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“I’ll kill you, you fucking sea snake!” I raced forward, my hand raised and the water forgotten as I struck him. Cormac’s head whipped to the side, and a thin stripe of blood marred his cheek where my nail had caught the skin.
I raised my hand again, but Cormac’s arm snapped up and grabbed my wrist. He jerked me toward him until his nose was close enough to touch mine.
“I’ll allow one blow because I did stab you, but I won’t allow another.” He snarled.
I jerked, trying to break free from his hold. “There aren’t words to describe how much I loathe you, Cormac Illfinn.” I snarled, punching my free hand against his chest. He didn’t even flinch. “I don’t want to look at you. You disgust me.”
“Tough luck, Undine.” Cormac’s cocky smirk was back, smug arrogance dripping from his face. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”
The whispers followed me after Shay distracted Cormac, and I stormed away from the shore, desperate for a moment alone.
Everyone had seen my display by the water and the loss of my carefully constructed control.
I knew what they saw.
The Mad Queen’s daughter.
The princess too weak to take the High Throne. The Cruinn orphan who had been bested by the Mer-King. Once again.
Further down the shore, away from the camp, I followed the natural path at the edge of the trees. The sounds of the camp grew further and further away, and finally, my anger abated, leaving shame in its place.
I reached up, as if from habit, to push my hands through my hair, only to remember that Tor had braided it. I didn’t want to ruin his work, but frustration pawed at me. I wrung my fingers together, rocking on my heels as I looked out at the lake.
I wanted to leave. I wanted to dive into the water and swim until my limbs grew wooden and fatigued.
But I had no home. Not anymore.
Though Rainn would welcome me at the Skala Beach, I wouldn’t be safe there.
I could always go back to the Reeds with Tor. Sitting at his side as he ruled the kelpie kingdom wouldn't be a hardship. I liked Elsbeth, Tor’s younger sister.
If I raced back to the village and asked Tor to take me to the Reeds, he would do so in a heartbeat.
But what kind of person would I have been if I ran away?
Running meant Cormac had won.
If one look at his face was enough to send me running, then I was a coward.
I didn’t want to be a coward.
Two boulders formed a backrest at the water's edge, with a flat rock as a ledge jutting out to the water. I tucked myself away, facing the lake, dipping my toes in the water and kicking my feet.
In Cruinn, there had been a puzzle game my mother had played when I was a youngling. A set of five stones, though one was a gem painted to look like a stone. My mother would say one of these things is not like the other. The game was almost impossible because the stones looked entirely alike. I was convinced there was no gem for the longest time because I could not tell them apart.
One day, my mother covered my eyes and told me to feel the stones. Only when I could not see the similarities but instead focused on the feel of the stones did I notice the gem.
I had wished I could hide like that gemstone, but it seemed that everything that set me apart from other fae flared too brightly to hide. There was something wrong with me, something broken—the same sickness my mother carried that made others think of her as mad.
The Selkie Queen had insisted that my mother couldn’t have been suicidal because of her joyous message, but I knew all too well how people hid their sorrow behind happiness.
Those days had passed since my time locked in Cruinn castle. I was no longer a prisoner in Tarsainn either, but seeing Cormac had dredged up feelings I couldn’t ignore.
Rainn and Tor hadn’t saved me when I’d been dying slowly in a dungeon; I had saved myself. Would my mates stand with me against Cormac? Would they go to war against the Mer to defend my honor?
Would they kill him for me if I asked?
I knew I needed to head back when my thoughts grew dark and twisty, but as the thought entered my mind, two nymphs stepped out from the trees. Deep in conversation, they overlooked my hiding place behind the rock.
