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25

Claira

I devoured my last bite of cake, savoring the sugary rush across my tastebuds. I’d purposefully saved the part with the most icing for last, and it hadn’t disappointed. The sea wizard, on the other hand, had barely touched his half.

Was it selfish of me to want him to hurry? Now that he’d promised to teach me how to poof , I was reminded of how badly I wanted to learn more about my magic.

But maybe it was better not to rush him. He seemed distant since returning from his meetings, too preoccupied with his thoughts to enjoy what might have been the best cake I’d personally ever eaten.

If only Gram could get her hands on the recipe, she wouldn’t have to bother with hauling her pies into town. The entire strip would be lined up on our porch, fighting to get a taste.

I sat my fork down and pushed the box closer to him. “I think it’s fair to say the cake has my approval. And you? What do you think?”

He sighed, exhaling a deep, tired sound that seemed to carry the weight of the entire ocean behind it. “I think it’s about time for us to return.”

Okay, clearly, he wasn’t actually a fan of cake. Or maybe something really had happened to him while he was gone? The thought of that made me anxious.

“Great,” I mumbled, brushing crumbs off my lap. Judging by all the cake bits covering the bottom half of the shirt he’d lent me, I must have attacked it like a savage—or, thanks to Cyre, more like a shark.

Huh. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t eaten. Watching me make a mess of myself couldn’t have helped his appetite.

His deep, smoky voice curled around me, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I’m sure you’re thrilled to be returning to the Undersea, princess.”

Yeah, definitely not.

“Can’t we learn magic here—? Oh .”

The sea wizard had stood from his chair and was already shedding his suit, his fingers deftly unbuttoning the front of it to reveal the sleek, porcelain chest underneath.

“I’m afraid I’ve already been gone far longer than Queen Sagari would have expected,” he stated, undoing his cufflinks and setting them down beside me on his desk. “She becomes… agitated when I linger on land for too long.”

I scrambled off his desk, almost tripping over myself in my haste to turn away and give him some privacy in case he went for his pants next. “Yeah, that’s understandable, I guess,” I muttered. Only it wasn’t. Not really. He was a grown man who should have been able to do whatever he wanted whenever he pleased without worrying about agitating my grandmother.

If I ever got my hands on her crown— wait . I looked down, realizing I was still wearing the sea wizard’s freaking underwear .

I bit my lip, contemplating. Would he be upset if I kept them on and let them explode off me when we teleported back underwater?

I glanced back, my eyes immediately drawn to the dark slash of his trident mark trailing from his chest to his arm as he folded his suit jacket, hanging it neatly over the back of his chair. He’d already taken off his shoes and had even rolled up his socks to place beside them.

I couldn’t help but snort. If he kept his Undersea chamber as neat as he kept his office, he and Barren might actually get along. In fact, they had a few things in common, didn’t they? Like how neither of them seemed fazed by undressing in front of me. Not that I was complaining.

But unlike Barren, the sea wizard moved with a certain grace, a fluidity in every gesture that made him seem like he was completely comfortable in his own skin. It wasn’t like Leander’s flashy confidence either, but there was something about the sea wizard’s calm, self-assured presence that demanded my attention, regardless.

He reached for the black button on the front of his pants, and a rush of heat crept up my neck as I tore my gaze away. Words spilled out of me, and I could do nothing to stop them. “Um, about your under—wha-what I mean is…”

Goodness, I was fumbling.

“I hope you can pardon my lack of decorum,” his smooth voice called out behind me, saving me from further embarrassment.

I exhaled a shaky breath, forcing my gaze up to the ceiling. “Yeah, no worries. You are pardoned,” I said back, immediately cringing at how formal and out of place my words sounded.

You are pardoned? Who the heck did I think I was? The queen?

Behind me, the soft rustle of fabric mixed with the sea wizard’s chuckle. “I humbly accept your pardon, princess.”

There he went again—finding humor in my awkwardness. Oddly enough, I wasn’t offended.

“If you wish to keep wearing what you have on for our journey, I see no harm in it,” he continued. “However, I’d rather not ruin my suit.”

