Page 50 of A Sea of Vows and Silence (The Naiads of Juile #3)

Cebrinne

“ C ebrinne Euwen Naeva Evanthe of Cypria. I call to your blood.”

Thaan had done it a handful of times before, and when his hold wrapped around me, I recognized it immediately. The way my muscles deadened into thick slabs, bones calcified like marble. Even my blood seemed to slow, congealing like a sludge in my veins.

His voice was a sharp arrow piercing my thoughts. Who is the Naiad you walked down to the water?

“Vouri of Venusia. Aegir’s sister,” my mouth answered.

Inside my mind, I screamed in fury.

He cocked his head patiently, watching the rain run down my face and through my lashes. I couldn’t even wipe it away. “And why is she here? In the palace. In my offices.”

The first time he’d called to my blood, I’d fought him.

Had attacked my own walls like a caged bird, throwing myself at them in search for escape.

Had woken the next morning to a pain I’d never known, a head that felt more like jelly than consciousness, a body that showed no visible signs of violence but felt as though I’d been trampled under iron shoes and beating hooves.

I hadn’t fought him since. But I did now.

I struck against the confines of myself, beating my own mind and body. Slamming a shoulder, a foot, a knee against the walls, ignoring the raw ripple of each blow. An echo of pain I’d feel later. It made no difference .

“To gain insight on your comings and goings. Your daily activity. Your plans. Your correspondence.”

He smiled. Somewhere behind him, thunder rolled. “And have you succeeded in gaining them?”

Somewhere within myself, I fractured. Pieces of myself shattered under my fists.

Blood pooled at the back of my throat.

“Yes. And no.”

“When will Vouri return?”

“Tomorrow, I believe. After she cordaes .”

“How romantic,” he mused. “A night of undiscovered lovemaking then back to conspiracy.” He sent a small smile to the drones surrounding us. “How predictable you are, Cebrinne. How easy it is to use your hatred against you. Did you wait the first fortnight to turn on me, or was it within the hour?”

“Minutes.”

I don’t think he meant for me to answer, but my mouth obeyed his order. Humor stirred in the depths of his cold eyes. “Await my word,” he said to the drones. “Come, Cebrinne.”

Like I was a dog.

I suppose I was, trailing his steps like something loyal and dutiful, offering the ballroom a wide berth as we ascended the closest tower and took the sky bridge back to my apartment in the Westward Sea Wing.

Thaan pointed at the couch across from him as he sat.

I lowered myself into the cushions, clamping down on my tongue as though it would protect me from his prying demands.

“Tell me about Aegir,” Thaan said.

“He’s the Videre of the Venusian Sea. He’s tall. He has tattoos. He—”

“Tell me about his personality.” Thaan’s voice softened, but my small act of rebellion thickened the air with molten iron. “What kind of leader is he? Is he as impulsive as we thought? ”

“No. He’s a planner. He’s meticulous. He keeps his colony safe.”

Thaan tapped his mouth with a long finger. “He would not be likely to stage an attack.”

His voice lilted with inquisition, but it wasn’t a question. I simply stared at him.

“Confirm or deny,” he snapped.

“He would not be likely to stage an attack.”

“Very well.” He leaned back in his seat. “Does he have feelings for you?”

“I think so.”

“Do you care for him?”

“Yes.”

Thaan waved his hand impatiently. “Not what I meant. Do you have romantic feelings for him?”

My mouth opened. Nothing came out. The flame in my mind blew out, and all my thoughts went with it.

Did I?

You’ll leave Calder to take a human husband in Leihani.

Theia’s prophecy flashed in my head without warning. For some reason, I latched onto it. I didn’t say yes.

But I didn’t say no , either.

Thaan’s fingertip slowed. “Your feelings are…complicated.”

Why should I tell you? I asked inside my mind. So you can use it against me? Control me with it?

“Are your feelings complicated?” he leveled flatly.

“Yes.” More than complicated. Draped in doubt and indecision, left to hang over my head while I wavered under it. But I suppose any chance of my falling for Aegir had ended the moment Theia had spoken through the whispered flames of silver fire.

Hide in Leihani. Find a human husband. Give birth to a child of the moon .

“Yes?” Thaan’s brows twinged. Something like surprise flickered in his eyes. His tapping finger resumed. “Tell me why.”

Lie.

I froze. The sudden voice came from inside my head. But it wasn’t Thaan’s.

