Page 2 of Welcome to Seaman’s Cove: Part Two

I gather up my laptop and shove it in my bag. “I’ll be there in the morning.”

“Can you come sooner?” There’s an urgency in his voice that has alarm bells going off in my mind. “And we’re gonna need a ship. Something outfitted for deep-sea exploration. Maybe a submarine.”

“A submarine?” I repeat, confused.

“Please, Seb.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” With the phone pinched between my ear and my shoulder, I hit the intercom for my secretary.

She walks in two seconds later with a notepad, her purse already over her shoulder, making it clear she was about to leave for the day. Guilt sucker-punches me. She’s been working so hard on this conference, and now I’m going to give her even more to do. But my alpha needs me, and I won’t let him down.

“I’ll be there soon,” I say to Phoenix, then hang up.

“Cancel all my appointments for the rest of the week, and ready the jet,” I tell Carla while packing up the last of my things.

“Sir?”

“I’m sorry to take away your evening, Carla, but it’s important.”

I can’t give her an explanation when I don’t have one myself. All I can think about is how serious and distraught Phoenix sounded on the phone. I’ve never heard him like that.

“I’m going to send you a list of things I’ll need delivered to me at Woodhurst University,” I continue. “And I’ll need you to charter a deep-sea vessel as soon as possible. The kind Phoenix likes for research. Something with a submersible. I’ll send more details from the air.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.” She scurries away to make the calls.

I take one long look at my office, wondering what Phoenix has gotten himself mixed up in, then lock everything up. I hope whatever this is won’t break us.

2

My mate was kidnapped by merfolk.

I can’t seem to wrap my mind around it. My heart feels like it’s been ripped in two. It’s difficult to think, to concentrate, but there’s too much to do for me to rest.

“Would you get off the fucking phone?” I glare at my best friend. “We need to do something.”

We’re standing on the rocks that jut out along one side of Seaman’s Cove, just above the secret entrance to the lost city of Ocearus. After everyone said it didn’t exist, my mate, Madison, found it.

My mate. Gods that feels so unreal to say, yet causes my gut to clench since she was just stolen from me. By a fucking mermaid queen. No matter how many times I think about it, I still can’t fully believe this is real life.

Phoenix glares at me. “I am doing something.”

He takes a few steps away, returning to his conversation with whoever’s on the other line. My knees give out, and I sink down onto the rock. Madi’s backpack is still here, right next to mine. She has her dry bag with her, but I doubt the few things in it will do her much good under the sea.

Thank the gods, I bonded her and can still feel her presence. She’s alive, though I can’t understand how. Caspian must be breathing for her. How long can he sustain that? Is he okay? The weaker bond I have with him is overshadowed by Madi’s fear, even though she’s trying to hide it by sending me comfort and reassurance.

The sun sinks low, kissing the horizon, and all I can think is that Madi should be in my arms. We should be watching this sunset together, curled up in my apartment, celebrating her discovery—one of the greatest archeological finds of the century. We should be tangled together in my bed, celebrating our new bond, even if we have to keep it secret from the rest of the world.

But she’s gone.

It’s been less than an hour since we bit each other, but the effects of bonding sickness are already setting in. It’s probably worse because she was taken from me against her will, and I don’t know when or if I’ll ever see her again. I drop my head into my hands and try to take slow breaths.

“He’s on his way,” Phoenix says, making me look up. He’s finally off the phone.

“Who?” I ask, rubbing my stinging eyes.

“My beta, Sebastian.”

“Phoenix, seriously? Now is not the time for your fucking games.” I can’t believe he would joke at a time like this.