“They’re stealing our magic. We’ve gotta get out of here,” I said, pulling my sister through the water until she was standing. “Keep your head down, and don’t act suspicious.”
Zellia did as I asked while both of us crawled out of the pool. A hypnotized Maisie gave us a confused wave goodbye as we exited the dangerous water, but I didn’t wave back. Glancing around the cavern, no one watched Zellia and I as we made our way to the opening in the stone wall. It wasn’t until we slipped into the cool darkness of the tunnels that I allowed myself to breathe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
BREENA EATS A SANDWICH
Zellia woke Breena a few hours earlier, noticing her wound had been healing far better than expected. We had returned from the caves three days ago, and with our magic waning, Zellia had to rely on good old-fashioned healing to clean up Breena’s wound and inspect her a final time.
When Zellia finally woke Breena with her song, she stayed in the room for only a few minutes to make sure Breena’s vitals were stable. Only then did she escape, giving us a moment alone.
I laid with the selkie as she groggily woke, stroking her hair and teasing her senses. She suddenly blinked furiously, and when she attempted to spring right out of the bed, I was there to gently press her back to the sheets.
“Woah, you don’t even have legs yet,” I chuckled. “Why don’t you transition before you try running around the room.”
Breena peered up at me, almost dazed, then threw the sheets off herself to reveal her seal tail. She dipped her chin as an embarrassed smile spread across her stunning features. “I suppose you have a point.”
Soon after, Breena shed what remained of her pelt, and she hugged it tightly to her chest as we cuddled in bed. I caught her up on everything she’d missed over the past few days, inspectingher face carefully as I spoke to ensure my words weren’t overwhelming her.
“I know I shouldn’t have done it, but what else was I supposed to do?” I asked, placing my cheek on the cool pillow to get a better look at Breena. “Maisie would have told everyone I was aware of what they were up to in those caves.”
“You did the right thing. This is war, Sid. Even though we never expected it to be with sea fae, with your own people, we have to do what we must to protect the sea.” She grabbed my hand with a newfound strength. Well, her strength had always been there, but after her injury, I’d be lying if I said her lack of it hadn’t frightened me. I was relieved to feel the tendons in my hand crunch in her grip once more.
“Hypnotizing fae twice in one month was never a part of my plan. I haven’t even had the chance to do it on a human yet!” My hands shook in the air and then fell to the mattress with a dramatic thump. Breena chuckled and rolled her eyes at me, but I simply sighed and resumed my position on her arm.
“You never answered me earlier. How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Well, you had much more exciting discoveries,” Breena said. “I feel great, but I need a damned sandwich.”
A laugh erupted from a low place in my belly. “I could arrange that. But are you sure a sandwich is what you want right now?”
Playing with the hem of her nightgown, the silky feel of the fabric sent shocks of excitement through my fingertips.
“Maybe not….” Breena’s grin slid into something more demanding, and I returned it in the form of kisses. I didn’t need a medical sign-off to know Breena was more than ready for me.
Placing my palm flat on her stomach, I indicated she was to stay right where she was, despite the path of destruction my kisses took as they lowered down to her core. Breena did exactlyas I asked, surrendering to me when I knew there was nothing she wanted more than to flip me onto my back and take control.
I kept reminding her how good she was doing until the death grip she had on the sheets relaxed, and a final moan slipped from her lips.
“And how are you feeling now?” I peeked up from my position between her thighs, a curious brow inching up the left side of my forehead.
“Mad you didn’t wake me sooner. My dreams are far more boring than my reality right here with you,” she said, pulling me up for more kisses.
Rory knocked on the door, and the two of us sprung from the bed. I tossed her the night slip I’d worn just hours earlier and called out to Rory as she clothed herself. “Be there in a minute!”
When Breena was appropriately dressed, Rory popped into the room to give Breena two brass keys.
“Happy to see you’re awake. And look at that,” he said, peering to the floor. “You have feet again.” Breena wiggled her toes proudly, pulling more chuckles from Rory until he motioned to the keys. “They’re for the chest in the closet. You hold the only two keys that can unlock it.”
She needed a safe place to keep her pelt after all, and what was more fitting than the very chest that had brought us to the fisherman in the first place?
Breena thanked Rory, and he let us be. Breena did the honors and opened the closet door to find the chest waiting for her on the wood floor. She stared down at her pelt for a while before finally placing the seal skin inside the chest and locking it up with one of the two keys.
She gave the other to me.
Staring down at the key in my hand, a prick of tears bit at my waterline. I whispered, “Are you sure?”
“As sure as I’ll ever be.” She grabbed both of my hands and kissed the backs of them. Then, she pressed them together so I could feel the cool metal between them and the weight of what that little key had meant to me, to both of us. “I trust you with all of me, Sid—today, tomorrow, and every moment after.”
