My emotions, too, were spiraling wildly. I stared at Salem as his wings disappeared, the rain sliding down his skin. My mind flickered with that jagged sense of loss I’d felt when touching his chest. As I glanced at his heart, a bottomless well of sadness opened in my chest. That was where I was supposed to put the sea glass—right into his aorta.
I reached up to touch his face. His skin felt so hot, his eyes bright as stars.
When Salem touched my waist, the intensity of my emotions began to calm. The seawater was surging around us now, rushing in from the shoreline. It lapped at my legs.
Salem leaned down, whispering in my ear among the torrent of rain. “You need to channel the magic. Root yourself to the earth. Feel where your feet are.”
I took a deep breath, focusing on my feet. In my mind’s eye, I could see my magic as bright sea-green light. I imagined it moving slowly up and down my legs, spreading into the earth. The soil absorbed some of its power beneath where I stood, and I sighed with relief.
I found myself leaning against Salem’s chest, drawn to his warmth. The rain started to fall lighter now.
But Salem’s words sliced through my sense of calm.
“Get the boat ready. Command it to sail to Mag Mell. We’re leaving.”
You’re leaving for your death, friend.
26
Salem
I sat in the boat Aenor had conjured. Moonlight glistened over her wet blue hair, and the sea spray dampened us both.
At this point, it seemed insane that I’d taken her at her word. I’d asked if she was taking me to the Merrow. I knew she was bringing me to Mag Mell, because I’d heard her command the boat.
What I hadn’t asked explicitly was if she planned to help me get the soul cage back. Or if she planned to kill me.
Somehow I’d started feeling like we were on the same side, like we were working together.
But I’d heard what she said to that sea fae. I am the only one who can kill him.
She didn’t know she was my mate, though, did she?
In any case, I had to kill her before she killed me. As soon as she got close to my heart with a blade, I’d end her life.
For the first time in millennia, I had a flame burning in my chest, and killing Aenor would smother it. But what choice did I have?
There were greater destinies in this world than mating like animals.
When I thought of ending her life, coldness spread through my body. Then a feeling like I was plummeting faster than a meteor, the wind whipping at my body. Unmoored and lost to the darkness.
I gripped the side of the boat, the sun rays strangely cold on my chest.
Aenor’s stomach rumbled, and my muscles tensed with a compulsive need to feed her. We hadn’t eaten since this morning. She must be as starving as I was.
She flashed me a sad smile. “If you don’t burn the world down, I’m going to learn to make homemade cake pops.”
“Cake pops,” I repeated. Even hungry as I was, they sounded dreadful.
“It’s like a lollipop, but made of cake. A little stick with a cake ball coated in frosting.”
Interesting. “Perhaps I want to eat your cake pops,” I said carefully.
She smiled, radiant. “All you have to do is not light the world on fire. I’ll make chocolate, lemon, and red velvet. With sprinkles.”
I didn’t even like sweets, but this sounded oddly tempting.
Aenor dipped her fingers in the water, her body glowing with sea magic. “Instead of destroying the world, Salem, you could take back your kingdom. I’d even help you.”
Well, this was a surprising turn of events. “You’d help me take over Mag Mell? And what would Lyr say about that?”
“I really don’t give a crap.”
The violence of this statement both surprised and pleased me. “Is that right?”
She looked out at the sea again, leaning on her elbow. “Lyr and I aren’t exactly speaking. He tried to take my magic from me with some kind of binding collar.”
White-hot anger erupted in my chest. I’d delight in lighting his fortress on fire. “He tried to do what?”
She shot me a sharp look. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Forget I said anything.” She sighed. “Let’s get back to taking over your kingdom. You could be happy again. You could get a palace. You can live out your debauched fantasies. Make it more debauched, even. Nymph wrestling. Naked roller derby. Rivers of brandy and harems of mermaid concubines. I don’t even want to know how mermaids have sex, but I’m sure you wouldn’t get bored.”
I desired only one person in my bed from now until eternity, and I had to kill her. “Are you trying to tempt me from my true path? I do believe temptation is traditionally my job, Aenor. But please, keep describing this paradise. I’m most interested in your naked roller-skating fantasy.”
My desire to see her unclothed was nearly overwhelming. She would make me insane if I spent too much time around her.
In the darkness, her eyes gleamed bright. “So who is this woman you want to save? I want to know.”
Oh, you beautiful little liar. We aren’t going to rescue anyone, since you’re going to assassinate me. I am going to rescue her, and I don’t know what fate holds for you.
Might as well tell her the truth now. What difference did it make?
She’d probably be dead soon.
Cold ash in my chest, plunging to earth… Falling so fast through the cold, the light burns out on the way down…
“Her name is Shahar,” I said quietly. “We were twins in the heavens. Before the fall, she was goddess of the dawn. Some called her the morning star. In dawn, she was most powerful, when she beamed over the earth. I was god of the dusk. The evening star. Both of our souls were tied to one celestial body that showed up in the morning and at night. One star, imbued with the souls of two gods. In the heavens, Shahar and I were bound to each other. Part of each other. Now, that celestial body hangs in the heavens, devoid of a soul. Shahar and I have been severed from each other, our light ripped from us.” What I wouldn’t give for my brandy right now. “When I fell to earth, it was like my soul burned out on the way down.”
She nodded. “The pain from losing your magic. It sounds familiar.”
“Well, now you will learn why it happened to you, Aenor. Do you remember when I told you about Gehenna, how I watched as sacrifices burned around me? I had become the beast everyone believed me to be. I wanted to kill everything that moved. I seduced every female who caught my eye, just to break their hearts and leave them mad. Shahar was the one who pulled me out of that hell. She made me civilized again. She had to keep me locked in her home for years, but slowly I learned to become civilized again, to control my impulses. Slowly, she helped me smother the beast inside me. He’s still there, but he’s been quiet for centuries.”
Aenor’s brow furrowed. “And the Fomorians?”
“To my knowledge, she had no interest in the Fomorians. It would be fun to watch the world burn, I suppose, but it’s not high on my list of priorities.”
“To your knowledge…” she repeated, like this was an interrogation in a courtroom.
“I know her as well as you can know anyone. We’ve always been linked, but she got the best parts of our twinned souls, while I got the worst. She never hurt anyone. I’ll tell you what she did: she worshipped the dawn every morning. She swam in the sea and baked her own bread. She played a flute, and she took in cats who were sick or injured. She liked to thread wildflowers into her hair and sing lullabies to her pets. She sewed Jacobean ruffs for her cats and fashioned them fancy beds with lace. That’s who you drowned. Not a monster.”