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Chapter Eighteen

THALIA

M y heart beat like an erratic drum as the boat shot out to sea, taking me with it. The cove and island grew farther and farther away. Vaarin was going to take on the Obsidian Pearl alone, and that wouldn’t be such a terrible thing—he was the king of the Northern Sea after all, but he was depleted. Drained of power from opening the vortex.

What if he didn’t survive?

He thought I was the hope of his people.

He thought by saving me he was saving them, but he wasn’t. I was no one. An orphan taken in by a king as an act of benevolence, a princess in name only, but Vaarin…Vaarin was the helm of his people. Their anchor. Their savior. Without him they’d be lost.

His life mattered more than mine.

There was only one thing to do.

I ran to the back of the boat and hauled the anchor over the edge, hoping to Thalor that we weren’t too far from land for the anchor to hit the seabed. The chains unraveled for what seemed like forever until the anchor hit bottom.

I tugged off my boots, limbs flooding with heat, ready for action, climbed onto the stern, and leapt into the water.

Ice stole my breath, and I came up gasping, taking in more icy water.

Move, Thalia.

I started to swim, sure, strong strokes cutting a path to land. I’d always been a strong swimmer, but I’d always kept close to the coast back home. These were deep waters. The water was frigid, clawing and cutting at my skin, and the current was strong, attempting to snag and drag me down by my clothes. My sword added weight to each stroke, but I kept my eye on land and forged on.

I wouldn’t let Vaarin do this alone. I couldn’t let him die.

Please, please, let me be in time.

But the cold seeped into my blood and bones, slowing my progress, making movement harder. Each breath spawned needles in my lungs.

My legs seized, and I went under.

No!

Move!

I kicked out for the surface, sucking in air, only for my body to give up on me and drag me back under.

Panic formed a fist around my torso, squeezing and crushing, commanding me to breathe. But breathing beneath the waves meant death. I reached for the light even as darkness closed in around me.

I was going to die, and Vaarin….Oh Thalor, please…I can’t die here. Not now. Not like this.

Movement in my periphery tightened the band around my chest. There was something in the water with me. Someone.

A woman with a pale elfin face swam toward me, a crimson tail of hair streaming out in the water behind her. As she grew near, her dark eyes bloomed to a stunning silvery gray. She hooked an arm around me, her face too close, her eyes too bright as they bore into me, and something inside me unfurled. A memory, knowledge…a hidden truth.

The light grew brighter the closer to the surface we got, but the urge to draw breath ebbed. Was I dead?

Was I?

She smiled, close-lipped, and pressed her pale palm to my chest. Warmth bloomed outward, permeating my limbs and freeing them from their paralysis.

Go quickly. Take the sea with you.

She released me with a shove that sent me hurtling to the surface, and a moment later, the pale triangle of her face was swallowed by dark depths.

My skin began to hum, the heat intensifying as I shot up and broke the surface. One breath was all I needed before turning to land once more. This time the chill of the water barely registered. This time the ocean didn’t fight me. It embraced me, carrying me to my destination, undoubtedly an effect of something my undersea savior had done.

My exhaustion was replaced with a humming energy that saturated my being.

The cove grew larger and larger.

I was almost there.