And I hadn’t listened closely enough.
I pushed off the wall, gliding with more ease when I felt the current change. A flow of icy water slipped through the bars, freezing my bare skin like frost coating a glass pane. I shuddered and peered beyond the coral as a figure emerged from the dark passage.
“It's you,” I whispered, recognizing the witch who painted our map. Her name didn't start with an E. I knew that now.
She was the sea witch, Tivara. The woman the guards whispered about, their voices riding the currents past my cell. A centuries-old sorceress, steeped in dark magic. They said she haunted the depths, moving from one underwater kingdom to the next, draining their magic to feed her own.
And now, she'd come for theirs.
Dread pooled in my stomach. “You did this to me, didn't you?”
Her lips curled into a crimson smile as she angled her head, black hair undulating like tentacles. Here, she had dark blue scales, not smooth, but coarse and coated in prickly barbs. But her amethyst eyes were the same, glittering like the rough-cut crystals.
She trailed a single finger down a coral bar. The tip of her nail was sharpened to a fine point. That same hand had painted the map on Gavin’s back and had clutched the compass around his neck in the night market.
Whatever she'd whispered in his ear that night had made jealousy burn bright in my chest.
And now, I felt like a fool.
“What have you done?” I asked, notching my chin up tohold her chilling gaze.
Her voice was smoother than water gliding over stone. “A better question to ask is, what haveyoudone forme, Marin—of the sea. You’re my little protégé.”
She captured the length of purple hair floating around my shoulders and rubbed it between her fingers. I jerked my head back, pain pricking my scalp.
Tivara laughed softly. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment. You can’t imagine how patient I’ve been.” She opened her other hand, revealing the amethyst and pearl-encrusted comb. “But my patience was rewarded. You finally brought me the treasure I’ve been seeking.”
I backed away from the bars. Denial was a bitter taste in my mouth.Patient?She’d painted our map a week ago. Before that, we’d never crossed paths.
“You’re talking in riddles. What do you mean, you’ve waited? You have the comb. Let me out of here. Change me back.”
“It’s not that simple.” She clucked her tongue. “Poor thing. You don't recognize me like this.” Her eyes flared with purple fire. “How about if I ask you to bring me a relic? Will you hunt for me, Marin?”
I shivered at the intimate way she said my name, deepening her voice to a near rasp. That breathy whisper. I’d heard it before. Every time I returned to Ever with a relic. Every time I rushed to find Aggie, eager for her praise, and for the coins I’d put toward my debt.
My heart stopped.
“That’s right, child.”
Tivara's features began to distort, then sharpen into something familiar. Her black hair turned white. Her pale skinmottled with age spots and wrinkles. She wore a mask now. One I'd peered into for years. A mask that had used me and stolen my trust.
“Aggie?” My voice trembled.
The sea witch nodded once.
I recoiled, bending at the waist as my vision swam. Everything I knew about my life shattered. Aggie wasn’t real. I’d accepted her guidance, only to end up in this cage, following a map she’d painted with lies and betrayal. Not one leading home.
I gripped the bars, fingers digging painfully into the coral. “I don’t understand. If you wanted the comb, why didn’t you send me for it right away? Why waste all those years?”
“Because I didn't know where it was at first, and you were still too green.” She tilted her head. “Each hunt brought us closer. And eventually, I learned it was rumored to be hidden with Incantus.”
“So you sent me to join the crew searching for it,” I said, my voice flat.
“I neededyouto find it. And you did.” She smiled. “I followed you, tracked your progress. When you were close enough, the comb finally sang to me, and I could scry the map.”
She tapped the comb lightly. “But this isn’t a treasure you can steal. It can only be givenfreely. And first, it had to be awakened with your blood. Until then, it was useless to me.”
I dropped my forehead against the bars. “My blood?”
