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Finn pulled me from Alaric to wrap me in an embrace of his own, though Alaric still held one of my hands. “Congrat—” The Draconian jumped back as though burned, dropping his arms. He stumbled back, bumping into the now thawing table.
“What did you just do?” he asked me, raising a hand to his chest, “I felt—it was like—”
Alaric cocked his head at my sentry, “What is it, Finn?”
But he simply shook his head, “Never mind, it was nothing,” he said, and went back to eating his berries in pensive silence.
Chapter Twenty-Six
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t conjure the ice again. What good was a Grace if I couldn’t use it when I wanted to? Alaric told me to give it more time, but Finn seemed confused and told me even when he was still developing his Grace, he could at least summon a bit of frost.
Alaric spoke to Kade in private when he returned, but I got the gist of their conversation, overheard in snippets and chunks. Thana and Rin remained unconscious and Ronan offered nothing to explain the second attempt at poisoning me, nor the foreign Draconian’s attack. Even though, by the sound of it Kade hadn’t gone easy on him—burning one of his hands down to bare bone.
I knew it was ridiculous to feel sorry for my former Captain—he had tried to kill me, but I saw the pain in Selbi’s eyes when Kade used his Grace on her, and he had gone easy then. I couldn’t imagine what the full force of his fire felt like and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
“But he admitted to giving Selbi the verbane?” Alaric asked Kade for the second time, their voices drifting into the sitting room.
“Yes.”
“Good. Finn and I will try to get more information from him, but at the very least, that crime alone is enough to see him executed. At least one threat will be dealt with.”
The two returned to the sitting room, and Alaric belted his sword to his waist, “We’ll be back in the morning,” he said by way of goodbye, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear, “Be safe,” he said. “Any sign of trouble and you run, understand?”
I nodded, though since we arrived I hadn’t seen another soul, and there were no roads to be seen anywhere around the cottage. I didn’t expect any visitors, welcome ones or no.
“So,” Kade said after Finn and Alaric left, “Alaric told me your Grace is ice. And I’ve got to say, I’m not buying it.”
I raised my brows at him, blowing air out my lips, “Is that so?”
“Yes, it is,” he said, coming nearer. He was shirtless and the hourlong flight had further darkened his tan skin, making the ochre of his eyes seem brighter and his hair copperier than it had been before. He was magnificent, and I wished I could find a flaw on his body, if only to prove he was real, and not a figment of my imagination. “There’s fire in you. I know it’s there. I feel it calling to me when I touch you.”
Regardless of what some old librarian told me about Morgana, I knew it was impossible to have more than one Grace. It had never happened. The only way to gain a second Grace was to steal it using the Blessed Blade, and that was a myth—a bedtime story used to scare children into listening to their elders.
“I’m bored,” I said, changing the subject before he asked me to prove my Grace to him, because I wasn’t sure I could. “I’m going for a swim.” I told him and pulled a few laces free from my corset.
He growled at the subtle invitation and rushed to follow me from the cottage. The gown and corset were off of me within seconds, and I shivered at the feel of the sun on my bare back. With only my sheer panties left to clothe me, I ran into the water, sucking in a tight breath when my skin met the cool sea.
I dove under and pushed myself out, swimming further, and further from the shore. When I came up for air, Kade was hopping on one foot, trying to pull off his other boot.
“Wait,” he called over the waves, “Not too far.”
I laughed and plunged under again, pushing past the breakwater and out into the calm blue. The sunlight shone through the surface of water, reflecting on the sandy floor in a wavy pattern of gold. I had missed this. I hadn’t swum for weeks, and before I left the isle, it was something I did every day—if only to escape the lessons and constant ridicule of Thana.
The water was an old friend, welcoming me into her cool embrace. I came up for air only once, and pushed myself further, deeper, relishing in the burn of my muscles.
A shape darted near in my peripherals. A streak of shining sapphire. I spun and was face to face with a wraith. Bubbles of air exploded from my mouth as I tried to make for the surface. But it wrapped a tentacle around my ankle, holding me in place.
With light shining down through the water, the wraith was crystal clear, and I was awestruck at its dangerous beauty. Its upper half was humanlike, with breasts and a narrow waist, though its skin was a translucent blue that glowed from within. Six tentacles made up its lower extremities where legs would have been. But it was the wraith’s face that drew me. Big eyes, black as ink seemed to stareintome. The eyes set in a small, angular heart shaped face, with perfect lips and a wild mane of silver hair, not unlike my own.
Hauntingly beautiful.
Not hurt you. Never hurt you.its raspy song-like voice wrapped around my mind, scraping at my skull.
You’re hurting me right now!I wanted to shout at it, it’s grip on my ankle was like a vise—any tighter and it would fracture the bone.
Must listen.It crooned,not safe… Queen must not return to her stone tower. He will not stop. Queen will fall… Queen must stay here. Queen is safe here.
My lungs were constricting. I needed air. I needed to get to the surface. The last of my breath was forcibly trickling from my mouth as I tried to pull the tentacle off me.
