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At least my dinner came with some free entertainment. All I needed was the popcorn and an emergency exit.

"And I remain the current one," Ateleíotes replied. He rose slowly from his seat, not in anger but in icy finality. His gaze cut across the space between him and his son like a drawn blade. "Do not confuse succession with authority. Not in my presence."

As Zephyrion balked, the king grabbed me by the arm and hauled me away from my seat. His grip on my arm was sureto leave bruises. He dragged me back to the room he’d given me. Guards floated just outside, and they bowed as their king approached.

Shoving me through the seaweed curtain, Ateleíotes followed me in. He swam right up into my face until my back pressed against a wall. "You never should have embarrassed me by running away. I’ll make sure you and your father—your entirekingdom—pay for your blatant disrespect."

I clenched my fists and glared back at him, wishing I could give him a piece of my mind and a taste of my fury.

He let his gaze drop, eyeing my cleavage, then trailed a hand across my chest until I slapped his hand away.

He didn’t lunge or shout. He simply placed a hand at my throat and pressed—slowly, deliberately—until the jagged coral wall dug into my back.

I didn’t gasp or flinch. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

"Careful, princess," he murmured, as if offering a fatherly warning. "The only reason I’ve allowed this union to proceed is because I take great pleasure in imagining your father’s face when he learns what my son has done to his precious daughter."

His grip tightened by a breath. "And the many ways in which he’s done it."

A shiver rolled up my spine. I didn’t doubt for a second that Zephyrion was as despicable as he suggested. Like father, like son, after all. I fought the urge to recoil, to flinch, to claw his hand away. I stayed still and silent. I wouldn’t give him the reaction he wanted.

But my pulse betrayed me, hammering wildly against his palm.

He smiled. Not kind. Not cruel—just satisfied.

"Soon," he said, releasing me with the calm detachment of the tide receding after a storm, leaving only the wreckage behind, "your father will submit to my rule. And you?"

His eyes flicked over me like I was already conquered. "You will remember this moment and understand that submission was never a choice.”

I rubbed my throat as he left, promising myself that I would figure out a way to stop him. I was sure I wasn’t the first female he’d hurt and threatened, but I would make sure I was his last.

No matter the species, males like him always believed themselves to be invincible, like they were the gods’ gift to the world. While they were often formidable opponents because of their wealth or strength, they weren’t gods. Every mortal creature had at least one weakness. I would find his, of that I was sure.

The ocean didn’t submit.

And neither did I.

The king announcedmy wedding to the prince the very next day, and it would take place in two days. Which meant I only had two days to figure out a way out of this mess before I was legally bound to a sadistic monster. Before I lost my freedom completely.

The legality of our marriage might have been in question; what he would do to me was not.

The siren females assigned to care for my needs gossiped plenty. During their visits, I heard multiple stories of the prince’s disgusting behavior. I would have chalked it up to them making up stories to scare me, but I’d heard plenty of similar rumors a decade ago, before I’d left home. I was confident his depravity had only worsened since then.

I still didn’t understand why my father would promise me to someone that vile, but I was determined to ask him directly.

Oh, yes, after this ordeal was over, there would be no more hiding out in fear of my father’s wrath. I was done with that. I would face my father and tell him exactly what I thought of him and how little I would heed his command going forward.

Did that also mean I had accepted the fact that I would never return to the human world? That I would never see Marissa or Frankie again?

Or Nic?

I rubbed my chest, wishing I had the magic to heal my aching heart.

Oh, who was I kidding? Would I actually face my father on purpose? Probably not, but pretending like I would and imagining all the things I’d say to him felt fantastic. Motivating even.

I held onto those thoughts as the hours continued to pass, and I got no closer to figuring out a way to break the witch’s shell and regain my magic.

The night before the wedding would take place, full-blown panic mode had kicked in. The king had forbidden Zephyrion from touching me before the wedding, which was a small mercy, but I was terrified of what would happen once his father let him off his leash.