His hand found its way around her lower body as she picked off his plate.
“Calypstra, this is the guest Nixie was telling us about,” Hylos said, looking up to her as he mindlessly patted her ass.
Her midnight eyes narrowed at me as sharp teeth pierced a bite of food. Her skin was a pale, grayish color, like that of the dead, in contrast to her jet-black hair cropped short to her chin, which sliced through the air as she spoke.
“Why were you on that ship, terra?” she asked.
She was utterly terrifying and fiercely beautiful.
“Now, Cal, let’s allow our guest some time to settle before we interrogate her,” Hylos said.
Interrogate. I did not like the sound of that.
I looked around the table, noticing only six chairs.
“Are none of the men from the ship joining us?” I asked.
Nixie squirmed uncomfortably at my side.
Hylos cleared his throat. “They are safe, but occupying a different portion of my castle.”
The joyless smirk of the death-toned woman told me it was somewhere I wouldn’t wish to be.
“You see,” the violet siren filled Hylos’s chalice as he spoke. “Sirens have been vanishing, taken from the sea in the night. So I’ve ordered my people to intercept ships traveling between Whiterok and Oakhaven.”
The memory of sirens’ song came screeching back into my mind, burning my ears as it had the night before.Intercept.What he really meant was seize, like they had with the captain’s ship.
Hylos met my gaze, then swirled his cup as though carefully considering his next words. “I believe the king of Oakhaven is behind my people’s disappearance.”
Chapter 10
My spine stiffened. This strange creature before me, the harbinger of Nymphaea’s wrath, thought my father was taking his people.
If he thought the sailors were complicit in those crimes, enough to imprison and interrogate them, what would he do to the daughter of his enemy?
Hylos continued, “We believe the sailors may possess some knowledge of the fate of our people.”
“Maybe you know something about that, considering you’re of nobility,” Calypstra said from Hylos’s side.
I didn’t miss the eyes of the others trained on her with what looked like fear washed with disdain.
“I amnotnobility,” I lied.
“Hair that red is known to be common of Blackthorns, plus those stones on your wrist are worth a fortune. Not to mention invoked. You’re either some Duke’s wife or a bastard.”
“I am no bastard.” The words flamed from my lips. Then I realized my error.
“Alegitimatedaughter of someone important. Noted.” She smiled, pleased with herself.
Hylos’s arm vanished from her side as she sat up and sauntered to the seat beside him.
“You may tell us who you are in good time. But for now, is there a name we may call you?” He asked like he hadn’t even heard the accusation from the woman whose ass he was just palming.
“Elowyn,” I answered. My name was common enough. It wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, yet the black-haired woman’s sharp eyes marked me all the same.
I stared back. She wouldn’t discompose me. Not again.
“Well Elowyn, you are a guest here in Naiadon,” Hylos answered with a tip of his chin and a sip of his drink. “But I would suggest no more late-night dips. You’re fathoms below the sea, and if you go out there,” he waved a hand to the large round window melded into the stone, which opened to infinite sea, “you will never reach the surface. That bracelet may help you survive the elements of open ocean, but there are monsters in these waters that would devour you in one bite. Or worse.”
