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S eidon laughed along with the others over Rico’s story and prayed that it sounded convincing. Arden had only shot him two warning glances all evening, so he must be doing a halfway decent job of projecting cheer and charm, as promised.

And no one else had sent him concerned looks. He’d arrived mostly on time, made a show of presenting the birthday girl with a necklace of pearls he’d harvested from the sea floor himself, and then settled into comfortable banter with Rico and Arden.

He snuck a sideways glance at Sapphire though.

She’d made enough of a recovery that her family no longer feared whether she’d survive or not, yes.

But the migraines rarely let up, which meant she was mostly confined to the cool, dark interior of her room.

He’d sent the leading neuro-specialist over to examine her, but there was little that could be done aside from waiting for her injured brain to heal.

Today, she’d refused her previous dose of pain meds so that she’d be alert for her party, and Seidon could see the shadows of her choice under her eyes.

She’d lost so much weight in the last month that she bore little resemblance to the woman in the portraits on the walls, and every time Rico or Arden looked at her, they both seemed ready to dive into her veins and fight the battles for her, if they could.

A few more minutes, and he’d claim he had to get back to the palace so that the party would wind to an end and Sapphire could take her pain meds and retreat to her room. The way her sister was exchanging glances with Rico, she no doubt had the same idea.

His gaze drifted to Arden in the chair beside his. She smiled and laughed at her father’s story too, even chiming in with an addition to it. She had her own shadows circling her eyes though, thanks to rising this morning well before the sun to start her flight out to the rendezvous with Kiyana.

His fingers itched to trace the shadows, his lips to kiss them away.

He nearly had, that afternoon. Or, no. It wasn’t her tired eyes that had tried to lure him into breaking his daily decision to keep his feet firmly on this side of the line he edged closer to each day. It was the stubborn set to her mouth.

One of my best friends , he’d said. And it was true. Just…not the whole truth. Even if it had to be.

A final round of laughter marked the end of Rico’s story. As it ebbed, Seidon slapped his hands to his knees and then stood, smiling broadly. “Well. This has been the loveliest of evenings for the loveliest of ladies, but I had better get home. Thank you for having me, Sapphire. Rico.”

As expected, his standing triggered others doing the same, similar exclamations bouncing around the room.

He moved to his hostess’s side, urging her to stay seated—she still experienced some dizziness upon standing—and crouched down by her chair.

He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Happy birthday.”

The woman’s pained eyes went soft enough that he knew what was coming.

She’d ask him if there was any word yet on Jade, as she had every other time he visited.

This time, at least, he had something to tell her.

One of the reports Kiyana had included had been of a beautiful redhead seen in the company of Prince Finn’s entourage—a stranger, and one who never went out on patrol with the other Black Tails.

Jade. It had to be.

But knowing where she was didn’t help them reach her.

Sapphire reached over and patted his cheek like she’d done to Storm earlier. “I see you, you know,” she murmured.

Seidon’s brows drew together. This wasn’t a question about Jade, was it?

Or was it? Did she see the thing he himself tried to deny?

That part of him didn’t really want to meet Jade?

Return her to safety, yes. Of course. But if he could do so without ever meeting her, without ever mingling their blood in the water, he would.

He wasn’t ready for that chapter. Not yet. Not…not yet. Maybe in a decade. Or eight.

But surely she couldn’t see that in a glance.

Sapphire chuckled and let her fingers fall away, nodding at something to his right. No, some one . Arden, who stood bickering with Storm about something or another. “I see you watching her.”

“Oh.” His pulse sped up, both in relief and…not. Here he’d been happy that Rico had never revisited the conversation about his intentions. Because he grew less and less sure of what they were as he grew more and more sure of what he wanted.

Wanted didn’t mean could have. Even—especially—when one was the Sea King.

He hadn’t guessed that Sapphire, with her migraines and nausea and medications, had seen enough to pick up where her husband had left off.

She smiled a weary smile and squeezed his fingers.

“You may be a man of many lifetimes, Your Majesty, but that doesn’t mean you have time to squander.

Don’t waste even a day.” Her lips pressed together for a moment, pain pulsing through her face.

