I blinked. “That’s… I don’t know what to say to that. Can you get to your friend’s house? And don’t speak to any knights.”
“Yeah. Fine. I’m on it.”
I took a deep breath. “I gotta go.”
I turned off the phone and handed it back to Ossian. We’d arrived on the slick stones that filled Brighton’s shoreline. The rocks felt smooth and perfect beneath my feet.
I stepped closer to the waves, until the cold Atlantic water lapped over my toes. This was my domain. Some of the wildness arcing through me began to simmer down, and I focused on the feel of my feet on the stones.
“What happens next?” I asked.
Salem’s eyes burned bright in the darkness. “You wade into the water, and you tell me how to get to the Merrow. Without causing any tsunamis.”
“And what are you going to do if I do cause a tsunami?”
He nodded at Ossian. “He’s here to help control the waves if you do.”
Ossian’s birds fluttered around his head. He blew out a puff of smoke, then dropped his joint on the wet rocks. “You can count on me.”
The rocks seemed to rumble rhythmically beneath my feet. Boom. Boom. Boom.
But this wasn’t Salem’s magic.
“Hang on,” I said. “I hear something.”
Ossian turned, his attention caught by something in the distance. “Do you see that?”
Salem’s body tensed.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to pick out what they were seeing. Just tiny pinpricks in the distance. But their magic pounded over the rocks.
Salem turned to me, eyes cold and blue as dusk. “Did you call these sea creatures forth?”
I blinked. “Me? No. I wish I had, though. Brilliant idea.”
Salem took a step closer, towering over me as his eyes bored into mine. His magic had a sensual feel on my skin, like a forbidden touch. “How convenient for you, that group of armed sea fae are heading for us right now. Perhaps that phone call had something to do with it?”
He pulled his sword from its sheath, and flames flickered over the naked blade.
I felt as if ice were sliding down from my shoulders to my wrists, and my fingers tightened into fists. I stared down the beach at the sea fae running for us.
Like Salem, they had swords, though theirs weren’t on fire.
“I didn’t call them,” I said. “And I don’t think they’re coming to help me.”
Instinctively, magic snaked down my arm, until a sword of ice formed in my palm. It glinted in the moonlight.
“Prove it, then,” Salem said. “Kill them.”
A shiver rippled up my spine, mingling with the rush of magic.
The sea fae’s bodies glowed as they moved closer, air slick and wet around us. I counted six of them.
To my left, the ocean receded, but it wasn’t me controlling it now. Ossian was using his magic to summon a wave that would slam into our attackers. They were nearly upon us.
One of them was heading right for me, his scaled skin glistening in the moonlight. His long green hair streamed behind him, and his teeth were sharp points. Just a few feet away from me, he raised his sword over his head, ready to strike my head from my body.
Definitely not a rescue mission.
Instinct took over, and I lunged forward, swinging my sword to meet the attacker’s. I am a queen of the sea.
My blade went through his neck, swift as a storm wind. The creature’s head rolled into the sea.
A loud rumbling heralded the arrival of a monstrous ocean wave. As it curved over us, droplets of spray sparked into the air like magic then disappeared in the air. Then the waved slammed down.
I absorbed its power, thrilling at the feel of it.
As the wave receded, I managed to hold my ground. The ocean had eaten up some of our attackers.
But from the darkness, more sea fae charged for us, hair streaming behind.
Salem’s power boomed over the horizon, and I stole a glance at him—up at him. Feathered wings had grown from his back, and dark horns had grown from his shoulder blades, piercing the fabric of his expensive suit. From above, he swooped closer to the sea fae. He dove for the attackers like a vengeful god, blade moving in a blur of holy fire.
His sword arced through the air, slicing bodies in two. Severed halves of sea fae slid into the waves with a sickening splash.
I refocused on the ground, getting ready for the next line of attackers to make it past Salem.
I brought my sword down into a fae before me, carving through his neck. But another had slipped behind me, clawed fingers digging into my throat.
