A Witch's Beauty

  A Witch's Beauty

  Mermaid Book 2

  By

  Joey W. Hill

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF JOEY

  W. HILL

  "Sweet yet erotic... Will linger in your heart long after the story is over."

  -Sensual Romance Reviews

  "Reading this book was a physical experience because it pushes through every other plane until you feel it in your marrow."

  -Shelby Reed, co-author of Love a Younger Man

  "The perfect blend of suspense and romance."

  -The Road to Romance

  "A beautifully told story of true love, magic, and strength... A wondrous tale... A must-read."

  -Romance Junkies

  "A passionate, poignant tale... The sex was emotional and charged with meaning... Yet another must-read story from the ever-talented Joey Hill."

  -Just Erotic Romance Reviews

  "This is not only a keeper but one you will want to run out and tell your friends about."

  -Fallen Angel Reviews

  "All the right touches of emotion, sex, and a wonderful plot that you would usually find in a much longer tale."

  -Romance Reviews Today

  "[Hill] stands out in a genre known for its out-of-the-ordinary love play."

  -The Romance Studio

  "Darkly rich erotica at its finest."

  -Two Lips Reviews

  "Dark and richly romantic... a feast for your libido and your most lascivious fantasies."

  -Romantic Times

  "Warning: This one is hot!"

  -Affaire de Coeur

  Berkley Sensation Titles by Joey W. Hill

  A MERMAID'S KISS

  A WITCH'S BEAUTY

  Berkley Heat Titles by Joey W. Hill

  THE VAMPIRE QUEEN'S SERVANT

  THE MARK OF THE VAMPIRE QUEEN

  Acknowledgments

  While every book I write comes with implicit and fervent thanks to the many folks who make the book far better-family, critique partners, editors, agent, etc., I have a specific thanks for the mermaid-angel books.

  My sincere gratitude to Janine, my childhood friend, now a wonderful, adventurous woman who jumps from planes, cave dives and generously offers her help (despite her own incredible schedule) to a frazzled author on a tight deadline. Without her, Mina and Anna's underwater world would have felt far more "land-based" and would have had some gross errors. Her assistance in both the mermaid-angel books has been invaluable. As always, any remaining errors are entirely mine.

  One

  "SHE doesn't need protection," Marcellus pronounced. Despite the fact most angels only had solid black eyes, no hint of white or colored iris; there was no mistaking the murderous intent in the captain's narrowed gaze. "She needs a cage. Manacles. A gag."

  Affront accompanied every ripple of muscle and sinew as he stretched out what should have been two impressive wings. Marcellus's feathers were a glossy green so dark as to be almost black, except for an iridescent shimmer of color, caught by the beams of sunlight filtering in through the Citadel's arched open windows. One wing still displayed the plumage. The other was now leathery black and vestigial. On closer inspection, it was obvious it had been transformed into a bat's wing.

  David had halted respectfully at the doorway to the main hall, but at Jonah's glance, he took a step in. He was smart enough not to interrupt an audience between the Prime Legion Commander and one of his upper-echelon captains. But the wing was flapping back and forth in an uncontrolled manner, as if it had a mind of its own and was trying to free itself from Marcellus's back by flagellation.

  "At least she changed it to a fruit bat's wing," David ventured. "That's the largest bat species in the world. The hog-nosed bat is only about three centimeters long."

  From Jonah's searing look, David suspected the commander knew he wasn't trying to be helpful. If truth be known, he was hoping to instigate.

  Marcellus, however, ignored him. "Raphael said he would fix it when he stopped laughing. Which meant I should come back after the next cycle of the moon."

  Jonah's lips twitched. "Raphael does tend to view life more comically than most."

  "Well, perhaps that's because he hasn't had to stand over the bodies of the four angels that have been killed in this pointless effort so far. Unfortunately what she did to them was beyond his healing skills."

  "You can't blame her for that," David protested.

