Beside me, Selena straightened in sudden understanding, the motion only detectable as I held her in my periphery. Unfamiliar with ocean-bornvernacular, I turned the words over in my head.Hive heirswas simple enough to understand. Considering the hue of our tails, it was obvious Selena and I werePrizivac Vodes.
But I’d never heard of a Naiad being referred to as agnatbefore.
Whatever it meant, Selena registered it more quickly than I. Pheolix understood it as well, or I assumed he did. A sound of amusement escaped under his breath. “Garieh Kon.”
The Illuskian colony we’d decided to pretend we belonged to.
Aegir didn’t acknowledge the words, instead testing the boundary of the invisible wall with his fingertips. Directly behind my ear, Pheolix laughed coldly. “Enter my ring if you choose, Naiad King, but you will not leave alive.”
“I believe you,” Aegir said, ignoring the mockery of his monarch title and returning a cool smile of his own. “It’s either confidence or stupidity for a gnat to reveal himself while encircled by sirens. I won’t bet on the lives of myDomusto explore which one.”
Pheolix nodded slowly. “Then I suggest you grant us passage so we may return to our own colony.”
But Aegir didn’t move. Neither did any of the rest of them. They coasted the surface the same way we did, rocking with the pull of the waves and the hungry grasp of wind. Aegir again glanced at the sky, now moonless and bright. Green eyes slithered back to mine.
“What negotiations between Thaan and the Naiads ofGarieh Kon?”
Theia in the stars, wish me luck. “I was offered to Thaan as acordae, but negotiations failed.”
“He turned you down? Or you him?”
“No. That’s what he hoped you’d believe.”
Selena shot a glance at me. Pheolix stiffened at my back. Around us, the Naiads sent slanted looks at each other, shifting along the surface.
Aegir raised a brow. “Really?” he asked, crossing his arms. “But that’s not the truth?”
“No.”
“Ceba,” Selena hissed quietly, turning toward me and grasping my arm with both hands. Shock laced her brows tight; worry widened her ocean stare. Pheolix released a laugh of surprise, as though enjoying the game of tricks unfolding before him. I ignored them, aiming my gaze straight and hard into Aegir’s calculating eyes.
“What’s the truth?”
“I was born a human on the island Cypria.”
Selena yanked me back, battling to steal my attention from Aegir. The sudden scent of fear stung in my nostrils, sweet and stale.
“Thaan captured me and my sister when we were sixteen.”
“Ceba, what are you doing?”
“I swore myself to Thaan ten years ago, but he sent me here with drops ofsanguis proditionissealed in wax so that you couldn’t scent him on me when we passed through.”
The color drained from Selena’s face. She shoved my arm from her own grasp, framing her face with her hands instead. “We’re dead,” she murmured, casting her gaze at the surrounding Naiads. “You’ve killed us both.”
Pheolix laughed, clapping in slow motion, surprised delight stretched across his sly mouth.
“I have no idea who he is,” I added blandly, motioning at Pheolix. “Feel free to kill him.”
“You’ve killed us,” Selena whispered again.
A muscle twitched along Aegir’s mouth. “He thought to use you to lure me?”
“Yes.”
“Thaan thinks I’m so desperate for aPrizivacmate?”
“Yes.”
