Masuk4CalliaI was already trembling before he even touched me.The chamber was different tonight. The light had changed. It was much more darker now, with soft blue fire flickering along the edges of the coral walls. The ocean felt like it was holding it’s breath.I stood at the center of the room, bare, my skin still damp from the perfumed bath one of his priestesses had drawn me into without a word. They’d combed my hair until it hung like silk down my back, then left me here without instruction but only a whispered phrase as the door closed behind them:“Trust him.”My heart thudded loud in the hush.He appeared from behind one of the stone arches, wearing a long dark robe that dragged behind him like liquid shadow. The air shifted when he entered. It felt more charged with electricity. His eyes met mine, and my whole body responded with anticipation.He circled me slowly, once, twice. I didn’t move or speak.He stopped behind me, so close I felt the heat of him on my spine.“You’ve ta
3CalliaI woke to silence. It wasn’t the awfully quiet kind of silence but instead it was the kind of silence that hums.I didn’t know where I was exactly, all I knew was that it was soft. It was a bed, or something like it, beneath me. My skin was bare but the water was gone. There was no wetness or cold. It was just warmth, like I was wrapped in heat.The ceiling arched high above me, glowing faintly like danw breaking through milkglass. Only that it wasn’t the sky. Of course it wasn’t. It was a loving stone lined with coral and pearl veins, pulsing faintly with light. The skeets beneath me shimmered. It was impossibly smooth. Silk? Yeah, sea-silk. It had he color of moonlight. I ran my hand across it, watching how it caught the glow and how it rippled with my movement like the surface of calm water.I remembered everything. I remembered being laid at the alter, his mouth on me, the full stretch of him, the way if broken open around him and how he’d spilled himself into me with that
2CalliaThe silk clung to me like a second skin. It was too thin to protect me from anything, and too smooth it would easily tear. It slid over the curve of my breasts, wrapped tight at my waist, then fell in soft, sheer layers down my thighs. For every step that I took, the fabric brushed against the inside of my legs like it was trying to seduce me into surrender.Shells lined the edge of the veil draped over my shoulders, making a little kind of rhythm as I walked. Pearls nestled between my breasts too. My hair had been combed until it shone like water, braided with ribbons and threaded with coral.I had no voice. It wasn’t like they had for ufden me to speak, but instead the sound had fled me, had been swallowed by the temple walls and the anxiety of what was to come.The drums started slowly, sounding low and steady like an heartbeat. Then it slowly grew louder, the ground trembling beneath my bare feet. I felt it in my chest before I even heard it in my ears. A thousand voices r
1Callia“Callianeira of House Velthon.”The High Priestess’s voice rang through the Temple of Salt, echoing off marble and mother-of-pearl.At first, I didn’t move. Surely someone behind me had the same name. Or perhaps it was a mistake. A slip of tongue that she would quickly correct. But then I felt the eyes, dozens of them, from noblemen, priestesses, acolytes, and city guards. They turned, they’re eyes landing on my family and I.My mother gasped but my father didn’t speak at all.It wasn’t a mistake.I had been chosen for the offering. My heart dropped.The Offering happened once every century. A daughter of Thalassara, draped in white and pearls, was given to the sea god to ensure calm waters, fat fish, and safe harbors. A girl whose name would never be spoken again because she would not return.It was supposed to be a symbolic thing. Like a selection from among the common girls. Or so I had always believed. But this time, they chose a noble. Me. I was now a living promise to th
1We were having coffee together, me sitting cross legged on my couch and wearing Jakes T-shirt with my fingers wrapped around a mug when I looked at both of them and said, “I want you. Both of you. At the same time.”Julian was the first to react. He leaned back in his chair, eyebrows raised. “You sure?”Jake went still, fingers frozen on the rim of his cup. His lips parted slightly, like he was about to speak, but no words came.“I’m tired of pretending,” I said. “Tired of choosing. I’ve loved things about both of you. Hated things, too. But this, what we are, it’s already messy. Why not make it honest?”Jake finally exhaled. “I don’t know if I can watch you with him again.”“You won’t be watching,” I said softly. “You’ll be with me.”Julian chuckled, low and rough. “God, that’s the hottest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”I didn’t laugh. I stood and pulled off the shirt, letting it fall to the floor, then turned around and walked slowly to the bedroom.They followed me to the bedroo
9After the shower, I sat wrapped in a towel on the edge of my bed, dripping onto the hardwood floor, trying to make sense of what I was becoming. I hated them. I wanted them. I hated how much I wanted them. My body didn’t feel like mine anymore. It answered to memory, to sensation, to everything they’d given and taken without asking.It was Jake who reached out first. Of course it was.Please. Just talk to us.Us.The message sat on my screen for hours before I replied.Tomorrow night. My place. Both of you. No more lies.***They came right on time. Jake brought flowers again. Of course he did. He was always trying to be the good one. Julian brought nothing but a smirk and a leather jacket he didn’t take off.I didn’t let them sit. I stood in the center of the living room, arms crossed, heart hammering, and said, “Talk.”They looked at each other, then Julian shrugged.“I filled in for him once,” he said. “That’s how it started. Jake was late for your date, I was already nearby, and







