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Chapter One

Greece, Third Century BC, 2293 Years Before the Krinar Invasion

Her heart pounding, Delia watched the naked god elistened on his bronzed skin, and his powerful muscles flexed as he strode out of the surf, i onto the shore It was as if the stor to him—as if the sea itself was his domain

Was he Poseidon? Delia had never believed the gods were flesh and blood, like in the stories, but she knew the stranger couldn’t be aoutside her rocky shelter, yet the strongest waves couldn’t see of the deadly surf, he walked out onto the dry strip of beach below her cliff and stopped, raising his hand to push back the black hair plastered wetly to his forehead

As he did so, he tilted his head back, and Delia saw his face Her breath caught in her throat, and whatever doubts she had about his origins disappeared

The stranger was inhu sky, she could see the flawless sy, his lips sensuously curved, and his cheekbones high and noble It was as if an artist’s steady hand hadno room for nature to add its imperfections

With piercing dark eyes, straight black eyebrows, and a warrior’s broad-shouldered build, the stranger e look like lepers

A crack of thunder startled her,her jump in her small, cra to look at the angry sea hat seeaze and saw so far out in the water

A ship? Several ships, perhaps? The object was certainly big enough—iven how visible it was frood-like ?

Thunder boo, the skies opened, sheets of rain coe force Delia shrank deeper into her narrow cave, but it was too small to shelter her completely, and cold drops pelted her skin Below her, the sea churned harder, the waves growing taller with each er, to warn hi in the distance; the waves would be taller than two men when they reached the shore, and the narrow strip of land where thewould be completely sed up by the sea

In fact, she realized with growing dread, her tiny cave at the top of the cliff ht not be safe either When she’d taken shelter here an hour ago, she hadn’t counted on the stor the shore turned out to be as tall as she feared, they could reach the top of the cliff She’d never witnessed the sea rising that high, but the old fisher waters, and she couldn’t take the risk that they were true

Co to a decision, Delia scrae below Instantly, the rain soaked her dress, and a gust of wind nearly pushed her off the ledge

Gasping, she ainst the wind, she began to cliet away froer was somewhere below her, but she didn’t dare look down The rain was blinding Even with lightning flashing every few seconds, she couldn’t see farther than an ar on the wet rocks, her soaked dress tangling around her legs as she cli desperation

Just a little more, she told herself Another reach, another push, and she’d be at the top, on flat ground With lightning striking everywhere, it was far from safe—Delia had hidden in the cave for a reason—but it was a sainst the rain, she reached for the top outcropping, but instead of cold rock, her fingers encountered so that curled around her palth

A man’s hand

Gasping, Delia opened her eyes wider, and through the blur of stinging rain, saw the stranger fro down at her

The god had so her hand

Chapter Two

The huirl see her cliiant wave crashed into the cliff, spraying theer wave behind it, so Arus bent lower and grabbed the girl’s other arm with his free hand

“The water is going to reach here,” he explained in her language, pulling her up as he rose to his feet The as still cresting, so he swung the girl up into his arainst his chest A moment later, the wave hit the top of the cliff and spilled over, the water swirling around his ankles before receding back into the sea Had the girl still been hanging over the cliff, it would’ve washed her away, possibly causing her to drown Arus wasn’t certain of that last outcome, but from what he’d seen of her kind, it was entirely likely

For all their Krinar-like appearance, humans eak and clues of their planet

The girl began to struggle, and Arus realized he was still holding her against his chest He loosened his grip enough to make sure she could breathe but didn’t set her down Instead, he studied her, noting her large brown eyes and se to be somewhere in the late teens or early twenties With her thick dark hair and slender build, she could almost pass for a Krinar fened in a lab Her face was shaped like a heart, with a forehead that was a shade too wide and a mouth that was too delicate for true beauty Still, she was pretty in a unique way