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Claira

A byssal’s voice came soft and near, muffled by the closeness of his lips to my cheek. “He’s safe for now. Rest assured, no additional harm will befall your lover. I swear it.”

I braced my hands against his chest, pushing away to force him to meet my gaze. “You know where Kai is?”

“Indeed.” The pale column of his throat bobbed, the only crack in his composure. “He’s deep in the bowels of the dungeons, locked there by my magic.”

My relief eroded into doubt, a hint of betrayal shadowing it.

“You… locked him in a dungeon?” Why would he do that?

“Only to keep him safe.”

Safe? A dungeon didn’t exactly scream ‘safety.’

Abyssal inclined his head, and there was a calmness in his voice that felt misplaced. “The knight was moments away from presenting him to the queen when I intervened. I had to act quickly.” He paused, measuring his words. “Although I will admit, my solution does bring certain… complications.”

I swallowed, eyeing him warily. “Complications?”

His attention drifted, and I could see him slipping deep into his own thoughts as he muttered, “Several, in fact.”

Oh, great.

Then, his eyes refocused sharply as if a sudden spark had ignited in his mind. “Although, now that you’re here, I may know just the way.”

“Yeah? What do you have in mind?” Desperation was already seeping into my voice. “I’ll do anything. Whatever it takes to get him back, I’ll do it. Just tell me how.”

“Teleport us to your chamber.”

“My chamber?” I said, glancing around. “We’re practically already there.” It would take him less than a minute to drag us the rest of the way. Less than a second if he were to teleport us.

He leaned down to my level, close enough for the dark strands of hair drifting around him to tickle my forehead. “I know it can be daunting to teleport somewhere you can’t see,” he murmured, his hand traveling a reassuring line along my arm. “But your magic has its own sight. Trust it. Right now, your lover needs you.”

The sly smile tilting Abyssal’s lips told me this was a deliberate nudge intended to get me past my fear. Ugh . He was right. Of course, he was. If I wanted to help save Kai and get him out of the Undersea, I needed to be able to teleport to places I couldn’t see.

“All right,” I exhaled, calling on my magic. Thankfully, after today’s events, it was eager to move. As it filled me, I focused on my chamber, picturing it vividly—the bed of seagrass I slept in, the slope of the wall next to it.

Goodness . What if I was concentrating on the wall too much and ended up dragging us inside it?

“I’m here, Claira.” Abyssal’s smoky whisper brushed my ear, eliciting a pleasant shiver. I liked it when he used my name. “There’s nothing to fear.”

Right. Nothing to fear—except for the way he was distracting me. I steadied myself, letting the magic rise.

Snap.

We emerged in the center of my chamber. My stomach, however, took its sweet time catching up with the rest of me.

I lurched forward, collapsing further into Abyssal’s arms. The first thing I saw when I recovered was Hari sprawled lazily over her usual spot near my chamber’s entrance.

It took a second for her to notice us, but when she did, she sat up with a start. “My lady?—!”

Shit. Panic spiked through me until Abyssal smoothed back his hair like he usually did after casting magic. Right. She would naturally assume he’d been the one to teleport us, not me.

“You said you wouldn’t be back,” she snapped, a tentacle going for the abandoned pike sitting next to her. As soon as she had it, she cleared her throat. “I thought I would do my duty. Guard your chamber, y’know?”

“Guarding an empty chamber. Sure,” I said tightly, my stomach finally settling back into place.

She shifted her weight, one eyebrow rising. “Where’s your crown?” she asked, her weapon clattering as she propped it on her shoulder.

I reached up, half-expecting it to be hidden in my hair, and felt the tangles it had left behind instead. Damn . I’d left it behind with the teleport. I really did hate that thing.

“Sorry to keep doing this, but I need you to leave,” I said, knowing full well Hari wasn’t here to guard my chamber. “I know you’re just hanging around for my next feast, but I think it would be better if you ate with the other knights this evening.”

Her anger flared in the form of a rumbling growl, her gaze darting between me and Abyssal. Then, with a dramatic eye roll, she pushed off the wall and slipped out of the entrance without another word.

“Nicely done, princess,” Abyssal remarked, though I couldn’t tell if he was complimenting how I’d handled Hari or my teleportation skills. Either way, I appreciated the praise.