  "David." Jonah sent him a more than searing look this time. "You're early, which I expect was deliberate. So if you don't stop speaking without leave, I'll send you to the training field until I'm ready for you."

  Marcellus leveled a hard glance at the young lieutenant to reinforce the message, then shifted it back to the commander. "Let them have her. It's no more than she deserves. She's one of them anyway, isn't she? She's not of the Goddess's creation; that's for certain."

  The amusement flickering through Jonah's gaze had died away at Marcellus's reference to the four they'd lost. Now there was a trace of steel there his angels all knew, well enough that Marcellus appeared to recall himself.

  "Ah, by the bloody maze of Hades, Jonah. I don't mean any disrespect, but none of us believe she came to your mate's aid three moons ago to save you. The witch is bound by curse to protect the descendants of Arianne. If it weren't for that, she'd have turned on Anna, too."

  David held his tongue with effort, but couldn't stop his fingers from closing into fists at his sides. From Jonah's sharp glance, he knew he'd caught it, and he tried to make himself relax. It was hard, for Marcellus hadn't run out of steam yet.

  "There's never been a Dark Spawn who survived past five years old that didn't turn into a full Dark One in the end." The vestigial wing slapped against his shoulder as if underscoring his point. "If the Dark Ones had to take some of ours, I wish to Goddess they'd taken her down with them. Then we'd be done with this."

  At his commander's silence, Marcellus sighed. "I serve you, Jonah. You know that. But this is almost too much. I speak only the truth of it."

  Jonah studied him a long moment. Then he inclined his head. "Go see to your wing. I'm sure Raphael will restore it now. Tell him I have need of you for other duties in the morning, and that will hasten him."

  David managed to stand without further expression as Marcellus bowed and took his leave. On the way out, the captain cast an almost pitying look toward him. The way one would look at the village idiot, David reflected. Still, he managed to wait until Marcellus had awkwardly winged off into the blue and white sky before he spoke. "So we just let them have her, like he said?"

  "David, do me a favor. Shut up for a minute." Jonah sat down on the sill of a large open window and eased his silver white wings out to stretch them fully in the early morning air. As the breeze fluttered through the tips of his primary feathers, he closed his eyes.

  Outside the window, a rainbow stretched over a green valley, diving behind a silver ribbon of river. The silver and ivory spires of the Citadel, piercing the seven layers of Heaven, were a gathering place specifically for the warrior class that fought the enemies of the Lady. Right now, they were in Third Heaven, Machanon, which overlooked the Garden of Eden. To plan battle strategy with his captains and lieutenants, Jonah would typically go down to Shamain, the layer of Heaven closest to Earth. The Machanon level of the Citadel was an oasis of sorts, a place for the angels who regularly had to fight the Dark Ones to take their ease. To remember, in such a serene setting, what they fought for.

  Of course, like today, less tranquil business often came here to find Jonah. It was one of many reasons David did not envy the commander his position. He regretted adding to that burden, but he was sure of his duty. He could not shirk it, particularly in this matter.

  For the momen
t, however, he went to a squat, traced the etchings on the floor tile with a finger. The design displayed a circular formation of angels, fighting the various shapes that evil had taken over many millions of years. Three symbols marked the outer boundaries of the circle. Courage. Loyalty. Commitment. The Semper Fi of the Dark Legion.

  "What's your attachment to the witch, fledgling?"

  David lifted his head to look at his commander. "I'm not sure I understand the question."

  "I'm fairly certain you do. I assigned this responsibility to Marcellus's battalion, making it clear you were not to be involved in it. Yet over the past three months, he tells me you've badgered her security detail for frequent reports, and shadowed them when your other duties allow. Why do you champion her, David, when no one but you and I will?"

  David straightened, feeling uncomfortable under the shrewd gaze of a born angel well over a millennium in age. Whereas he'd come from a human soul and was only thirty years old. Barely a child to most of this company, but enough of a fighter that he'd been made a lieutenant of one of Jonah's frontline platoons. Over time, that had become a source of quiet, fierce pride to him. But that desire wasn't what had brought him here in the beginning.

