Her lips remain pressed tight.
Still, it isn’t hard to guess. “Melusine. But why? What could she possibly offer you?”
“Just come with me,” she begs. “Come with me willingly and I won’t have to hurt you.”
I take in her trembling limbs, her agonized expression. “I’m more worried about hurting you.”
“It will hurt me more if you don’t come with me. It’s the only way I can save you.”
I furrow my brow. “What did you bargain away?”
“My ability to lie. And my name.”
My eyes go wide. “What did you get in return?”
“Love.” With that, she runs at me with her coral blade.
I hardly have time to think. I spin to the side, feeling something sharp graze my ribs. She surges forward again, swinging her blade wildly. My dagger remains in hand, but I can’t bring myself to use it against her. Instead, I dart and dodge, crying out when the coral meets its mark again and again. Her attack is relentless, but her skill is weak. The best she can do is cut my flesh. She has no idea how to disarm me, much less land a killing blow. But even without skill, she could get lucky. If I don’t defend myself, it’s only a matter of time before my strength fades, before my ability to dodge becomes compromised.
I have to fight her.
I block the next blow with my dagger, knocking her hand to the side. She comes at me again. Again. I stumble back, dodge left, swipe at her arm. She shouts as my blade makes a cut, but she isn’t deterred. Perhaps it’s the glamour fueling her, but she’s tireless, unconcerned with every cut I land on her. I, on the other hand, feel my arms growing weaker, my side a searing ache where her blade had grazed.
This must end.
Amelie rushes at me again. I dodge, sending her reeling forward. Before she can recover her momentum, I step behind her. Raising my elbow, I meet the back of her head with a sharp jab.
Her body goes limp and she slides to the floor. I cry out as I help catch her fall, wincing as I strain the side of my body that was cut. Without bothering to check my own injuries, I hover over Amelie, testing her pulse, her breathing.
She’s alive.
I let out a sigh and close my eyes, pondering the best way to bring her back to the palace. There’s no way I can carry her up all those steps. Panic rises in my chest.
“Amelie.”
I turn my head and find Cobalt emerging from the black cave, eyes locked on my sister. “Thank the Great Mother you’re here,” I say, tears pouring down my cheeks. “Help me carry her. Please.”
His eyes slide to mine. “I’m so sorry Evelyn.”
I’m taken aback, not sure what he’s apologizing for. Does he not realize Amelie is alive?
Then he leaps forward and grabs me.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Iwake gasping for breath, coughing water onto a small, sodden cot. My throat feels raw, and all I can taste is salt. I remember Cobalt charging me, the clasp of his hands around me. Then all I saw was water, felt it pouring into my throat and lungs. I cough again and drag my aching body to sit. All around me are coral bars, sharp and pink, woven together at the top to create a cage.
My hands fly to my waist, my thigh, searching for my dagger and finding it nowhere.
“I’m sorry I had to do this, Evelyn,” Cobalt says from the other side of the bars. I know it’s him even though he hardly looks like the Cobalt I’ve known. His skin is covered in shimmering blue scales, making his body look lithe and sinuous. A crown of red coral sits over his brow while delicate webs stretch between each finger and toe. Gone are his boyish good looks, replaced with the terrifying beauty of the sea.
This must be his nix form.
The realization startles me. When the fae talked about shifting their physical forms from seelie to unseelie, I thought it could be nothing more than a mental shift, adapting the behavior of lesser creatures. The greatest physical change I imagined was subtle, like a chameleon altering its color. At most, I thought perhaps the fae underwent animalistic metamorphoses over time, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. But this…this is something else. He actuallychanged. Where the bloody iron is my logic for that?
I press my lips tight and fix Cobalt with a glare. Behind him and all around my cage is a cave of coral, its walls tightly knitted. I hear rolling waves rumble overhead, feel the salt spray through minuscule fissures within the walls.
With a jolt, I recall Amelie, lying unconscious after I knocked her out. “Where’s my sister?”
