Sin caught him emerging from the beach, shaking sand out of his hair like a dog. She laughed at the sight, making him whine. “It’s getting in my eyes!”
“Come here,” she urged, reaching for her son. Focusing her magic on his eyes, all of the sand was pulled out like a magnetic force.
Though her Tempest Magic had been her primary source of power, it wasn’t her core. She was the daughter of a famous sea witch, and eventually, she learned to control small amounts of organic, living matter.
“Better?” she asked.
He grunted, making his way inside. “Can you show me how to stop that?”
She sighed, smiling while keeping her patience. “Again, as I’ve explained many times today alone, your body is mostly water. Make it protect your eyes.”
“But it feels creepy!”
She laughed, brushing her hand through his hair.
The clashing of swords sounded behind them. Drawing her attention to the men on the beach. Max was sparring with Wolcott, an old comrade who shared a long history with them. A friendship bloomed between them all—his joyful nature didn’t allow their angst to hold up a fight. Even though there were two of them, he was a cheerful force to be reckoned with.
There was never anyone for her but Max. Her heart sang for him, and snoozed at the thought of another. But he was the only other person Max, or herself trusted with the other. The only person they trusted with their son.
It had been three centuries since that fateful night in Asera, and though their journey had quieted, their story continues on the winds and tides of the sea.
Epilogue 2
Two years after the rise of Queen Ecithys
Water dripped from stalactites as the Princess of Landon walked into an underwater cave, hidden from everyone she didn’t allow to see.
“I told you it wouldn’t work,” a deep, sultry voice sounded from within.
Turning a corner, Princess Snow came face to face withher.
The walls within the cave hummed with dark magic. The air thick with the scent of salt and rotten plants. Not a single drop of blood that wouldn’t kill her.Shemade sure of that long ago.
Flickering blue flames lit the interior, casting eerie shadows as the sea witch, Ursula, lounged on a throne of coral and bones, her tentacles shifting lazily. “If they find out the truth, you understand you will be hunted?”
“They’d have to get in line.”
Snow wore a hooded cloak to obscure her identity as she approached with hesitant steps, her heartbeat echoing in her chest.
She didn’t fear the witch, but she remained cautious, as anyone with a lick of intelligence would.
“I know you don’t give a shit,” Snow said in a low voice. “But my mother’s wrath and jealousy are tearing apart the realms even when I’m not there.”
“You’re right,” she crooned. “I don’t give a shit.”
Snow inhaled deeply in frustration, keeping her vicious mouth silent. Being raised by her mother taught her to eviscerate people verbally, but that meant nothing when she was desperate. Prince Maximus was her only hope for freedom, and now, with that path closed, she could feel the noose tightening.
Ursula laughed as she took in the struggle on Snow’s face. “What will you do now, pretty little vampire?”
Snow closed her eyes, bracing herself as she did the one thing that made her insides scream, and dropped to her knees. “Please,”
“Good start,” Ursula interrupted, poking at the last button before Snow exploded.
“Could you make me less beautiful?”
Ursula’s smile slackened. She hadn’t expected that kind of request. Many others came to her for beauty, love, anything they desired.
“It will make me less of a target for my mother. I couldn’t care less about how I look.”
