And he felt it. The transfer of power, of magic, from him to her. A dark shadow hovered over his hand and then sank down into Mina’s neck. Her eyes flew open as she gave a desperate gasp.
“Holy fucking hell,” Leo said, stunned. “That worked.”
Mina stared at Luke with—with love in her eyes. Not fear. Not pain. Not shock.
“I’ve been…looking for you,” she said, her voice husky and weak. “For a long time.”
And I’ve been searching forever for you, love.
Carefully, he lifted his hand from her throat. The wound had closed. His head sagged forward and his eyes squeezed closed as relief swept through him. He felt wetness on his cheeks. Dammit, dammit. “You will not come that close to death ever again.” He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his wet cheek. That was when he felt the Eye of Hell, hot with power against him.
Stunned, he eased back. His eyes opened and he stared down at the ring. It grew hotter only when it was wielded.
“Mina, did you use the Eye?” Afraid again, he looked up at her.
“I had to get to you.” She smiled at him. His beautiful Mina. His every waking dream. “I know…you said it wouldn’t work…but I had to try…”
“What did you try? What did you do?”
“I couldn’t get on the boat with my tail.” She frowned, a faint furrow between her brows. “So I wished that I wouldn’t be that way. I wished the tail would go away.”
He felt Leo’s hand clamp down on his shoulder. The guy squeezed him, hard. “She traded her tail for you.”
Just like the mermaid from legend. She’d traded for a man who didn’t deserve her. And the damn Eye of Hell, it had greedily accepted her trade.
But why? Only Luke should have been able to control the Eye. It did what he wanted, and only him and—
And the Eye knows what I want. It’s part of me.
He wanted Mina. He wanted her with him, always. And when he’d been putting her back into the water, hadn’t he thought that? That he wanted her to stay?
I wanted it to be her choice.
“What did I do?” Luke whispered, nearly hating himself in that moment. He’d tried to do the right thing, but deep down, he was just a selfish bastard. He’d wanted Mina with him, forever, and now she’d lost her chance to be free. If her tail was gone, then she would never be able to transform again. She would be trapped forever as a…
As what?
On the boat, her voice had still compelled. She’d made Michael do just as she’d bid. And Luke had just been able to heal her.
Only two beings could control with their voices. Mermaids and sirens.
Mermaids were of the light. But sirens…
His eyes opened. He stared into Mina’s eyes.
She is mine.
He was the Lord of the Dark. He ruled all within his dominion, but Mina…He bent to his knees beside the bed. He would bow to her. He would do anything for her.
Even spend eternity making up for his selfishness. His dark powers had turned her into the one thing she’d feared being.
“Luke, what’s wrong?” Mina asked him, her words tight with worry. “Tell me what’s happening.”
And he told her, not because of any power or compulsion but just because there was nothing he would not give her. “The ring is tuned to me, Mina. I told you that before. It’s a ring of darkness. You couldn’t have wielded it, not on your own, but selfish bastard that I am…my deepest desire was for you to stay with me.” He stared into her eyes and knew she’d see him for the monster that he was. “The ring knew that. So when you made your wish, when you said you wanted the tail gone…it transformed you.”
“Into what?” Her voice was a whisper.
“I think you know.”
Her long lashes lowered. “A siren.”
“Yes.” Pain knifed through him.
“I won’t be able to go back to the water.”
He shook his head. “I’m…sorry.” It would have been easier to just cut out his own heart because—
“I’m glad.” Her lashes lifted. She smiled at him. Smiled. “The water made me forget who I was. The way it felt down there—that wasn’t real. That wasn’t what I wanted.” Her smile dimmed. “If being a mermaid means the only joy you really know is in the ocean, then I don’t want to live that way. My mother forgot her own daughter—how is that joy? That…that’s hell to me.” Her hand lifted and her fingers smoothed over his cheek. “Want to know what heaven is?”
He was staring at heaven.
“It’s being with you. I knew something big was missing from my world even when my mind was trapped in that fog. You were missing, Luke. I need you.” She caught his hand in hers and brought his fingers to her lips. Carefully, she pressed a kiss to his hand as he knelt by the bed. “I love you.”
His whole body tensed. “Say it again.”
Leo cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, this scene is getting a little, um, personal. I think I’ll just step outside. There’s a vamp and a panther that I need to speak with anyway so I’ll just be seeing myself out.” His footsteps shuffled toward the door.
Luke didn’t look at him. There would be time—later—to deal with his brother. To deal with the prophecy of destruction that was foretold for them both.