The Nymph King

destroying the nymphs themselves.' Darius again.

'What reason?'

'I do not know, yet knowing there is a reason gives us a bit of power. All I am saying is that if we do this, we become servants and we put our own race in danger. If the gods destroy one, what is to keep them destroying another?'

'Nothing,' Valerian answered. His signal.

Weaponless, the nymphs swarmed forward. Valerian wished to the gods he held The Skull, but he could not postpone this fight. Streams of fire spewed from the dragons the moment they realized they were under attack. Valerian shoved Shaye behind a small side table and leapt forward. He and Darius met midair. That the dragon king retained his human form meant he was not enraged. Yet.

They grappled to the ground. Valerian landed a hard punch into his opponent's face. Blood trickled from Darius's mouth, yet the cut healed quickly. Dragons possessed accelerated healing, which made them difficult to slow. He gave another punch and rolled, then kicked out his leg, hitting Darius's stomach.

Darius was flung backward, but immediately righted himself. He spun. His tail had sprouted and that tail slashed at Valerian's face, cutting deep. He felt the sting of it, but didn't let it affect him.

All around him nymphs and dragons warred. Their grunts permeated the air.

'I agree with what you said about the gods.' Valerian lunged, punched. Contact.

'Then you are not as foolish as I thought.' Darius kicked again, and his foot slammed into Valerian's side.

Spinning continuously, he lashed out at Darius. He landed four successive blows. 'I will not give up this palace. It belongs to us. You already have a home.'

'For the safety of Atlantis, the portal must be guarded. How can I trust you to do this? To not use it for your own gain?'

Valerian paused.

Darius did the same.

They stared each other down, both panting. 'When we win the nymph females back from you, we will have no more need of the surface world.'

Around them, the battle still raged. Valerian ducked as a stream of fire propelled toward him. The heat of it burned, singed, even though none of the flames touched him.

Darius said, 'Poseidon said that according to the laws, only Guardians were to use the portals to travel to the surface, that any other deserved punishment. If you were a Guardian... '

'I would do my duty.' Valerian studied Darius's face. That scar slashed from eyebrow to chin. His eyes were swirling blue, determined to kill if he must, but hoping to find another way.

'The portal I guard leads to a jungle on the surface. The portal here leads to an ocean on the surface, as I'm sure you know. If you stay here,' Darius said, 'human travelers will come through. Most often they simply swim too deeply, are innocent, but they will be yours to destroy. The Outer City will be yours to guard. I am ready to relinquish this duty as it was never meant to be mine. I have enough handling the Inner City.'

'I will protect it with my life,' Valerian vowed. 'This is the only home we have ever known.'

'Then kneel.'

Valerian knelt without hesitation. He stared up at Darius, who sliced a thin cut down the center of his chest, and offered a blood oath to always guard the portal, to keep the city safe.

Around them, the men finally stopped fighting to listen and watch. Shaye approached Valerian's side, and he stood. He linked their fingers. He should have scolded her for leaving the safety of the table, but he liked her where she was too much.

Darius's gaze flicked to her and widened with surprise.

'I told you I wouldn't leave him,' she said with a proud tilt of her chin.

His lips twitched. 'My Grace would have done the same.'

'Shall we trust each other, dragon?' Valerian waited impatiently for the answer. Everything he'd ever wanted hovered within his grasp.

Darius's gaze became piercing. 'Yes,' he finally said. 'We shall trust each other. And battle the gods together if we must.'

Valerian held out his hand. Darius eyed it for several seconds before clasping it with his own. The truce was sealed, and Valerian did not know how he would explain this to Layel. 'Let us hope we live long enough to regret this.' He turned to Shaye and gathered her in his arms, where she belonged. Where he planned to keep her for all of eternity.

'This is the most unhappy I've ever been,' she said, grinning. 'I just hate you so much.'

Softly he kissed her lips. 'Not nearly as much as I hate you.'

Oh, but they were going to have a long, happy life together.

EPILOGUE

'HOW MUCH IS THIS ONE?'

'That one will cost you a kiss. A big wet one. Probably a ten-second Frencher.'

Valerian pushed away the basket of oranges he always kept in his room and studied the card Shaye had made. 'Without you, I'm nothing,' it read. With each day that passed, her cards became more and more poetic. Which was a good thing, since his men needed the cards to lure the female nymphs from their pique. Seemed they weren't too happy about being left with the dragons for so long.

But the sweet cards also meant that Shaye herself was being lured from her past hurts. She was adapting to life here admirably, amusing herself by making and selling cards to him and his men and the residents of the Outer City, where she'd set up shop. Always guarded from demons and other forces, of course. Even the dragons bought them when they came to visit—Darius had needed one for his pregnant wife. The vampires, too, bought them, though they did not visit often. Layel was upset by the alliance between nymphs and dragons. Valerian was determined to unite the two races.

So far Poseidon and the other gods had not returned. Or rather, had not made themselves known. Maybe they would soon, maybe they wouldn't. Valerian had Shaye, and that was all that mattered. He could handle everything else that happened. He'd even promised Shaye he would find a way to take her to see her mother. And he would. What Shaye wanted, Shaye would receive.

Life, at the moment, was all that he'd ever dreamed. Joachim was mated to Brenna and the little woman had become the army's best healer. She patched the men after every training session and battle, and she did it with a smile, followed by a lecture about 'acting like babies' when the fearless warriors whimpered at the sight of a needle.

Shivawn was his only reason for upset. The man's mood grew blacker and blacker, and he was spending more and more time in the vampire camp, most likely sleeping with Alyssa (even though he had many nymph females to choose from) and not liking that he was driven to do so. Oh, well. The warrior would find his way. Of that Valerian was sure.

'Well, do you like it?' Shaye asked, pointing to the card in Valerian's hand.

'I love it. But a kiss is too low a price, moon.' She sat behind a table and he leaned over it, placing them nose-to-nose. 'You should demand sex and nothing less.'

She chuckled. 'Your men would buy more if I did so, I'm willing to bet.'

'I will pay my men's debts,' he growled with mock ferocity. 'In fact, I owe you for several Joachim purchased and it's time I paid up.'

Her arms wound around his neck. 'Take me to bed, Valerian.'

'That will be my pleasure.'

'And mine, love. And mine.'