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I nearly laughed as the creature before me led me onward through the water. I wasn’t sure if it was my delirium at the strange turn of events, the near-death experience, or the fact that he’d dropped the name of a goddess like it was some friend he meant to introduce me to.

“Zariah?” I asked, hurrying to keep up. I found I could propel myself as easily through the water as I could breathe. “You mean the goddess of Astridon?”

The man, who I was coming to suspect was none other than the Tromodian god, Darvol, in the flesh, glanced over his shoulder.

“We do not belong to the kingdoms we have blessed,” he said, which only served to confuse me more. “We simply shared some of our magic with them.”

Had I died on the ship? Or was this a hallucination brought on by hitting my head on the hull? Because the idea that I was conversing with a god beneath the ocean was more than a little difficult to swallow.

And even if it were true—what of Rune, who we’d left unconscious on the deck? The possibility that I was no longer trapped inside her mind—that I had my own body back after all this time—I hadn’t had time to process. Had it caused her harm? And what about Rivven and the others on the ship? They’d been boarded by pirates, and gods knew what was happening.

Gods knew.

“Excuse me, Your Eminence,” I said, a bit more timidly than I had before I realized whose company I was in.

Darvol raised a brow and flared his nostrils, tiny bubbles shooting out before him.

“Call me Darvol. There is no need for sycophancy.”

I nodded, eyes wide with the knowledge he’d all but confirmed the idea. “My friends—they were in trouble back there. I need to get back and help.”

“The humans do as humans do. We have much of importance to discuss.”

His dismissive answer ruffled me. I didn’t care who or what he was, I hadn’t come this far only to be torn from the precious few I’d chosen as my family on the whim of someone who thought he had the right to use me like a toy. I opened my mouth to let my thoughts free, but he stopped me with one enormous tentacle raised between us, iridescent suction cups dotting the length of an appendage twice my torso’s thickness.

“Be careful what you speak,” he warned, and the currents surrounding us tugged at me like strong winds ready to toss me asunder. “There is greater purpose here, daughter of Revka. We have been waiting for your arrival for too long. Humans have proven to be both cunning and resilient, so if you care for your friends as much as you say, do them the service of allowing them to deal with their own issues.”

I clamped my mouth shut, taking in his words. Perhaps he wasn’t dismissing them as I’d thought. On the contrary, he was urging me to trust them.

Darvol grinned, revealing teeth that ended in sharp points. As unnerving as the smile was, I thought he meant it as approval.

Then he turned and waved an arm through the water, revealing an enormous circle of stone pillars and carved rocks set on the ocean floor, serving as various forms of furniture. Colorful schools of fish and bright coral lined the perimeter like breathtaking décor. In the center, seated on one of the stone chairs, sat a woman with raven hair that stretched the length of half the giant circle, floating behind her in undulating waves that reflected blue and gold despite no obvious light source. Her eyes were startlingly blue and carried the same pops of color that Darvol’s did. The white of her flowing gown shone beautifully against the deep umber of her skin. She may have been the same size as me, but there was no mistaking her for human.

She smiled and gently floated forward when she saw me. I dropped my head in a bow.

“Didn’t I say no formalities?” Darvol demanded.

“We have waited so long for you to arrive.” Zariah’s voice boomed like Darvol’s but in a softer, more musical way. It made me long for her to continue speaking.

“Am I dead?” The question came out of its own volition. Immediately, I felt embarrassed. How could a shadow hand die? I might feel human, but the reality was clearly something far removed.

“No, my dear,” Zariah said, the hint of an accent softening her syllables. She reached out to me. “You have just begun to live.”

Awkwardly, I took her hands and let her guide me to sit beside her on the stone sofa, which I should not have been able to do beneath the ocean. Then again, these were gods, and clearly the rules of mortals did not apply. Indeed, I was surprised at the give of the stone, like it was an invisible cushion beneath me.

“My dear child, you have no idea who you are, do you?” she asked, brushing some of my hair back so it floated out softly behind me like hers, instead all over the place.

My insides twisted. “I’m a shadow hand,” I answered, averting my eyes. I had yet to admit out loud.

“You are far more than an illusion. Can you not feel it?” Zariah’s electric blue eyes searched me for answers, but all I felt was the churn of confusion.

I shook my head, throat too thick to speak. Yes, I felt like I was more, but wasn’t that just what I wanted to believe? Wasn’t that just a side effect of Rune’s magic? There was nothing I desired more than for the goddess to tell me I was a real person. But since Darvol kept referring to everyone else as ‘humans,’ I knew that was unlikely.

Zariah waited patiently, as though she knew I needed to work through my tangled thoughts to find the right words. I tried. I found I wanted to please her and wondered if the desire came from awe at her presence or some sort of magic that emanated from her. Did it matter?

“Whatever I am,” I said finally, “It’s hard to believe I’m important enough to garner the attention of the gods.”

Zariah’s eyes flashed all the colors of the rainbow and some I had no name for. If she hadn’t had a firm hold on my hands, I’d have retreated. As it was, I stiffened like a scared rabbit. I hadn’t meant to upset her.