Page 44
I pace the floor, feeling trapped inside these castle walls, my skin tight and itchy from being scrubbed raw.
Somewhere in the vast sea, my father is bound to be losing his mind over his stolen rune keys.
But my sisters, they’re probably looking for me.
They deserve to know what happened. Without my Ocean Voice, I’ll never be able to tell them where I am.
Tears won’t help, so I hold them back. A new day will start soon, and I’ll have to fawn over flowers and fabrics, pretending I haven’t sworn a pact that goes against everything I believe in.
My pendant vibrates, and blue light spirals down to my fingers as Zephyr pays a visit. “Why are you still awake?”
“How could I sleep?” The hinges of my eyelids creak with fatigue, but I fight to keep them open. “I’ve sworn to hunt the rune-locked monster attached to my own neck, and marrying a woman who would gladly oversee my death is my only way out of this mess.”
Their energy wisps up to my shoulder. “It’s not the only way.”
“What?”
“I visited the sea witch, and she told me there’s another way to make your transformation permanent.”
“Why didn’t you mention that sooner?” I twist my wrist, trying to scold the bodiless form floating around it.
“Because it’s not an option you’d ever take seriously,” they say. “You’d have to kill Darcy.”
I lean against my window, letting the cold glass press into my back. The sky is grey and dim. It’s the quietest hour before the dawn when everyone is sleeping.
No one would hear me. “I’ll go visit her in her room.”
“Cordelia.”
I touch the knife strapped to my thigh. “It might be the only option I can live with.”
Zephyr sighs. “She’s not in her room. I was with her in the library discussing her plans to hunt for the rune-locked monsters a half hour ago. I believe she’s still there.”
“Meet me there after.”
“We should talk—”
“I’ll summon you when it’s done.”
The aether settles into an idle pool at the bottom of my pendant. I tie a robe over my nightgown and stuff my meager belongings into its pockets.
What I had with the sailor was never real. I shouldn’t feel bad about murdering a woman who was planning to do the same to me.
I can forget the way I love her. Loved her.
But unwilling tenderness weakens my resolve as I find her curled up in a cushioned nook in the library. She’s wearing a dark blue sweater— my favorite one.
I’m reminded how perfectly it matches her eyes as she looks up from her book.
“Oh, it’s you,” she says, and I curse her for being so beautiful. For making me think she loved me. “I figured you’d be sleeping after taking on that sea serpent.”
“As you said, it was only a lesser sea serpent. Nothing important.” I tie my sash tighter around my waist. “Why should I be tired from that?”
She closes the dusty tome on her lap. The foil is peeling back from the compass etched into the brown leather cover. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to downplay how amazing that was. It’s just that you’re so damn perfect.”
“You don’t think that.”
“I do.” She runs a hand through her hair, making her waves stand on end. “I always feel like I need to be better for everybody. The island. My family. I stepped into this role when I was sixteen, and I’ve had to fight tooth and nail to stop the other noble houses from taking this title from me. And you come in here and win everyone over so easily.”
