“I’m not,” I agree.
He makes a noise that almost sounds like a laugh. “I never wanted to be king. Jahlee and I had a quiet life in our small village, and I was keen on it staying that way, despite who myfather was. What I hadn’t known was that he had taken an interest in me as a teen when he heard rumors of how powerful I had grown.” He pauses to inhale slowly, his movement on the bed tugging at the sheets. “He lured me to the palace under the guise of talking to me about my mother, and like the fool that I am, I went. When I arrived, he led me to the throne room where he had set up the ceremony to do a transfer of power from him to me. Kane was there, as was Tua, both furious at what was about to happen though I suspect for different reasons.
“I could have fought back, but then my father threatened Jahlee. Threatened to kill my remaining family after he had already murdered my mother. I was being given a crown I had no idea what to do with, and the bastard didn’t care. I had toensurehis legacy or some bullshit. Tua stepped up and immediately began guiding me—helping me as best he could. But I already had a reputation amongst the people here as the bastard son of the king. Those who didn’t despise me for that fact alone hated me because they wanted to see Kane as king. He had been preparing for the role for nearly a decade before it was pulled out from under him.”
Lying on my back, I pinch my lips together in thought. Kai had been through more than I realized, and I could admit to myself in the quiet darkness that I had judged him unfairly when we first met. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Kai,” I say, receiving silence in return. “Though, for future reference, I prefer less sad bedtime stories.” His chuckle is deep, making my toes curl. My eyes fall closed for a moment before I open them again to ask him one more question. “Did Tua say everyone was doing alright? When you spoke to him earlier?”
“I didn’t find him before I decided to turn around and come up to your room.”
I yawn and adjust my head on the pillow. “Then how did he know to come here—”
“Sleep, Bahira.”
I snort but don’t fight him on it because within a few moments, I fall asleep.
I curl farther into the warmth of the bed, the blanket heavy around my waist. There’s weight resting between my legs, and when I stretch, the weight slides closer to my core. Readjusting my head on the pillow, the movement pulls at a tender spot on my neck. I lift a hand and run my fingers over the scab there, the memories of the night before rushing to me: the intruder and battling for my life, Kai rescuing me and then wanting to sleep in my room.In my bed.
It becomes obvious why I’m so warm and why my body feels cradled by someone else.Because it is. He holds my back against him—one of his legs between my own—his face nestled somewhere in my curls. Kai’s fingers twitch along my stomach, but his breathing remains heavy and deep. I focus on it, letting myself exist in this sleepy haze a little while longer and pushing the realization out of my mind that I’ve never laidlike thiswith anyone. Not even after sex.
I like this more than I thought I would. More than Ishould. And I think it has everything to do with the male behind me.
Kai is gone when I wake up fully. Sunlight floods into the room between gaps in the curtains, bringing with it a clarity I’m not ready to confront. I climb out of bed and open the window covers fully, stretching as I look out at the jungle in the distance. My thoughts fire in rapid succession, begging me to break down everything that happened from the moment he alerted me that blood had been in the experiments to the way he molded himselfprotectively around my body as we slept. I choose the former to focus on while I dress, donning a simple pair of tan trousers and a dark green sleeveless top before pulling my hair up into a ponytail and heading out to the experiment room.
Streams of golden light illuminate the dust in the air as I step inside. The door falls shut behind me, and my eyes go directly to the table holding the jars of petals containing blood from myself and the shifter king. Disappointment robs me of my next inhale. One of the jars blooms with new life—green stems and new buds growing from what were only dark plum-colored petals before. I force my feet forward, my heart wild in my ribcage as I observe the other jar. Changes deform the petals in that container as well but in complete opposition to its companion. The petals have begun to decay, their edges curling in. I know, without having to check the labels, which jar contains Kai’s blood and which one has my own. I clutch the key to the room so tightly that it bites into my palm.
My mage blood had done nothing to promote the growth of the plants, yet ashifter’sblood had. What could that mean?Howcould that be?
“Focus, Bahira,” I chastise myself before grabbing my journal and dragging a chair out from the table to sit in.
The magic-infused water had only sprouted new life in the leaves back home for a few minutes before they began to wither away again. Some lasted longer than others, but still, the decay was rapid compared to how long the leaves lasted when tainted with blood.
I cradle my forehead in my hand as my fingers drum along the page of the journal. I had never thought to test with blood because of what we are taught in our schooling. A cautionary tale was drilled into us about a group of ancient mages who had done experiments with blood that ended in devastation. But I can’t deny the fact now, as I look over at the jar brimming with newgrowth, that there is a connection between magic and blood. I also can’t refute the evidence that, as of right now, there isn’t the same level of magic in my own blood. Not enough to affect any change amongst the petals anyway.Not enough.
I shake my head, refusing to allow myself to wallow. Flipping to a fresh page of my journal, I write out today’s date. I have only seen the blood while it’s interacting with the plants, but perhaps I need to look at it on its own first under a magnifier.
With my resolve renewed, I stand from the desk and walk back towards the door, intent on finding a few shifters to take some blood samples from.
Chapter Forty-Seven: Aria
The next chunk ofour journey is uneventful, a fact I am grateful for. Mashaka keeps to his habit of swimming a few yards ahead of me—though I think it’s more to avoid my company than it is to warn me of any danger. With the memory of the Tula Ledge monster still fresh in my mind, I appreciate his presence either way.
We should be getting close to Eersten, the first siren outpost beyond the capital. It is southwest of the Continent, partially between the Shifter Isle and the Mortal Kingdom’s beaches. Thesirens that still reside there do so not out of banishment but because they have been there for generations, long before my mother started her reign.
When I was younger, I would dream about escaping to a place like Eersten, hoping it would be far enough away from the cruelty of my mother and sisters. Now I’m certain no distance would ever be great enough.
Mashaka lets out a high-pitched squeak, my attention going to him as he waits for me to catch up. The sun is swallowed up by the thick gray clouds in the sky, leaving the outline of the floating white structures in the distance to blend in with the shadows of the darkened ocean.
“Have you been here before, Mashaka?” I ask once we reach them, looking over to him. He squeaks in response, and though I’m not entirely sure, I’m assuming that means he has.
We move cautiously between the looming buildings, and I marvel at their construction. Lumen is built on a part of the seabed that is not, comparatively speaking, very deep beneath the surface. But Eersten’s ocean floor seems to drop here, the depths beneath the town black with the lack of sunlight. Yet, somehow, the town floats.
“There are no sirens out,” I note, Mashaka squeaking quietly in response.
The outsides of the structures are pearlescent, and oddly shaped cutouts dot around them. Some are small, as if their only intention is to allow a single pair of eyes to peek out. Other holes are large enough for a siren to pass through.
Mashaka heads towards a building with a clamshell bed carved into it. When he’s close enough, his nose softly taps the dark blue sea glass door that is surrounded by embedded crystals of different colors. I follow up with a harsher knock of my own, earning a glare from him.
“What? We want them to actuallyhearus out here.” He snaps his teeth together and pokes me in the arm. “Ouch, Mashaka!”