“Not even a day. You never know if you’ll have tomorrow with the ones you love. ”

He did know that. But hearing it from her lips sent his pulse scattering. He nodded, stood, and then tuned in to what Arden and Storm were arguing about.

“You’re not sailing back alone, Ar,” Storm was saying. “I’ll come back over in the morning.”

“That’s stupid. You’ll waste hours of your one day off if you do that. Stay, and then take Papa’s skiff back. Or you keep the bigger one and I’ll take the skiff now—”

“Uncle Rico, please tell your stubborn daughter that she’s not sailing a racing skiff over the sound in the dark, alone.” Storm, calm movements belying his words, turned to face his uncle.

Rico grinned. “She can handle it. Si would be right there. He’s not going to let her drown.”

Right. He’d forgotten that Storm had requested tomorrow off so he could spend the day with his other cousins before their joint Awakening Ceremony next week. Arden must have ridden here with him, not considering how she’d get home again.

Well. He grinned. “You can ride back with me, Arden.”

She looked over at him, her golden gaze a punch in the chest, like it always was. “I thought you brought your surfboard.”

“And?”

She let loose that little sigh-laugh he loved. “Last I checked, that wasn’t a two-person craft.”

“Oh, come on. You’re not that big. And it’s not like there will be waves beyond what I kick up for the fun of it. Perfectly safe.”

Her eyes danced, no doubt in remembrance of the last time he’d brought his board across the sound. According to her, he looked like a bored show-off, riding the single wave of his own creation from shore to shore.

But it was quick and didn’t take one of the much-needed craft from the rest of the fleet. He lifted his brows. “Afraid I’ll bite?”

She laughed and shook her head, her shoulders relaxing. “With as much cake as you ate? I ought to be safe.”

“Good. Everyone’s happy then.” Rico clapped a hand to Storm’s shoulder, then drew his daughter in for a bear of a hug that lifted her off her feet.

Seidon sent a wink to Sapphire, who tucked her grin away and waved a hand in Rico’s general direction. “Help me up, Jericho, so I can say goodbye to everyone properly.”

Seidon escaped the chaos of the farewells, taking more joy than he should have in grabbing Arden by the hand and hauling her, laughing, out with him. And then in not letting go while they walked toward the sound where he’d left his favorite board.

Torture, yes. Sweet torture that he subjected himself to as often as he could find an excuse, and sometimes when he didn’t even bother trying.

Arden had given up sending him questioning looks weeks ago and had apparently written it off as a quirk of his personality.

That was fine. It was, he supposed. Just not one that showed itself with anyone else, not like this.

But geysers, whenever he saw her riding on that hawk, or striding along with purpose in her every move, or with that scheming look on her face that said she was going to try to convince him of something she knew well was a bad idea…

she was lucky all he did was reach for her hand.

What he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, pull her close, and kiss her senseless.

“So how did the wall scouting go today?” she asked, oblivious to his musings.

He grunted with the force of it when she brought his thoughts back to that problem. There had to be a way to create that same magic. If the Black Tails could do it, then it was doable. Possible. He only had to figure out how.

He hadn’t figured out how. Which meant that he couldn’t undo it. Which of course meant that the hour he’d spent swimming the line of wall opposite the Banks had been futile and frustrating.

Well, mostly. “I found a data crystal. Someone must have gotten one through.”

“Oh!” She jolted, giving his hand a squeeze. “Right, sorry. Meant to tell you that. They’re trying to send them over top now, with air guns.”

“You forgot?” The skitter of her pulse said it was more than that, and he sighed. “Arden. Your flights aren’t in danger because a few random crystals make it through. It’s not like it had anything on it that we didn’t already know anyway.”

She made a frustrated noise in her throat that really shouldn’t have tied him in knots. “Must you do that? You know I hate it when you read my mind.”

He chuckled, glanced both ways as they neared the one road that stretched down the center of the island, and crossed the quiet stretch to the soundside sand. “It’s not mind reading. It’s observation.”

“Call it what you want. It’s still annoying.”

“I’d say I’m sorry, but…”

Her chuckle chased away the cool of the night. She tilted her face up to take in the endless expanse of stars. “So there was nothing useful on it?”