Prince of Passion by Jessa Slade

leave. Not until you are in control again.”
    “You should go.” His voice cracked again, as if the qva’avaq seething in his flesh was already working its way out. “Find the raiders. Contact my sister and her sheership captain. They will help.”
    She shook her head. “I’d go if I thought it would matter, but there’s nothing more we can do tonight. This storm system came in early and strong. No ships—sheerships or the water-bourn kinds—will be moving out there. The barge is locked down for the night, and the interference in the atmosphere will keep everyone in the dark. You can be back in the fight tomorrow.”
    He laughed harshly. “Fight? I don’t think I can even stand without you holding me up.”
    “That’s the liqueur in your system, making you want to lie down.” She gave him a sly smile. “Come with me. I know what will help.”
    She pushed upright and his breath caught at the anticipation of pain from separating, but she kept her arm looped through his, tugging him along with her, and the contact was enough to soothe the qva’avaq.
    He swayed a moment on his feet, his head whirling as he glanced around the small, spare room. The plasteel shelter was little more than a hut, with shutters pulled tight against the storm that drummed all around. “Where are we?”
    “My island.”
    He remembered Luac’s angry jibe about the atoll with no boats. “You swam us here?”
    She shrugged. “No boat with sails would survive the surface, and the mating malac are quick to attack anything with unnatural propulsion under the waves. We were able to sneak by.”
    “But the Ni-Saya…”
    “Under his sister’s watch. Kylara will take excellent care of him since she has no wish to become Ni-Saya herself. She has an attraction to offworld things.” Rynn slanted a glance at him.
    “Saya…”
    “Are you ready? Hold your breath.”
    She opened the door, and the wind yanked the panel wide. Instantly, they were drenched, and if his mouth had been any farther open, he might have drowned. A crack of thunder greeted them, but the clouds were too thick to see the lightning that had spawned the heavy rumble.
    As she tugged him through the downpour, he caught only a confused glimpse of a storm-wracked beach, the foliage bent low under the wind and the rain hissed in the leaves. The bioluminescence of the foaming waves lit the beach in a strange violet light that dimmed as Rynn dragged him into the forest. The dark trees closed around them, wide leaves blocking some of the wind but channeling the rain into streams almost thick enough to be waterfalls.
    Icere remembered the waterfall simulation and almost laughed. But he remembered not to open his mouth.
    Despite the darkness, Rynn moved with assurance, still close against his side. The deluge was merciless and yet warm and slick between their bodies. He gritted his teeth against the renewed surge of the aphrodisiac in his bloodstream.
    If only he could let the water wash him empty.
    A darker shape loomed, and they faced a wall of rock. Rain streamed down the stone, bouncing up in a silvery spray, so that he almost missed the fissure. Rynn pushed him through the spray, through the rock, into the sudden quiet beyond.
    He blinked the water out of his eyes. “A cave.”
    “Come on.” She tugged him deeper.
    “I can’t see.” Except that wasn’t true. A faint indigo light surrounded them.
    He stared down at the smaller woman at his side. “You’re glowing.”
    “You’re not the only one with inner sparkles.” She spread one hand in front of them and the rings on the webbing between her fingers glimmered. “Just a little farther.”
    Another bend of rock brought them to a chamber too large for her bioluminescence to illuminate, but the echo of falling water told him it was big. A breath of warm, moist air moved across him.
    “It’s been awhile since I came here,” Rynn muttered as she tugged him onward. “Where did I… Ah.”
    She kept one arm hooked