I tore off my soaked clothes and let the change take me. My bones realigned, my perspective shrank, and the world became a storm of scent and sound. In a heartbeat, I was a small, golden cat, a creature of claw, magic, and instinct.
The amulet, impossibly small for a man, was now a perfect fit. I ducked my head, and the chain settled around my neck like a collar, thrumming with ancient, aquatic power.
Then I turned to the dagger, and clamped my jaws around the hilt. I pulled, bracing my paws against the sand. With a softshhhck, it came free from the sand turned glass. The sea roared, a monstrous beast trying to claim me. But I was no longer prey. I was a predator armed with magic and a heart full of fire. With the blade in my teeth and a prayer on my breath, I plunged into the furious waves.
12
The rolling currentstried to make me lose the sword and loosen the amulet that gave me the ability to breathe. The storm raged in a maelstrom of depths so dark, I could see nothing beyond the glow of the sword, though I swam with all my might, the dagger weighing me down like an anchor. Skye’s chains kept him locked beneath the waves, or so he told me once, releasing only as the storm faded each morning. How hard would it be to find him?
Around my neck, the amulet hummed, not unlike Skye’s haunting, healing tune. The magic countered the ocean’s roar, giving me fresh air and the willpower to keep moving, even while my energy waned.
My legs burned with exhaustion; each kick was a rebellion against the dagger’s weight. The inky darkness swallowed everything: light, direction, hope. There was no sign of his glow, no flicker of green or blue in the crushing deep. Despair, colder than the water, seeped into my bones. How could I find him in this void? What had I been thinking?
I closed my eyes, letting the weight of the blade pull me deeper into the dark, part of me longing for the oblivion of a nap, the other half praying that finding the bottom would somehowshow me the way. The temptation to let the dark water claim me sang a seductive lullaby. But hope dug a thorn into my side. How could I give up now when I was so close?
Move.
The command came from somewhere primal, a soul-deep command that refused to be silenced. I forced myself to kick, jaw clamped like a vice on the dagger’s hilt. How many others had abandoned him? How many had turned away, leaving him to drift in the lifeless dark, alone beneath the rage of an unforgiving curse?
Not me.The resolve solidified in my chest.I won’t abandon him.
Even if Skye’s freedom carried him away from me and back to the depths and his own people, I would let him go. My soul could rest in the peace of that. My heart would break, yes, it would shatter into a thousand pieces, but I would cherish the memory of the handful of sun-drenched hours we had stolen together. Even if the warmth in his eyes cooled into mere gratitude, it would be enough. I would have kept my promise to the impossibly beautiful man I never dreamed I’d meet.
The man I loved.
The realization stole the breath from my lungs. I sucked in a sharp, startled gasp of water, half-choking myself despite the amulet’s magic. I scrambled, swimming to catch the heavy sword before it could spiral into the darkness.
I loved him.
The truth of it was as vast and undeniable as the sea around me. I loved the beautiful man who had walked out of the ocean and into the hollowed-out spaces inside my soul. The man who sang healing songs to soothe my fears and held me through the night, listening to stories of my chaotic life. Somewhere between a shared slice of cake and the sound of the waves, I had given him my heart without a second thought.
And now, I would fight for his.
As if my realization had been the key, a golden thread in my chest flared, burning away the exhaustion and the cold. It was no longer a faint pull but a brilliant, taut cord of light, a lifeline connecting my heart directly to his. My gaze snapped forward, following its urgent pull through the churning darkness.
I kicked harder, my entire being focused on that guiding light. The amulet hummed in harmony with the song in my soul, each breath resounding like a vow:closer, closer, closer.
A faint, familiar greenish glow emanated from the seabed below, a flicker of color in the endless night. I surged toward it, the outline clarifying into a ring of rune-carved rocks, crackling with magic. And in the center, curled in on himself, was Skye.
His natural glow sputtered like a drowning star. The rocks acted like a barrier, and a prison, keeping him curled within, unable to stretch his fins—bound with not only an iron collar and chain, but by glowing, aquatic runes that pulsed from the stones themselves, forming a cage of light. He lay still and silent in the center, beautiful and utterly broken. The runes jolting him with electricity at any tiny movement he made.
A soundless cry of fury and determination built in my chest. The bond between us shone brighter than any curse as I swam toward him, filled with resolve and rage at the same time. I would tear his prison apart with my bare paws if I had to.
Skye’s head lifted. His eyes widened in sheer, terrified disbelief. A frantic, soundless ‘No!’ shaped his lips, his hand rising in warning. The electric waves of magic zapped him until he flinched and writhed in pain.
I swung the heavy blade at the nearest chain, praying for the magic to break and free Skye. A violent shock of crimson energy erupted, slamming into me like a physical fist. The world whited out in a burst of agony. I dropped the sword as the force blastedme backward, through the water, tumbling end over end into a solid pillar of rock.
The amulet’s hum stuttered, and my vision blurred. The cursed blade plunged point-first into the seabed right at the center of the stone circle beneath Skye’s tailfin, sinking deep into the sand, its runes turning supernova.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. I blinked, and thought I might die right here as exhaustion narrowed my vision. Then a crack reverberated through the water, a vibration forming like an earthquake around us. The spot where the sword fell, vanished beneath a solar flare of light. Then a pop, and the blazing brightness eased, leaving spots over my vision and a perfect jewel, the size of my fist.
I gaped at the sight.
Skye did too, his gaze locked on the sparkling gem as if it were a ghost. A desperate, yearning hope flared in his eyes, burning away the centuries of despair. With a groan of effort that echoed in the water, he strained against his chains, stretching, reaching for the very thing that had stolen his freedom from him.
The runes on the encircling stones flared a warning, crimson light bleeding into the water. His fingertips brushed the gem, and finally he grabbed hold of it, ripping it from the center of the circle.
White light exploded outward from the point of contact. The runes shattered and vaporized into nothing. The iron chains and collar, dissolved, crumbling into flakes, and the glowing light of the symbols carved into rock flickered and vanished, leaving them powerless.
