“If you can estimate the size of your dick, you can estimate how long we have before we drop dead.”
I use my free hand to ruffle my hair. Concentrate on the surrounding breeze, and the distant sound of waves, and the rare glimpses of coral reefs through the crystalline waters of the Sol. Coral reefs and the fat, meaty tentacles of a kraken lashing a megalodon half its size. I inhale deeply, though I don’t feel the breath. It doesn’t ease the ache in my lungs. Gods, I don’t want to have this fucking conversation. The truth is,I don’t know. I don’t know how long I have left. There’s nothing to measure this against, especially without warlock records and journals in front of me. I shouldn’t have survived as long as I have. I shouldalreadybe dead. “I’m… running out,” I say quietly. “I don’t have access to as much magic as I have in the past, and the pain is worsening by the hour.”
She tucks a rogue tendril of hair behind her ear. “You have to stop, Arion. Please.”
I glance at our bleeding wrists as the ship takes a sharp turn east. Toward the Sal.Almost halfway.It’s not as reassuring as I hoped.
“I know. I know,” she says. “You’re spending it now because you have to, but after this… no more.”
I chuckle at that, though none of this is funny. I’m dying. She’s dying. We have no way of knowingwhen, only that it’s barreling toward us as we’re barreling toward a far worse situation. “You want me to stop using my magic now?”
“Yes,” she says firmly.
“Before we reach an evil sorcerer’s cursed castle?”
She lifts her chin. “Yes.”
“That’s absurd.”
“More absurd than you draining us andkillingus only days before we can obtain the heart?”
I blink at her. Realize the truth of her words, that we’re close. We’re close, and we only need to survive. Amaya has storm magic. Vesper is a siren. Gavriall is… here. And that has to be enough.Will it be enough?
“Fine,” I concede with a growl. “You win.”
Her lips twitch, and she even manages a soft laugh. Her stomach must have settled, then. I exhale a shallow breath of relief.
I lower my voice, barely imperceptible over the whistle of wind. “Do you think we’re going to find it?”
She stares down at the sun disappearing beneath the blurred edge of crystal waters. “I hope so.”
“You’re not confident.” A statement, not a question. I’m not confident either.
I don’t know what the fuck to believe anymore.
Zephyra has irrevocably turned my world on its axis and spun it the wrong way round. Here I am, gently cradling the arm of a mermaid I would’ve given anything to break weeks ago. Here I am, staring at the freckles on her nose, tracing the curve of her lips, trying to imprint her in my brain forever. Even if our forever can’t last. Won’t last.
“Honestly,” she whispers, “it’s really fucking hard to think about any of this now. Before… I thought we were on some stupid adventure. Pointless, and impossible, but not horrifying. Not this life-threatening. I thought a warlock had saved me from the brink ofdeath, and all I had to do was put up with him for a few weeks or months until he realized he was searching for something that hasn’t existed in centuries.”
“And now?” I ask, healing her cuts until we reach the Sal.
“Now ithasto be real. If it’s not…” She curses again, harsher than last time. “We’re fucked, and I don’t want to die like this. So I hope it’s real. If the sorcerer is involved, there’s something here. Right in front of our faces. Something we’re missing.”
“You think he’s involved?”
“I didn’t want to say it to everyone else, but… he’s part of this. He has to be.” She shakes her head, scooting away from the edge of the plank, nearly landing in my lap. “It can’t be a coincidence that he erected his castle on the site of ancient ruins. His castle… it never felt like it was fully under his command. When he would leave to barter more deals, to steal more soul magic, the castle enchantments would continue. As if they were all sentient. His guards would remain dormant, but everything else wasalive.
“Even if it’s just to suck Abysses dry of its magic, he has to be there for a reason. I think he chose this castle. I think the coincidences are too perfect for any of this to be an accident.” She glances at me abruptly. Sharply. “What are the odds we found each other, Arion? A warlock on the brink of death. A mermaid on the edge of execution. I knowexactlywhere you need to go. No one else could have navigated this castle but me.”
I try my best to follow along. “So you think it’s a trap?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She crosses her arms and rests her chin between us. Half on her hand and half on my shoulder. “Do you believe in destiny, Arion?”
Destiny.
A week ago, I’d have saidabsolutely. I was destined for greatness, for power. I was destined to save the fucking world. But now—
“It’s hard to believe in destiny when you’re dying.”
