Page 15 of The Deep End of Death (Twilight Lake #4)

“Come to put a blade in my back?” My teeth mashed together.

“You stab someone once…” Cormac rolled his eyes. “And I called your name. You were otherwise occupied.”

“Was I?” I turned to the sea, my cloudy thoughts dissolving. I couldn’t remember what had consumed me. I shook my head to clear it. “You said I was in the sky. Is that a metaphor?”

“No.” Cormac jabbed a thumb at storm clouds above us. “I was tied up in the galley, but the others told me. You were floating. Drunk on power.”

“Power?” I played dumb.

Cormac’s eyes sparkled. “Did you learn anything interesting from your dinner with the captain?”

I rubbed my cold arms. “Apart from his plans to sell you all to the Hags of Goren at the rare meat market?”

“Hmm.” Cormac rubbed his square jaw. “How far do you think it is to shore?”

I didn’t know, so I didn’t answer.

Cormac moved closer, shifting his body until his face was all I could see. My heart skipped a beat, but I kept my expression impassive.

“What is wrong with you?” Cormac said, his voice low and threatening.

I scoffed. I couldn’t lie, so I remained silent. There was something wrong with me, something I couldn’t put my finger on. It was as if my body was an outfit that didn’t fit quite right, and the life I’d worn before was too tight.

Maybe it was the stone screeching in my ear for blood.

“Maybe I’m growing up,” I said.

Cormac’s hand snaked out, gripping my jaw, mashing my cheeks together. His fingers were callused, and his grip was firm enough to hurt.

Cormac never touched me. In fact, he made a point not to.

He forced my face toward his. His nose was an inch from mine.

“You look at the water with fear.” Cormac’s eyes narrowed. “You are Undine. You were born with water in your lungs and salt on your skin. You do not cower.”

“I’m not frightened of the water.” I sneered.

I was frightened of the Kraken—that the beast would take my piece of the High Throne, leaving me powerless.

“You haven’t gone in the water since Cruinn.” Cormac’s husky voice sent shivers down my spine. Somehow, he managed to make everything a threat and a taunt.

“Nuada’s pearl,” I stated.

“ Excuses .”

“Feck off.” I pushed him away.

Cormac could have remained still on his feet, but he allowed me to push him away. “Don’t start this again. The others might be blind to it, they may wish you are healthy and whole after all that shark-shit in Cruinn, but I know better. You can’t lie to me.”

“I can’t lie anyway.” I pointed out.

Cormac growled under his breath, his eyes rolling as he searched the heavens for patience.

“We need to get as far from the Twilight Lake as possible. The Siren Queen has given us a boon, though it might not seem so. We must travel to the Night King. The Unseelie Court and the city of Midnight, where it resides, are the most protected in the entire Kingdom. Balor will not risk coming this far inland just for you.”

“Oh, she will.” I sucked my lips between my teeth.

“What did you do ?”

“I haven’t done anything worse than what was done to me.

” I met his eyes. “I have no intention of ever going back to Cruinn. I would sooner die, Illfinn. You don’t understand.

I made peace with it. I slammed my skull against that stone chair until my brain leaked out of my head because I wanted to die .

” Each word lifted my voice until I realized I was shouting.

Everyone on the deck of the boat turned to face me.

I brushed my hands down the front of my sodden and ripped tunic as if I could erase the dirt with a simple wipe of my bloody fingers. My cheeks warmed, and I looked away, feeling an inch tall.

“Why do you bring out such a horrible side of me?” I snarled, unable to lift my head.

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything close to horrible.” Cormac bit back a sad smile. “Honest, maybe?”

“Do you ever think that Sídhe have become too adept at lying with the truth?” I mused, rubbing my cheeks to hide the tears.

“Captain Hallow got under your skin.” Cormac surmised.

A flash of Grabby and the wine covered my vision, as did the echo of my anger. How frightened I’d been.

I’d been in the same situation a hundred times before. Forced to dine with those who wished to mock, harm, and use me.

I hadn’t been able to save myself then—an orphan child amongst court snakes.

“To Midnight and the Night King’s frozen castle,” I said, forcing a smile on my face.

“Keep swimming forward.” Cormac nodded sagely.

Until then, I hadn’t realized that the redheaded stranger had drifted closer to us, no doubt eavesdropping on our every word.

“To Midnight, you say?” Cillian Lane said, feigning disinterest.

Cormac narrowed his eyes. “Is that an issue?”

Cillian Lane held up his hands in a disarming fashion. “I have no intention of allowing myself to be taken to Midnight. If that was where you were heading.”

