I’d never seen a hippocamp close up before, but the illustrations in various texts painted them as gorgeous. Nereids had bred them for centuries and theirs were every bit as stunning and pampered as any land noble’s favorite steeds.

From the personal journal of Ozora

Dean of Magics

The Bestiary

We were back aboard Mayhem. I paced the decks while Fraser went below to change into something he could swim in. The sound of his bare feet on the wooden stairs pulled my gaze from water and sky. Fraser climbed to the deck in swim trunks, with a towel slung around his sculpted copper shoulders. My gaze slid from his firm pecs and across those lean abs before I gulped and yanked my eyes out to the horizon.

Did not think that one through. I scolded. This was my idea, and I did say he’d be swimming.

I don’t know why I assumed he’d put on the same things he was wearing before. Oh sweet Nahit, give me strength.

But why did he go swimming fully clothed earlier when he had trunks on Mayhem? He broke my musings by slinking up behind me.

“Sure you just didn’t want to get me half naked?” He purred.

Dammit. Surely he could feel the heat of my blush, and I realized he’d caught me looking.

I jumped out of his reach and quick-stepped to the end of the quay, waiting at the top of the stairs where I found him before as he slowly walked to join me.

Okay, he strutted.

I kinda wanted to kiss that smug half-smile off his scruffy face and struggled to squash the impulse.

He rolled to a stop next to me, posing. Both hands gripped the ends of his towel and he stood with one hip cocked. Fraser is all lean muscle on a tall frame. Not a bulked up fighter like a knight or paladin, but you couldn’t mistake him for anything but powerful.

He was still grinning that lopsided little boy grin. I yanked my gaze away, staring anywhere but at him.

“S-so.” Dammit! I sneaked a peek. Yep. His grin grew wider, and he took two more steps to stand even closer.

I paused, drew a slow inhale, and tried again. “Tell me what it feels like to use your numin under the water.”

This time I pulled off sounding business-like, professional, although I was far from it. Hold it together, Ozora. It’s no different from teaching anyone else. I worked on slowing my breathing, trying to get my thudding heart back to a regular pace while he answered. It helped that he pointed down the stairs, directing my attention to the choppy wavelets. “Like those. Ripples, or waves, sometimes like … tentacles?” He paused and his brow creased, as if searching for the right word. “Or rope? Dragging across or wrapping around me. Much like currents feel underwater, but different.”

I looked with my magesight, and saw, much to my delight, the elemental magics streaming across the surface and wending through the depths. Their lines and splotches formed a network altogether different from the waves crossing the surface.

Perfect! This should work. A flutter of numin over by Mayhem pulled my attention. Fraser had mentioned spells that kept her together after the fight, but that looked nothing like binding or water repelling spells.

The quick exhale of his breath against my cheek drew my attention back from the waters. Fraser immediately straightened and tugged at the towel around his neck. He coughed and reddened and wouldn’t look me in the eye, making me wonder if he’d stepped even closer. But again, why?

I was a bit sad I’d been lost in my magesight. He’d been kissing close and …

Perhaps it was better I hadn’t noticed.

“So to you, numin feels like.” A quick surge of triumph coursed through me that I managed not to stutter this time. Even though my heart sped up again at the memory of his lips pressing on mine. “Something touching your skin? A ripple, a strand of something, a wave?” Oh Nahit, this is not getting any easier. Pull it together, Ozora. “But how did you know it was numin and not a current?”

Why I imagined calling on the goddess of love and carnality would help my predicament, I can’t say. Nahit’s more likely to incite me to things I’d surely regret. Probably be easier if he wasn’t standing so close, but to move away would be admitting … well, admitting he was getting to me.

“Numin is alive. The current is not. There’s no comparison.” His low voice was nearly a caress and the heat coming off his bare skin was not helping my control.

I gave up caring what he thought and walked around the well the stairs created to stand at the end of the quay on a narrow outcrop of stone. Yes, much easier when he wasn’t close enough to touch.

The stairs in front of me stepped off the side of the pier and giant stone blocks capped the end I stood on. Behind me, the deep waters of the bay lay at the bottom of a sheer drop off.

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Don’t step back.

Don’t step back.

Don’t step back.

I pointed down the stairs and said, “Get in and stop when you feel anything that’s numin.”

He cocked his head, gaze sharpening with curiosity. Pulling the towel off his shoulders, he let it fall to the top step, and without another word, he was in the water. After swimming out about eight feet away from the stairs, he paused.

“There’s a … stream of numin two feet below mine.” He called. Magesight helped me peer through the water to find the pale gold track of a dolphin’s song-spell flowing where Fraser described. Since I wasn’t fluent in dolphin magic, I couldn’t tell much about it. Didn’t matter though, he’d accurately found the closest numin source.

“Well done!” I told him. “How does that feel different from the current going past you?”

His arms sculled below the surface, and his brow smoothed as he considered. His gaze went hazy. A sure sign he switched his focus from purely physical senses to those mystical receptors that detect numinous energies.

Magesight oddly combines using physical eyesight overlaid with energetic sensing. Fraser’d just given a textbook example of reading magic energies received by the whole body. He had the sensing part down. The last piece was engaging that visual overlay.

“Like I said, it’s alive.” He lifted his shoulders, sending new ripples of their own spreading outward.

“Good, but what else can you sense from it?” I prodded. “Is it an animal? Another nereid?”