It was no surprise that he was as considerate of me as always. Deep down, however, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment.

There was a part of me that wanted him to use his smooth words to coax the clothing away from me, maybe even demand it. A side of me that yearned to know what it would feel like to be pressed against his human body, even if it was only for a brief second of travel.

Until now, I’d tried squashing those thoughts and feelings down, pretending they didn’t exist. But they did exist. And now, more than ever, I realized that ignoring them could never change how I truly felt.

Summoning all my confidence, I spun around to face him.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to ruin your suit either,” I tossed out, my eyes instinctively drawn down the front of him until they reached the pool of fabric bunched around his feet. “Err—parts of it, I mean. Your suit accessories,” I added, almost mechanically.

I forced my gaze to return upwards, but it seemed to get stuck somewhere around the narrow curve of his waist. Oh, holy crap . He filled out his boxer briefs in a much more flattering way than my hips did.

“While I appreciate your concern for my attire,” the sea wizard started, sounding thoroughly perplexed by my sudden change of mood, “There’s no need to worry. Every accessory I offered you is easily replaceable.”

I raised an eyebrow as he nonchalantly stepped out of his pants and bent down to pick them up. Did he think it was okay for him to wrap his naked body around me while we teleported but not for me to do the same to him?

Obviously, yes.

Although, I supposed he wasn’t completely naked. Not yet, at least. He still had his boxer briefs on, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he planned on keeping them on to preserve his modesty.

I sucked in my bottom lip, feeling daringly reckless because, if I was being honest, I hoped he wasn’t too modest. I wanted him to take them off.

When I started ripping the socks off my feet, he looked as if he was second-guessing his decision to return us to the Undersea.

“Well, you didn’t offer me these,” I pointed out, waving one of the socks for him to see.

What would the guys think of me if they saw me like this? Guilt crept over me, momentarily suffocating me like an all-encompassing shadow, but I kept rolling the socks together, setting them down beside his.

As much as I loved them, and they would always have my heart, they were enthralled with an ex-mermaid who could break their curse. That wasn’t me, not really, not anymore. I was far more broken than any of us could have ever imagined. A literal sea witch , someone more reviled by their kind than even the dark spawn.

And yet, the man before me was a sea wizard. He had accepted and supported every side of me, or at the very least acted like he did, even the broken parts.

The sea wizard’s expression shifted from confusion to cautious amusement as he watched me. “Very well,” he said, extending a hand. “Shall we, then?”

Dammit . I supposed he really was going to let his underwear explode off of him. What a blatant waste of breathable cotton fabric.

“Just a second.” My hands fumbled with the buttons on the oversized shirt he’d lent me—a pointless task, given its size. But there was a certain allure to unbuttoning shirts, wasn’t there?

Well, when someone else did it. Kai especially. Part of me worried I looked more like a fish getting descaled than anything remotely sexy.

The sea wizard watched me with a questioning look, but I didn’t give him a chance to ask why I was undressing more before speaking up. “My luck with clothing hasn’t been great lately,” I said, letting his shirt drop off my shoulders. “I’m trying not to make it worse.”

I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to fluster him in the same way he flustered me. However, as his gaze traveled down my body, he didn’t look flustered. Except for a slight twitch in his jaw, he looked completely composed, not a single emotion readable on his face. Freaking sea wizard.

… Fine.

I boldly went for my hips, slipping past the waistband of the boxer briefs he’d given me.

The sea wizard cleared his throat—and there it was. His composure all but crumbled as he shifted his weight, averting his gaze to the wall of his office. I couldn’t help but grin at the sight. It was about time he cracked.

My heart raced as I looked down, slipping the underwear off my ankles. I tossed the boxer briefs onto the pile of clothes and stood there, bare except for the dark band of ocean silks wrapped around my chest.

Although the sea wizard’s gaze remained fixed on the wall, I could sense his awareness of me like a burst of heat from a flame.

My breath hitched, a shiver running through me as the energy between us became thick and tense. I inched closer, approaching the usual distance we stood whenever he’d wrap his arms around me for teleportation. “No one came by while you were gone,” I murmured, if only to remind him that we were alone. “Do you get many visitors here?”