“No one invited you.” Cormac pointed out. “You are free to leave whenever you wish, Sídhe.”

My brow furrowed. “He is a land-fae. I don’t think he could swim to shore from here.”

“We’re near to the Mists of Murk,” Cillian said as if his statement was common knowledge. “The pirates would avoid sailing over the Kraken’s trench as far as it extends. It means longer on the water to Everfall but keeps a vessel close to land in case of monsters.”

“How do you know this?” Cormac faced the Sídhe, signaling that Cillian Lane was either very interesting—or had become a threat.

Cillian waved a hand toward the ship. “I’ve been on this ship a while. There is a bounty on my head, just like your friend—the Eoin.”

“Hmm.” Cormac’s eyes narrowed.

Cillian craned his neck. “Ugly skies, calm waters.” He noted as if that meant something important.

Shay cursed from the other side of the ship, and Rainn waved us over. Tormalugh bent over, water up to his ankles, studying the broken ship pieces on the deck. He unfurled his body, sparing us a glance before returning to his task.

“There’s something in the water,” Rainn called out. “I don’t recognize the creed.”

“Naiad?” I suggested, crossing the deck.

Rainn moved to the side, allowing me an unobscured view of the endless sea.

A dark head stuck out from the roiling waves a hundred yards away.

It could have been a rock, as unmoving and unaffected by the tide as it was, but there were two eyes reflecting moonlight.

A moment later, another head appeared beside the other.

The eyes were unblinking as they watched us.

Shay cursed again.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Thiggen.” Shay lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the dull moonlight. “Just what we fecking need.”

I’d never heard Shay curse before. The Thiggen must have been bad news.

“We don’t have any wine. All the supplies are blown to feck.” Shay continued.

“Wine?” Rainn frowned.

Shay nodded, still facing the ominous dark figures on the sea. A moment later, another head appeared. “They ask for a tithe. A barrel of ale, things like that. They'll sink the ship if they don’t get their tithe.”

“I’d say it’s already on the way out.” Rainn laughed, but the sound was nervous. “ How will they sink the ship?”

“Thiggen can control the waves. There is enough of them to create a whirlpool. It’s not magic, but brute force.” Shay explained. “My great-grand Da told me that Thiggen have a weakness for alcohol.”

Rainn leaned back, calling to Tor, Cormac, and Cillian. “Check the galley for wine, beer, anything!”

Tor pulled the blade from his belt. “I can outswim them.”

“If you think so.” Shay clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, his words laden with sarcasm. “I don’t want bloodshed. We cannot draw attention to ourselves. We don’t know how far Balor’s reach is.”

I agreed. I also didn’t want to go in the water.

I reached into my pocket, gripping the worn stone.

When my fingers wrapped around my piece of the High Throne, a strange kind of thirst settled in my bones.

Telling me I could dissolve the Thiggen with a whispered word if I wanted to. That it was my right.

Feed their blood to the water the stone suggested.

I ripped my hand from my pocket. Frozen as I looked out at the glowing eyes of our stalkers.

“Thiggen?” Cillian exclaimed. “Feck. No. I’m not dealing with those buggers. They’ll bring a storm down on our heads!”

“Son of a Snámhaí! ” Cormac barked, his voice echoing through the night as he gestured to the sky. Tor shook his head sadly, but Cillian, the stranger, was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s bloody flown away!” Cormac snarled.

“Flown away?” Rainn glanced at the clouds.

Cormac waved his hand toward the sky as a winged person flew across the moon, leaving a shadow and the faintest tinge of bronze feathers.

“He was a Siren?” I asked, but none of the Princelings had an answer. “He did say there was a bounty on his head. Sirens are often hunted by pirates.”

“He’s jumped ship!” Cormac was indignant. “He’s left us to deal with the Thiggen after everything we did for him!”

“What?” Shay crossed his arms over his chest. “Leaving him tied up in the galley?”

“We untied him.” Cormac protested.

The ship rocked to the side, leaning heavily to the right. The water on the deck sloshed, shifting toward the railing. It took a moment to realize that we were spinning.

“We’ve got to swim for it,” Rainn said.

“No!” I didn’t mean to shout.

Each of the males looked at me.

I resisted the urge to grip the stone in my pocket. “I’m not going in the water. What about the Kraken?”

“Cillian Lane said the pirates used this route to avoid the Kraken.” Cormac pointed out.

“No.” I shook my head, stepping away from the group.

“I don’t think you have much choice, Love.” I hadn’t heard Tor's approach. He placed his hand on my shoulder. “You can ride my back if you like.”

“Above the water? Like before?” I hated how weak I sounded.