“Mom said you were ready to try wielding today, but I think we’ll start with shields, because I don’t fancy being turned into dust.” Aranare eyed me warily as we stood on the cliff top. Dark clouds hung low overhead, and the sea sighed as it caressed the rocks far below.
I wiped the sweat from my brow as my breathing quickened. The lastthree occasions I’d tapped into my magic, it had manifested differently each time—turning two Drowned to dust, shattering the Ferris wheel, and sending an entire room of Mer into a stupor. Yes, it had saved me from a few tight spots, but it had felt like pure chance—nothing more than a fluke.
“Not very talkative today, are we?” Aranare folded his arms across his chest and observed me. “So, has Mom had you controlling your mind?”
I nodded, guilt curdling my stomach. I was barely controlling anything.
“Great.” Aranare grinned. “Now, I want you to harness that control to shield yourself.”
“From what?” I asked, swiping more sweat from my neck with my grass-stained hands.
“From me.” His eyes glittered.
“Okay.” I furrowed my brow, trying to steady my thoughts as my gaze locked on him. I expected him to reach for his wooden sword again, but he didn’t. He just stood there, watching me.
“Are you ready?” he asked, cocking his head to one side.
I held up a shaky hand as panic clawed at my throat. “Give me a minute.”
Taking a deep breath, I relaxed my body and then my mind. I let an unwavering belief swell in my heart and glimpsed the flicker of silver power in my subconscious.
“Ready.” I swallowed.
“Good, let’s see what you’ve got. Remember, the aim is to protect yourself from me.”
I gave him another nod.
Aranare rolled his shoulders, grounding himself as the wind tugged at his track pants. He adjusted his stance but didn’t grab his weapon.
I looked inward, reaching for my flickering silver orb of magic, andmy power grew, rising beneath my skin until it was humming through every part of me.
It was too much. Too strong. I wouldn’t be able to control it.
Terror filled me, and I battled with the magic, shoving the power back until it was a shining speck in my subconscious.
The wind picked up behind Aranare, ruffling his chestnut curls as his scent drifted toward me on the breeze. It was nice, his smell. It was what I imagined heather on the moors smelled like: sweet, and slightly woody, with hints of honey and peat.
My eyes traveled to his arms, which were folded over his chest, and the visible muscles beneath his parka. The speck of silver power I had been suppressing flickered out, and I stepped toward him, wondering how they would feel wrapped around me.
I took another step, gazing into his amber eyes. They were beautiful, his irises flecked with dark browns and greens. Why hadn’t I noticed before? And when he smiled, the dimples that appeared in his cheeks pulled my gaze straight to his lips.
I reached out to touch him, but he caught my wrist before my hand made contact.
I blinked through contracting vision, feeling as if a trance had been lifted. “You asshole!” I palmed his chest.
“I told you to shield yourself from me, but you obviously suck at shields.” He smirked.
“Whatareyou?” I took in Aranare’s golden eyes and striking features once more. My manic desire had ebbed, but now I could see it—his otherworldly beauty.
“I told you my family had an invested interest in the feud.”
I started at him, mind whirring. “So you’re a merman?”
“No, we are the Lugh Sirens. Our ancestors bred with humans and built a life on land, which protected our race from the Shadow.”
The Lugh Sirens. The conversation from the war room swam back into my mind. Pisceon had wanted to call upon them for aid, but King Neptunus had scorned them as half-breeds. I bit the inside of my cheek. So had Finn, who’d looked right at me when he said it. That’s why he’d been so jealous of Aranare.
“I’ve been training with you for two weeks. You could have told me earlier.”
