“There is not much more to tell. I did not tell my people what had transpired, because they would have turned on me as a traitor. Instead, I publicly challenged the Emperor for the Pearl Throne. If I won, he would step down; if he did, the sharks would swear fealty to his Empire. He accepted. We fought one-on-one, before the eyes of both the Sea Council and the Circle of Teeth. And this time he bested me, fairly and honorably.”
Martha cocked an eyebrow at him. “Did you let him?”
His sharp teeth gleamed. He didn’t say anything.
“Cunning as a coyote.” She nipped his shoulder teasingly. “So you were born to lead the sharks to a new destiny. But it was to bring them into the Pearl Empire rather than overthrow it.”
He nodded. “The Circle of Teeth was disbanded, and the Emperor named me the Master Shark. The first and only one of my kind to have a place on the Sea Council. I was…not loved for it. By either the sharks or the sea dragons.”
Her heart went out to him. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like, to be viewed as a failure—or even a traitor—by his own people. Or how hard it must be to have to work every day with age-old enemies who thought he was some kind of blood-thirsty monster. No wonder he was so closed and remote.
“But you had the Emperor on your side, at least?” she asked. “You
r friend?”
“My oath-brother,” he said softly. “For a time, yes.” His hand captured hers, flattening it over his heart. “But that is a longer story, for another day.”
She leaned on his shoulder, watching the sun sink into the sea, his heartbeat slow and steady under her palm. She thought over all he’d told her.
He can’t ever leave the sea.
Some small, selfish part of her still wanted to ask him to come home with her, to join her pack. But her tiny family dramas paled in comparison to his huge, empire-spanning responsibilities. How could she ask him to walk away from his life’s work? From who he was?
And beside which, he was a shark. There was nowhere for him to shift in the dry Arizona desert.
Nonetheless, she was certain that he would come, if she asked. He would burn himself to dry skin and bone for her sake, and never count the cost.
Love meant sacrifice. She knew that, down to the marrow of her bones.
She’d sacrificed romantic daydreams of finding her one true mate for the homely, everyday love of a good human man. She’d sacrificed sleep and time and sometimes her own sanity to raise her children. She’d shed blood and tears and sweat to protect her pack.
So many sacrifices in her life. And she’d never regretted any of them. Not a single one.
I won’t regret this one either, she told herself.
Nonetheless, it took her a few minutes to work up the courage to do what she must. “Finn?”
He looked down at her, resurfacing from whatever depths of memory he’d been lost in.
“I want…” She licked her lips, throat dry. “I want to come with you to Atlantis.”
Chapter 14
This is wrong.
Every one of his instincts screamed it at him as he watched Martha struggle into the wetsuit she’d borrowed from the resort. She was a desert creature, made for light and laughter. What was he doing taking her into the cold, silent depths?
But she’d been adamant that this was what she wanted.
“I want you as my mate,” she’d said last night, her soft fingertips silencing his protests. “And I’ve seen both sides to you now—Finn, and the Master Shark. You can’t rip yourself in two, pretending one half doesn’t exist. And I wouldn’t want you to. I can be happy anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”
He feared that would not be true. But she was as single-minded as a shark on a blood trail. The best he’d been able to do was to convince her to let him take her on a short visit to Atlantis. Today, he would show her what her life would truly be like if she joined him under the waves.
Then they would return to Shifting Sands. And she would make her final decision.
“Stop looking like your dog died,” Martha said, zipping up the wetsuit. “Or your goldfish, or whatever it is you people keep as pets. Do you have pets in Atlantis?”
“No. Martha, you don’t yet understand how different-“