Page 42 of Waves (Tangled Crowns #6)

Avia

“ I s it there?” I asked for the thousandth time.

“Patience, patience, child,” Lizza clucked what was left of her tongue, but a new hole in her cheek turned the sound into a strange sort of suction noise.

I looked sideways to share a disgusted look with Gita—as had become our habit lately whenever Lizza was near—before remembering that I’d given her the day off to be with Humberto.

He’d officially withdrawn from the tournament about an hour ago and I’d let them go off to celebrate.

Of course, it wouldn’t have made sense for Gita to be here anyway.

While she knew many of my secrets, she didn’t know this one.

And wouldn’t. I was clearly still exhausted from the strain of facing off against the dragon and Sahar.

The castle mage and I stood shoulder to shoulder in one of my sitting rooms in the palace of Palati, the green glass windows giving the space an eerie glow.

Raj splayed lazily across my settee, asleep, somehow able to breathe in his djinn form beneath the water, though I didn’t see any gills. Shirtless, wearing pants and sporting bare feet instead of that twist of smoke on his lower half, he looked nearly human.

It had been a surprise to find him here when I arrived with the rest of our traveling party. I’d expected arrogant defiance of my wishes—for him to have figured out some loophole that allowed him to sprawl across my bed and claim it for himself. For him to try to set a trap.

He hadn’t.

For some unknown reason, he’d done exactly as ordered.

It made me study the djinn’s relaxed features, my eyes moving from the stubble lining his strong jaw to the straight line of his nose and then to the eyelashes that never should have belonged to a man.

Long and perfectly curled, they gave such a delicate appearance to a djinn built of unadulterated evil.

I hadn’t woken Raj yet, determined to wait until Lizza was certain her X-ray fish or some other technique would verify what I was already certain of—the bastard had my heart.

A clinking noise came from Lizza’s black bag of mysteries as she leaned farther into the thing than should have been possible, her entire torso disappearing.

“Ah-ha!” she cried, voice echoing as if she was inside a vast wine cellar.

“Here it is.” With a flourish, she popped upright holding a nearly empty bottle.

She shook it and two transparent fish flopped within.

“It’s not much, but hopefully it will get the job done. ”

Inhaling, I took a step closer and immediately, Ugo came closer as well. My mer guard was on edge, his spear at the ready, his fiery gaze focused on Raj as if he could burn the former king on willpower alone.

“Put the blade to his neck,” Felipe growled, stepping protectively in front of me, hands clenched as if he wished he had his own spear. He’d swapped his tail for legs once we’d reached my chambers, and I vaguely wondered if he wanted to kick Raj in the jewels.

Mateo crowded my left side, his tail swishing water around my calf. Though he didn’t look as ready to fight as the other two, I had little doubt his role was to yank me backward as the other two surged forward—if Raj did try to pull any tricks.

Keelan stood in the back of the room near Paavo, his expression stoic. He was probably still in shock after everything with his mother, but he’d refused when I’d offered to let him leave. Mr. Whelk floated in front of his chest, staying close.

I’d quickly briefed the trio when I sent for Lizza so that they knew what to expect.

Even with their support, anticipation skittered across my skin unpleasantly. I both wanted to find my heart and didn’t.

"Raj, I wish you'd wake up," I whispered, twisting the ring, my stomach corkscrewing in tandem.

The djinn's head jerked before his eyelashes fluttered and a dangerous blast of lust washed over me, nearly buckling my knees when our gazes locked. My hand flew to my chest, startled, and it was a moment before I calmed the rapid thrum of my pulse.

What the hell was that? Was the lust his trick? Does he know about our connection? Is he using it to get to me?

"Open wide," Lizza crooned, twisting the lid off her jar.

Immediately, Raj sat up, brows furrowed, concern etched on his face.

"I wish you'd eat these," I told him, without explanation.

"What is it?"

Of course, the former sultan couldn't just heed my commands, even if they did magically bind him. Suspicion swirled within my gut, and it took me a moment longer than it had with the lust to realize that the feeling was his. He didn’t trust me.

