To my surprise, he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I’m aware.” I couldn’t quite find it in me to sound more caustic. “The sunsets at Dewspell are beautiful like this.”
“Ah, but this is different. This one goes up instead of down.”
I flared my nostrils, resisting a laugh. His arms tightened around me. “It’s not a competition.”
Unwittingly, my own words had brought back the dream I’d had of the Bride. Therewasa competition. I was competing against the treasure Jax desired.
But what had she meant? Why could Jax only have me or the treasure, and never both?
A vague memory from my student days at Dewspell began to tickle the back of my mind—then crashed over me like an ice-cold wave.
“I know how the Bride died,” I said suddenly.
I felt Jax’s body go rigid. “What? How?”
“I read about the Queen of the Sea once,” I said, “when I was studying legends of cursed objects.”
Jax hummed. “I thought we were past that whole ‘it’s only a legend’ thing.”
“Listen,” I snapped, shaking my head as if to clear it. His arms loosened around me, and I found myself stepping out of them. “The text was one of the restricted books—restricted because they came from the First Library, the one whose knowledge was the foundation for Dewspell’s libraries. It was an old labyrinth of a place, guarded by a monster, and not all of the information could be relied upon. It was said some of the texts had come from the world of monsters itself.”
“Are you sure you want to waste this beautiful sunrise discussing academia?” Jax asked, lifting a brow. “Not one of my favorite subjects, if you must know, since women like my mother could never afford the chance to study.”
That admission nearly toppled the forming thoughts from my mind—but I couldn’t let him change the subject. This was important.
“The Queen of the Sea is not a natural enchanted object. Some accounts say it was made cursed—even before the would’ve Bride found it. Others say it was forged in the world of monsters and brought to our realm for safekeeping. But it was never meant to be used here.”
“So, what then? The Bride died because someone tried to use it?”
“The Bride died so someonecoulduse it.“ I found myself stepping back from Jax, almost into the ship’s rail. “The Queen of the Sea cannot be mastered except by sacrificing the heart of a lover.”
Jax stared at me, as if he did not follow. But he did. Iknewhe did.
“Are you saying all this is because the Bride is a woman scorned?” There was laughter in Jax’s eyes, and skepticism in the line of his mouth.
“No, Jax. I’m saying heactually took her heart.You’ll never master the Queen of the Sea unless you cut out my heart.”
Jax stared at me, his eyes widening.
And then burst out laughing.
“Dear Sofie, if you could see your face! Of course I’d never do such a thing. You’re an accomplished sorceress of Dewspell, as you so often remind me. You’ll break the curse, just like you’ll break the Bride’s curse.”
“I can’t break the Bride’s curse,” I rejoined, an annoying, soft tremble touching my lower lip. “Not without your help.”
“You found a solution?” Jax’s dark eyes went from laughter to genuine joy. He pulled me into a fierce hug, squeezing me tightly. “Sofie, that’s wonderful!Youare a wonder! I knew you could do it. Mind, you waited until the last possible moment. Afewdoubts were starting to creep in.”
I wrenched out of his grasp, leaving him with a shadow of hurt in his eyes—as well as confusion on his brow.
“You don’t understand. There’s only one solution,” I said.
“What, Sofie? What is it?”
“You have to stop seeking the treasure and choose me instead.”
For several heartbeats, Jax just stared at me, his expression morphing from humor to horror, then something even worse: an unreadable, guarded blankness.
