A Mermaid's Ransom Read Free Page A

piece of chalk. Was he someone we know?"
    "No." Alexis sobered, picking up the stuffed animal and considering the foolish face, the broad nose, while her fingers flexed in the soft fur. "I don't think so. It was kind of a crazy dream. Lots of fire, darkness."
    She raised her gaze to Clara. "He needed me, more than I think anyone has ever needed another. So strong, he'd shatter the universe to get me."
    "God, that's romantic."
    Actually, it was pretty frightening. Because Alexis knew just how fragile the universe was.

Two
    DANTE'S chest worked like a bellows, his fingers digging into the blood-soaked stone beneath him. Curling back his lip, he let his fangs stab flesh as he pulled in more air. The pain had become so intense, he'd feared he would have to shatter the spell. Right before he'd retreated back through the dream portal, his internal organs had been cooking. Even now, they were uneasily simmering, reminding him what it would have been like to be incinerated from the inside out.
    That didn't matter. Vicious triumph surged through him. Though he would be dangerously weak for several hours, he'd done it. Damn the seawitch, and all the angels, he had defied them, created a way to touch the world outside of his prison. The single-minded focus of twenty years had at last paid off.
    Blood trickled down his sweat-drenched flesh to the growing pool of it around his bare knees, pressed into the stone. He'd used the blood to paint the proper symbols on himself, and heat had dissolved them to streaks. But they'd held long enough, seared into her dream soul. He'd connect with her far more easily next time.
    His attention shifted to the body lying several feet away, the staring silver eyes and tangled brown hair of his female sacrifice. Now that he'd figured out the proper order of symbols, incantations and timing for the release of blood, he could use the same vessel several times to open the portal. But it wouldn't be necessary. The next time the girl gave herself to dreams, she would be here, and his.
    A surge of hunger went through him as he thought of her silken skin, the vivid feel of it even through the illusory world of dreams. He'd be willing to sacrifice ten times as much blood if he could burn the marks into her physical flesh now.
    Despite the solitary fierce pleasure that gave him, he reined it back. The powerful rages and needs of his dark soul had to be harnessed if he wished to achieve his objective. He'd learned that long ago.
    Perhaps he had the devil-cursed seawitch to thank for that understanding. If he had the opportunity, he'd thank her personally. By ripping off her head, drinking her blood and casting her body into the deepest pit of vile waste he could find.
    Focusing on the dead humanoid female next to him again, he imagined it was her. Satisfaction intensified, like the grim pleasure of stealing a meal and having the time to savor it, the closest thing to a miracle in the Dark One world. Well, until now.
    Twenty years ago, the seawitch had destroyed all the rifts that allowed exit from the Dark One world. Piecing together the magic to re-create even one had been painstaking. He'd discovered a way to do it underground, under this tower, knowing her eye could turn upon his world whenever she chose. His early attempts created a limited, weak conduit that allowed him access to barren worlds. But at last he found one which included a humanoid species.
    They were a primitive, nomadic people with only rudimentary defenses. Despite their pronounced brows, broad faces and incomprehensible babble of language, their blood was a rich food source for him, after having been nourished on the weak poison of Dark One blood these two decades. Their strong, sweet fear of the unknown enriched and strengthened him as much as their blood.
    He couldn't go into their world, because his physical body couldn't cross any rift, even one he'd created. Which was why the dream portal was his victory, his way of circumventing the curse