I unleashed a burst of magic and wriggled free from his grasp. But the sea fae were surrounding me, grabbing my limbs and my throat. One of them pressed into me.
His eyes opened wide, murky as the sea.
I let icy claws grow from my fingertips, then plunged them into his stomach. “Who sent you?” I asked.
“The Merrow…” he croaked.
Another powerful ocean wave slammed down on us, and it felt like home. The sea ripped my attackers from me, and I stood tall.
When the wave receded, I found that it had sucked some of the sea fae into its churn.
But they were rising again. Sea magic surged within me, sliding down my bones like ice floes. Whirling, I threw myself into the battle. I moved fast as a sea gale, ripping attackers to shreds with my claws of ice. From the corner of my eye, I saw Salem fighting them too, severing bodies with his sword.
Death pounded in my blood like a sacrificial drum.
The Merrow…
How had the Merrow already figured out we were coming for him? I needed to get a message to him. I needed him to know I was on his side.
An attacker ran for me. Shards of ice exploded from my fingertips, landing with precision in one of the Merrow’s men. I closed my eyes, overcome by the wild rush of magic pounding through my body.
I can kill them all.
I threw back my arms, and sea magic burst from my ribs. Pure, euphoric ecstasy. I opened my eyes, surveying the glacial world around me. Ice encased everything…
I am a goddess of the cold sea…
I stared at a world of ice and raised my hands above my head.
All will fall before me. All will sacrifice to the sea goddess if they want to live.
With a dark thrill, I was calling the cold sea to me.
Salem was speaking to me, but I tuned out his silken voice.
I will bathe the world in my power.
An icy wave slammed down on us, a thousand tons of water and ice. I stood tall, absorbing the force of it. Its energy slammed into my own, and I felt life rushing around me. An orchestra of the ocean’s music boomed.
As the wave receded, I looked around at my work.
The other sea fae lay dead on the rocky beach, bodies frozen in contorted positions.
I rule the icy Atlantic. My frozen gaze slid over to the city of Brighton. I had the power to drown it all…
I could drown the whole world.
14
Aenor
A hot hand on my waist pulled me from my apocalyptic visions, and warmth spread over my skin from the point of contact. The scent of pomegranates woke me from my delirium, and the heat of Salem’s body beamed around me like sun rays. Strange that it felt so comforting, like I was melting into him.
I sighed as I felt some of my magic slip out of my body, into his hand. A relief. I’d been so desperate for my power, but it was too much.
I thought I heard him make a low, quiet noise in his throat as I pressed back into him…
“Don’t take it all,” I said.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” His breath was soft against my ear.
After that great rush of power, my legs were shaking.
Slowly, Salem pulled his hand from me. “I left you with most of it.”
At least I could think clearly again. Trembling, I stepped away and turned to face him. “I’m not used to it anymore.”
>
His eyes glinted. “I did get that impression when you said you were going to drown the whole world.”
“I didn’t realize I’d said that out loud.” My mind sparked with that image of the bodies floating in a world of icy water. “I shouldn’t have it all back.”
Salem flashed a smile and sheathed his sword. “But the destruction you could wreak would be breathtaking.”
“Maybe. But I have better things to do than destroy the world.” Hula-hooping, Elvis records… cutting your heart out with sea glass. All kinds of fun stuff. “What did you do with my magic?”
Salem held up a hand, and a ring shone on one of his fingers. Blue-green magic glittered around it. “It’s here if we need it.”
“Probably best if I don’t,” I muttered. I surveyed the icy beach around us.
Ossian stood hugging himself, teeth chattering. Frost whitened his eyebrows.
“Bit much, Aenor,” he grumbled.
Salem crossed to one of the frozen fae and knelt down. He was examining the soldier’s forearm, encased in ice. As I moved closer to peer over his shoulder, I could see what he was looking at. It was a tattoo beneath the ice—a trident encircled by a snake eating its tail.
