Chapter 45
Marin
Water lapped against myskin. Had I returned to the sea? My prison? My eyes fluttered open into darkness. Anemones twinkled overhead. The water was so cold.
Fear unfurled inside my chest like wicked talons sinking deep. A scream clawed at my ribs, trapped in a cage of bone, a scream that would shatter them, like the ones that had splintered beneath the sleeping giant.
My arms thrashed. My body convulsed with terror as I came to. Iron-like bands locked around me, tight—so tight, I couldn’t move.
“You’re safe, Mare.”
That voice. It dulled the panic, stealing it like the thief who wielded it.Skin against skin. Warmth.Gavin held me in the waist-deep pool, his breath soft against my ear. It wasn’t anemones overhead, but stars. The darkness was the deepest night, filled with crickets, and the faint scent of jasmine.
I couldn’t catch my breath. The last traces of fear clung to me like wet sand, sticky and heavy, refusing to let go.
“Take it slow,” Gavin murmured, his fingers splayed across my back, pressing me closer. “We’re at the inn. The saltwater pools. The innkeeper said it would help.”
Salt.I craved it.
My head tipped against Gavin’s bare shoulder, and I tasted it on his skin. It lingered in the air. It was glorious, quenching the ache inside my body and dousing the heat.
“I feel better,” I said as the panic finally eased, leaving me strangely rejuvenated.
“Your fever is gone. It took a while.”
“How long?”
“Almost an hour. I didn’t think it was going to work.” A rough edge thickened his voice. “It wasn’t working. Your skin was so hot. I—”
A breath punched from his lungs, and he didn’t finish.
“It worked.” My fingers curled against the stubble covering his jaw. The muscles flexed as he swallowed hard. “Just like the steam. You did that. You always know what I need.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t know how much help I was, barging into the inn like I was about to tear the place apart. I scared one of the guests.”
I ran my thumb under his chin. “And Aetheryal thought they only had to fear the giant. You’re part of the legend now. They’ll write poems about you.”
Gavin brushed the wet hair away from my temple, a soft smirk blunting some of the tension in his features. “There once was a man from Ever, who lost his damn mind forever. Something like that?”
“They’ll sing it around campfires. Some poor bard will play a lute.”
He groaned. “We’re never coming back here.”
We had to leave first. A tiny shiver rushed through my limbs. There was still the vine. A lot could go wrong. I couldn’t take the steam or salt water pools there.
“Gavin…” I glanced through the moonlit water, catching the faint shimmer along my legs. “If something happens. Promise me you’ll find a way to return the shard to the sea. I need to know my friend will be free.”
Gavin shook his head, his hands cupping the sides of my face. “Don’t talk like that. We’re so close.”
“I’m hedging my bets. I learned that from a very talented thief.”
“Don’t flatter me and ask me to do something impossible at the same time,” he grumbled.
“But you’ll do it for me. Won’t you?”
He hesitated, tipping his head back to the stars. When he met my eyes again, they burned with fierce resolve. “Your friend will be free. And the witch will be dead. I promise you that.”
I believed him. And gods help anyone who stands in his way.