It was feminine. Ethereal. Sharp, but almost dreamily sharp.

Celestial.

Lie, Cebrinne. If you want to hide your future, you’ll lie.

I opened my mouth.

Lie, Cebrinne!

Thaan’s hold tightened, squeezing the answer from me.

Inside myself, I squirmed. “I couldn’t let myself develop feelings for him.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m planning to leave—”

The fine hair on my arm lifted as light blared through the window.

Light so close to the tower Thaan shielded his eyes with an arm.

It burned into my retinas, a vein of white branded behind my eyes.

The sky cracked. Loud enough to rip the world apart.

The tower vibrated under my feet. Thaan stood, straining to see through the tall glass.

The door of my apartment flew open.

“Cebrinne!” Pheolix blew into the room, his gray eyes wild.

He paused at seeing Thaan standing next to me, though the stumble in his gaze recovered just as fast. In his arms, a lumpy shape lay under his black cloak.

Warm air summoned steam from the wet fabric.

It dripped a trail of watery red, and just over his shoulder, a crown of dark waves peeped under a hood.

The dots connected. My mouth opened on what should have been a strangled gasp. But Thaan commanded me; I couldn't make a sound.

Thaan turned on his heel, tunic flapping behind him as he walked.

“Bring her here.” We followed him through the shared study, to his apartment on the other side.

Pheolix laid Selena on the table. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, open and unseeing.

Knife wounds shone crimson in her legs, her arm punctured with a blunt edge and something that marbled her flesh the way a burn sears through skin.

But my eyes immediately targeted a gouge in her stomach, jagged and angry. Deep.

Thaan made a noise low in his throat. Moisture blurred the air around his fingers as he set to work, calling Selena’s blood to create fresh tissue, closing gaps and sewing them together. “Who.”

Pheolix’s eyes blazed. “Emilius.”

“Fool,” Thaan spat. “She was supposed to get him drunk. You were supposed to watch her.”

Staring at Selena, Pheolix’s jaw rotated, the square corners of it firming to rough edges. The drone cradled a fist in his other hand as though resisting the urge to bludgeon the table with it. But he said nothing.

Selena’s lungs stuttered.

The room dropped into silence. We all watched the slow fall of her ribs. Waited for the rise of it to follow. For the sound of her heart. Neither came.

Liquid terror propelled me to the table, reaching for her chest, static already sparking in my hand. Thaan shoved me aside with an arm. “Stay out of the way,” he snarled.

But I couldn’t stand the thought of just watching. Doing nothing. Condensation ran from my elbows, dripping off my fingers, my body begging to call to the water.

My twin lurched under Thaan’s command.

I watched a piece of myself dying on that table. One of the fractured shards of my soul, losing life one second at a time. Color left her skin, drenching her in white. The artery ticking in her neck lay still.

Thaan squeezed again. Selena jolted.

And then it was back. The soft flutter of blood between chambers.

“Selena,” Pheolix breathed, his voice heavy with fear and relief.

She moaned, legs shifting.

“Don’t let her move. I’m closing her wound,” Thaan barked .

Pheolix lowered himself close to her, whispering in her ear. Thaan watched him lean into her, a strange look in his eyes.

Someone pounded at the door. I jumped at the sound.

“Wait, Deimos. Don’t answer it yet.”

“That will be the King’s men. Reporting Emilius’s attack to his advisor.”

Selena blinked at us. I reached for her hand, still unable to speak. But she didn’t see me. She sat up, or tried to, leaning into Pheolix’s chest.

“Cebrinne,” Thaan snapped. I whipped my head in his direction.

“Go to your rooms and lock all doors. If a human enters, sing to them and leave them for me. Deimos, clean this mess.” He turned his attention to Pheolix with a violent glare.

“Find the key in my top drawer and take Selena to the lowest level of the servants’ quarters, down to the last door.

Do not leave. Wait until I come for you.

After tonight, you’re relieved of your post.”

“No—” she started to say, but I didn’t hear the rest. I’d already turned out of the room.

Pheolix followed me a moment later, asking for a dress.

Find him one, Thaan commanded in my head. His voice grew distant. It echoed as he walked, and I knew he was already halfway across the sky bridge with Emilius’s men. Don’t speak to them. Don’t speak to anyone. Sit on the couch and wait for my return.

So, I did.

Pheolix took Selena. And suddenly all was quiet.

Alone with my thoughts, I sat all night.

I sat. I sat. I sat.

In the empty dark.