She glanced down at her forearm, where the new mark of twisting sea serpents now lay permanently on her flesh.
Esmyra’s gut was telling her that something more sinister was at play. She knew she didn’t have the full story of what Syrena had caused or what her sister was up to now. All she knew for certain was that she would put an end to it with Draevyn at her side.
She had turned her back to him once, and its consequences nearly killed her. Over her dead, rotting corpse would she allow that to happen again.
Esmyra turned sharply down a narrow street, shadowed and quiet as she tried to catch her breath. But she didn’t realize it was a dead end.
Then a voice came from behind her, cold and unforgiving.
“Well, what do we have here?”
She spun around, water gathering in her palms.
Atlas.
He stood at the opposite end of the road, flanked by armored soldiers. His expression wasn’t the rage she expected. Not entirely. It was colder than that, calculated and possessive.
“You,” Esmyra hissed, lifting her hand.
Atlas raised a hand as shadows swirled around his wrist. “Where is she, Esmyra? Where is my wife?”
Her throat tightened, her eyes darting between the guards protecting him and their guns aimed directly at her chest. Kaelypso thrashed within her, screeching to flee, and Esmyra desperately tried to ignore the soul-consuming panic crawling along her spine.
“Alive,” she answered, her head slowly tilting to the side, “for now.”
The air around her shimmered, moisture pulling from the air, from the stone, from the blood-soaked ground, as a faint storm crackled behind her eyes.
“Return her to me,” he demanded.
“And let me guess”—she clicked her tongue—“you’ll let me live?”
A dark chuckle slipped from him, riddled with malice. “No. There’s no scenario where you make it out of this alive.”
Her brows furrowed. “You’re shit at bartering, you know that?”
“What I can provide is a free life for my brother. If you return Elowynne safely to me, here and now, then Draevyn will remain a free man and will no longer be a fugitive of Lephyrin because of you.”
She bared her teeth. “I should drown you where you stand.”
“No. You started a war for your pride, and nowyou’llbe the one to drown in it.” His voice cracked like a whip, echoing through the night air.
“It was notIwho started this war, young king. Your father did that,” she snarled.
His words from before, however, screamed through her mind—that there was a chance Draevyn wouldn’t be hunted for the rest of his days. That would never become a reality if they were to remain together. But if she could do this one good thing? For him? For the only man she had ever found it in herself to love?
Maybe she could do that.
The appearance of Kaelypso melted away, and she now stood before the King of Lephyrin as Esmyra Blackwood.
“Swear to me you speak the truth,” she demanded. “That Draevyn will be a free man for the remainder of his days if I hand over Elowynne and then myself.”
“What are you doing?” Kaelypso whisper-shouted in her mind.
“We’ll find a way out. We always do,” Esmyra said, hoping she was right.
His eyes narrowed, shadows swirling in them beneath the light of the moon. “Unlike you, I actually care for my brother.Of course,Ifucking mean it. His mind never would’ve become so godsdamn twisted up if he hadn’t met the likes of you.”
Her chest ached so intensely that, for a moment, she thought he’d shot her anyway. Because he was right.
