“Your mother murdered your wife?” My stomach soured. What kind of villain would do such a thing?
“Yes. When she died, I couldn’t care for my daughter. I was young and didn’t know the first thing about being a father. I left her with my brother. He loaned me money for my ship, I fled my mother, and became a captain. Like the disgrace I am.”
I took his large face in my hands, lifting his strong chin up. “The only monster in your story is your mother, Arlo.”
“You don’t even know the extent of truth in that statement. But that’s why I must get back to land. However much Ireallywish to,” he looked me up and down, “I cannot get distracted by this alchemy between us. I visit Cate only twice a year. She has no mother because of me, and I’ll be damned if she has no father, however useless I am, because I got swept up inthis.”
Gently, I dropped my hands.
“I see.” That was all I would allow myself to say, hoping to fend off the feelings that were burning through me.
Arlo felt this pull between us. He wanted it. He wanted me. But he wouldn’t let it stand between him and getting back to his daughter.
And that made me want him all the more.
Winter 5339 AT
A tempest raged in Aegir’s eyes upon discovering the bruise inflicted on my arm by my husband. He begged me to stay in Naiadon again.But he’s oblivious to the danger my family would face above if I were to disappear. My proud husband, capable of unthinkable fury, would release his wrath upon them if I disappeared without a trace.
I can endure a few blows. The safety of those relying on me takes precedence. But there is another matter that I’m afraid Ageir may never understand. One that I’m not sure I have the heart to tell him. But I must find a way. Because I am with child.
Chapter 26
The ocean floor loomed into view outside the castle, each step immersing me deeper into the dark sea as Nixie guided me down a sloping hall into the belly of the castle. Rolling my shoulders, I tried to shake the anxiety scuttling up my spine.
Another strange siren event. Another situation where I was entering the lions’ den.
This also meant there would be no war council with Hylos and Raylik. Even though I had so many questions for them both. Like, what would someone even want with sirens? What could Cedric’s city on the sea possibly have to do with their disappearance? How does one even take a siren?
“I’m surprised you agreed to come,” Nixie said, her glossy red dress swishing with each graceful step, the translucent lace of the drop waist revealing the hard lines of her stomach. She offered a gentle smile, colored with apology. “Especially after the last event you attended.” When Calypstra revealed my identity.
The gauzy dress I wore was a lovely shade of green and felt light, its tendrils flitting with each step.
“I’m curious.” I shrugged in response. It wasn’t a lie. I was curious about the location of the strange, magical painting of a woman, which was an actual passage out of Naiadon. I was also curious about what Icould learn of these creatures. About what I could tell my father to stop them and ultimately protect Oakhaven.
The hall poured us out into a large space, its walls stretching for seemingly endless miles above. A cool air wafted from the wet, cavernous walls that smelled of saturated stone. At the center of the expansive room was a giant, black, swirling pool that made my blood run cold. Onyx-colored water vortexed down, down, down, begging me to plunge into its depths and succumb to its blackness. Around the pool, the Circle leaders stood leisurely, their faces familiar from the dinner we shared the other night. All apparently too busy measuring one another to bother with me now.
“You said this is an offering ceremony, right?” I asked Nixie. We had similar traditions on land. The Guardians were greedy, so we’d leave an orange on a doorstep for Terragos or coal beside the hearth for Helionyx. All to keep them content and ward off ill intentions for us mere mortals. It all seemed like rubbish. But I once thought the same of sirens.
“Yes, we offer things we cherish to Nymphaea to seek her blessing for a bountiful year and the hopes of a fertile mating during Hydroxia,” Nixie said coolly as we neared the endless black pit. “We call this a swallow. There are multiple across the sea floor. They say they are sacred portals to the Mother herself.” Portals. Like the paintings from the journal. Was this another way out of Naiadon?
“Do people ever go through it or come out of it?” I asked.
“Some have offered themselves to it, orothers, but they never return,” Nixie said as she pinched her pink eyebrows, telling me it wasn’t recommended.
Hylos walked out onto a platform that protruded over the swallow, making me uneasy. One wrong step and he would vanish into the black, roiling water. He was dressed plainly, with white fabric wrapped around his lower body. I could make out the dark-blue lines that marked his bodyfrom here. “I sincerely thank you, once again, for celebrating Hydroxia here with me. We will begin the ceremony shortly,” he called loudly, his voice amplified by the swell of siren song.
“Did we have a choice in the matter?” a voice in the crowd muttered. It was Raylik’s uncle, dressed in layers of blood orange.
Nixie cleared her throat.
He turned and looked down at her, his murder-red gaze filled with hatred. “A disgrace for you wear those colors.Made.” He said the word like a curse.
“I merely wear the color of my mate’s scales for Hydroxia. As is tradition. Melquin,Leaderof Mariscal Circle.” Red, for Raylik.
“Another disgrace to my Circle. My brother’s only son wastes his seed on a barren made siren.” He spat at her webbed feet.
Nixie scowled angrily, but I could see the hurt there too.