The feeling was mutual.

"Eat those fish so that I can see the truth."

Raj blinked and opened his mouth to ask a question before stopping himself. Whether he did it of his own accord or because Felipe took the jar from Lizza and shoved it at him, I wasn't sure.

Raj grabbed the jar before swiveling his eyes to mine. With a look that yanked at my lower belly, he reached inside. He didn’t even bother to look at the disgusting creature’s foul appearance before he sucked it down.

It took all my patience to render my limbs still as he finished the second because I wanted to know more than anything. I wondered briefly if he could feel my anxious anticipation the way I could feel his emotions or if the feelings only moved in one direction. I didn’t ask.

We waited in tense silence as the seconds ticked past. Slowly as a glacier sliding across the land, his skin leached away color and became transparent.

“Interesting,” Raj lifted his arm to study it, but I stepped forward and batted the limb down because he was blocking my view of his ribs. Of the bursting red organs mashed side by side, beating in sync.

My knees softened and threatened to buckle as I acknowledged that there was proof, in the flesh, that I was facing my greatest enemy.

“Sard,” I whispered beneath my breath.

“What the hell is that?” Raj realized what I was looking at. His fingers dug at his own chest for a moment before his head whipped up, eyes flashing. “What did you do to me?”

“Nothing that can’t be undone,” I gritted out coldly.

Ignoring him, I turned to Lizza. "How quickly can we move it to someone else?"

She shook her head. "I'll have to look at my spell books and think about it a bit. We can't just transfer your heart willy-nill?—"

"Your heart?" Raj stood up and Ugo immediately reacted, the spear point flashing as it settled against the djinn's neck. He didn't seem to notice because all of his glaring attention was focused on me. "It's your heart in there?"

Briefly, I wished there had been enough x-ray fish to make his entire face transparent so that I didn't have to look at it. His expressions were far too dramatic, and I watched revelation after revelation pummel him until he came to a conclusion far quicker than I ever had—inhaling and then exhaling, all his muscles relaxing. Almost as if he was pleased with whatever conclusion he’d drawn, which only made me all the more concerned.

All the more sure that we needed to grab a spade and dig my heart out of that body as quickly as possible.

Turning away from his question, I went to follow Lizza as she strode back to her bag. A hand on my shoulder stopped me. And then chaos broke out.

"Don't you touch her!" Felipe snarled as Mateo slid into my side and wrapped an arm around my waist, shuffling me forward and out of the djinn's grip.

"I'm not attacking her, dimwit," Raj snarled in return.

"I'm going to peel the skin from your fingers," Felipe threatened.

"Then I'll carve the skin from your balls," Raj shot back. "You think threats are new to me?" His laugh was low and dark. "I've heard more threats than you've taken breaths, boy."

Ugo was bodily forcing the two apart when I turned around.

"Raj, I wish you'd sit back down and refrain from fighting or attacking any of my future husbands ever again.

" I followed up my command with a dark smile, more than a little pleased with the way Raj's expression turned to stone as I used his little gift against him and twisted his ring.

That pleasure flared hotter, into a flame near my thighs, and I failed to veil my physical reaction, because the unending king gave me a slow, wicked smile.

He could definitely feel what I felt.

The absurd, irrational, nonsensical delight that buzzed across my skin at putting him in his place.

The thrill of danger that crept up my spine at the idea that he might retaliate.

The sick and twisted hope that he would and then I could hurt him.

Raj's pupils enlarged and his breathing slowed, eyes growing hooded.

Suddenly, the room seemed far too small.

"Of course, Avia. Whatever you wish." He gave me a wink before turning back to Felipe. "Terribly sorry. You can keep your little cherry pits. Or is strawberry seed more accurate?"

Felipe looked confused, but Mateo released my arm and whipped around, fist cocked.

"Enough!" I ordered, because as much as I would have loved to see Mateo and Felipe put the djinn in his place, I needed to work out details with Lizza.

I wanted my heart out first thing, and then I had a million questions for Raj, questions I was more than happy to allow my former guard to extract answers to, even if it meant he had to strip them from the sultan's flesh bit by bit.

