“Caspian, there you are.” Cari breezed into the room and settled herself onto the chaise. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

Caspian sipped his wine before answering his sister. “Well, now you’ve found me.”

Cari helped herself to a glass of her own. “Since when do you travel to this part of the world?”

“I needed some time alone,” Caspian replied. Rafe’s jealousies had pushed him to his limit today, so he had escaped to a small province in Italia for a little peace and quiet. Hiding from his priest wasn’t difficult, but avoiding his sister was another matter entirely.

“Rafe?” Cari asked.

“You know I don’t like it when you poke into my head.” He managed to block most of the immortals from his mind, but his sister appeared to have the ability to bypass all his defenses. He supposed it came from being the Goddess of Prophecy.

“I didn’t,” Cari replied. “But when I checked your palace, he was ranting about some merman you’d fucked. I simply drew my own conclusions.”

“I didn’t fuck him.”

“Rafe seems to think otherwise.”

Caspian rolled his eyes. “Rafe was present in the room the entire time. He is well aware of what we did.”

Cari huffed. “Did you ever think that your priest might not get quite so jealous if you didn’t make him watch you with other men?”

“The merman was having trouble breaking his mating fever. He came to me for help, we broke his fever and he returned to the ocean. That was it.”

“What was his name?”

“Who? The merman?”

“Yes, him.”

“Phoebus. Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious. I spoke to Mother this morning.”

“And what did she have to say for herself?”

“She told me Medina had slipped you a love potion.”

“Apparently. She added something to my wine, but I don’t know what. She was probably bluffing.”

Cari laughed briefly. “Don’t you know by now that Medina never bluffs?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on me. Probably she isn’t as good at brewing up mischief as she likes to think.”

Cari sipped her wine. “You never did figure out the difference between a love potion and one that simply inspires lust.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that if she’d given you the latter, which is what she hands out to most who seek her services, you’d be fucking that young merman right now. A true love potion, on the other hand, takes time to work, just like real love takes time to grow.”

“What are you saying? You think I’m going to fall in love with someone? The merman?”

“Like it or not, you are about to discover what falling in love is like.”

“I think I’ll let that particular experience pass me by, thank you all the same.”

“You seem to be laboring under the mistaken belief you have a choice in the matter.”

“I do.”

Cari finished her glass of wine and poured herself another. “I took a peek into your future after I spoke to Mother.”

“I suppose telling you I don’t want to know about my future would be pointless?”

“It would.”

“Very well. Tell me what you saw, and if I don’t like it, I’ll do what I need to so I can change it.”

“You can’t alter course mid-stream.”

“Says who?”

“Fate.”

“I don’t believe in fate.”

“It doesn’t matter what you believe in. You’ve met Phoebus, and been intimate with him, just hours after drinking Medina’s concoction.”

“He only sucked me.”

“That’s more than enough to trigger the potion. Chances are, if it’s one of Medina’s brews, the touch of your hand to his would have been enough.”

“I’m probably never going to see him again,” Caspian said, even though the thought of a second encounter with the merman made his heart race.

“I assure you, you’ll be seeing him very soon. He’s a nice man and I think he’ll be very good for you.”

“Why are you and Mother so eager to see me settled down with just one man? I’m perfectly happy as I am.”


“Yes.”

Cari shook her head. “When you’ve fallen for him, when you’re head over heels, desperately in love with him, you’ll know what perfect happiness is.”

“Oh, please.” Caspian rolled his eyes.

“You’ll see.”