“Okay, great.” Yet more unfamiliar magics. I focus onthinkingthe words, which is surprisingly difficult when all I want to think about is how I’m underwater and not…dead. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“You gave your life to me.” The duke tilts his head slightly to the side, as if challenging me to contradict him. We both know it’s true, but…
“To…kill me?” I guess?
He smirks. “Aren’t you happy that I’mnotkilling you?”
Sure, every minute they don’t kill me is welcome, but it’s confusing. “You wasted no time killing my crew and they weren’t even a part of this. Unless you’re sparing me so I get to live with the guilt?”
“You think me so depraved?” He scowls, offended. “Even after I saved your life?Twice?” Ilryth leans in, narrowing his eyes at me. Not speaking with his mouth gives it the freedom to twist in disgust as he says, “I told you, your crew’s lives were not mine to claim. Nor did I want them. The will of the ancients intervened.”
Sounds like an excuse to me.
His scowl deepens. “Now, follow me.” He shifts his grip, taking my wrist. I notice that there are more markings on his skin than I remember. Every detail of that night is etched into my memory.
I don’t budge. The water is different here. A little…thicker, perhaps? More resistance to it, allowing us to hover in place without treading. Just a small push and I tug away as he moves forward. His head whips back around.
“If you’re not going to kill me, then take me back.” It’s difficult to make demands when I feel as if I might float away at any second. Respect is hard to muster when I imagine myself more like a jellyfish than an authoritative captain.
The other sirens are watching our exchange with a mix of emotions. The man radiates disapproval, bordering on anger. The older woman is equally bemused. But the younger, she seems to be fighting a little grin.
“Excuse me?” Ilryth’s face relaxes with surprise. As if he’s shocked I’d have the audacity to even ask.
“I will give you my life, as was promised—whenit was promised.” The only vow I will break is the one I made to Charles. No others. “I had six more months. You came early.”
Though my ship is gone, Applegate is dead, and I’ve no idea how I’ll make the twenty thousand crons now even if the siren did take me back. I still must return and dosomething. Helplessness tries to choke me but I force it down with a swallow. I won’t let the dark thoughts have me. My family needs me to keep fighting.
“You selfish woman.” With a mighty flap of his tail he is back before me, nearly slamming into me, but stopping at the last second. A rush of water follows him. “I found you practically dead. I saved you from sirens that were possessed by wraiths. I gave you my personal blessing during five more years’ time than you would have had otherwise. Yet youstillask for more?”
“I ask for what I’m owed,” I insist, leaning away slightly to gain some space and wishing the movement wasn’t so overwrought. I want to rise with all the authority of the mighty sea captain Victoria. But I can’t seem to muster the ability when I’m little more than human-shaped driftwood.
“Mighty sea captain.” A scoff reverberates through my thoughts. My eyes widen with shock.How dare he.He leans forward, narrowing his eyes. “Yes, you might want to be more careful with what and how you think while you’re here.”
I try to force every errant thought from my mind. Gates upon gates lock shut on my musings. I might not know how this communication works, but I know how to guard myself and conceal my emotions.
“Please,” I say simply. If one tactic doesn’t work, try another. I soften my gaze and furrow my brow. It’s an expression that usually worked on Charles. “Ineedsix more months.”
“This cannot be undone. You have entered the Eversea.” He reaches for my hand and I’m too startled to stop him. Ilryth lightly runs his calloused fingers over the markings he put on my forearm, eyes distant and filled with a touch of sorrow I am not made to understand. “Lord Krokan knows the sacrifice marked for him is here. We cannot delay further.” He leans away, a frown tugging on his lips. “I’m sorry.” The apology almost seems genuine. But I don’t believe it for a second.
The siren goes to leave again and I’m left staring at the curves and dips of his back where they condense into a narrow waist. The scales of his tail reach up his spine in a triangle shape, splashing bright turquoise against the pallor of his skin. This time he doesn’t reach for me. He just assumes I’ll follow.
He assumes wrong.
“Sacrifice?” The thought is as monstrous as the beast itself. The barbarousness of it overtakes me, breaking through my composure. “YourLord,” I sneer, giving the title no respect, “didn’t get enough sacrifices for himself in my crew?”
Fenny winces at my side.
Duke Ilryth halts once more. But this time he refrains from bringing his attention back to me. I can almost feel a sense of sorrow, of worry, flooding the currents. He mocks me with feigned empathy.
“No,” he says simply. “They were not anointed. So they couldn’t ever be enough. But hopefully you will be, for their sakes—for all our sakes.”
CHAPTER5
The joke is on him.I’ve never been enough for anyone. Not to save a marriage, or my family, or my crew. It seems he picked the worst possible person for this sacrifice.
“Now.Come.”
I can tell by the word alone that I’ve pushed his patience as far as he’ll allow. There’s little point in resisting further, for now. I’m wildly outnumbered, and the shark-finned man looks as though he’s about ready to manhandle me himself. With a push of my arms, I propel myself awkwardly forward. I’m at a disadvantage until I can get more information and a better sense of my circumstances. I need to play along, for now.
