AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t need to hate alone,” I whispered. “Not anymore. We will hate him with you, at your side.”
Erik kissed the back of my hand. “Then, we ought to begin planning how to kill my brother.”
“First,” my father said. A pale shell was pinched between his fingers. “There is someone who has been waiting to speak to Livia for a great while now.”
“What is this?” I asked once my daj came to my side and dropped the shell in my palm.
“Hold it to your ear.”
One brow arched, I lifted the shell to my ear and drew in a sharp breath.
“Hello? Daj? I don’t hear you. Hey, sea witch, s’not working.”
“Rorik.” I covered my mouth with one palm. My wild, vibrant brother’s voice rolled through the shell, distant, quiet, a little muffled like Rorik spoke through one of his downy pillows, but there all the same.
“Livie?” Rorik sniffled, then released a torrent of frenzied words. “I’m sorry I didn’t rescue you, but you should know Ididsave Bloodsinger. I snuck into that room like a damn—I mean, like a Rave—and let him go. Jo and Alek said he was the only way to get you back, so I guess, I kinda rescued you. Livie, what’s it like in the Ever? Is it under the water all the time and are there big old fish with sharp teeth? What are merfolk like—”
“Ror.” I laughed, interrupting his trembling rambles. Tears stung my eyes. “You are the bravest Rave I know.”
My brother paused, his voice softer, like he might be speaking to someone in the distance. “Hey, Livie, the sea witch—” He softened his voice to a raspy whisper. “I keep forgettin’ her name. She is askin’ me where you are in the Ever.”
“We’re at the palace in the royal city.”
Rorik paused. “She says go to a lady named Oline’s cove. I don’t know what that means, but she says all of you should go and have Bloodsinger drop some blood in the water. I bet she’s gonna do aspell. Livie, she does wild spells. Turned Alva’s face blue for a whole clock toll when she stole my bleeding boots!”
I lowered the shell. “Ror says we should go to Oline’s cove. Where is that?”
Erik stiffened. “My mother’s refuge.” He lowered his voice. “Ourcove, Songbird.”
My heart sped against my ribs. Our cove—the secluded spot where I’d told the Ever King he was mine. The night we’d split open our hearts to each other. The night Larsson’s assassins tried to rip us apart.
“Ror,” I said, voice soft. “Tell her we’ll be there soon.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
THE SERPENT
The verdant water was undisturbed—asheet of emeralds over white sand. The stillness and shade of the cove had been what my mother loved most. Sometimes when I stepped onto the narrow beach, I could hear her voice, distant memories of a small boy’s mind.
Can you imagine it, my love? This water is like looking into a new world, a place filled with marvelous adventures. That is what I like to imagine here—you and me, on a grand journey in a distant sea.
I’d spent many a night here, dreaming of those adventures after the war, alone and angry. These shores had always been a horrid reminder of what had been lost at my hands. Truth be told, I thought I might’ve come here to torture my own sanity, like a penance for being the cause of my mother’s death.
Then, a persistent, beautiful songbird had peeled back the final layers over a scorched heart, and turned this cove—from the wind-weathered stone walls to the alabaster sand—into a sanctuary. A new place of memories I’d hold close until my final breaths.
I held out a hand, guiding Livia over a lip on the old moss-soaked stairs that opened to the beach. Valen was nearest Celine and held out a hand on instinct.
Celine ogled the earth bender’s palm for half a breath before a smile cut over her lips. She lifted her chin like a damn lady of a noble house and accepted. “Many thanks, Earth Bender.”
Tait stood in front of Princess Mira. She narrowed her eyes, gathered her skirt, and stepped onto the shore on her own. “Don’t trouble yourself, Hearttalker. I can manage.”
“I had no intention of troubling myself,” Tait grumbled. “And it’sHeartwalker.”
I waded out into the water to my knees and dragged my thumb along the point of my tooth. Spells of witches often required blood. No doubt, Narza had a trick planned, so I did not waste time questioning and let a splatter of my blood drop into the glassy water.
A ring of foam shaped around the drops, frothing and building. I backed away. Livia took hold of my arm and peered over my shoulder, eyes wide. Water spun and bubbled, like a school of netted fish were drawing close to the surface. Soon, the water smoothed again but kept a faint glow within the ring.
Livia tightened her hold on my arm. “Are those . . . voices?”
