"The world isn't ready..."
An excerpt from King of the Tides, third book in the Tides of Atlantis series.
Marley’s eyes flared hot. Adam dropped his head down. His own fiery gaze flashed back at her, the hint of a feral leer on his lips. Her eyes rounded before they flamed again.
She turned away. Dammit. Why was she so out of control? Sparring with Solomon, she’d been on her ‘A’ game. As soon as Adam had come into the vicinity, though, she’d gone haywire. That rush of fire in her eyes when she looked at him—why couldn’t she control that? It only happened when she got angry… or turned on. How freaking embarrassing to have such a tell!
She looked back over her shoulder to find him standing there casually, no hint of heat in his hard black eyes. Completely collected. Marley scrunched her eyes shut then pressed her fingers against them, trying to regain some composure.
“I hate when they do that,” she grumbled.
Adam threw his head back and laughed. She brought her eyes up, her lips thinning into a line as she looked around for something to throw at him. Jackass.
“It’s not funny,” she seethed.
He stopped laughing. His head tilted to the side as he studied her.
“I think it’s sexy.”
“What?” Her brow furrowed.
A slow smile spread across those delicious lips of his. He took two steps and stood in front of her again. He reached up, brushing his forefinger across her mouth before he grasped her chin and kissed her lightly. When he pulled back, his eyes were narrowed.
“Did you ever stop to think that you’re just what the world needs right now?” His thumb traced her jaw. “Someone strong enough to carry the blood of a demon, with the heart of an avenging angel? Someone who… with a little practice,” he raised his eyebrow, “could mold the fires of Hades into a weapon… for good?”
She stared at him, wishing she could sink away into the feel of the kiss they’d just shared and forget everything else. Sadness overcame her as she shook her head. It was too risky.
“The world isn’t ready for someone like that.”
He tipped her chin up until she met his gaze, then spoke again.
“I’m not from this world.”
All the air left her lungs. A windstorm of emotion welled up inside her, all her thoughts blurring until they were consumed by him and her and whatever the term ‘eternity’ might mean. When his hand fell away, Marley shook her head, trying to regain some sense of reality. Get yourself together, girl. You’ve got problems not even the amazingly hot Atlantean in front of you can solve. Or maybe he could. With her eyes locked on his, hard as obsidian and just as deep, she imagined he could do anything.
She took a step back.
“Maybe not, but this is the only world I’ve got. I’d kind of like to know I’m not going to go all fire-breathing-dragon on people at the drop of a hat.”
She let out a half-hearted chuckle. It hurt her chest, that little push of air. Her newfound fighting skills were cool, but she really didn’t want to be anything other than the same old her she’d always been. Why was that never enough? Thinking back, she realized it never had been, not when she’d been little and not since she’d left her sixteen-year-old self behind all those years ago and tried to ‘reinvent.’ A heavy rock formed in the back of her throat. She cleared it away… loudly.
“I’m going away for a little while.” Adam said.
Her eyes snapped up.
“W-where are you going?”
His mouth opened, closed again. Finally, he spoke.
“I’ve figured out how to undo what I did to you.”
Marley scowled.
“B-but how? Before… I mean you thought before that I’d go back to normal on my own. Neither one of us believes that anymore.”
He shook his head slowly.
“No. There is a way, though. I’m sure it will work. I just need to seek another’s council, first, then I have to leave for a bit.”
“Leave? With everything going on?” Marley crossed her arms and glared at him. “So, I take it Poseidon isn’t the one whose council you're going off to seek.”
He stayed silent.
“Aaand it’s probably something he wouldn’t want you to do.”
“That’s not for you to worry about…”
“Bull. Shit!” She threw up her hands. “Here we go again. Are you for real?”
“Marlowe…”
“No, not ‘Marlowe,’” she mocked his deep voice, “not ‘Agent,’ not any of it! I’m the one turning into a demon here, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
He stepped toward her, but she pushed him back.
“No, Adam,” she held up her hands, cutting off anything he might have said. “Just stop. We both know I’m right. I’m not blaming you. You did what you thought was right. I can’t fault you for that. I would have done the same for you.” He looked up at her with… was that surprise on his face? She didn’t stop to consider. “If you’re doing something that has anything to do with me, I want to know about it. If you’re going somewhere, I’m coming with you.”
He shook his head again.
“Absolutely not, that’s off the table.”
“Fuck your table!” She snarled. His eyes rounded.
Or fuck me on the table, some tiny devil whispered in her ear. There was a thought. Gods, this man could be aggravating! She’d had enough.
“You know what?” she paused, her train of thought wrecked. He stood there, waiting for her to go on, picture of the patient, immortal male. “Gah! I’m leaving.”
His eyes flashed with worry. Ignoring him, she turned away and stalked toward the door.
“Agent.”
She stopped at his deeper tone. It sent a ripple of heat between her legs that travelled all the way up her spine, but she ignored that too. Tried to anyway. She sensed him move without seeing and swung back around just in time to catch whatever he’d thrown at her. Demon reflexes were awesome. Her eyes took in the object now clutched in her hand. A smooth shiny disc with some etched places caught the overhead lighting in the gym. It was the key to the vault door that sealed off his underground palace from Ramone’s. She’d stolen it from Solomon once before, when she’d been nothing but a human secret agent with a bad attitude. She looked up at Adam again. This time, he was the one crossing his arms over his chest.
“Be back by midnight.” He said.
Marley bit her lip.
“Or what, I turn into a pumpkin?”
He lifted an eyebrow at her. “I don’t think that’s how that goes.”
She resisted the urge to growl… barely, then turned on her heel and left with his freaky, little magic key in her hand.
Thank you for reading this excerpt from King of the Tides. This is the third book in the Tides of Atlantis series. It focuses on Adam and Marley as the main focus, but of course, all the usual suspects (favorite characters) make appearances as well. This book probably involves tales from Greek mythology the most heavily of any of the books in the series thus far. A good part of it actually takes place in Tartarus. I had quite the time re-imagining those scenes. :)
You can find the entire book for purchase, and read all about Adam and Marley’s wild adventure, here and or wait for it to come up in my “Sirens” tier on Ream.
