The witch leaned in, her smile cruel. “You smell like the sea. Didn’t you ever question your father’s devotion to that manor? Your so-called legacy?” Her voice dripped low. “The stories about your family are real. Your bloodline is tainted with ours. It’s written in the archives of our kind, when ahuman fell in love with a mermaid who saved him from slipping beneath the waves.”
“No. They're just stories. That's all they ever were.” But even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them. I'd been young when we lost our home, but deep down, I'd always known the truth.
I hung my head. A new coldness crept in, numbing my insides as her words took root.
“You said to activate the magic with my blood, the comb had to be given. I couldn't just take it.” My voice cracked. “What did you do? Who…?”
I swallowed thickly, unable to finish the question.
“Ah. You’re figuring it out. Thanks to your admirable, but ultimately predictable, moral code, I knew even if you found the comb, you wouldn’t take it for yourself. Which allowed me to convince your partner to gift it to you.”
My chest caved inward like I was sinking in quicksand.
Not Gavin.
He would never betray me like that.
We were partners.
We were—
I sucked in a pained breath. He’d spent the evening with her when she painted our map. He went back for the comb. Met with her in the market, then placed it on my pillow, along with that note. His actions were undeniable. But I refused to accept it.
“You’re lying. He would never.” I grasped for something, anything,to hold on to. “Not if he knew what you were planning. You tricked him, like you tricked me.”
Tivara's smile didn't falter. “He knew, Marin. And he didn’t hesitate when I made him my offer.” She laughed, the sound mocking. “The information he's spent years searching for… whispered between tangled sheets.” Her eyes glittered with the truth. “Men always cave when you give them everything they desire. Your friend was no different.”
I looked away, pressing my palm against my chest as if it could seal the crack in my heart.
The crest on the back of his compass. The answer he’d scoured kingdoms for. Whatwouldn’the do to finally have peace?
A strangled laugh caught in my throat.
Gavin hadn’t lied completely. He’d said the night with the witch was just a transaction, letting me believe it was all about the map. But he hadn't just betrayed me.
He'dconspiredto.
The map and their affair were just a bonus. That night in the alley, when he’d told me to stop searching for the crest, it wasn’t because of my reckless confession. It was because he already had the answers.
And the strange way he’d acted aboard the ship… His pained expression before I fell?
Nothing but wretched guilt.
Somehow, that made everything worse. I’d wanted to be the one to solve the mysteries of his past. To help him find his family. Instead, I’d fallen for him, and into the most dangerous trap of our trade.
I trusted a thief. And he gutted me for treasure.
The witch slipped the hair comb through the bars, pressing it against my chest until my fingers closed around it.
“Now that you know the truth… gift it to me, Marin. Give me the comb.”
“No.”
I swam back, retreating into the shadows of the cell.
Tivara's voice followed like a current. “Gift it to me, or the ship carrying your friends will never make it to land. That, I promise.”
I closed my eyes.
