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The captain rubbed her hands up and down Mer’s arms. “Your lips are blue, and I’m assured that is not a natural state for Sirenidae. It seems you maybe have hypothermia. Best be off to bed before you catch your death.”

“What could a little cold do when I tamed a kraken?” Mer chattered, her teeth clacking together.

Velicu rolled her eyes. “There will be no living with you now. The next two weeks are going to be miserable, aren’t they?”

“Perhaps.”

A Sirenidae healer took her arm. “Let’s get you settled, my lady.”

Mer let herself be led away, but she overheard Jelei saying, “Just wait until the king hears about this. With a queen who can control the kraken by his side, Methi will be unstoppable.”

Disgust filled her along with a healthy dose of dread at the thought of seeing the Methian king. It was quickly followed with the rage she kept kindled especially for him.

She wouldn’t let him make use of her in any way. The time was coming for retribution. Mer glanced out at the horizon.

He’d pay for what he’d done, and she’d take everything important to him.

And maybe, just maybe, she’d use an army of krakens to do it.

Chapter Ten

RAZIEL

The smokefrom the pyres clung to Raziel.

The taste of ash coated the roof of his mouth. It was as if ash coated every inch of him.

They’d laid to rest the fishermen from theZephyrand with that, heralded the arrival of his bride.

His horse pranced beneath him, feeding off his dark energy. Each step closer to the coast, his anger ratcheted up a notch. He hadn’t asked many questions about Mer Thalassa when his mother offered him the marriage contract. Raz vaguely knew of her from the Warlord’s War. She was the sea king’s granddaughter and the one responsible for all the attacks on enemy warships. He was unconscious at the time, but apparently, she’d saved him from drowning. By all accounts, she was a masterful tactician with a compassionate heart.

That’s how the stories went.

Raziel didn’t know if he believed a single one. The Sirenidae hadn’t interfered in the politics of the surface in eons, and yet they did now.

Why? That was the question.

What agenda did they have to join the war? Or to marry one of their princesses off, for that matter?

None of it made sense.

It doesn’t have to. You got what you wanted.

King Raziel had secured a bride with powerful healers and drugs. Surely, they’d end the Mirror Plague, and his people could prosper.

As long as sirens weren’t ripping their hearts out.

He cursed underneath his breath, anger igniting in his belly once again. While no one had seen the Sirenidae attack theZephyr, there was undeniable proof.

The missing hearts.

The Sirenidae were elusive, and the only proof of their existence was the carnage of ships and bodies left in their wake. Every once in a while, a sailor or fisherman would claim to have seen one, but their descriptions were all different. Haunting songs were supposed to drive a crew to madness. No one had truly come face to face with the siren and lived to tell the tale.

Including children.

His fingers tightened on the reins, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the stuffed children’s toy from the ship. Nightmares about theZephyrhad plagued him for two weeks without letting up.

Enough. Focus.