His sacrifice could save humanity. Her revenge could turn it to stone.
When immense grief turns demigod Calli Bordeaux’s heart to vengeance, she does the unthinkable. Using her powers, she erases herself from the memories of her beloved, Henrik, so that he cannot join her hunt for the notorious pirate Captain Fredrick, Henrik’s savage father. Shattered, Calli rebuilds herself and the crew of her parent’s ship to vanquish her enemy, only to discover a piece of Henrik came with her after all.
Unaware that he lost the greatest love of his life, former pirate turned royal guard, Henrik, sets out with Cava’s navy to find a woman the gods forsook and the humans fear. Medusa. Her latest rampage of stony destruction is not mindless slaughter but self-preservation from pirate assassins. The demi-god Perseus has put a bounty on her severed head, seeking the power it possesses to slowly slaughter mankind.
United by order of the crown, Calli and
Henrik must stop Perseus and his pirate accomplices before it’s too late.
Echoes of their past passion haunt their voyage, tipping them into turmoil when
humanity needs them most. Can their wounded hearts find their way back to each
other in time? Or will the barriers constructed by past choices stand in the
way as the world around them turns to stone?
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Excerpt
Copyright © 2024 Dana Claire
My
head snapped up. Hope fisted my heart. “My parents? You spoke to them? What did
they—”
“I
thought The Freedom was pursuing
Captain Fredrick and The Black Hollow,”
Henrik interrupted. He took the book from my grasp and thrust it into Savina’s
beckoning fingers.
“No.
I haven’t spoken to them.” Savina addressed me before returning her gaze to
Henrik. “And yes. They were following your father—or they are.” Savina gripped
the sides of the ledger, her knuckles whitening. “We don’t know any more than
that. Captain Fredrick’s ship and Medusa were seen in Sottom at the same time.
We think there is a connection. We thought The
Freedom was trailing them, but we lost contact. I don’t know where either
ship or Medusa is now. That’s why I’m waiting for Conleth to return with news.”
My
arms trembled. Where in the underworld had my parents gone?
Savina
pointed to the wingback chairs next to a pair of end tables. “Sit.”
Henrik
guided me across the room. His calluses scratched the threads of my blouse as
he coaxed me down with gentle pressure on my shoulders. My knees wobbled, and I
flopped into the seat.
“Is
that why Captain Niles took interest?” Henrik asked. “He has stacks of Jacarian
maps marked up with circles around mountain sides and x’s laid in front of cave
entrances.” He arched an eyebrow. “What is he looking for?”
Savina
looked down at the leather-bound book, then back up to Henrik. “Is that where
these came from?” Her voice built like a thunderclap, lifting her half out of
her seat. “Did you two board The
Serpent’s Snare by yourselves and steal this?”
Before
Henrik or I could confirm or deny, the king’s voice boomed behind us. “Savina,
are you in there?”
The
door swung open. I twisted, and the look of raw devastation marring Conleth’s
face spurred me to my feet. His black hair stood on end as if he’d been pulling
it. Creases of worry marred his lips. Behind him, my great-uncle Hermes scoured
the room like a man who’d wandered away from a shipwreck, brown eyes
red-rimmed. I’d never seen either man cry. Not much could break them, but I
knew the sort of bereavement that painted the windows to their soul’s crimson
would sever my heart as well.
“Oh,
my gods. What happened?” Savina rounded the desk, stopping before her husband.
“Tell me, Conleth. Who’s dead?”
The
second she asked, I knew. Their missing ship, my uncles’ dried tears, the
silence. I dropped to my knees, a sob wracking my chest.
“No,
no, no.” Impossible. My father was a demi-god born from Apollo and Calliope
with the power to heal and bring men to their knees with his song; my mother,
Lou, the fierce captain of the first all-female-crewed pirate ship, The Freedom. Together, they’d navigated
the seas with the greatest warriors and battled amidst the waves like gods.
Poseidon’s kingdom was their domain. No enemy could thwart them there.
“Cal?”
Henrik called out, but Conleth quickly moved in front of him, blocking his path
to me.
Hermes
ignored everyone else. With an ease only my great-uncle possessed, he walked
over and knelt to cradle my head in his hands.
I
fought his embrace as my chest threatened to collapse and crush my heart. I
refused to believe they were gone.
“Let
me go!” Henrik shouted at Conleth, but I didn’t dare look at him.
“I’m
so sorry,” my uncle whispered.
“My
parents are dead. Are you sure?”
Hermes’s
nod tore a sob from Savina. He rubbed his thumbs under my eyes, catching the
droplets on his skin. Uncontrollable tears gushed like a river that escaped its
bed.
I
swallowed the giant knot that had twisted in my throat. “I don’t believe you.
It can’t be.” My father grew up with sirens. He swam with them. His peers
called him the Emperor of the Sea for a reason. How could he possibly die on
the water? And my mother. She embodied the tides, the very salt-water air she
breathed. How could she just be gone?
“It’s
true.” My uncle reached for me.
I
shook my head. None of this made sense. “My brother?” Adelphi had been on The Freedom as well. My parents would
never let someone steal his soul away to the underworld. Not if they could help
it.
“Also
gone.” Hermes dropped his arms.
A
burning fury surged through me, scorching my grief down to hot embers. “Who
killed my family?”
My
uncle looked away for the first time, his almond-shaped eyes darting over my
head. Without meeting my gaze, he breathed, “Captain Fredrick of The Black Hollow.”
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