His face reddened, looking both guilty and embarrassed.
Maybe my understanding of him wasn’t as special as I’d thought, as Ventait seemed as aware of him.“There is nothing to feel guilt over. You are a captive just as I, and you have never harmed my people.”
Finn met Ventait’s gaze before looking away, speaking aloud, his voice breaking the silence of the small room. “I’m glad that will remain true.”
The absence of warmth in the merman’s words gave his statement greater validity.“Do not anguish over things not done. In truth you are doing more for the mers than I. There is no shame upon you.”The bitterness that crept in left no doubt of his belief that he was the one who was shamed.
I started to argue, to try to convince him he could do nothing, but then realized that would only make it worse. I let him be.
Finn stepped fully into the room, not bothering to slide the stone closed behind him. “The Royals have entered the dining chamber. All the others left the fortress over an hour ago, and Gwala sent Schwint and I to get a mer.”
“So it’s time.”
His eyes met mine, and he smiled. “Yeah. It’s time.”
Before I could respond, whether because he sensed the two of us needed a moment or because of his own frustration that he couldn’t help, Ventait sank below the surface and headed back to join the others. If he’d been Therin or Syleen, maybe even Lelas, he would have given some blessing from Moheetla. He didn’t, only swam back to his kin. Maybe he didn’t remember the religion of his people. More than likely, his chains had driven the deity from his heart.
Finn watched him exit the space, his eyes traveling over Ventait’s disappearing green tail before turning back to me. “It makes sense that you’re part mer, looking back at all the clues, but I still can’t believe they’re actually real. After all this time. And not only real, but the reason for all this.”
For a second, a rush of indignation welled up in me, but I pushed it away. Finn’s family had suffered greatly because of the Royals’ need for mer blood. They had no ties to them as I did.
“You don’t have to do this, Finn. We can go get Cynthia free, and you run. By the time they find out, you might have a chance to make it out of the jungle, especially if you and your sisters can use magic somehow. Then you can try to—”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
The revulsion at the thought was evident in his voice, and my heart warmed at his reaction. “You’ve been through enough because of me.”
He didn’t respond for several seconds, a cascade of emotions flickering over his face.
“I can’t say I understand it all, and I definitely can’t claim that I’d take the high road and do it all again. If we could go back to that night in the alley and change it—make it where you were safe or the vampire dead, and we’d gone our separate ways… If that were an option, I’d probably choose it. However, there’s a reason behind all of this. There has to be. Too many impossible things have lined up. And even if there isn’t, even if there is no guarantee that we will free the mers or any of us make it out if here, it is what it is. The paths we chose brought both of us here, and I’m not walking away.”
His fierce expression was so unlike the Finn I remembered, but the passion behind his statement was nothing less than what I knew him to be. Pushing off the edge of the curved marble, I lifted myself out of the water and rose to a standing position. I started to take a step toward him but paused at his expression.
Finn managed to close his gaping jaw, then motioned behind me.
I followed his gesture, expecting to find the vampire king had somehow emerged from the wall itself. Instead, my gaze fell on the stolen cargo shorts, crumpled in a heap where I’d tossed them when Ventait and I had reached the surface. I’d completely forgotten.
I stepped over and slipped into them. Somehow, I felt more exposed with them on than I had before.
“Sorry. I’ve gotten used to being without clothes.”
Finn’s face was still flushed, but he forced himself to meet my gaze, a sardonic smile on his lips. “No wonder you were so hard to get over.”
Ashamed, I pushed down my twinge of jealousy at his words. I had no right to resent that he’d moved on. It had been my idea.
Maybe it had been my nudity, the recollection of our relationship, or, more probably, the fact that we were facing a battle, but Finn closed the distance between us and put his arms around me.
I stood stiffly, surprised at the gesture, and then wrapped my arms around him. A deep sigh escaped me before I could censor myself.
We remained in our embrace longer than we should have, considering a score of vampires were expecting our arrival. Finally, Finn pulled away, leaning back to meet my eyes once more. “I don’t know what the next hour holds, and to be honest, I don’t think I’m going to survive it.”
“Finn, don’t—”
He cut me off. “You’re the only one I’ve said that to, and I’m not trying to be dramatic. I’ve said my good-byes to Schwint, though he didn’t know that’s what I was trying to do. So I’m going to say them to you as well.”
I attempted to speak once more, but he didn’t give me the chance.
“I want you to know that I love you. I’ve never had any greater pain than after you left, and for a while, my love turned to hate. On the other side of that, the fact remains that I love you and you’ve changed my life. And in some strange way, you made it possible for me to truly fall in love with Schwint and to begin to build a life with him. Somehow, it makes sense that you’d be by my side as this plays out.”
