Caligo by J.J. Fischer

Book 4 of Nightingale Quartet

Summary: 

How far would you go to outrun the person you used to be?

In search of freedom and a fresh start, Cassius Vera sails for unexplored lands in the hope that he can forget the one woman he has ever truly loved, the only one to look past his gifts and superficial charm to the real man beneath. But Cass is carrying more than bad memories, and one slip in front of his new shipmates could send him back into slavery once again . . . or worse.

Fleeing heartbreak and false accusations of murder, werebeast Zaire Delmar stows away onboard a ship, wanting to get as far away from Caldera as possible. She doesn’t expect to meet Cass, an alter whose stunning good looks rival even hers, nor does she anticipate the surprising affinity she shares with him. When Cass offers his protection, Zaire spurns his help. She is half beast—she can take care of herself. And the last thing she needs is to get closer to a man in whose presence she cannot lie, even if he’s offering to share her sorrow.

But after a shipwreck catapults them into a new world even more dangerous than the land they left behind, Zaire is forced to depend on the only ally she has left. The same man she betrayed, not so many months ago.

Opening Lines:

There.

Beyond the decks of his ship lay the sea--at last. How he had missed it, this past year.