Page 12

12

Claira

T he first thing that struck me was the darkness. It was a void that even my night vision couldn’t see through. It pressed in on us from all sides as we fell and fell. And fell some more.

Perhaps we weren’t actually falling. Maybe we were floating, slipping between realms, riding through dimensional walls—yeah, I obviously had no clue how portals worked, but I was ready for it to stop working and be over with.

I clung to him for support, feeling as though my insides were being stretched in different directions.

And then we emerged on the other side of it, finding ourselves… somewhere.

“The Atlantic?” I gasped out, the first taste of extra salty water telling me all I needed to know.

The sea wizard chuckled, seemingly unbothered by the journey. “You’re quite perceptive,” he remarked, his tentacles fanning back out underneath us. “Lady Desmona does indeed reside in the Atlantic.”

Which meant I was close to home.

The sea wizard wasn’t ready to let go of me yet. “Almost there,” he assured, drawing me back in. “Just one more poof , but I should warn you that Lady Desmona lives near the surface.”

“Okay?” What an interesting thing to warn me about. “And why would that matter?”

He tucked in his chin, bringing himself close enough to carefully examine my face. “It can be quite uncomfortable,” he said, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “Transitioning from your deep-eyes to land vision after spending so much time in the Undersea.”

My fingertips absentmindedly brushed over my lashes. “ Deep-eyes? Is that what you call your night vision?”

A soft chuckle escaped him, causing the dark corners of his eyes to crease. “Indeed, it is. A rather useful skill to possess, considering how far the merfolk have driven us into darkness.”

“Deep in the bowels,” I added, recalling how he’d first described the Undersea to me.

He agreed with a smirk. “Precisely.”

Having ‘deep-eyes’ might have been useful, but I certainly wouldn’t miss the monotony of seeing everything in varying shades of black and gray. Lady Desmona had the right idea, living near the surface. I couldn’t wait to see colors again. “I’m ready whenever you are,” I said, bracing myself for the shift.

A sudden surge of magic enveloped us both. Compared to the portal, teleporting with him was a much smoother experience, and when we reemerged, I could almost taste the cool puffs of magic smoke swirling in the water around us.

“ Shit, ” I yelped.

He swept me low, using his body to block the light from above, but it wasn’t enough. Sunlight shone through the surface, turning everything into a blinding white wall in front of my eyes.

White, scorching light.

I threw an arm over my face and pressed into his chest, his palms spreading along the center of my back as he reassured me, “It will pass.”

I couldn’t believe how calm he sounded.

“How is it not burning you?” I gasped, shivering as magic slithered underneath the surface of my eyes. Although I was sure I’d never get used to the feeling, it was good to know they hadn’t burnt out of my face.

The magic in my eyes built until it burst, and my brain took a whole second to register how my surroundings had changed—a sea of emerald water, the turquoise surface shimmering from above. Even the pale wizard holding me was… Oh . Actually, he looked pretty much the same in color.

“I’m well accustomed to the transition.” His hair was so dark it seemed to absorb every stream of blue light hitting it from above. “Living in dual worlds has its advantages.”

Then, with a lifted brow, he clarified, “My work often brings me to land. So much so, the headaches aren’t a bother to me anymore.”

That made sense. Honestly, considering how far we’d traveled, I’d thought my head would hurt much worse than it— wait a second .

Pressing my lips together, I removed the tentacle that had snuck its way up to the nape of my neck. Freaking sea wizard. He’d been healing me. “In the future, could you please ask before doing that?”

He seemed to find the situation amusing. There was a playful twist of that same tentacle, brushing against my hand like Aracos always did as he said, “So, you prefer the headache?”

Exasperated, I let out a sigh. “No, but I would appreciate it if you asked for my permission before using your magic on me.” It should have been obvious.

“My apologies,” he replied with a dazzling flash of white teeth that made my insides flip. The tip of that sneaky tentacle drew circles over my skin, tickling the inside of my wrist. “May I finish tending to your headache, princess?”

“No,” I ground out, forcing my insides to flip right-side up again. It wasn’t fair how he was looking at me—his gaze was too intense and his touch was too knowing. Not fair at all. “You may not.”

His smirk didn’t falter. He was enjoying this far too much. “If that’s what you wish.”

