Despite hershock at what she witnessed, and the events prior to it, she flung her arms around Ahtin’s neck and kissed him. He returned her affection with gusto, pulling away only when an inquiring whistle sounded next to them.
Edonin swam to them, gripping the rock ledge with one hand, holding out Brida’s flute with the other. “This fell in the water.”
Brida reached for it, then drew back, rememberingOspodine’s words. “I think it belongs more to the merfolk than to me.”
Edonin’s effort to smile failed. She placed the flute on the ground. “You are mer in your way, and you’ve earned the right to keep it. Play it should you ever need us. Play to remember us.”
Brida wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry you lost your sons.” She was glad Ospodine was no longer a threat, but her heart ached for the ap’sgrief at losing her children.
Edonin emitted a trio of despondent clicks. “Ahtin would say Seahorse’s death was just. I say it was merciful. He was born empty and sought to fill that space. Maybe now he’s at peace, and I have avenged his brother’s death.”
She exchanged a series of rapid fire whistles with Ahtin before turning back to Brida. “My son saved you. The debt is paid.” She raised ahand. “Farewell, Brida.”
The ap swam away without looking back. Brida wondered if she’d ever return to the waters surrounding Madigan’s Teeth.
A caress on her leg made her look down to find Ahtin next to her, balanced on his forearms. His tail arched his back, and the shallow cut from Ospodine’s sacrificial dagger no longer bled, though it left a red mark on the merman’s ivory skin. He noddedto where Endel now lay sprawled along the path. “Your friend?”
Brida gasped and raced to where the guard lay, no longer frozen in place by a siren’s spell but sleeping the sleep of the innocent, completely unaware of what had just played out before him. Brida tucked his arms against his body and watched to make sure he breathed steadily. She’d have to invent a plausible story to explain why shewas soaking wet, how her skirts ended up shredded, why Syr Ospodine was nowhere to be found, and why Endel was napping outside in the middle of the night. It shouldn’t be too hard if she put some effort into it. She thanked the gods it was Endel who accompanied her here and not the far more astute Lord Frantisek.
She returned to find Ahtin floating in the water, waiting for her. Shrapnel fromcrushed mussel shells crunched beneath her feet, and she swept some aside to clear a spot for herself on the rock ledge level with the water. Seawater sluiced under and over her, cold enough to make her bones crack.
Ahtin curved an arm on either side of her legs and rested his chin on her knee. “I feared you had spurned me, Brida.”
She wove his slippery hair through her fingers in a long caressand bent to steal another kiss from him. “No,” she said when they parted. “I was sick. And then I was afraid. Ospodine knew about you. I prayed you and your family had already begun your journey south.”
He nuzzled his cheek into her skirts, a frown drawing down the corners of his mouth. “We were leaving when Edonin heard your flute. She came back, and I followed. The rest continued south.”
“And now she’s gone to join them.”
“Yes.”
“And you will too.” It was the way of the merfolk, and who was she to change it? Still, her soul ached at the idea of this inevitable parting.
Ahtin captured her hand to kiss each of her fingers, her thumb, then her knuckles and the inside of her wrist. “I can stay.” He pressed her hand to his cheek. “I want to stay.”
Brida sniffled and blinked backthe tears threatening to spill down her face. “I want you to stay too, but sooner or later someone will discover you, and I don’t want that to happen.” She traced the elegant line of his nose down to the fine curvature of his lips. “Your ap needs you. All of your family needs each other. The children your women will bear are going to need all the protection they can get.” She stroked the high planesof his cheekbones. “I will miss this face.” Her thumb pressed his lower lip. “This mouth.” He covered her hand with his where it flattened against his chest. “This heart.”
“I will return when the waters are warm again, beautiful Brida,” he promised. “Come to the shore then. I will be waiting.”
He pressed her hand even harder to his chest before folding her fingers over her palm. “My heart,”he said softly. “Keep it safe.”
No longer caring that tears streamed down her face and dripped off her chin, Brida repeated his gesture, pressing his hand to her chest just above the edge of her bodice before curling his webbed fingers closed. “My heart,” she whispered. “Take it with you.”
They kissed a final time before Ahtin launched himself into the surf and dove out of sight. Brida watchedthe fading wake of his departure, peering into the darkness for a final glimpse of him until her eyes ached. The Gray held its secrets close and showed her nothing more.