“Do you happen to know what this symbol is?” asked Salem. “Looks like a sea fae thing.”
I did. It was the Merrow’s symbol. “The Merrow is trying to stop you from getting what you want. He knows you’re on the right track.”
Salem shot me a sharp look. “And you have no idea how they knew to come for us?”
“He’s a powerful sorcerer. I’m sure he can see us coming, whether or not someone tipped him off.”
The unfortunate thing was that perhaps the Merrow would try to murder us throughout our entire journey. How could I get a message to him?
“How convenient for you that he threw this obstacle in my path.” Salem’s voice was dark as midnight.
I gestured at the bodies. “How is it convenient? I just killed them all. I’m getting nothing out of this situation except that I just pissed off a powerful sorcerer.”
“Perhaps.” He glanced at the ocean, at the raging waves slowly dying down, then slid his hands into his pockets. “Go on, then. Tell me where to find the Merrow.”
I started to wander into the icy waves. In the ocean, my limbs relaxed, leaving behind a gentle buzz. The sea felt soothing against my tired legs, and it enveloped me as I plunged into it.
As I sank under the waves, home once more, the music of the ocean sang around me. And I just had to home in on the sound of the Merrow.
Problem was that there was so much of it—a swelling orchestra of sounds—that it was nearly impossible to find the right song. Magical creatures filled the sea—mermaids, selkies, morgens like me. Their music vibrated all around me.
I remembered what the Merrow’s song sounded like, but his harmony was lost in the din.
Still, I had a way to home in on one particular person. I just needed a small sacrifice to the god of the sea.
Gods loved sacrifices.
I scrambled around on the seafloor until I found a sharp bit of seashell. I snatched it off the stones, then swam deeper into the cold ocean. Rays of moonlight streamed through the waves.
Basically, the gods were emotionally needy jerks who craved proof of devotion in the form of dead goats or precious jewels or virgins tossed into volcanos. They fed off drama and misery.
And yes, I could ask them to take me directly to this soul cage, but that wasn’t my true destination.
As it happened, I was fresh out of goats and virgins. But I could offer my own blood.
I took the shard of seashell and reached down to my thigh. I cut into it, wincing a little as the seashell sliced my skin. My blood pooled and clouded in the dark water.
I started to hum a melody—the song of the Merrow, stored in my brain after all these years.
God of the sea, help me hear this music I seek.
I hummed louder, picturing him as vividly as I could—his old, stooped form, a slouching red hat, his gnarled wooden staff.
I stared as my blood snaked through the water, and the music around me dulled to quiet.
At last, only one song remained—a multi-tonal chant. The Merrow’s song threaded through the water.
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he was, but I had a vague idea. Right now, we were on the southern coast of England, and the sounds were coming from the… northwest, I thought. Up along the west coast, maybe out in the Irish Sea? I was nearly positive.
I turned, swimming back to the shoreline. I should have felt ecstatic that I’d made progress. Get magic, find Merrow. Instead, I felt a dim sense of dread.
As I stepped from the ocean, I stared at the solitary figure on the shoreline. Ossian had left, and Salem stood alone. His dark wings, so like an angel’s, cascaded behind him.
The sight of a winged fae was a rare thing indeed. His dark feathers faded to a dusky violet at the tips, and streaks of fiery gold shot through them. Lonely and dramatic, the colors of twilight.
“Well?” he asked.
“Northwest. The closer we get, the easier it will be for me to tune in to the sound of his magic. I don’t suppose you can swim with those wings.”
“Swimming for days is not among my many talents. And that’s where you come in. I’ve just returned your immense power to you. What do you need to do to get us to the right place? Part the seas?”
“Part the seas? That would be disastrous for the sea life on the ocean floor. I mean, the coral alone—”
“What gave you the impression I would give a fuck about coral?” he asked.
“It wouldn’t get us to him anyway. I need to hear the music in the ocean. I have another way.”
