Before I reached for his arm to try to pry the cuff from his wrist, he surprised me. Both with a question and the first real emotion I’d detected from him.“Is my understanding correct? You have been with the Chromis?”
I nodded, glad that he seemed to believe me. “Yes. Syleen has accepted me as part of the tribe.”
“Syleen.”He seemed to turn the name over in his mind.“I remember her, though I have not thought her name for as long as I can recall.”
I almost laughed.“She’d be hard to forget.”
“There was another whose name I cannot remember. He was thin and scarred over his body and face. Have you seen him?”
I had no doubt who he was referencing. Even before I confirmed the name, I knew why Ventait had asked. Our suspicions had been correct.“Yes. Zef. I’ve met him.”
He glowered, his countenance darkening.“Yes. Zef. That is true. I remember. He is the one who sold us to the vampires. At least the ones all those centuries ago. The mers here tell of the merman with scars on his face and body, a tale passed down from each generation of captives. As a child, when I first was brought here, I did not make the connection to the one who had been so kind to me. Through the years, having heard the story of our fate so many times, I came to believe he is the monster of which the others speak.”
Forty-One
FINN DE MORISCO
The jellyfishswirled in their endless spiraling dance. Cynthia tapped on the glass as she sat on the edge of her bed, her long nail moving without sound—as was every other action I observed from the other side of the glass. I mimicked her motion, my finger drumming on the smooth surface beside my face. It was a halfhearted attempt. Even if I pounded with both my fists, she wouldn’t hear. In the past couple of weeks, she’d stopped even turning toward me when I came on my frequent visits. Maybe she could still sense someone there, or maybe not.
My attention was pulled over my shoulder when the sconces flared.
She knew I was there. Or at least that someone was there. Good. Caitlin didn’t think Cynthia was really behind the power surges. She was wrong. I was certain Cynthia’s powers were growing like mine. Or at least changing. It felt different than the magic I was learning with Schwint.
It’s almost time, sis. Maybe even today. Brett’s here. We’re gonna get you outta here. It took all my willpower not to whisper to her. Even more for my own sake than for hers. I needed to hear the words, even if they were coming from my own voice. Couldn’t risk it, though, not with vampire hearing. There might be some vampire right around the corner or up a nearby flight of stairs. I didn’t even bother with trying to speak to her mentally through the glass. Enough miracles had occurred in the past hour. If more were to happen, I wasn’t going to waste one for the sheer sake of talking to her. She’d been lost in her solitary cell for nearly two months. A few more hours or days weren’t going to make any difference.
Staring at her, I realized I’d given up at some point. I hadn’t even realized it. I’d begun to assume I’d never hear her voice again, never see her free. Never see any of us free again. After all the time in the Vampire Cathedral, all the waiting, strengthening my power and skill, trying to formulate a plan that never seemed to come together, I’d begun to believe nothing could be done. I would still try to scheme and wait for an opportunity, but in the back of my mind, I’d seen us waiting forever, until we had no more time.
Now all that had changed. I still had no guarantee, but there would be no more waiting. We might not live through it, but the opportunity had arrived. And in the most unlikely and unexpected forms—Brett and Sonia. Even as I tried to comprehend it, my brain rejected the possibility. I was never supposed to see Brett again, let alone battle beside him against the Royals, and with the vampire queen on our side. Regardless of the outcome, this interminable life I’d begun to accept stretching out indefinitely was coming to an end. Whether we made it back home or made it to the grave, we were going to be free.
As I watched, Cynthia stretched and stood up from the bed, giving the pedestal fish globe a final tap. She smoothed out her long white gown, twisted her mass of russet hair behind her head, letting it fall down her back, then stepped deliberately toward me. She paused less than a foot away. Her eyes never searched the space between us or narrowed like she was trying to zone in on me, nor did she focus on me at all. She simply stood there, stoic.
With a move so subtle I might have missed it, she lifted her chin. The gesture was more Caitlin than Cynthia. Almost arrogant. At the motion, the sconces flared. I turned toward them once more. Fire rose two feet high, leaving scorch marks on the smooth flushed marble. As I stared, the fire died back down to its normal soft flicker.
By the time I looked back at Cynthia, she was walking toward the far doorway. Her back was straight and her shoulders rigid. She stepped into the restroom and closed the door behind her.
Unable to suppress a smile, I continued to gaze at the closed door. She knew. Somehow she knew. And she was ready. And pissed.
Schwint’s backwas to me as I entered our chamber. He was staring out the window, his blue-veined dragonfly wings folded down his shirtless spine.
“I thought you’d be with Gwala.”
“He wasn’t there. I only saw Veronica and a couple of other vamps in the throne room. I left before she saw me. The last thing I need this morning is some vampire bitch staring at my limp like she’s picturing a huge turkey leg.” He didn’t turn around, and I couldn’t read his expression from his tone.
I took a few steps toward him, then paused by the bed.
He glanced over his shoulder at me and attempted a smile. “What? No laugh? I thought that was pretty funny.”
“Probably would be funnier if it weren’t so true.”
“Yeah. It’s a good thing Brett and the werewolf showed up when they did. I’m pretty sure much longer and she was going to try to chow down, Gwala sanctioned or not.”
He waited for a moment, then continued when I didn’t respond. “Everything go okay? You and Brett make it to the mers?”
I nodded. “Yeah. No problems.”
“Did he say how the mers responded to him?”
I sat down on the edge of the bed, then pulled myself backward so my feet were hanging without touching the floor. I spread my arms wide behind me as I supported my weight. Already the room was muggy with humidity. “I didn’t wait to find out. He’s still there, I suppose. I left him before he went into the pool.”
