Page 40 of Drown Me Gently

Some potions had side effects. He knew that. But this?! Now, when he was so close?! Tears welled in his eyes, stinging hot against the sun. He stared helplessly at the human of his dreams, tongue useless, voice gone. Elias took a few slow steps forward, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “You just… you look like someone I—” He swallowed. “Someone I know.”

Closer still. And with him came scent; sunlight on linen and … something else.

“I’m sorry, are you…” Elias trailed off again, uncertain.

Then Auren saw it. A faint glimmer beneath Elias’s shirt collar. He reached, fingers trembling. Elias didn’t pull away. Auren pulled the necklace free—a string of smooth seashells. His necklace. The one he’d given Elias all those weeks ago.

Auren traced the familiar shape, eyes brimming with tears.

He met Elias’s gaze—sky blue locked with ocean deep—and touched the necklace, then his own chest. Then back to the necklace.

“You’re saying…” Elias whispered. “You’re the one who gave me this?”

Auren nodded enthusiastically. He pointed to his legs, then back up at Elias with a hopeful, half-panicked look.

“Yes, I can see that,” Elias said, laughing—and gods, that laugh. It was the sound of waves against a warm shore. Auren wanted to settle deep in its softness.

He reached out, resting his hand on the necklace and, by extension, on Elias’s exposed skin. The warmth of him. The rhythm of his heart. Elias gently took his hand in his own, calloused and real.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” he murmured. “My beauty of the sea.”

Then, like a storybook prince, he lifted Auren’s hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles.

“Will you…,” he hesitated. “Will you come with me? Can I show you my world?”

Auren nodded, eyes shining. He didn’t recoil when their fingers intertwined. He leaned into it. This was everything he wanted. Someone who saw him. Who chose him. Who loved him. The side effects of the potion would wear off eventually. Then they could talk about anything and everything. Then they could be together completely.

The breeze shifted, fluttering Elias’s dark hair and sending his scent into Auren’s nose again.

Salt. Sweat. Sunlit warmth. And— something else. Something trying to stay hidden. Sharp and wrong and rotten.

Decay.

Auren coughed lightly, trying to clear it from his throat. A dead fish, maybe. Washed up nearby and carried on the wind. He wasn’t going to let it ruin this. Not now. Not when everything he ever wanted was finally within reach. This was his moment. His perfect world. The one he had the bravery to claim for himself.

The court proceedings dragged on long into the night. Nobles and emissaries hovered like swarms of brightly colored reef fish, spinning eloquent nonsense between sips of fermented kelp wine and bites of moon-snail canapés.

Ulric played his part. He smiled and wove a tapestry of flattering sentences and meaningless pleasantries. All the things a Court Sorcerer was supposed to say. The Queen’s children swam through the festivities like constellations brought to life. They shimmered in bralettes of pearls, their throats adorned with carved shell jewelry. They were radiant. Regal. And yet— One spark was missing.

Ulric hadn’t seen a flash of red hair all night.

Where is he?

The thought gnawed at the back of his mind.

Did he retire early?

Auren should have been here. He was usually hovering around the ballroom’s perimeter, talking to the guards, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

Rude, yes. With a clear disregard for his position as a prince? Absolutely.

But present.

His absence sent eels slithering down Ulric’s spine as he pressed his lips into a thin line. After bidding Queen Tritheya goodnight, he excused himself and swam with urgency. Auren wasn’t in his chambers. Ulric checked the coral gardens next. Then the terrace overlooking the city.

Nothing.