Page 102 of I Summon the Sea

Night has fallen.

Outside my window, the sea glimmers in places with phosphorescent algae and shoals of luminescent lampfish, fish that usually precede the processions of sea sylphs and mermaids. A nokke with a long purple mane frolics among the glowing fish.

It’s a celebration of the dusk, in the same way humans and fae often celebrate the dawn.

I spread my fingers against the thick glass. Exhaustion drags me down. Every ache and sting in my body flares. Rest. I should rest.

But I won’t. During this afternoon, I made a new plan.

The king’s magic won’t be countered by anything I own. What I need to do is return to the sea and ask the Sea Queen once more to lift thegeasoff me.

It’s the only way.

She’ll do it. She has to. The king’s demise is her desire, too, and I’m her weapon. She has to see that. No matter the reason for this delay, Amphitrite has to set it right.

I grin in the dimness, broken only by a lit candle flickering by the bedside as I brush my hand one last time over the glass, looking down at the water.

I’m ready to rejoin death’s dance.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

My hands tremble as I change into the gray dress. Daria and the other maid left me in a silken robe that easily slips off my shoulders. The dress isn’t that hard to get into, unlike the ballroom gown, and I don’t care if my bodice isn’t laced properly.

Why would the king send me that gown?

Why am I still alive?

Don’t think about that,I tell myself.Doubts are the last thing you need.

Twisting my long hair back, forgoing shoes, I open the door of my room…

… and I find Jai leaning against the wall right outside.

My mind frozen, I stare at his tall, broad-shouldered form, leaning so casually against the pale wallpaper.

Not Tru, not Arkin.Jai, Jai himself, guarding my room.

Once more he’s not in armor, but dressed in black pants and knee-high boots, the black-and-gold jacket of the Royal Guard buttoned up to his chin. His black hair is tucked behind one ear, but long strands fall in his face, into those velvet dark eyes, shiny locks brushing those marked cheekbones.

I can’t breathe.

Yeah, Jai’s presence impacts me in quite a different way—sending such a wave of heat through me, I’m amazed I don’t instantly burst into flames. My body tightens, pressure coiling deep in my belly, sending a sharp throb between my legs.

So disconcerting and yet so predictable, the way my body reacts to him.

But I’m on my way someplace, someplace important, and I force myself to move and keep going past him.

He places himself firmly in my way. “Where are you going?” he asks, his voice falling in that pleasant, rough rumble.

I shake my head and try to sidestep him.

Again, he blocks my way. “I’m not letting you try and get out again,” he says softly, “and place yourself in more danger.”

I almost laugh at that. How does he pretend to protect me when I am already sentenced to die in the games?

Why is he outside my door? Why not let Tru or Arkin intercept me? Did he really suspect I’d try to leave again, or did he just decide to keep guard all night?

I shove at him with both hands, relishing the feel of that extraordinarily muscular chest, the unyielding padding of his pectorals under my palms, before I scold myself again.

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