Danger lay within his tone, just enough menace that I wanted to shrink away. The monarch of the Venusian Sea had been patient with us from the beginning, but intuition warned if anything might force him to lose his patience, it would be endangering Vouri. So I’m not sure why I raised my chin, meeting his steam with equal heat. Maybe Emilius had tortured caution out of me. Maybe Thaan had rendered it pointless. I’d been cautious all my life—and look where it led me. Here, on the beach. Without Pheolix.
“What about her say in it?” I ground out. “Vouri wants a hand in Thaan’s demise.”
The sea crept up the shore, breezing past us, cool against our ankles. Aegir stepped through the center of our circle with a small splash, narrowing in on me. “Vouri has a hand. She’s as close to the heart of this as I’m willing to allow. Much closer than I’d like. If anything happens to her”—he aimed a finger at my chest—“it’syouI’ll come for. You, Selena. Are we clear? Leave my sister out of your schemes. We’ll find another way.”
My jaw worked in silence, the weight of the last two days threatening to spill over in the sharp edges of his words. Perhaps he noticed. He took a step back and crossed his arms, beating the side of his bicep with his thumb. Then faced Cebrinne. “Did you take thesanguis proditionisthis morning?”
“No.” She blinked in surprise at the mention of the blood drops. “I suppose I didn’t.”
TheViderewatched her. Stared at her. Measuring her. Then struck out a slow, protective arm toward me. “Selena, come here.”
I glanced at Cebrinne, confused. Aegir grabbed my wrist, tugging me behind him. Sindri slung himself to Aegir’s side, a hand on the knives at his hip.
My mind fought for clarity.
But I think my body already knew. My heart sped, pounding in my ears, blocking out the sound of wind and tide. My skin knew as well. It replaced the warm sun with a shock of cold that snapped me down to the bone.
Cebrinne smiled at us. A small, thin smile that didn’t quite belong to her. “It was a nice plan, Selena. I’m impressed with the amount of information you’ve gathered, even if it’s the wrong information.” She gestured to the wave receding out from our feet. “Icanenter the water. I just don’t have a tail to swim deep. But I don’t need one.”
Aegir’s hand didn’t leave my arm. “Where’s Cebrinne?”
Hooded faces rose from the sea, figures swathed in black. From the rocks along the shore. From the beach at our backs. Cebrinne joined her fingertips together. “I’d appreciate if you gave Selena enough time to make it back to her coach. I have no interest in harming her.”
45
Cebrinne
15 HOURS EARLIER
“Cebrinne Euwen Naeva Evanthe of Cypria. I call to your blood.”
Thaan had done it a handful of times before, and when his hold wrapped around me, I recognized it immediately. The way my muscles deadened into thick slabs, bones calcified like marble. Even my blood seemed to slow, congealing like a sludge in my veins.
His voice was a sharp arrow piercing my thoughts.Who is the Naiad you walked down to the water?
“Vouri of Venusia. Aegir’s sister,” my mouth answered.
Inside my mind, I screamed in fury.
He cocked his head patiently, watching the rain run down my face and through my lashes. I couldn’t even wipe it away. “And why is she here? In the palace. In my offices.”
The first time he’d called to my blood, I’d fought him. Had attacked my own walls like a caged bird, throwing myself at them in search for escape. Had woken the next morning to a pain I’d never known, a head that felt more like jelly than consciousness, a body that showed no visible signs of violence but felt as though I’d been trampled under iron shoes and beating hooves.
I hadn’t fought him since. But I did now.
I struck against the confines of myself, beating my own mind and body. Slamming a shoulder, a foot, a knee against the walls, ignoring the raw ripple of each blow. An echo of pain I’d feel later. It made no difference.
“To gain insight on your comings and goings. Your daily activity. Your plans. Your correspondence.”
He smiled. Somewhere behind him, thunder rolled. “And have you succeeded in gaining them?”
Somewhere within myself, I fractured. Pieces of myself shattered under my fists.
Blood pooled at the back of my throat.
“Yes. And no.”
“When will Vouri return?”
