Page 83 of Taken
But as I step deeper, the water curling over my thighs, somethingchanges.
Magic grips me, coils tighter than it ever has before.
Not summoned, not forced—bestowed.
I stagger, gasping, as power rips through me.
My skin ripples into scales that gleam dark as storm-slick steel.
My legs twist, lengthen, and then split into four massive tentacles, each lined with suckers strong enough to crush coral into sand.
My waist and chest remain man-shaped, broad and muscled, but larger now—vast, towering.
My hair streams behind me like a banner of kelp.
My eyes burn with sea-fire.
I stare down at my transformed body, awe and terror knotting together.
Not merman.
Not even Demon.
Lord Titan.
Just as my father once boasted—that we were descended from the ancient monsters of the deep.
And I know why.
Phoebe.
Her love.
Our zareth bond.
This is no accident.
She has awakened what lay dormant in my blood.
No trickery. No falsehood or bribing.
Our bond is real.
My love for her is eternal.
But I cannot think of that now. All my thoughts are on her.
Nothing—nothing—will get past me to reach her.
With a roar that shakes the waves, I hurl myself into the deep.
The ocean bends beneath me, carrying me toward the breach where the SoulTakers wait. But past it I can feel all the waterways, every river, sea, and lake within Nightfall, and theyare all supplying me with information and beckoning me to use them, to command.
I will. And I do.
Because this time, the SoulTakers won’t simply face the Lord of Water.
They will face theTitan of the Sea.
