Why? Does being a sea nymph somehow put me above them?”
He stares at me blankly. “Of course it does. We are immortal. We control an element humans have yet to discover barely half of.”
Irritation pricks my skin, and I can already feel my throat drying, the process accelerated by heavy emotion. “We arenotthe same. Just because we both call a body of water home doesn’t make us alike. I’m one with the Seven Seas.” I take a step toward him, pointing at myself. “I’ma protector of Atlantis. And you?” I scan his body and sneer. “Are nothing more than a lake troll who lures creatures to your banks for sport.”
No sooner have the words left my lips than Nøkk’s in front of me with his hand wrapped around my throat. He’s tightening his grip on my neck, but not enough to hinder my breathing. “I could choke you without the need for water, Nymph.”
Despite fear rearing its ugly head, I suppress it and square my jaw. “You’re doing a wonderful job selling yourself to me, Nøkk. It’s a wonder you haven’t been scooped up by now.”
A snarl vibrates from Nøkk’s chest, and he releases me only to snatch my chin between two fingers. “I can play like this all day. But how long will you last,Protector of Atlantis, until you succumb to me?”
Yanking from his touch, I dig my nails into my palms. “I’d have thought you, too, would be used to people underestimating you.”
“Such fire you have,” he says, walking toward a small body of water surrounded by jagged rocks. “I wonder where you get it from. Your—late mother, perhaps?”
Shock hits my system like a rip current, and I stagger backward. Hardly anyone remembers my mother, not even me. I’d been so young when the universe took her from us, but forhimto somehow know she’s dead? “How could you possibly?—”
“It took me a moment to recognize you, that much, I’ll admit.” Dozens of piranha leap from the pool’s surface, snapping their jaws at the diced meat Nøkk plops into the water. “But I’m older than your father.” His icy eyes cut me a glare, gauging my reaction.
He could be prying me for more information to build on what little he already knows. So, I play dumb and stay dead of winter silent.
“Considering my age, if you know anything about custom,Rhode,” he pauses after lacing my real name with venom to rival that of a lionfish.
I’ve given up trying to rationalize how he knows anything about me.
“Then you know,” he continues. “That an offer of mating from someone of my ancient caliber is a privilege.”
The man’s ego knows no bounds.
“If you know so much aboutme, you should also know you’d require my father’s blessing.” I press my hands at the outside of my thighs to keep them from shaking.
It’s a lie—partially. There are a few situations in which I’d require his approval, but this certainly isn’t one of them.
“And you think he’d object? Two powerful creatures of the waters joining forces? Creating offspring to rival that of a sea serpent or Kraken?” One piranha briefly latches to the tip of Nøkk’s finger, and he doesn’t so much as wince.
Nausea coils in my stomach at the thought of sex with this thing. I can’t recall his true form, but I remember the stories told to me as a child. And this grimly beautiful man standing by me? It’s amirage.
“It’s funny how piranhas have developed such a bad reputation with mortals. They depict them in stories as bloodthirsty man-eaters and vile creatures.” Nøkk tosses theremaining meat in his palm to the water, brushes his hands of excess crumbs, and stands.
The air within the cave suddenly becomes chillier and danker, and I wrap my arms around myself. “It’s not like they’re exactly the prettiest of fish.”
Nøkk smirks and slips his hands behind his back. “Not everything needs to be beautiful to have worth.” He dips his head to look me dead in the eye. “—except you, of course.”
