“I thought you were asleep.”
If the dagger could radiate disdain, that’s exactly what it did.“Each time I spoke, your eye would twitch and you would consider locking me in a safe. I preferred to watch and listen.”
The Dagger of Truth had been spying on me for close to a year. Awesome.
The queen shook her head at me. “The dagger chooses its owners. If it decides you are worthy, it will work for you for as long as you hold it. If, however, the dagger does not choose you, it will allow you to use it three times before it becomes magically null.”
Whoa. “Magically null?”
She nodded. “Until it finds its way to its next owner. The dagger is driven by fate.”
I scowled. That was my least favorite f-word.
“And how do you feel about this?”I asked Misty.
I could practically feel the dagger shrug.“You are the one who will lose the ability to question those you wish to question. I will find my way back to your family. But you may wish to ask the cunning queen exactly what would happen if you were to give me to her.”
“If the dagger chose me, and I hand it over, what does that mean?”
The surprise that danced across her face made it evident that I’d asked the right question. Her gaze dropped to my hip and turned thoughtful.
“Once the dagger has chosen someone, it will work for them for as long as they hold it. The moment they give it up, freely and without reservation, it will never serve them again.”
Dread settled into my stomach and stayed there.
“Ahhh,”Misty said.“Now you are understanding.”
If I gave the dagger up, I would lose the one edge I’d had when it came to finding my mother’s killer. Grief welled up, choking me. I’d never expected to see her again, and I would gladly take another temporary death just to have a few more moments with her. Talking to her had reopened a wound that had almost healed.
Misty would never work for me again.
The queen’s expression turned somber as she watched the realization hit me. “I have the sword you seek. I will trade you for the ability to discover which of my most trusted advisors has been betraying me. I’ve learned enough about you, Danica Amana, to know that you have no choice.”
She was right. Hand over Misty and Samael lived. There was no choice at all. I took a deep, shuddering breath. I had to trust that Evie knew what she was doing. She’d begged me to let her take over the reins and hunt our mother’s killer.
“I want the pelt back. And I want your word that your people will let me leaveandreach the place I entered the ocean.”
She nodded. “Done.” She looked past me to someone she’d obviously trusted enough to remain in the room. I’d been standing here this whole time and hadn’t realized we weren’t alone. Great.
The others filed back in. The queen’s gaze held death as it darted between three of the mermen. One of them was not going to have a good day, and I hoped it was the one who’d watched me drown. A small part of me wished I could stay and watch the fallout. I could get behind some drama that wasn’t my own for once.
“Bring me the golden sword,” she said. Gasps sounded. She simply waited and didn’t expand on her order. I could respect that.
The sword appeared and she took it, gesturing me forward.
“My pelt,” I said, and a merman appeared. His swollen nose looked familiar. He was the one who’d held me around the ankle. The one who’d been bringing me to the queen. “You should have someone set that,” I told him, and he shot me a filthy look. He pushed the pelt into my hands and I wrapped it around my shoulders. Kyla’s hairclip was long gone.
I stepped toward the throne. The queen stood, striding down the steps toward me. She held out the golden sword and I glanced down at it. The engravings on the hilt matched everything I’d been told about it so far.
I took a deep breath.“Goodbye,”I told Misty.“Thank you for your help.”
“I will see you again, although you will not be able to hear me. Your family’s journey to the truth is not over.”
I frowned, but the queen was already reaching for it, her gaze sharp. My hand clamped around the hilt of the golden sword just as she took Misty, and our eyes met.
Hannah’s words ran through my mind. “A little saltwater will do it no harm, and you will need it for what you face in the dark depths.” I’d thought she meant I would need to use it, not hand it over to someone else.
Damned if it didn’t feel like fate had brought me to this moment. A faint smile hovered around the queen’s mouth, and then the deal was done.