When the sea wizard finally turned his gaze back to me, his dark eyes were burning like coal, their intensity sending a thrill through me that reached all the way down to my toes. “Never,” he uttered back, his voice dark and barely controlled.

Without another word, he reached out, one arm tracing a path around my shoulders while his other moved to the small of my back. He pulled me impossibly close, our bodies pressed together in a way that made my breath catch.

There was a hunger in his eyes, a craving for something even more delectable than cake, and his body seemed to heartily agree. Holy crap. When I was pressed against him like this, there was no denying that the desire between us was mutual. Very mutual.

I’d initiated this, though. I’d pushed him, and now here we were.

He gazed down at me with something even more profound than desire—something more intimate—as each of his fingers spread over the dip of my back. I tilted my head back just to feel more of the whisper of his breath against my neck.

“Claira.” The way his pale lips whispered my name with such slow care made it feel like we were balancing on the edge of a knife. “My apologies. Princess ,” he amended, the words dulling all the friction we had just created. Disappointment settled heavily in my stomach as his body shifted away the slightest bit.

“Just Claira is fine,” I said, desperate to bridge the gap he’d unexpectedly formed. “Not that I know your name. You… you still haven’t told me what it is.” I peered up at him with a glimmer of hope, but it quickly faded as I realized my mistake.

It was like a curtain had been drawn across his emotions.

His hand dropped from my back, leaving only the one on my shoulder. “Off we go,” he said, the words clipped, his tone darker than anything he’d used all day.

Of course, I should have known better than to ask for his name. Once again, I’d overstepped.

With my next choked-up breath, we teleported, reaching our usual designated stopping point on the way to the Undersea. I barely registered the sensation of my tail forming or the force of the tentacles erupting from underneath the sea wizard. My lungs filled with water, and I couldn’t find the strength to do anything aside from allowing myself to sink into his embrace.

I supposed the sea wizard was letting me know that despite any mutual desire between us, my feelings for him were irrelevant. He was bound by his duties, and, to him, I would only ever be his princess.

Dammit .

Did he want me to see him like everyone else in the Undersea did? To think of him as a puppet?

The next time I saw Cyre, maybe I would ask him to take my crown and dispose of it. It wouldn’t change anything, but at least I’d feel better.

“TAKE,” Cyre eagerly agreed, and his enthusiasm was almost enough to soothe the ache in my heart.

A tentacle swept over the back of my head, lifting my hair to reach my neck. “May I?” the sea wizard asked gently.

“Sure,” I said, feeling a pang of confusion at his politeness. It made me wonder if my heart would hurt less if he treated me like everyone else in the Undersea did.

We teleported again, and thanks to his magic, the excruciating ache in my head didn’t last long. When my night vision—or deep-eyes, as he called it—snapped into place, I immediately recognized where he had taken us. My bedchamber.

Disappointment washed over me once again. Way to go, Claira . I just had to strip in front of him and ask about his name, and now he was going to retreat without teaching me any more magic at all.

“Are you changing our lesson to tomorrow?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady despite the heaviness in my chest.

I could practically hear one of his smooth excuses already: My sincerest apologies, princess, but I’ve only just realized my wizarding schedule is quite packed for this evening, and I regret that I’m needed elsewhere.

To my surprise, he didn’t reach for an excuse. Instead, he reached for my bed.

“My time is yours tonight,” he said, sweeping over to where I slept to pick up my magical seashell knife from the seagrass. He offered it to me, and when I caught sight of his stark white eyes, it was like the disorienting rush of teleportation all over again.

As soon as I shook off the feeling, I narrowed my eyes at him. “But why the shell?”

“You’ll need it,” he said simply, his dark eyebrows raised in a way that made me even more curious.

“I’ll need it?” I took my seashell from him, my fingers brushing against his in the process. “What, are you planning to fight me?” I threw him a skeptical look. “Because that would be really unfair... to you, obviously.”

Even in the cold depths of the Undersea, the way his lips curled made warmth bloom deep inside me. Freaking dammit.