  Regardless of skills, most angels had to undergo myriad trainings before getting their first assignments. Learn about being Watchers and Messengers, or participate in the heavenly choirs. But from the moment he'd crossed the Veil, David had needed something to fight. What he'd wanted was the oblivion of eternal dust, not an afterlife.

  He often suspected that was why he'd been placed under Jonah's wing. The angel had not only trained him to fight. He'd broken David down, torn him open to let the rage and bitterness bleed out, built him up when despair would have taken him. Taken care of him until he could take care of himself. He'd given him a good-against-evil struggle with clear lines.

  So he loved Jonah. He couldn't think of him as a father-too many horrible memories attendant to that-but he could think of him as an older brother. A friend, and a leader he respected more than any other.

  A few months ago, he'd had the honor of rescuing Jonah from an army of Dark Ones. Or rather, David helped Anna and Mina rescue him. Because of the things he'd seen the witch do, he sure as hell wasn't going to let Marcellus talk Jonah into abandoning her.

  "It isn't the curse. That's not why she helped you," he insisted. "When I first found her, and thought she was involved in your disappearance, I hurt her to get information." He didn't like the memory, that struggle on the sand, his daggers punching into her flesh to pin her to the ground, her cries of pain, but he faced it now. "It didn't matter. She wouldn't give you up."

  Of course, Mina was contrary enough to hold her tongue just because someone wanted her to talk. It wouldn't matter if the subject was the secrets of Heaven or the color of the sky on a clear day.

  Angels could share thoughts, but he didn't need to expend the effort in this case. Jonah's arch look told David the commander had likely had the same thought.

  Jonah didn't give in to spontaneous bursts of humor, but David had seen more moments like that since he'd taken a mate. Anna, a mermaid of royal blood, a daughter of Arianne. A young mermaid to whom laughter and joy were as easy as breathing. She believed in Mina, too. Which bolstered David's argument considerably. He wasn't too proud to take advantage of it.

  David pointed to the floor. "From what I've seen, Mina has all of these qualities. Courage, loyalty and a tremendous amount of commitment."

  "We just don't know to what. Or whom." Jonah studied the ceiling, which, true to the tastes of the wholly male population that frequented these halls, depicted a lush and sensual scene of young women bathing. "She doesn't seem to want our protection, any more than my angels want to protect her."

  "Yet four have died because of the necessity of providing her protection against attacks she couldn't have handled herself."

  "Well, according to her conversation with my mate, she could have. They simply 'got in the way.' " His expression darkening, Jonah turned so his feet were propped against the opposite side of the window frame and one wing was curved under his body.

  "Where is she now?" David ventured.

  "We don't know. Which is why I called you. You're the only one with a blood link to her."

  "Oh." At David's expression, Jonah's brow rose.

  "Why did you think I called you?"

  A muscle flexed in David's jaw. "Let me protect her, Jonah. Before you say that I'm too inexperienced, hear me out at least."

  Jonah inclined his head. "You're always welcome to speak freely, David. You know that. Before I say no."

  David's eyes narrowed. "A whole detail is an easier target to find than one angel and one-"

  "Dark Spawn."

  "Girl."

  Jonah shot him a look as David lifted his chin. "She doesn't deserve what Marcellus said about her."

  "David, you're still close enough to your human life to think that morality is always relative, shades of gray. This Legion has fought Dark Ones since before the skies were created. Not a one of my angels, and that includes me, has ever met a Dark Spawn worth saving. They're either wholly evil, the true children of their sires, or so physically deformed they don't survive. She is Dark Spawn, their child. Daughter of a mermaid, for certain, but that mermaid was a seawitch, from a line of seawitches who were known to embrace the Darkness far more often than the Light. And her personality does nothing to convince us she's different," he added dryly.