“It’s exactly what I wish.” The headache was mostly gone anyway, and it wasn’t like I needed to owe him any more debts than I already did.

The tentacle that had been engaging with me withdrew, leaving my wrist to tingle from the loss. When it reappeared beside us, it brought with it a mesh bag filled with an assortment of spiral shells—the same bag he’d held yesterday when he informed me we would be departing.

“A gift,” he said before I could even ask. We began a slow glide through the water while I eyed the bag, studying the varied sizes and hues of the shells.

“Seashells, huh?” Twisting in his arms, I swung my head around to get a look at where we were headed. “Interesting choice.”

“Is there something wrong with seashells?” Those dark eyebrows lifted, but he seemed more curious than offended.

“I’m just wondering if they’re your go-to gift for every occasion.” Shrugging, I counted on my fingers as I continued, “They seem to be. Riddle solving, abductions, and now visits to mentors. They’re like your signature move. The sea shell wizard.”

Now that I thought about it, I’d forgotten to grab my seashell knife before we left. Damn.

The sea wizard snorted, the water teasing his hair back as he considered his gift-giving tendencies. After a brief pause, he settled on, “The shells are… essential.”

“Essential,” I repeated, nodding in agreement. “How mysteriously vague. Not that I expect anything less from you.”

“Glad I could meet your expectations,” he replied smoothly, the play of light in his white sea demon eyes somehow making him look even more enigmatic. “Lady Desmona is truly going to be thrilled to meet you.”

“Thrilled to meet me?” Yeah, she was bound to be disappointed. Underwater, my curse was the only thing remotely interesting about me, but that hardly made me thrilling .

“Yes, well, she’s never met someone quite like you,” he said, his lips lifting in a sly curve. Rocks closed in around us, but I was so caught up in studying what that curious grin could mean that I didn’t realize we’d reached the seafloor until the end of my tail brushed against it.

He led us along, his broad shoulders nearly grazing the rough rock walls. “You’ll be the first sea witch she’s ever encountered. Aside from herself, of course.”

What? His mentor was a sea witch?

His voice softened to a haunting murmur as he added, “The first living one she’s met, at least. As I’ve mentioned before, sea witches don’t last long in this world.”

Just like that, a knot had formed in the pit of my stomach. “I don’t understand. You said there weren’t any other sea witches.”

He merely chuckled, motioning to the barnacle-covered rocks surrounding us. They jutted out from the ocean floor like a maze, the work of countless years of relentless currents. “I said you’d be lucky to find one.”

Okay, that was technically true. I mean, who would’ve imagined finding a sea witch in such shallow waters, barely fifty feet from the surface? “So, that’s why we’re here? I thought my grandmother wanted us to meet her because of my curse.”

“That’s the official reason we’re here,” he said with a sigh. “We’ll have her examine you, but there’s no use trying to hide your true nature. She’ll see through you just as she sees through me.”

My heart raced, pounding a warning beat.

No one could know what I was—the vision in the mirror, those monstrous white eyes. No one but him. “And if she tells my grandmother?”

“Never,” he answered without an ounce of hesitation. “Not even a possibility. Lady Desmona will understand the importance of keeping your secret safe more than anyone.”

Good for him for having so much faith in his mentor, but I still wasn’t convinced. No, even if she lived in the Atlantic, my grandmother was likely still her queen.

“Here we are.” He released his grip around me, steering me to his side, and my gaze immediately fell to the hundreds of discarded bones and broken shells littered before us.

“Fish bones,” I muttered. “Always a nice welcome.”

The sea wizard laughed darkly. “You’ll have to excuse her. She doesn’t often see visitors.”

“I’m getting that impression.”

The bones marked a path leading to a cluster of sea stacks, their towering silhouettes casting elongated shadows across the ocean floor. But then the sea stacks opened up to a narrow entrance, and my interest was suddenly piqued. “Oh, wow .”

Sparkling crystals and a sundry of coral spilled out of the odd dwelling in a glittering riot of colors.

It was quite the collection. A hoard of riches, in fact, so large my eyes weren’t even sure how to take all of it in. Every single crystal and coral looked like it belonged in the grand halls of a mer kingdom, not scattered carelessly in the sand.