“Thanks.” A flush crested my cheeks. “Now what?”

His eyes raked over my chamber as if he were searching for something specific. “Ah—” He drew us over to my desk, where I’d left my magical seashell knife. “This is exactly what I was looking for.” He picked it up, offering it to me.

“Perfect.” Hope sparked in my chest as I took it, my hand slipping comfortably into the shell’s smooth curve. “We’ll slice him out of the dungeon.”

“Hm? No.” His mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ with the word. “The magic seal I cast over his cell is one of the few things this fabrication cannot cut through.”

“Oh.” I frowned, my confidence deflating. “Since you cast it, why can’t you just open it?”

Abyssal’s expression shifted to something more serious. “Unfortunately, I’m forbidden from releasing prisoners without the crown’s command.”

Then, his voice became softer, more intimate. “But you don’t need me to do it. I’m going to teach you a secret about our magic,” he murmured, and my pulse raced as he cupped my hand, lifting the shell closer to my face. “There’s a way to manipulate the fabric of spells, to sift through the threads of magic holding them together, and even unravel them.”

“That’s hardly a secret,” I said, squinting down to focus on the nearly invisible threads of dark magic running over the shell’s surface. “You already told me how to unravel the threads of a spell. I’ve tried, but all I ever manage to do is get a splitting headache.”

“The headache is unfortunate, but the secret is this—” He leaned in, his thumb ghosting over the back of my knuckles. “—It’s not limited to your own spells. Since you and I share a similar magic, you can unravel mine as well.”

My eyes widened as I glanced back at the minuscule threads covering the shell knife. I’d noticed them, sure, but I hadn’t thought much of them. Certainly not about unraveling them. “I can break this spell?”

“You can, at the cost of a headache.” His voice curled into a low chuckle. “Of course, the longer magic rests, the more it clings to its place. But once you manage to unravel this, I would imagine a freshly laid confinement seal would be easy work.”

So, he genuinely expected me to untangle and break through the spell keeping Kai in the dungeons? Dread twisted my stomach, knocking me back off-kilter.

I was never any good at untangling nets—Dad and Gram would attest to that. Repairing them? Sure. I could do that all day. But whenever our nets got knotted, Dad didn’t even bother asking for my help anymore.

It seemed like a cruel joke that Kai’s rescue depended on a skill I struggled with.

Abyssal’s pale hand guided me to the first thread. “I prefer to start where the threads are the most sparsely woven.” His voice was soft and encouraging. “Follow this one here. See how it loops around the edge of the shell?”

I nodded, swallowing back my doubts as I traced the thread with a fingertip. A subtle magic tingled beneath my touch, a sensation I was slowly beginning to grow accustomed to. Still, it felt nearly impossible, delicately teasing apart each strand, like trying to unravel a spider’s web without breaking it. At least the magic wasn’t sticky.

A dull throb pounded behind my temples as Abyssal’s gentle voice led me through the maze of magic. “And there it is. You found an end.”

He was right. Just below my fingertip was the end of a thread.

“Now,” he urged softly. “Lift.”

I lifted, and the magic thread peeled away, dissolving as soon as it left the shell. No way.

“Excellent. Very nicely done.”

His praise became a constant as I worked, rounding the shell in my hand, the lines of magic thinning with each turn.

A tiny gasp escaped me when I eventually reached the thread’s final end. The shell broke apart in my hands, splitting into two—a shell and a knife.

The knife slipped, but Abyssal was quick to catch it.

Honestly, as relieved as I was to have succeeded, I was sad to see my shell knife lose its magic.

“I knew you could do it,” he said, snapping the knife closed with a practiced flick. Satisfaction soaked every word, and I could hear the pride in his smile before I even glanced up.

It was… strange. Abyssal never doubted me. Even when I was elbow-deep in something I barely understood, something I had no confidence in, he always believed in my abilities. The question slipped before I could stop it. “How?”

His chin tilted, amusement smoothing his expression. “How?”

“How did you know I could do it?”

For a moment, time stretched, my chamber fading into a soft blur as he searched my face, thinking, considering. “Because I’ve seen your soul.”

