Page 6 of Taken By the Crab King of Atlantis

“I’m here to congratulate you on selecting your sacrifice. I thought you had only recently returned to this world, reinvigorated after your rest. But the Zodiac Association acolytes told me you had never left. And have been ruling an underwater city, no less. Never saw you for much of a king.” His nostrils flare with amusement.

I sigh. I would bristle, but it would only encourage my eldest brother. Aries takes great pleasure in mocking his younger siblings. “I didn’t choose it. It was my last sacrifice’s desire to found Atlantis, and she willed me to stay, to keep it alive.”

“How?” Even as he asks, Aries holds a hand up as if stopping himself. “No, I don’t think I want to know. Dealing with the pettiness of human politics for 200 straight years? Give me the restful void any day. Besides, I never have much use for humans after my sacrifice has reached her natural end. I tried it once and lasted a week.”

In truth I don’t know how I have stayed alive all these years. I suspect it is because of the strong bond my late wife had with the city. I steer the subject to safer ground. “How fare our other brothers?”

“You haven’t seen them?” His eyebrows raise. “Surely the acolytes would give you word when they rose for this cycle?”

“I have been busy.” My glass is full again, and I drink to avoid his gaze.

“I see.” His golden eyes miss nothing. He stands and walks to my window, sipping scotch that has magically refilled. His cock swings between his legs as he looks out the window at my city.

“It is quite beautiful,” he says.

“Thank you.” My shoulders tense as his gaze shifts to the decaying buildings in the distance. I cannot keep secrets from my brother.

“It almost makes me wonder if I chose the wrong gift,” he says, gaze still on the city. Then he clicks his fingers and a lit cigar appears in his hand. “But I believe teleportation suits me.” He puts the cigar in his mouth and puffs as he turns back to me. “Taurus has already bred this cycle, you know.”

I huff a laugh. “Of course he has.”

“He dotes endlessly over his offspring, and his wife, who is well fit for breeding. They hold bacchanals in their maze regularly. Gemini has found a fine match to meet both his intellectual needs and his lust for life. And as you haven’t asked, my sacrifice, Tamara, is a cunning businesswoman, fit for a god.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“The cycle is going well. I hope for your sake it continues to. It looks like the bond you had with your last sacrifice is fading. I’m surprised it’s lasted this long.” He glances out the window, towards the crumbling outer buildings.

There’s no use in denying that the city is struggling. “It has lasted long enough.” The bond I had with my last sacrifice extended beyond the two of us to encompass the city itself. It is only now reaching its limits. Yen’s choice, and mine, are crucial to the city I’ve spent years building and maintaining.

“I hope for your sake, the new bond is true.”

“The codex says a love match isn’t necessary. I can stay in this world for her lifetime if she likes me or not.”

“If the rules were fool-proof you should have left this world over a hundred years ago. Will you risk it?”

My gaze drops to the picture of Marina and me on my desk before turning back to Aries. I sigh. “No, I won’t risk it. I have incentive enough to stay in this world. I have extended the sacrifice to two nights, to give myself time to woo her.”

“And I’m sure you’re stalking her social media extensively,” he adds with a raised eyebrow.

I frown. “I don’t keep up with technological trends.”

He barks a laugh. “Oh brother, you have gotten old!” He clicks his finger and a mobile phone appears in his hand. He throws it on my desk. “Look her up, and thank me later. Oh, and when you meet her? Lose the shirt.” He winks, and disappears into nothing.

I rub my sore shoulder into the empty silence of my office, frowning at nothing.

The scotch on my desk remains, and I finish the glass before picking up the phone Aries left me. It lights up instantly to one of Yen’s social media profiles. Her face is alive and bright. My stomach stirs with something like hunger. There are more pictures of her, and more words about her. And video! Yen alive, in full color and motion, graceful, laughing.

My gaze drifts from the phone to the shell on my desk, and my stomach twists as I pick it up, memories rising to the surface once again as I rub a thumb over the smooth edges.

“Place the shell where you wish the center of the city to be,” I had said, closing the shell into her delicate hand. Bubbles rose from my mouth when I spoke, and she heard me as much from the movement of the water on her antennae as the sound.

“Wherever I want?” she asked, looking at me adoringly.

“Wherever you want. The city will be my gift to you.”

“A wedding gift fit for a god,” she said.

“A gift fit for a queen,” I countered.