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The toothless man lunged forward, snatched the pouch, and opened it to see the contents. His partner looked on and laughed.

“Look, Badger. We’ve got ourselves a good night,” the toothless man rejoiced. He held up the pouch to Caspian and bowed his head. “Nice doin’ business with yeh.”

Caspian forced a tight grin and waited for the men to leave the warehouse before he hurried down the stairs. Locking up the doors, he set a ward to ensure no one could enter and used his magic to move the chest to his office.

He closed the office door. Locked it up tight.

And set the chest in a small alcove at the back of the room.

He didn’t need confirmation of who suffered such a horrendous end, but he needed to see if there was any message attached to the body. Bracing himself against the traumatic sight, he opened the chest and, ignoring the familiarity, unfolded the mermaid’s corpse.

There, in typical Dima fashion, a cruel message. A small, delicate piece of coral tied around the mermaid’s neck with a strand of seaweed. The hum of power radiated off the piece, taunting him to unravel the spell and reveal the message.

He cut through the seaweed, pocketed the coral and gently settled the mauled body back into the chest. He didn’t bother closing the lid, unwilling to contort the body as the sailors had. Instead, he wove a thick illusion spell over the alcove, hiding the chest behind the vision of a wall and hastened to leave.

By the time he reached the open field between the village and his cliffside home, the wind hit in gusts and whistled with ominous promise. The waves had grown, filling the air with mist. Lanterns blew out along the battlements of the looming castle, to be replaced by electric lanterns imperious to the bluster. Shouts from guards echoed down the hillside, carried on the wind.

Figures moved about in his house, the glow of interior lights casting silhouettes against his curtains. The faint scent of spices mixed with the salty air, but his stomach revolted at the thought of food. A pat on his hip pocket reminded him of the devastation he would be forced to deliver. As soon as he unraveled the message.

Keeping his head down, he slipped into the house and went straight into the bedroom, ignoring Brack’s cheerful greeting. He went to the trap door and descended into the tunnel beneath his home, casting a sealing spell around the door to ensure is privacy. He barely noticed the crash of the waves that echoed violently through the stony passage. Water crested the lip of the tunnel and seawater trickled inland, his boots splashing through shallow rivulets. Removing the coral from his pocket as he reached the end of the passage, he conjured up a rope of seawater. Wrapping the liquid about his arm like a snake until he had enough to form a sphere in the palm of his hand, Caspian dropped the coral into the orb.

Ribbons of smoky essence flowed from the enchanted coral, twining around the watery sphere. The coral disintegrated, the acid of Dima’s spell eating away at the precious object.

The ribbons unfurled, revealing a message in metallic gold script.

Four days, princess. The Forgotten Prince is mine.

A ravenous hiss erupted from the sphere. The ribbons exploded within the reinforced watery walls, oozing red streaks into the crystalline blue.

Caspian countered the terror spell embedded in the message and released the sphere, bloody water pouring through his fingers to splash over his boots. The tick of what was left of the coral bounced over the floor. He didn’t bother with it. He couldn’t be bothered with it.

Right now, he needed to return to his house.

He needed to figure out how to hurt Aria the least with his grim news.

* * *

“Sir?”

Brack was waiting for him in the bedroom when he returned to the house. Caspian glanced at the closed door behind his man. The nervous furrow of his brow and the unconscious tug at the corner of his shirt gave away the man’s uncertainty.

Slowly, Caspian closed the trap door and toed the area rug over it, his focus never leaving his right-hand man. “What is it, Brack?”

“Your entrance. Miss Aria was speaking to you and, well, it was as if you didn’t hear her,” Brack said quietly. “Everything fares well tonight?”

Caspian nodded. “Meddlesome sailors. All is well. You can assure my guest she is at no fault for my poor behavior.” He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over a single chair in the room, then started unbuttoning his shirt, pausing to cast Brack a stern look. “I’ll be right out.”

Once the man left, Caspian tugged his shirt over his head, grimacing at the faint scent of death that lingered on the threads. He shed his trousers and changed into a casual pair of deerskin pants and a string-neck tunic. It would be a battle to keep the events from the dock out of his expression completely. A strange, distant grief touched his soul. There would be no easy way to deliver the news.

Aria and Brack stood by the dining table, set with a meal fit for a king. Soup in a ceramic pot, roasted vegetables and potatoes, a seasoned hump of meat. Three places were set, and three glasses of wine filled.

Aria rounded the table and greeted him with a shy smile, her fingers tangled at her waist. Such a beautiful sight, with her red hair tied back in a long tail, strands brushing her creamy skin and brightening her green eyes. The light hue that colored her cheeks matched the pink of her lips. He’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t tempted to taste those lips, even if only for one time. Magnetic, beneath the water as she was above.

He wondered how she saw him.

“I won’t take credit for the masterpieces on the table. I think I got in Brack’s way more than I helped, but I tried my best to give you something for your generous hospitality. I know…” Her smile faded and the soulful look she pinned on him niggled at his heart. “I know I’m not deserving of your kindness, but I appreciate it. And I…I miss our friendship. I do.”

Caspian watched her, judging her words against the glow of unabashed truth and vulnerability in her eyes. If there was a single way to tell she lied, it had always been through her eyes.