How do we get my heart out?" I asked Lizza.

"How about we keep it in?" Raj asked before the undead woman even answered.

My head whipped over to stare at him and my eyes narrowed. I spoke carefully, measuring each word. "Why in the world would you want to keep my heart?"

He smiled. "Would you believe me if I said I liked it?"

"No." My response was quick and cold and that made him chuckle.

Unfortunately, the sound both pissed me off and turned me on—which only enraged me twice as much because Raj felt all of it. I knew he did because his eyes began to twinkle with mirth.

“This is fun. Why would you want to stop this?” He gestured back and forth between us, chuckling when I growled.

That just spurred me to say, “I wish you’d kneel. Make it a little easier for Felipe to grab that sword on the wall and cut off your head.” I gestured widely at some decorative swords hung near a fireplace.

“Might take a bit of hacking, but I could do it,” Felipe smirked as Raj glowered, sinking unwillingly to his knees.

I strode forward then, and swiped my index finger under Raj’s beard, forcing his chin upward. “Still having fun?”

"I suppose it depends on what you're going to do next," Raj purred. "Toss a thigh up here."

Felipe's fist crashed into the sultan's cheek before I knew what was happening. Pain clouded my vision for a split second before it was shoved aside like it was a house fly, little more than a nuisance.

The water slowed Raj's fall so it wasn't nearly as satisfying as it might have been on land, but I smirked a little anyway until a flash of black anger bolted through me, and I had to fight against the desire to deck Felipe.

Dammit.

Blowing out a breath, I strode across the room until I was able to shove Raj's feelings aside and find my own. Mr. Whelk gave a tiny peep and swam over, forcing his head under my elbow until I started to pet him. The movement was soothing for both of us as my exhausted brain rattled around options.

This entanglement was dangerous. I debated wishing that the sultan's emotions were blocked off.

..but they could prove valuable. Clearly, he had some kind of warped attachment to whatever game he was playing with me.

Whatever the game, it was deadly, and I needed to find out who he was working with and knock them off the board.

And once my heart was out of his chest, I needed to end the sultan.

As Ugo and Mateo sorted out the chaos on the other side of the room and Keelan continued to stare blankly in his near-catatonic state at nothing, Lizza limped over to me. Under her breath, the undead woman whispered, "I'm going to need time."

"How much?" I whispered.

"A while. We're going to have to keep him alive for a while. But only just. You can probably still get a good bit of torture in. I've got some pliers?—"

I held up a hand, cutting the witch off. Based on the remnant of the sting still left in my cheek, torture was out of the picture. Anything physical was.

Wait...

Anything physical was off the table, but that didn't mean everything was.

Glittering revelry danced through my chest.

From across the room, Raj called out, "Oh, what are you thinking now, my devious queen?"

My lips pressed together, but even his ability to detect my plan didn't mean he'd be able to stop it. "You want to keep my heart?"

His mouth ticked up in one corner as I released Mr. Whelk and reached for the ring.

"I wish you'd stop any attempt to undermine my reign.

I wish you'd cut off any contact with anyone who does not support my reign.

I wish that any thought you have of attacking me or my men gets turned into thoughts to protect me. "

"Granted. Easily." His answer was smooth as butter.

"Excellent." I pretended to turn away but then turned back, as if I'd only just had a new thought. "Oh and I wish you'd complete a thousand kind, selfless tasks with no hope of reward in return for them."

Raj's jaw stiffened and his throat bobbed as I asked for something that was the very antithesis of his entire existence.

It was my turn to smirk.

"I'm fairly certain that there's a stall or two in the stables that need cleaning. Perhaps a whale who needs some barnacles removed." My eyebrow rose imperiously. "What's the matter, Raj? Not up to this tiny little test?"

"Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all. Granted. Easily."

But that anger cinching my belly contrasted his words. It told me my plan would work…keep him busy while Lizza unearthed the spell we needed.

I gave Raj a jaunty little finger wave as the enraged djinn stomped from the room.