He raised a hand, stopping me the second my mouth opened to clarify. “I’m not speaking of the vision of you in the mirror. What I mean is what lies here.” His hand found the center of my chest, right below where the necklace he’d given me rested. “In here is the soul of someone who would do whatever it takes to protect those she loves.”

My breath caught as a prickle formed in my throat. How was it he saw past my fears and my self-doubt—how did he see me as I wanted to be? As I’d almost forgotten I could be?

Whatever it takes. He was right, per usual. Kai needed me, and I couldn’t think of a single thing I wouldn’t do to save him.

“Thank you, wizard.” The old nickname slipped out before I could catch it. But still, I leaned in, pressing my lips to his. His mouth was cold and tense against mine, but I couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. I’d finally caught him off guard.

When I pulled away, his eyes were wide. Stunned.

He blinked, his astonishment slowly morphing into a sly smile that sent a wave of warmth crashing through me. “I wasn’t ready for that,” he admitted, his gaze lowering to my lips. “Care to try again?”

More heat blossomed, spreading from my chest to my tail—it was probably the warmest I’d ever felt in the Undersea.

A soft laugh escaped me, light and breathless. “Not right now,” I said, refocusing on the shell in my hand. “We should really head to the dungeons and save Kai.”

“Unfortunately, that’s where things become… difficult for me.” He smoothed back his hair, drawing my attention to his sharp features. “I cannot accompany you to the dungeons. Strictly speaking, I’m not permitted to help any of the Undersea’s prisoners.”

I raised an eyebrow, my fingers absently tracing the surface of the now-normal shell. “But you just showed me how to break into Kai’s cell? I think I’d call that helping.”

“Ah—” Abyssal’s mouth quirked in an unapologetic smirk as he reopened the knife, inspecting its edge. “Technically, I showed you how to break this spell,” he corrected smoothly, snapping the knife back shut. “An entirely different matter, wouldn’t you agree?”

My eyes narrowed. “Not really, no. If you can’t help anyone in the dungeons, how were you expecting to get Kai out?”

Abyssal let out a soft, almost defeated chuckle, his head bowing as he shook it. “I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t quite worked that part out yet,” he began, “But luckily for me, my clever and resourceful princess showed up to help me navigate these little obstacles.”

“Yeah, how lucky for you,” I muttered before releasing a sigh. “But coming along with me to the dungeons isn’t really ‘helping’ if I do all the work, is it?”

He paused, considering my words. “Perhaps not… but perhaps yes.” His eyes narrowed as if he were trying to capture the thought from all angles. “If I were to carry you there, would you really be doing all the work? And if my presence were to bolster your courage, wouldn’t that be considered help?” He shook his head again. “These commands that bind me, the closer I get to them, the trickier it becomes to work my loopholes.”

“Okay, fine.” I hated to admit it, but a lot of my courage had hinged on him being a part of this rescue mission. “If you have to keep your distance, can you at least drop me off nearby? Maybe draw me a map or something?”

His eyes softened with a hint of mischief dancing in their corners. “Unfortunately, no,” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice. “I won’t be doing a thing. Aracos, however, informs me there’s a place he’s been dying to take you.”

“Aracos?” Oh… Oh .

“Some place he claims all his favorite skulls have originated,” Abyssal continued, his smirk now fully formed. “I wonder where he could mean?”

So, some of the skulls I’d seen in Aracos’s den had come from the dungeons? Lovely, just lovely.

I nearly shot out of my skin as something brushed a line against my back.

“Aracos will take you there.” The eel’s voice whispered in my mind, sounding far less nervous now than he had when I’d seen him in the hall.

Suppressing a shiver, I offered him my biggest smile, even if it felt a bit shaky. “Th-thanks, Aracos.” Which reminded me…

I turned back to Abyssal. “Are you busy?”

He leaned closer, darkness swirling around his eyes. “Terribly busy,” he said bluntly. Then, his smirk returned. “But for you, perhaps I could spare some time.”

That was good enough for me. “Cyre’s back near the island. He’s hurt, thanks to Hari’s brother, although I can’t tell how badly.”

I swallowed hard, bracing myself against the swell of worry that had been rising since my familiar’s injury. “Every time he checks in, I feel his pain. It’s… a lot.”