He blinked. “A dolphin.” His expression was almost blank, as if he spoke as soon as the answer popped in his head.

“Very good!” He grew up with nereids. Dolphins and hippocamps are always around their cities. The cynical side of me finally spoke up, tired of horny me slobbering over Fraser’s perfectly chiseled abs. Cynical me did a great job dampening my carnal thoughts. He’d be familiar with dolphin magic. I cleared my throat. It was a good, easy start.

“Find the next numin source.”

I had him find and trace the numinous trails and spells around the docked ships and out into the bay. Have to say, I was even proud of myself for staying calm and efficient. It helped my focus that he was out in the water. Only his head and shoulders were visible.

I assumed we were doing great until after about fifteen minutes. He stopped and swam toward the quay.

“What are you doing? We aren’t done.” I shouted. Yeah, it came out louder than I wanted. There were a few more numin sources I wanted him to find.

“I am,” He snapped back. “I’ve been doing this sort of thing since I was a boy. I know how to feel for numin. We’ve gone over that plenty of times. How does this help me see it? Unless you can answer me that, I’m done. I’ve got better things to do than swim around the bay.” He was shouting too by the time he reached the stairs and stood, water running off his skin, dripping from his chin and tangled curls. His face and chest glowed with his exertion and anger.

“S-stop.” Clenching my jaw, I paused, sucking in a lungful of air before continuing. “Please. Just … give me a few more minutes.”

He paused, hip deep in the water, looking up at me. Blue eyes, like the clear waters of the islands, right now were vibrant with frustration.

“I promise, it’s all about to make sense.” It was even true.

“Promise?” His gaze was practically a tangible touch as it grazed over me. “What if you break it?” He taunted. I refused to give him the satisfaction of responding to his innuendo.

“Turn around. Take some deep breaths and calm down.” I did the same, slowing my breathing while he spun to look back over the water. “Can you still feel the numin you found?”

He frowned with concentration, glaring at the water.

“Close your eyes.” Instead of gritting my teeth and mirroring his frustration, I paused so I could keep my voice tranquil before telling him. “Just feel. Keep your eyes closed and concentrate on what that dolphin’s spell feels like against your skin and letting that form an image in your mind’s eye.”

His chest lifted as he took a deep breath, pushed it out, and closed his eyes. After a few more breaths, “Got it.” He said, his voice tight.

“Now do that with the rest of the numin you sensed.” I swear I heard him growl, but his shoulders dropped a fraction and he didn’t argue.

So far, so good.

“Keep your eyes closed.” I told him. “And imagine the numin glowing with different colors. Picture it in your mind’s eye.”

He swung his head to give me an irritated look, eyes most definitely open. “Seriously? Make believe?”

I made a twirling motion with my finger. “Eyes closed. Use your imagination.” I said.

“I can think of better things to use my imagination for than picturing swoops of color.” His bright blue eyes heated to flame.

I called on Krimis now, goddess of ice, to keep me cool. “Yes, we both know how talented you are.” I made my voice not only cold but dry. Discouraging as the glacier fields of the far north. “Now close your eyes, turn around, and feel again for all that numin you located.”

“My way is more fun.” He pouted, but did as I bid.

“Can you feel them?” I asked after he’d been quiet for a minute. He gave one sharp nod of his head. “Now, imagine, with your eyes closed, seeing them in bold colors.”

I waited, unable to break my stare as his shoulders rose and fell. I counted a half dozen breaths. A half dozen more. He said nothing, but the tension that clenched his back muscles tight, bunched his shoulders like carved granite, melted away. He uncrossed his folded arms and let his fingers trail in the water. Rivulets chased droplets, running down the dips and valleys of his tightly corded arms. I was suddenly jealous of the water.

“You’re seeing it in your imagination, aren’t you?” I asked, my voice low, husky from my own thoughts. He nodded. This time, instead of an angry jerk, his head dipped a fraction, as if he didn’t want to take his inner gaze from the water. Even with his eyes closed, his intensity was compelling, making it impossible for me to turn my gaze away. I wished I had something to drink and had to make do with a few swallows.

At least he can’t see me ogling him. I mused, glad he was blind to my stare. I smoothed my expression before saying, “Now, open your eyes and picture what you’ve imagined overlaid on your vision.”

My feet were on the edge of the quay, but I had to see his face. Smooth stone blocks lined the straight drop down to the water some six feet below. I wasn’t worried. I could readily feel the edge through my sandals.

His jaws were relaxed and no frown lines creased his brow. A faint smile lifted his lips, only to spread into a wide grin that crossed his entire face. Sparks of numin lit his eyes, like daystars come out in the summer sky.

“It worked!” He shouted, his words echoing my thoughts.

“What color is that dolphin spell?” I asked, laughing along with him when he shouted back the right answer.

“Yellow. It’s yellow-gold. The little sea sprite that lives in the rocks below Mayhem warded her door in bright red. The selkies at the river mouth have marked their boundaries in green.’

“Very well done! Impressive, you found the selkies.” The glowing green wards were strong and bright, but much farther than I would’ve expected him to sense.

Fraser’s delighted smile dimmed, and he seemed to track something under the water.

A ringing neigh blasted out as a wave burst up from the water.

I gasped with double shock. The surge swept my feet out from under me right before a massive blue hippocamp leaped to the top of the quay and struck me with his broad chest.

I toppled over the edge and splashed into the bay.