  "Everyone in this Legion has a preconceived notion of Dark Spawn, no room for the possibility of a rare exception-"

  "Because there's never been one."

  "That's why they're called exceptions," David argued. "I'm not saying there's no darkness to her. But no one, not even Marcellus, can deny there's something different about her. Maybe she can protect herself and just needs someone to watch her back. But if they do take her, they'll have to go through me. Worst case, you'll only have lost one of many lieutenants, rather than more members of your higher-ranking platoons."

  "You're not listening. Typical young idiot." Jonah shook his head as David opened his mouth again. "I don't like her, David. But I love you well; you know this. You're baiting me, and I'm likely to bash your head in for it."

  David's lips twisted. "You and Luc are always threatening me with bodily harm, and neither of you ever follows through."

  "Would you like us to?"

  "No." David put up both hands in surrender, allowing a small smile. "Training under you is punishment enough. But, Jonah, let me do this. I've felt a connection to her from the beginning. I think it should be me. Anna senses it, too; you know it."

  Jonah rolled his eyes, an odd effect for the solid dark orbs, then pushed off the window to stand again. "She's been badgering me for a week about it. Though her methods are far more persuasive."

  David pressed on. "We've been protecting Mina without trying to understand her. That's the key to keeping her safe. Anna said even she hasn't been able to get very close to Mina. And she knows more about her than anyone. She's given me everything she thinks may help me."

  "So that's why you've been spending so much time with her. I was beginning to wonder if my young lieutenant had a crush on my mate."

  That brought David up short. His gaze strayed to the bracelet, a thin braided strip of Anna's golden brown hair, Jonah had worn since the Canyon Battle. "Jonah, I wouldn't... couldn't... I mean, Anna is beautiful and truly I love her. But not... I mean, I don't love her..."

  Jonah's lips quirked and he waved a hand. Goddess, the boy was young. On Earth, he might have been married by now, a father, but up here his age made him practically less than an embryo to the others.

  He'd grown to physical manhood in the skies, though, and brought a rage so strong from his human life Jonah had at first wondered why the Lady had made him an angel, rather than simply reincarnating him into another soul to lance those boils in the earthly realms.

  Then, underneath all that, he'd found the
shock of a serene and steady soul, a level headedness far beyond David's years. He was more than a capable fighter. Using his wits at all times, no matter how thick the fighting got, he came up with ways to defeat greater numbers in hand-to-hand that had earned him the respect of the captains and extra duty to teach his techniques. No one could match his artistry when fighting with two daggers. Jonah had let him stop carrying a sword into battle some time ago when he realized the longer weapon was merely a hindrance to the young angel.

  When the lieutenant of his platoon fell, David took over the command, brought them through a fight where they were outnumbered three to one. He'd served as acting lieutenant while Jonah looked for a replacement, but several battles after that, the commander realized he'd already found him.

  However, it was in battle that he still saw remnants of what David had brought with him to the gates of Heaven. He preferred to be close to his enemy when he took him out, though Jonah suspected David wasn't seeing a Dark One when he plunged his knife in for the killing blow. Despite how far David had come, a darkness still lingered in him. It no longer ruled him, but it had not yet been resolved. That was what most concerned him about David's desire to take guard detail over a witch who might be ruled by darkness entirely.

  But Anna had drawn his attention to other attributes David could bring to the protection duty, which had little to do with his intelligence and fighting skills. When Anna had teased him about David's handsome face and body, he'd retorted that he didn't believe her prickly Dark Spawn friend even noticed such things.

  "Oh, she notices," Anna had said, the twinkle in her blue violet eyes replaced by something more serious. "She definitely noticed David. That's why it should be him."

  "The boy has little experience with women," he had replied. "She will drive him to insanity."

  "If that's the problem, I'd be happy to educate him further, my lord. Purely to help him serve you better." She'd dived beneath the ocean waves then, laughing and evading his grasp, though he knew they could both look forward to the ways he would exact retribution later.