“Consider it done.” Abyssal’s fingers grazed me as he lifted a section of my hair off my collarbone. “I’ll find him, heal him for you,” he murmured, and to my astonishment, he leaned in and planted a soft kiss on the strands, sealing his promise.

The warmth in my chest rekindled. “Thank you.”

Abyssal’s lips lingered on my hair a moment longer before he straightened. “Good luck, princess. I wish you and your lover all the best.”

The emphasis he put on ‘your lover’ sank into me like a weight.

He tapped us down to my chamber floor, and then he was gone, leaving me clutching nothing but fading wisps of magic in my arms.

“Teleporting away while touching me? Really?” I muttered, prodding at a small puff of his magic, feeling just like the crown I’d left behind. “He better have been showing off, Aracos, because that actually stings.”

Aracos slithered to my side. “Master revels in showing off to our little captive.” He nudged my shoulder. “Both Master and Aracos care deeply for our princess.”

An eel calling me little ? I snorted, petting his head. “Yeah, you’d better.” Glancing down, I flexed my empty hand. Huh. Abyssal had taken both parts of my broken shell knife with him.

Before I could dwell on it, Aracos slid over my shoulders, and our surroundings flickered and reshaped around us as we teleported.

When we reappeared, a murky stillness pressed in on all sides. So, this was the Undersea’s dungeons.

The water was heavy and unmoving, as if it hadn’t stirred in ages. Its foulness seeped into my nose, filling my lungs with a pungent decay sharp enough to make my stomach churn.

The dungeon’s walls were rough, jutting with sharp corners, a treacherous ceiling bearing down from above.

… Dammit.

This place was a nightmare, and the worst part was that Kai was here because of me—because I’d held back, too afraid to blast Jagati the moment he’d found us on land.

Aracos slithered ahead, his movements smooth and silent as I followed, gripping the rocks lining the tunneling walls. Thank goodness my scales were tough. The stones here were brutal, and I tried not to think about how easily one could scrape skin down to the bone.

“Master says the lover is this way.”

“Convenient,” I muttered, reaching for another jutting rock to pull myself along. “I thought he wasn’t supposed to be helping?—”

I froze as Aracos’s body stilled. He pulled back, going rigid as a voice filled the hall, so deep I felt the stone tremble beneath my hands.

“Is that you, puppet scum?”

Shit! Dammit, dammit. Not him! Not now.

My teeth clenched as the first tentacle slid around the corner, followed by the rest of him—a blurred mass of scarred, hulking appendages.

“Fuck.” I let the word loose the second Jagati’s eyes turned our way.

“Princess?” Dark eyebrows drew together, and he seemed to look right through me. Double fuck . Aracos had put up an invisibility spell that I’d instantly ruined by speaking.

“Are you hiding from me, yet again?” Jagati murmured, and the slow flick of his tongue over his scarred lip triggered a switch inside me, all the rage from earlier snapping back into place.

Ruined? No—this wasn’t ruined. This was an opportunity.

Darkness gathered at my fingertips, an unfamiliar yet welcomed thrill igniting in my chest. Could my magic actually melt flesh? I was beyond ready to find out.

“Drop the shield, Aracos.” My tone was sharper than the jagged rocks around us. I wanted Jagati to see me, to know exactly who I was when I finally let loose the power I’d been holding back for far too long.

“Master wouldn’t like that.” Aracos hesitated, a tremor working through his tail. “Master wants us hidden, safe from danger.”

I was done with hiding.

More magic pooled in my hands, the darkness swirling, hungry for release. “Do you know why I didn’t hurt you when I first saw you back on land, Jagati?” My voice stayed low, steady. Deadly.

Even though he couldn’t see me, that scarred lip lifted oh-so smugly. “You? Hurt me?” He chuckled, although something darker lurked beneath his amusement. “I believe I might have enjoyed that.”

Fucking pervert.

“Because I didn’t want my mates thinking I was a monster,” I continued, my throat going tighter with every word. “But I should have hurt you. I wanted to. I will .”

The promise left my lips with a surge of magic, feeding the darkness seeping from cold fingertips. The surrounding water vibrated with the force of it, and for the first time, his smug expression wavered.

