Even if a part of me yearns to let my gaze roam the boundless sea, taking in the sights around me, I bind my attention to the last remaining siren as he approaches me, his muscles rippling in the shifting light cast from the surface of the sea. I am acutely aware of just how alone I am with this man—the man who took me from my world and claimed my life as his own. Who wants to make me into asacrifice. I face him as I would the Gray Passage, I am serenity before the chaos.
I never gave Charles the satisfaction. I sure as shit won’t give it to Ilryth, either. My glare is matched by his up until the moment he looms over me, taller, thanks to his tail.
Yet, without warning, his expression softens. “This will happen, one way or another. So, please, don’t fight me.”
It’s the nearly serene tone of his voice that almost pushes me to the breaking point. I force every word to be placid. “I won’t, if you let me leave.”
He tilts his head and cocks a brow. A slight sardonic expression slides across his lips, as if he can feel every bit of quivering displeasure I am actively working to suppress. He looks at me much like how I would look at an oncoming storm. A challenge. A test. An opportunity to pit my own might against a force of nature and win.
He lifts both arms, motioning around him. They address him as Duke, but his physique is more befitting of a laborer. Of a man who has been cut and carved by the sea. He would be able to best me in a fight without much effort.
“Where would you go? You are only alive right now because of magic I have given you. Because of my protections allowing you to be beneath our waves. Protections that, if I do not reinforce them, will end. And what do you think would happen then?”
The question seems rhetorical, so I do not answer.
“Is that not motivation enough for you? Then, perhaps I should tell you of the wraiths… Or the monsters that prowl just beyond our fragile barriers.”
“Bring me back,” I request as calmly as I’m able, focused on my sole mission. “Give me my remaining six months and I will be as peaceful and compliant as you want. You won’t get so much as the idea of struggle from me.”
“And this is an idea you have now?” His tone is impossible to read. But I can assume he is not pleased by the notion.
“I’ve played nicely so far.” I allow the words to hold a note of caution. “You don’t want me to start putting up a fight.”
“You always seemed like a person who respected their word.” The sentiment has an air of superiority.
“I do. More than you willeverknow.” The calm, dangerous quiet to the statement has him pausing. His smug expression vanishes, becoming blank and impossible to read. I’ve negotiated with more insufferable and insulting men than this siren. “I know the bargain I made and all I want is what is owed. We uphold our deals and pay our debts in Tenvrath. The question is, siren, do you respect your deals here?”
“How dare—” he growls.
“Because if you did, you would let me go have the six months you promised.”
Ilryth folds his arms and stares at me. I’m not sure what his assessment will render. But he’s looking for something. I make it a point to be as much of a blank slate as possible. Judging from the slight quirk of his lips downward, the blank slate I can transform my face into frustrates him.
Good.
Now an outright frown. I wonder if he heard that thought. I hope so.
“The timing was never meant to be exact, given the anointing…” His words crush me but I don’t let it show. “Since Lord Krokan intervened, it was a sign that it was time to begin. And if not for me, you would’ve been lost, and with you the hope of the sirens.”
Hope of the sirens? How could I possibly be that?If he hears the thoughts, he doesn’t answer.
“Even if I wanted to return you to the Natural World, I couldn’t. Your mere presence here has triggered the start of the anointing.” Ilryth’s gaze falls to my forearm. I touch the drawings that have stained my flesh. No…they’ve marked my very soul. “You will become more magic than flesh. And if you were to leave the Eversea—depart from underneath the waters of the Lifetree—you would fade away. I’m sorry, but you cannot be brought back to the Natural World now. Not ever.”
“You bastard.” The thought races through my mind before I can stop it, but I don’t regret it either.
“I see you’ve picked up a foul mouth since we last spoke.” He seems more amused than bemused.
“I’m a sailor—a captain. The very best in all the seas. I’ve salt on my tongue.”
“Yes, yes, I know of your exploits, Victoria.” He sounds so bloodydismissive. But that’s not what I focus on.
“How do you know my name?” I can’t remember ever telling it to him.
“I know much about you.” Ilryth sinks lower and I am forced to lean back, otherwise his chest would be pressed into mine. It’s as if he is trying to devour me with his eyes. When he reaches for me, I know there has to be magic that has taken hold, because I do not pull away. “I know you have sailed the vast seas. That you have fought with every hour you were given.”
He’s not wrong.But how… His hand closes around my wrist, above the markings he made. A thousand whispers hum across my skin, sinking deep into long untouched parts of me. I fight to keep my focus.This connection…
“Yes,” he answers the unfinished question that only briefly flitted through my thoughts. “And we shall deepen our bond with the anointing. You will learn the Duet of Sendoff. And you will be presented before Lord Krokan before it is too late for us all.”
