The sun dips below the horizon. The cave goes dark as the wolf rips out of my skin, a massive beast of tangled bone and black fur.
The man’s scream is cut off as his neck snaps in my jaws.
I take off across the sands, cutting south for the capital of Summer. I don’t care what they call me. I don’t care if they’re right. Iamthe Prince of Blood. Every waking minute since I left Florendel has been spent searching this godforsaken realm for my mate. Now, I finally know where to find her.
If I have to tear the mountains from the earth, the clouds from the sky, the water from the sea, I will do it. Nothing will stop me from finding Rosalina.
CHAPTER 5
Rosalina
T. Tom Sawyer fromThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer. U. Ursula Brangwen fromWomen in Love. V. Vin fromMistborn. W. Wendy Darling fromPeter Pan. X …
Fucking X! I always get stuck at X. There’s got to be some literary character I’ve read who starts with X. Surely, one of Tolkien’s orcs. Or wasn’t there a prince inGame of Thrones—
“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” the helmed man growls and grabs my shoulders, giving me a small shake. “Are you even listening?”
I sigh and drag my gaze up to Kairyn’s black helm. There’s a shining silver streak down the front, repaired by Spring steel from when it had cracked in the storm by Sylvanita Lake. It doesn’t keep the helm from looking any less cruel though. It’s like peering into a void, all light disappearing beneath the carved feathered brow.
“You messed me up,” I say dully. “Now, I have to start over.”
A. Aragorn fromThe Lord of the Rings. B. Bridget Jones from—
Kairyn grabs my chin, the leather of his gloves warm against my cool skin.
It’s hard to feel warm six hundred feet under the sea.
“How many times must we do this, Rosalina?” Kairyn sighs. The usual timbre of his voice takes on an exhausted tone. “Tell me what I want to know, and we can stop these little visits.”
“Why would I want to stop them?” I ask, unable to bring any emotion to my voice. “After all, you’re such good company compared to the fish.”
I tilt my head toward the walls of my prison. Three of them are made of glass. No Spring steel bars needed here. Even ifthe air wasn’t infused with the Nightingale’s magic-sapping concoction, there’s nowhere to escape to. Just miles of ocean on every side.
It’s been three months since I was captured and brought aboard Kairyn’s airship. I’d recognized the turquoise ocean from my brief visit to Summer a year ago and had known we were somewhere off the coast of Hadria. They transferred me from the airship to a massive, floating barge. The contrast between its harsh, dark metal and the brilliant sky and ocean had been stark.
That was the last time I felt the sun. They’d taken me down, down, down into the depths of the prison barge. I’ve lived every day since then in this cell with one metal door and three glass walls, wearing the same pair of tattered white trousers and shirt they gave me when I arrived. There’s a thin mattress and a contraption to use as a toilet, and the fish outside and that’s it.
I turn away from Kairyn and stand by one of the glass walls, staring out at the blue sea. I was lying, of course. The fish are far better company than him. We’re so far down that only the faintest glimmer of daylight can penetrate, but it’s enough that I’ve been able to track my days here by scratching a little line on the floor with my nail. If I wasn’t a prisoner, I might even find the view spectacular.
The deep blue sea spans out all around. Fish of every hue swim back and forth in front of my three walls. I’m never alone; they seem to swarm here, as if wanting to keep me company. I don’t even mind the strange ones: the ones with scales black as oil and eyes that glow like gemstones. I wonder if the Below has an ocean, too.
Kairyn comes up beside me. He visits me nearly every day. I call them visits because the word “interrogation” sets my heart racing.
“It doesn’t have to be this way, Rosalina,” he says softly. My name in his mouth makes me want to gag. I can still feel his vines wrapping around my body, squeezing the breath out of me. “I know how lonely it must be here. No freedom. No magic.” He gives a long exhale. “No mate bonds.”
A shudder trembles through me. Every day, I fight so hard to keep his poisonous words from affecting me. Whether it’s with stupid word games or imagining I’m somewhere—anywhere—other than here, I can do it. I can keep his darkness from seeping into me.
But every day, it gets harder and harder. As if the sea is swallowing me whole.
I sink to my knees.
Kairyn drops down beside me. “It’s all right, Rosalina. I’m here. You’re not alone.” Carefully, he moves a strand of matted dark hair away from my eyes. “This can all be over, little Dandelion. Just tell me what I need to know—”
It gets harder. But I won’t stop fighting for them. For myself.
With a roar, I throw my body against Kairyn’s, sending him backward. “Go to hell, you monster!”
I clamber over him. He’s so much bigger than me and stronger, and he could call an entire unit of guards in at any second. I won’t win my freedom by doing this, but that doesn’t matter. I just want him to feel the pain he’s caused me, caused my mates, just for a second. Just to remind him he’s not dealing with a dandelion.
