He grimaced. “But how?” No panic touched a single syllable, even though his eyes remained wide and searching. He was trying with all his might to remain calm.
“I have no Guardians-damned idea how.” I’d never even heard of such things, castles at the bottom of the ocean. Yet here we stood.
He narrowed his gaze at me. “Are you one of those monsters?”
“We were both on the same ship together, do you not remember?” Had he been injured in the shipwreck? Hit his head? Had he forgotten the time we spent together? I ignored the fact that the thought wounded my feelings.
“A beautiful maiden who charms a captain and his crew, then sirens are summoned. It sounds like something straight out of a holy prayer. You could have called them to our ship,” he said, his brow knitting.
“So, you think I’m beautifulandcharming?” I said with a smirk, reaching for the banter we’d shared on the ship.
He scoffed and shook his head in disgust. Ouch. Then he turned to inspect the library.
Maybe it wasn’t the time for jokes.
He was reaching with his accusations. Which was understandable. How could anyone reason in this situation at all? But how did he conclude that the king’s only daughter was a siren?
Then I realized. “You truly do not know who I am, do you?”
“No, I told you before I didn’t,” he said tersely, still eyeing the room.
“Do you make a habit of trafficking unknown women on your ship, captain?” I crossed my arms before me. Flames sparked in my belly. He had the audacity to hold me captive and bring me across the sea, and he didn’t even know why.
“No, I don’t. It’s bad luck to bring women aboard, but it was a favor to Cedric.”
Cedric? He said the name with familiarity, and without the appropriate title. He knew my betrothed.But why did Cedric pay for my passage and not my father? And why did he insist on me being locked away?
“He also paid me ridiculously well. But now we’re in this mess.” He waved his hands above to the water-crested dome.
“Glad you werefuckingcompensated for my imprisonment,” I said back snarkily.
He let out a bitter laugh. “Well, at least I know it’s the same supposedladyfrom my ship with that language. That foul mouth of yours will get you into trouble one day, you know.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “More trouble than being at the bottom of the ocean imprisoned by mythical beasts?”
“Imprisoned? Only one of us is being paraded about in shackles,” he said, watching me closely. Those damn strong features sharpened with deadly precision. I tried to ignore what it did to me, even in disdain. “You’re dressed pretty in their clothes and throwing orders about. You’re no prisoner at all. The question is why?”
“Beautiful, charming, and dressedprettily. Careful, Captain, if you keep complimenting me I may just fall in love.” I lolled my head to the side and gave a toothy smile.
He rolled his honey-colored eyes. “Well then, who are you?”
How would he react to meeting the king’s daughter below the sea? Or, what if this was all a trick? The sirens might have lulled him, or whatever, into compliance to ask me such questions.
Hylos had promised me time to tell him my true identity, but could I really trust him? He was my captor and an enemy to my father, and therefore an enemy to me. What if instead of waiting, he’d used ahandsome, familiar face along with the virginal to butter me up, all to learn who I truly was?
I stepped to the virginal and grazed the keys, wishing they would sing back to me.
“What do you know about this instrument?” I asked.
How in Infernum did a captain of a ship have any idea how to repair such an instrument, anyway? It had to be a ploy.
“I askedyoua question first,” the captain said firmly.
“And I’m ignoring your question,” I answered, then crossed my arms. “Look, if you can’t help me, I can just tell Raylik—you know, the enormous one who’s awfully ill-tempered—that there’s no need for your assistance after all. He can just send you back to—where were they holding you again?” I leaned on the virginal.
His hazel eyes blazed when Nixie appeared at the top of the stairs, right on time with my threat, a platter of food in her finned, pink hands, its savory scent filling the room.
“I’ve brought you both some cooked fish and bread.” Her cheery, singsong voice belled through the library.
