Page 45 of Waves (Tangled Crowns #6)

Avia

G oose bumps riddled my arms, and my hands rubbed at them furiously as I swam up away from the dungeons, away from the man who held my heart literally captive.

A large octopus drifted overhead, and a school of tiny yellow fish darted around one of the glass towers of the castle as I approached the glowing building.

My throat grew tight as I tried to discern the best path forward.

Should I believe Raj, or would that make me a fool?

I didn't know.

"Avia! Where did you go?" Mateo's voice cut through the murk in my head and I glanced up to see him lurking just beyond an open doorway, the light spilling like molten gold across the sand around him, his expression riddled with concern.

All of a sudden, it seemed obvious what I had to do.

I had to tell the men I loved. I had to include them in this decision because whatever road I chose, they'd have to follow it too.

They should have a say in how our lives unfolded.

The nervous energy rattling through me seemed to burst forth and I swam forward in a hurry to reach him.

"Where are Felipe and Keelan?" I asked tightly, skirting the question as I reached for Mateo's hand. His grip was firm and reassuring. I clung to him and his calm persona, wishing I could just inhale his strength because my stomach was currently swimming with sharks.

"Come on, they're searching the castle for you. I drew the short straw and was going out onto the grounds."

"Sorry I worried you," I apologized.

He glanced down at me with a soft, understanding expression. "You went to see him , didn't you?"

Biting my lower lip, I nodded. An apology was on the tip of my tongue, but I held back. Did I want to apologize for going to Raj? Was I sorry? Or was the people-pleaser inside of me just anxious at the thought that my other men would disapprove?

What if they did disapprove?

What then?

A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

In silence, Mateo and I swam up a sweeping staircase and down a hall to my favorite sitting room.

Like the gentleman he was, he opened the door and gestured for me to go through first. Tucking my wings tight, I entered the room.

Everything was as I had left it. A purple fire flickering in the fireplace, a pit set in the middle of the floor.

Several high-backed chairs made from shark jaws still lined with sharp teeth formed a semicircle around the flames.

An entire wall covered in coral, dotted with tiny sea anemones who danced, red tentacles wavering.

There was a dangerous undertone to this room.

An underlying threat woven into the very design.

It had probably been one of Mayi's favorite places.

Now, it belonged to me.

And I liked the intimidating nature of it.

Is that because I'm naturally attracted to darkness? Or is it because Raj has my heart?

My thoughts sputtered and split like they were being spit-roasted over a flame.

I don't know! I shouted internally.

Though I did.

I knew.

But what would the others say?

Mateo immediately rang for a servant and had them go search for my other two mates.

Meanwhile, I paced, stopping during one of my rounds to pour myself a glass of bubble.

I didn't want to turn this into an order.

I didn't want to beg. Particularly when this connection tugging at me might be making me foolish.

I stared down at the black band on my finger and my vision seemed to narrow, blurring at the edges.

We were bound together by magic.

Bound physically.

Bound by emotion.

And if everything he'd just said was true...he wanted to stay that way.

My eyes closed and I gnashed my teeth.

Could I really cut him off now? Or would that be like trying to carve out part of myself? Did I even want to cut him off?

Keelan's loud footsteps practically trumpeted his approach, and I grew even more tense. I was a stone wall built on sand and slipping. Leaning. About to tumble.

There was a sense of doom in my head that made me frantic, almost defensive, like a criminal on trial. My hand shook and I downed my goblet. "I went to see Raj," I blurted out the moment they entered, Felipe swimming in right behind the siren in his loose pajama pants and bare feet.

The room went deathly quiet.

As the silence around me built, I wondered if the former king of Cheryn sensed my anxiety. Based on tonight's exchange, he did.

I wondered if he knew that he was the cause of that anxiety.

"Why?" Keelan finally slit open the dead quiet with a question.

"I could...feel him." The admission sent a blush hurtling across my cheeks, hot and embarrassed.

I didn't elaborate further for a moment, but they looked confused.

So, finally, I did add, "He has my heart in his body.

Lizza performed an enchantment that transferred my heart to my worst enemy.

It was supposed to give me access to my magic as a sea sprite, and it did.

But there are...unintended consequences.

Apparently, each of us can feel the other's emotions. "

Felipe's scarred brow lowered and Keelan's jaw dropped.

The siren's hand gestured in a wide circle as he tried to grasp what I was saying. "Wait. Everything?"

I nodded. "Everything."

His eyes widened and he leaned forward, mock whispering, "Earlier?"

The memory of all three men's hands on me at once flared in the back of my head as I nodded again, trepidation filling me. Were they going to be angry? Resentful? One glance at Felipe's stony expression told me he was less than thrilled with this development.

I wasn’t either.

Liar! My mind screeched.