“Wait.” His icy gaze slid to my thigh where I’d cut myself. Then his eyes flashed with pale blue. His entire body tensed. “Why are you bleeding?”
“A little sacrifice to the sea god. It’s fine.”
“Sacrifice…” He shifted over to me, a blur of darkness.
In the next moment, one of his hands was around my waist, and the other was coiled around my thigh, pulling it up. Healing magic slid over my leg, around my skin, and Salem stared at it as the wound closed up. Heat radiated from his body, and my pulse sped up.
“What are you doing?” I said. “It was a small cut.”
“No sacrifices.” His warm magic slowly caressed my skin.
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “That’s how the gods grant you things.” I enunciated it slowly, like I was talking to a child. “It’s how a lot of magic works.”
“No sacrifices,” he said again, fire flashing in his eyes. For a man so sophisticated on the outside, there was something distinctly bestial about him. “The gods don’t need you to prove your love. If you need more magic, I’ll give it to you.”
When my leg had healed, I pulled myself out of his grip. “Are you jealous of the worship the gods inspire?”
The warmth of his body contrasted sharply with the pure ice in his eyes. “You said you had another way to get us to the Merrow. Why don’t you show me now?”
I waded back into the sea, breathing in the briny air, and lifted my arms. Here, with the sea lapping at my legs, I could almost hear the forlorn bells of Ys. They’d tolled at high tide and low.
Magic raced through my body, and the sea sparkled before me with phosphorescence to rival the stars. I took another step deeper into the waves and swirled my hand before me, until the waters began to froth and heave.
Slowly, from the sea foam, a boat began to emerge, a gleaming mist billowing around it.
Wind filled a single square sail—shades of blue and gold. In the center of the sail, the symbol of the Meriadoc family was emblazoned—a horse, rising from a churning sea. Seashells dotted the side of the boat, arranged in curling forms. I gripped the side of the hull.
Then I turned to find Salem staring at me, a curious expression on his face.
I beckoned him to the boat. “Come on.
Our ride is here.”
Without a word, he followed me to the sailboat and climbed inside. Seats lined the sides of the boat, and I sat in the prow. It would sail itself, with my mind guiding it.
When I looked up again at Salem, his wings had disappeared. He leaned back against the side of the boat, a smile on his lips, and pulled a flask from his pocket. He unscrewed it and took a sip. His eyes twinkled in the darkness. “And here we go. Let’s fix what you did all those years ago.”
Yes, let’s do that.
Let’s fix the mistake I made when I failed to drown you years ago along with your friend.
15
Salem
We drifted over the ocean waves, sea spray cooling my skin. As Aenor guided us expertly over the sea, I felt the winds rising faster around us. An electrical charge hung in the air. Aenor trailed her fingertips in the water over the side of the boat, her eyes on the skies. Avoiding me, probably.
Aenor shifted on the seat. She seemed a restless spirit, always moving, eyes always scanning.
Above us, dark clouds slowly slid over the moon and stars. The ocean waves grew choppier as we sailed, spray washing over us.
In the distance, I heard the sound of crows cawing wildly. Hundreds of them, it sounded like.
And that would be the Isle of Crows. Aptly named.
I glanced down at Aenor’s feet. Barefoot in the boat, one foot tapping. She’d discarded her shoes somewhere. Catching sight of me looking at her, she sat up straight. Her gaze flicked to the ring at my finger, glowing with her magic. It was strangely intoxicating—the smell of it, the feel of it sliding over my skin. A perverse part of me wanted to see her wield all of her magic with complete abandon.
I held up my hand with her glowing ring.
“You’ll get it back,” I said quietly. I wasn’t sure why I was promising this to her when I planned to kill her.
One moment I was thinking of killing her. The next I was thinking of imbuing her with all her magic and sending her off on a rampage.
“I have enough for now.” Her large blue eyes were on the cloudy sky. “I’m not sure all that magic is meant for me.”
Fallen King (Court of the Sea Fae Trilogy Book 2) Page 7