Queen Verina turns to a small group of people at the edge of the platform. Her soldiers, I’m guessing. They march toward her on her command. Three of them drop their robes, just like the bald woman did, and I catch a glimpse of daggers strapped to their chests right before they dive into the sea.
My stomach knots, and my hand finds Nadya’s for comfort.
From our vantage point, the figures appear as dark shadows cutting through the crystal-clear water. The queen hasn’t explained their purpose, but I know they serve as obstacles to deter Dante from reaching his goal. But to what extent they plan to use those daggers, I can’t be sure.
My breath catches. The sea goes still. A drumbeat thunders once—deep and slow.
The queen nods to the other person who approached her. His ocean-blue, silk robe covers his tall form, and he has waves shaved into the sides of his head of sandy-brown hair. He faces the sea and lifts his hand—just slightly—and the waves begin to churn harder than before.
Shit.He’s fae.
And he’s controlling the water. As he glides his arms through the air in a fluid motion, the tide reacts by coiling, rising, and retreating. The Messanyan courtiers smile and inch forward. This is clearly entertainment for them.
My attention goes back to the sea. I can just make out the dark figures of the queen’s soldiers cutting through the water. They’re fast. I’ve seen Dante swim before, back when we rescued Dulcamaran refugees whose boat capsized. He’d been fast, but these full-blooded sirens might be faster. And they carry weapons.
I bite my cheek in frustration; it’s too hard to make out what’s happening below the surface. Though the water at the bay is clear enough to see the sandy bottom, the water farther out is less transparent. I watch the shifting shadows darting undersea, uncertain of what’s happening. I have to hold down my knee to keep my leg from bouncing in worry.
My attention is drawn back to the fae, who lifts his arm and flickshis fingers. The sea surges. The rumbling grows louder.
“What’s happening?” I whisper under my breath.
In my peripheral vision, Nadya shakes her head.
A tremor runs through the air as the first swell rises. It crashes down with a deafening roar, the white spray reaching even the edges of the terrace. The spectators gasp. Somewhere in the depths, Dante is still swimming, still fighting. And the push and pull of the water can’t be helping with his struggles.
Still, the silence stretches, and the ache in my chest tightens with every heartbeat.
Then… movement catches my eye, impossibly swift.
A siren warrior breaches the surface, a gash blooming crimson across her shoulder. “He evades us,” she spits, reporting to the queen. “Even wounded, he fights like a creature born of the tides.”
I clutch the balustrade harder, my pulse thudding painfully in my ears.
Wounded.
Gods, what did they do to him?
I glance to my left and catch the lowered brow of King Silas. His jaw is tight as he releases a long breath from his flaring nostrils. Queen Eleanor reaches for his hand, but he yanks it out of her reach.
On the platform, Queen Verina nods to someone on a boat near the bay, her fingers moving and shifting in a way that tells me she’s speaking with her hands. The soldier she communicates with nods in return, lifting one hand to signal back something to her. With fierce concentration, he proceeds to turn a large crank connected to some kind of metal contraption attached to the boat.
A resonantclickechoes deep within the water. The churning of my stomach tells me a cage door has been opened.
Something stirs. Movement ripples beneath the surface. At first, just a dark shadow. Then larger. Faster. And in the next instant, a shark’s fin breaches the surface.
My pulse hammers.
Fuck.
Dante.
They’ve released asharkinto the bay.
My hands clench into fists. My vision sharpens with panic. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. My mind races, the fear turning sharp, electric.
“Dante, there’s a shark!”
I don’t speak it aloud, but my mind screams it. I don’t know if he’ll hear me, if that magic even still exists within me, but I have to try.