Shite.

My fingers came up to my mouth and my nails dug into my lower lip as I started to pace again, prowling alongside the coral wall and making the anemones furl up in fear with every pass. They hate him. There's no way this will work.

"How long has he been able to do that?" Keelan again braved the silence, and I glanced at him, unable to read his tone.

I simply shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's probably been happening for a while, if I had to guess. But I didn't realize it until he was a dragon. I'm pretty certain he didn't know until tonight."

"You've known?"

I rubbed my forehead. "Not in the way you think.

I didn't realize it was reciprocal. But whenever I dealt a blow to the dragon.

..I felt it. Now, I realize, he probably felt my pain too.

" My throat tightened and my limbs knotted, the agonizing side of our connection giving it a whole new shade of meaning—making Raj's declaration feel infinitely more entangled.

Felipe spoke next and when I glanced over, he gripped the back of one of the shark jaws so tightly that I was certain the bone was about to crack. "And how'd he summon you tonight?"

My lips pressed together, and I stared at the floor, color rising on my cheeks. "After he realized we were all together earlier, he summoned me the same way."

A crack resounded throughout the room and Felipe tossed the broken chair aside. Ugo's red hair temporarily flared in the doorway, but he immediately disappeared once he took in the unhappy scene.

I shoved a deep breath through my tight lungs. Say it, Avia! Say it! Just give him up. Tell them you'll go to Lizza and push for the heart to move elsewhere immediately.

But I couldn't.

My hands went to my hips, and I leaned forward as I struggled to breathe. Felipe had never seemed so angry, and I was certain the others were disappointed. Their judgment cinched tight around my waist. Tears filled my eyes and began to leak into the water around me.

I loved these men with every bit of my hollow heart.

But Raj had my heart too. Not just literally.

And so help me, I believed he was sincere.

I believed it because I'd felt it.

Every second of his confession had been raw and honest.

"Avia, it's okay," Mateo appeared at my side, his palm skating down my arm, probably trying to comfort me despite his own hurt.

"He tried to kill her!" Felipe raged behind us, another cracking sound reverberating as his navy tail sent water surging around the room.

"True," Keelan murmured, sounding far calmer than I'd expected from him. "But..." he trailed off.

My sopping eyes glanced his way and I blurrily saw him tap his lip in thought. "But when my mother wished he'd kill Avia...he fought the magic and tried not to."

"For a split second." Felipe argued, his brows lowering. “Supposedly.”

Keelan tilted his head in a scoff of refusal as he retorted, "He dove in front of lightning for her."

"That might have been an accident," Felipe countered.

My eyes darted back and forth between them, stomach lashing back and forth like a ship in a storm.

"Maybe. But it wasn't. And a while back, he let me beat his ugly face in to help me shake off my melancholy."

All of us turned our heads, shock enveloping the room. I blinked a few times, processing, and a solitary tear floated away from my face. My hand came up in a gesture demanding clarification. "I'm sorry...what?"

Keelan's clear amber gaze punched into me with solid truth as he stated.

"He came up and deliberately provoked a fight so that I'd lash out.

I used to have captains do the same when I was younger, not to that extent of course.

They'd stoke my anger and then send me off to an obstacle course so that I'd wear myself out.

The point is, he's trying. I actually believe he's trying to fulfill those good deeds you set him, Avia.

He's terrible at it. But I actually believe the world's worst villain is trying. For you."

My knees gave out and Mateo had to catch me, drawing me into his arms. As I clung to him, Keelan gave me a solid nod.

And then, though his nostrils flared, and his hands clenched and unclenched as if he wanted to break more furniture, Felipe said, “I’ll watch him. We’ll see.”

Mateo bent forward and put his lips to my hair, planting a soft kiss there before murmuring, “If you want to keep him, Avia…we’ll make it work.”

Tears built in my eyes, and I buried my face in Mateo’s neck for a moment, overcome. “What did I ever do to deserve you?” I asked.

“You don’t,” Keelan quipped. “But you know what would help? Some statues. I’m thinking this pose—” He’d hardly lifted his arms to flex when another piece of furniture flew through the room, though this time it was only a chair cushion.

The red pillow whacked him on the cheek and as he turned to glare at Felipe, Keelan and I burst into chuckles.

Though laughing hurt because my chest was still wound too tight from crying, the relief was so intense that it radiated through me.

I felt as light and wispy as a jellyfish. As ethereal as a cloud.

That stupid pillow attack told me that no matter what came, no matter what I asked of them, no matter how impossible it was or how angry it made them—these men would stay by my side.

When we finally all trudged back to bed, I snatched up that pillow and slept with it clutched to my chest.

It was the moment I knew everything would be alright.

And I knew…Raj could feel it too.