Ha. He finally felt it. My power. My strength.

A low growl simmered in his throat, his tentacles snapping as he swept closer.

With my magic alive in my hands, I didn’t so much as flinch. “I’m not afraid of you, Jagati. I’m not helpless, not lacking.”

That said, I unleashed everything. All the anger, the resentment, every frustration born from the Undersea—all of it directed at him.

The dark wave slammed into the bulk of him, and his roar shook the dungeon.

It seemed Abyssal wasn’t the only one who could melt flesh. My magic forced its way through his flesh, and the sound of it tearing was a sickening symphony to my ears.

So damn satisfying.

I watched as he staggered back, his eyes wide with shock from the pain of his skin melting away, and my hearts were completely numb to it.

In fact, the pain wasn’t enough. Even as he collapsed in a smoldering heap, I wanted more. I wanted him to suffer for ever thinking he had a claim to me, for laying his disgusting tentacles on my familiar, and for hurting my mates.

Aracos darted in front of me, trying to stop me from releasing my next surge of magic. “Aracos worries that Master will be blamed!”

That simple warning was all it took to make me pause. My gaze snapped back to Jagati’s writhing form, and— oh my goodness . Aracos was right. My magic looked just like Abyssal’s. There was no way anyone would think he wasn’t the one who attacked Jagati.

Would anyone in the Undersea care if Jagati died? … Of course they would. He was like a celebrity here. And by the sound of his moaning, his death was very close.

“Can you heal him?” I asked, even as everything inside me screamed for him not to. But I’d never forgive myself if Abyssal were to be punished for this.

“Upon looking closer, Aracos doesn’t want to.”

What?

The eel inched toward Jagati, a gleeful gleam in his eye. “Aracos thinks the knight’s head has an impressive shape.” He tilted his neck like he was savoring the thought of adding Jagati’s skull to his collection. “Master says Aracos can keep whatever he finds in the dungeons.”

Um. All right then. My pulse pounded at the thought of ever having to explain that to Hari.

Oh. After this, she wouldn’t want anything to do with me, would she?

“We need to get to Kai,” I stammered, pushing every other thought away.

“The lover is ahead.” Aracos’s voice broke through, though he seemed unwilling to part from Jagati’s head.

The knight’s breath came in desperate gasps as I pulled past him. “Prin—cess—” he croaked, his tongue lolling out like he was on the brink of choking on it.

It was amazing how little I cared that he was bleeding out in front of me. One of his tentacles feebly stretched, seeking me out, and I easily pushed it aside. “Bane of kings, was it?” I whispered, my voice low and biting. “Your skull will be the only part of you earning admiration now.”

And then I left him to die.

For once, I felt powerful. Like nothing in the Undersea could touch me. I gripped that feeling tight as I pulled through the thick, lifeless water, moving deeper into the dungeons.

Once I turned my first corner, I realized Aracos was serious about staying behind. Damn, he really wanted that skull. The path turned yet again and there it was, a blocked-off hollow, rough and jagged, like a beast had clawed it from the rock.

No locked door, no guards. There was no need.

A dark weave of magic stretched over the cell’s entrance, and for a moment, I wondered what it would look like to those who couldn’t see the threads. A solid wall? Nothing?

My eyes focused on what was directly behind it, and I held in a gasp.

There, in the center of the cell, floated Kai. His small body was suspended, held up by miniature versions of the magical strands I knew so well. He looked so fragile in his fish form. Suffocated.

“Hold on, Kai,” I said, not even knowing if he was awake to hear it. Was he moving? My eyes strained, but I couldn’t tell. “I’ll get you out of there.”

My hearts pounded as I pulled up to the barrier and scanned for the gaps in the threads like Abyssal had instructed.

A fresh spell would be easier? Yeah, okay. Working over an entire wall was nothing like a shell that fit in my hands.

My arms protested as I pulled myself up higher to follow the dark strands, concentrating on the shaky tip of a finger so I wouldn’t lose my place.

Finally! There it was, the end of a thread already.

I lifted the thread, and, to my relief, it dissolved under my fingertips. Jagati’s moans were becoming distracting, but with a deep, steadying breath of putrid dungeon water, I got to work.