“Fight you? No,” he assured me, that sly smile playing all over his lips. “I would never challenge anyone to a duel I didn’t believe I could win.” Although, the subtle flexing of his muscles as he shifted in the water in front of me hinted at his readiness and strength if anyone were to challenge him.

“Yeah, I would beat you in a duel, wouldn’t I?” I snorted, rolling my eyes as I slapped the side of my useless tail. “Definitely a born fighter. My teacher even calls me ‘formidable.’”

He chuckled, clearly amused by our back-and-forth. “There’s a certain Rook plaguing these halls who would certainly agree with your teacher,” he said, and I jolted as he added in a low, roguish voice, “And I can personally attest that you know how to fully disarm your opponent, provided they lend you their clothing first.”

I clutched my shell closer, wrapping my arms around my middle. “You mean the Rook—he’s alive?”

The sea wizard’s nod was like a physical force to my gut. “He is,” he murmured, all the good humor draining from his face as he took in my reaction. “I followed the crown’s orders and kept him alive.”

Well, if we had been dueling, that would have been the knockout blow.

“But why?” I burst out, not wanting to believe it. I mean, sure, it was good to know I wasn’t actually a murderer, but it was terrifying to think the Rook could be lurking in these halls. “Why would my grandmother care if he died? What does she see in him? She has her pawns.” It made me sick to even think about it.

“Because he is her paramour,” the sea wizard explained. “Ex-paramour, perhaps. Once, they even had a daughter together.” He paused, clearing his throat before delivering the actual finishing blow. “Your mother, the former princess.”

If I could have swum, I would have gotten in his face and grabbed him by the sides of his shoulders to scream. Instead, I settled for seizing his nearest tentacle, hoping that yanking on it would bring him closer to me.

It didn’t, but that didn’t stop me from trying.

“ My mother ,” I repeated, the second word in that revelation tasting exceptionally bitter to my tongue. “You mean to say that disgusting blob of a dark spawn is my grandfather? ”

The sea wizard grimaced at either my use of the term dark spawn or my grip on his appendage, but he made no move to stop me. “My apologies,” he said in such a regretful tone that I almost released him. “But you should know by now that the truth is often unsavory.”

“Yes, I realize that the truth usually sucks,” I snapped, which wasn’t completely fair to him, but I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t told me sooner.

Oh, right . Because now I was clawing and trembling, filled with fear that the Rook might barge in my chamber at any moment to seek his revenge on me for slicing through his freaking face .

“Does he know where I am?” I asked, realizing the absolute death grip I had on his tentacle. I forced myself to release it, silently hoping I hadn’t hurt him.

The sea wizard’s tentacle curled around my wrist for a brief moment after I let go, giving a subtle but comforting squeeze before withdrawing. “I agree that the truth does ‘suck,’ as you put it, but I can’t say whether or not he knows you’re here.” His expression soured. “I count myself fortunate that the queen usually dismisses me whenever he’s near. I have no knowledge of what she has or hasn’t told him.”

Reassuring. Not .

His voice softened as he drifted a half-circle around me, his gaze lingering on my face. “Again, my apologies. I can see you’re no longer in the mood for a lesson.”

“No, that’s not true,” I protested with a frown. “If anything, I want it even more.” I reached for his nearest tentacle, afraid he might try to escape, but this time it slipped right out of my grasp.

“Very well, then.” The sea wizard gave a small nod. “Let me call on Aracos to watch the hall for us.”

“Good thinking.” It would be too risky to practice my magic without someone keeping watch, especially with the chance of the chef arriving with a feast or Hari returning early.

I mentally nudged Cyre as we waited. “I hope you’re excited because as soon as one of us learns how to poof , it means we can meet whenever we want.”

“CYRE EXCITED.”

Good. I couldn’t wait to learn.

And despite my feelings, I’d keep things professional between me and the sea wizard while he taught me how to do it. We were strictly teacher and student, nothing more.

I’d manage it, somehow.

With a flick of his water-swept hair, the sea wizard’s eyes searched the entrance of my chamber. “Ah, there he is,” he muttered before turning to me with a heart-piercing smirk. “Aracos is there to keep watch. Shall we begin?”

Yes… Somehow, I’d manage it.