And they were… moving?

I blinked, briefly questioning if our trip through the portal had disoriented me more than I’d realized. But no, the crystals were definitely moving, and not because of the current. Tiny creatures scurried over the sand, using their claws to push the treasures along.

“Are those hermit crabs? ”

I shot the sea wizard a questioning look before snapping my attention back to the scene unfolding before us. A skittering colony of creatures was hard at work, seeming to share a common goal: crystals and corals in, fish bones and shell fragments out.

Of course they were hermit crabs. It was obvious. But it was also bizarre. I’d never seen so many gathered in one place.

The ones closest to us seemed to become more lively at our approach, and a few abandoned their items altogether. They hurried toward the dwelling, their worn shells clacking against each other in a rush.

“Quite efficient little creatures, aren’t they?” the sea wizard remarked, lowering one of his tentacles into a curve in the sand before us. The tiniest of the crabs scuttled over, eager to hitch a ride as we passed. Soon, dozens had climbed aboard, making the most of the opportunity.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get stranger, a voice emerged from the depths of the sea stacks, rasping like the creak of a rusted ship’s hull. “Is that you, boy?”

“Lady Desmona,” the sea wizard replied respectfully, stopping us just short of entering.

“Hmm?” The voice came louder, a figure gradually slinking from the shadows within the stacks. I opened my mouth to gasp, but as soon as I did, the insistent press of a tentacle sealed over my lips, muffling the sound.

Normally, I would have been annoyed by the gesture, but in this case, I was grateful for the sea wizard’s intervention.

His mentor seemed to have aged beyond ancient. Lady Desmona was a twisted figure down to the tips of her tentacles, wiry and thin, as brittle as a coral frag tossed aside by the sea.

And although she lived near the surface, her skin was the pale blue-gray of someone who had never seen sunlight.

“Who is this you have brought before me?” she asked, extending a shaky tentacle toward us, a sickly shade of frothed foam instead of the sleek purple-black I’d grown accustomed to. “No, don’t tell me. Let me get a good look at her.”

Ironic, really, considering she didn’t have eyes.

Nope. No eyes.

Just two hollow sockets. Two empty cavities where her eyes could have been if the skin there wasn’t sunken, dark, and empty like the gaping mouths of a cave.

Correction: make that one hollow socket.

A pair of beady stalks belonging to a hermit crab poked out of the darkness of the right hollow, where it had apparently taken up residence in her face.

What. The. Heck.

The sea wizard cleared his throat, holding up the mesh bag he’d brought along with us. “For you, my lady.”

If he was trying to distract her attention from me, it had worked. The hermit crab’s eyes swiveled right in the direction of the bag, with Lady Desmona’s head following suit. She reached out with a thin, gnarled tentacle and gathered it up.

“Bless your hearts.” She let out a cackling laugh as her bony fingers came under the bag for support. “You never fail to bring me exactly what I need.”

The sea wizard gave me a smug smile, almost as if he were saying, ‘I told you so.’ “Of course, my lady,” he said with a bow of his head. “I wouldn’t dare disappoint.”

If I weren’t so frazzled, I might have rolled my eyes.

Eyes. My stomach lurched.

Lady Desmona turned around as she dug into the bag, but even with her back to us, I couldn’t shake the image of the crab peering out of her face.

“Well?” she muttered, dragging herself back inside. “What are the two of you waiting for? Come in, come in.”

“ Hold up, ” I mouthed at the sea wizard before he could follow behind her.

“Hmm?” he hummed back, his mouth still stuck on that smugly satisfied grin.

I jabbed a finger at my face, hoping to point out the lack of a crustacean residing inside it.

“Ah, that.” His shoulders rolled in a remarkably bored shrug. “Must have slipped my mind.”

“Slipped your mind?” I scoffed. So, he’d thought to warn me about her living near the surface, but not about this. Not the crab-eye thing. “Seems more like you chose not to mention it.”

Even if the hermit crab detail was new, the absence of her eyes wasn’t. That was definitely something that someone was supposed to give you a heads-up about.

He chuckled, his final words before he swept both of us inside a teasing whisper in my ear. “Ah, but where’s the fun in knowing everything beforehand?”