Okay, maybe Abyssal had been right—the threads were easier to pull apart on a fresh spell, and I was thankful for the small mercy.

I worked, layer by layer, periodically stealing glances at Kai’s fish form. Until, finally, when Jagati’s groans had ceased completely, the barrier dropped.

“Kai?” I crawled to him, breathless. Relief washed over me as soon as I saw his gills move, even if it was just a whisper of life. “Oh, Kai…” My thrall-crazed soul ached with the deep, consuming desire to reach for him, like it was trying to convince me we were two parts of a bigger whole, never meant to be apart. “I’ll get us out of here,” I promised, eyeing the magic binding him.

I didn’t have my magic shell knife to cut through the strands, but I didn’t need it, did I?

I was going to have to time this just right.

You can do this, Claira. My mind was already focusing on figuring out the furthest place I thought my magic could take us.

Fear crept in as I thought about that first portal on the way to the mouth of the Undersea. Was it… too far? Still swarming with cecaelia?

Honestly, I had no clue how much distance my magic could handle. But I couldn’t let fear stop me. Not now.

“Okay. I’ll just… do a count.” I lifted a hand, hovering just short of touching the flowing, frilled edge of his tail. “One, two…” With a yelped three, I wrapped my hand around him, and as soon as we touched, teleported.

Snap.

My stomach lurched as our surroundings shifted, dropping us on the path leading to the mouth of the Undersea.

“Shit!” I gasped, dizziness slamming into me like a rogue wave.

Kai’s merman form drifted beside me, and I found my fingers clinging tightly to one of his back fins. In a frantic scramble, I wrapped my other arm around him just in time to realize we were sinking.

Seriously? How could I have forgotten that the path out of the Undersea was practically vertical?

I scanned for the portal as we sank deeper, my vision swimming with panic. As soon as I recognized it, I teleported us again with another snap.

This time, I’d aimed above it, hoping we’d miraculously catch it on our way down. I did, but— holy crap —dragging Kai’s limp body through it with me was far more difficult than breaking him out of the dungeons had been.

Once we were both finally through, the portal spit us right where I’d expected it to: in front of a welcoming party of cecaelia, all lined up in formation like they’d gathered here just to wait for us.

Well, wasn’t this just ideal?

Several of the cecaelia turned our way, but I couldn’t afford to panic because we were already sinking. A strangled sound escaped me as I hurriedly envisioned the next portal.

It was even further, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Kai away from the Undersea. Snap.

We fell straight through this portal, and as soon as we were on the other side, I reached out blindly, desperate for a rock, a ledge, anything to keep us from sinking before I could pin down where to teleport us to next.

Oh—oh no. My head spun, my eyes unwilling to focus, and the magic I’d been pulling from suddenly felt thin and sluggish when I called on it.

How much had I used on Jagati? How much did I even have left?

By sheer luck, my tail snagged a ledge, and I hauled Kai over on it with me. I panted, scanning our surroundings as soon as my vision cleared. Whoa —I actually did it. I’d taken us all the way to the mouth of the Undersea.

The ocean here was open and desolate, and while there were no cecaelia lurking in sight, I knew I couldn’t risk staying so close to the portal.

My fingers twitched, straining as I forced them to gather more magic. I fixed my gaze as far into the haunting expanse as I could manage. Snap.

Then, as soon as my eyes adjusted, I focused again. Snap .

We landed on the gritty seafloor, and I practically collapsed on top of Kai, every muscle drained. But I’d done it—I’d gotten us out. We were safe, just us, if only for a second.

“Kai…” My fingers trembled as I brushed through his short spikes of hair. He looked so different without color, his eyes shut and lips relaxed, missing his usual smile. I hugged him close, drawing my body the rest of the way to his, wishing I had the power to wake him.

But I wasn’t without any power. As long as I had magic left, I’d use it to get him back to Leander and Barren. To keep him safe.

My gaze fell on the trident mark etched into his smooth chest, and I swallowed hard, forcing back a sob. I brushed my fingers against it, then pressed my lips to his forehead, pouring every ounce of my love for him into that kiss.

“Just a little further,” I whispered, forcing myself not to look up at all the ocean we still had above us. I would teleport us the rest of the way out of here. Get him back to the surface.

I had to.