Page 43

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Claira

I should have known better than to think Hari would help me.

“Bah. Stop squirming, my lady!” she barked, her tentacles adjusting their grip on me as I twisted to peer down each corridor we passed. I was desperate for any sign of Kai and Jagati. “Do you think I track my brother’s every move?”

Now that we were back in the Undersea, every empty hall we came across only deepened my dread.

“Of course not,” I shot back, squinting as I caught sight of two cecaelia at the junction ahead. They were far too small to be Jagati. Dammit . “But it would be nice if you at least tried!”

She didn’t understand—I had to find Kai and get him out of here before it was too late.

Hari muttered under her breath, irritation brewing in each twitch of her tentacles as they tightened around me.

She was annoyed? Well, too freaking bad! Her brother was the one who’d kidnapped my mate, and she had to have some idea where he might be taking him.

Oh, god. What if he’d gone straight to my grandmother?

We took a corner, and I immediately recognized the carving on the nearest wall—the unsettling form of a cecaelia, each of its tentacles holding a disembodied eye, watching from all directions.

My anger flared. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! You’re taking me to my chamber?”

Hari scoffed, barely meeting my glare. “Where else would I take you?”

I was seething, magic coiling beneath my palms like a storm about to break. “I don’t know, how about somewhere a knight would go after a mission? Like a debriefing chamber? Is that a thing in the Undersea?”

She was completely unhelpful. Wasn’t my attendant supposed to assist me on some level?

My eyes caught a flicker—barely there, but unmistakable. A nearly translucent tail slipped through the water like a ghost, the faintest ripple marking its passage.

My pulse leaped, and I didn’t think twice before calling out, “Aracos!”

Hari’s head snapped around, and she slammed to a halt. “That puppet’s wretched eel?”

“I’m so glad to see you!” Well, mostly see him. Technically, he was invisible, but thanks to all my practice tracking him, I could barely make him out under the magic.

Aracos’s dark eyes met mine, but he didn’t glide any closer. Instead, he hugged the wall behind him, his tail flicking in tight, anxious circles.

My eyebrows knit together. “What is it?” I lowered my voice as I leaned forward, feeling the weight of Hari’s irritation in her tentacles fighting to hold me back. Oh, right—Hari . I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to get near her.

“Master won’t like seeing you here,” Aracos’s voice rasped in my mind, his tone guarded.

It was a blow to the chest I hadn’t expected.

“He… won’t?” The words hardly made it past my lips. My brow creased further. “Why not?”

Aracos didn’t answer. His dark eyes darted away, searching for an escape, but I wasn’t ready to let him go.

“Call him for me,” I urged, fighting to keep my tone steady. After the way he’d kissed me, I couldn’t believe Abyssal wouldn’t want to see me again.

Hari let out a low, frustrated growl. “We don’t need that puppet scum,” she grumbled, yanking us away.

“No! Hari—” I protested, but a sudden burst of magic smoke swallowed my words.

It filled the hallway, and, in an instant, the sea wizard materialized. His white eyes landed on me, and… Aracos was right.

Abyssal looked at me, and there was an unmistakable flash of irritation, his mouth setting in a cold, unyielding frown.

My stomach knotted at the sight.

What had I done? Why did he look so upset to see me?

“You’ve returned,” he said carefully, those pale lips that had kissed me so passionately now delivering syllables that were as cold as they were bitter.

“I…” Straining against the tentacle wrapped around my middle, I desperately tried to find my voice. “I need your help, Abyssal. Please.”

The sound of his name cracked his icy demeanor, a hint of the warmth I remembered showing through. “My apologies,” he said, slicking his hair back with a lingering pause. “I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon.”

“But I’m glad,” I said, the rush of relief already filling me. “I’m so glad to see you.” He would know exactly how to save Kai from this nightmare.

“Abyssal?” Hari blurted, testing out the name like it was a word she’d never heard before.

“Let me down,” I ordered, pushing against her hold.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that her tentacles didn’t budge. “But, my lady!”

“I mean it,” I snapped back, fighting against her grip with all my strength. “I’m not going back to my chamber, so let. Me. Go .” Each word was punctuated by a determined shove, and I tumbled forward when her tentacles finally released.

Thankfully, Abyssal was right there to catch me. His white eyes were quick to sweep over my body the moment I fell into his embrace, an intense scrutiny that made my skin tingle and my throat tighten. “You reek,” he stated, blunt and unapologetic.

“What?” I blinked, as confused as I was mortified. I… reek?

I was still processing his comment when a rush of magic enveloped me, an even more tingly sensation that danced across my skin. When I looked down, I realized that the splotches of ink that had marked my body were gone.

“Oh, right. Thanks.” A flush was still creeping up my face. It was possible I’d just unlocked a new nightmare—him doing something charming only to follow it with, you reek . “Jagati inked me.”

“I’m well aware,” he said stiffly, and the look in his eyes was nothing short of murderous.

Now that the ink was gone, his pale hand glided over the top of my arm, the other settling possessively at my waist. Huh . He looked much more pleased to see me now.

Was that what Aracos had meant? That his master wouldn’t want to see me covered in Jagati’s ink?

The water rippled behind me, and I could sense Hari’s agitation. Maybe she’d liked that I’d been smeared with her brother’s foul substance.

“You can leave now, Hari,” I said, casting a glance over my shoulder.

Disbelief colored her voice as she echoed, “Leave?”

I ran my fingers through my hair as I turned back, pleased to discover it was also free of ink. “You’re dismissed for the rest of the day.”

A growl built in the back of Hari’s throat, a warning that was far from subtle.

“Go. I need to speak with Abyssal alone.”

At least one sibling could follow an order today. “Puppet scum,” she muttered, delivering one last parting shot that only served to amuse him.

She let her pike scrape against the stone floor with her exit, but she did leave us, and the moment she was gone, Abyssal’s demeanor shifted once more.

His gaze devoured my lips, a hunger burning like the hottest flame in their pale depths. Yet, instead of closing the distance to kiss me, he coolly inquired, “What assistance do you need from me?”

“It’s Kai,” I whispered, uncertain if he even knew who Kai was. “One of my mates. Jagati took him, and I need your help to get him back before my grandmother—before she—” My voice faltered, breaking apart. “Please.”

He pulled me in, but not for a kiss—more like a comforting embrace, almost like a hug. “I’ll help you,” his voice was low, a promise wrapped in steel.

The relief was instant. Thank goodness . I wrapped my arms around his neck, and if it hadn’t been a hug before, it definitely was now.