Page 220 of Between Despair and Hope

“Kneel in her presence,” the selkie commanded, accent thick as he knocked out the back of my knees and pushed me down. He joined me on the deck, one strong hand gripping my shoulder while the other grabbed my arm. Nixy was dragged out and thrown down on the ground beside me, but they left Mairin where she’d been dumped. She sat back on her haunches, her clothing clinging to each curve of her body. Panting, she rubbed her hands down her thighs, and I wanted to go to her, mentally urging her to look at me.

But her eyes were on the nightmare which undulated before us, limbs shrinking and twisting, body turning nearly translucent, matching its underbelly. An echoing crack ripped through the air as bones took shape and form, and I watched in terrified fascination as the creature shifted and changed, body contorting into a more human shape. First one graceful leg, then another, a slender arm and a narrow waist—all slowly turning into what I’d quickly realized was the Sea Queen herself.

She sat cross-legged on the deck, naked, skin so pale I could see her veins. Though it was overcast, there was a slight gleam to it. Her hair was the same deep red color as her other form, far darker than Mairin’s hair. Her eyes were very round and large, but more noticeable was the fact her irises were pure white. Everything about her was sharp—cheekbones, limbs, brows. Her body was made to cut. She tucked her hair behind her ear, pointed at the tips with a small frill leading to where an earlobe would have been. She didn’t move once she settled in place, her hands resting on her knees. Turning those otherworldly eyes first to Mairin before sweeping them back over to me, she smiled, and each serrated tooth was a threat.

“Little Rin, how nice of you to bring me so many gifts,” she whispered, speaking slowly, as if she hadn’t done it in quite some time. Truth be told, it was likely she hadn’t—a myth made flesh. “When I received your message, I was quite surprised by my honorable daughter.” She rolled the word around on her tongue, and I wondered how she didn’t cut it with those sharp teeth. “Oisí, give her the pendant.”

A selkie who had knelt near the queen rose. He shared similar features to Mairin, but his hair was a strawberry blond color, and I wondered if he was one of the hundreds of princes the Sea Queen supposedly had birthed. But I dismissed those thoughts, wondering what the hell was going on. She gave Mairin her pendant so soon when the merrow hadn’t even asked her for it. I felt my brow furrow as I attempted to gain Mairin’s attention, but she wouldn’t spare me a glance as the selkie handed her what looked like a shell on a string.

“You may go now, little one. I have no need for you, especially since you failed in delivering the rogue merrow to me.”

“That wasn’t the deal,” Mairin argued, and I ground my teeth. My heart raced, and my blood heated. What deal was she talking about? “The dragon wasn’t part of it either!”

“Oisí?” the queen purred, and the selkie in question hoisted Mairin into his arms, despite her protests, and threw her overboard. I shrieked, jumping to my feet. The selkie who held me lost his grip, and I ran toward the railing.

I watched Mairin as she tread water, shucking off her clothes as her skin turned iridescent, taking on a bluish tint, and her hair darkened. Though looking at her from above, I couldn’t see most of the changes, but it was impossible to miss as her legs fused together and grew longer. It was strangely horrifying to see the fins spread from the end of her tail, the skin turning a shade of deep scarlet. She rolled over to float on her back as her tail splashed in the water.

She was breathtaking. Her skin shimmered in the sun, her plump curves somehow catching every angle of the light. She glowed. Her eyes were closed where she floated, her hair drifting out around her. She hadn’t been in this form for at least a decade, and it was clear that being in it made her forget all the rest. A small smile tipped up her lips, and though I couldn’t see her ears, I wondered if they looked like her mother’s.

I wanted to trace them with my teeth.

Two hands gripped me as the evocative melody began once more, and I grew pliant in the selkie’s hold as I was turned to face the Sea Queen. Her lips didn’t move as the song continued, but it came from her all the same. At her nod, he brought me closer to her and sat me down, arranging my limbs so I was her mirror—legs crossed and hands on my knees. Bumps of cold chill formed on my skin, and the selkie dropped a cloak around my shoulders, putting the hood up to protect me from the wind.

“Hello, sweet Lavenia, Princess of Vesta. My name is Estri, and I am quite sorry about your dragon.”

“It’s alright,” I found myself saying, though the words tasted sour, and I forced out a question. “Why?”

She only blinked at me, those milky irises a little less unsettling than before. She smiled softly, hiding most of her teeth. “My other form often falls prey to baser instincts. It saw something new and shiny, and it wanted it.” I felt myself nodding, as if that explanation was enough for her killing Hyše. “These two forms are not ones I am often in. I much prefer my merrow form or selkie form. But it would seem they all have one thing in common. It is just a question of if I can control it or not.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“A lust for treasure. And this form, this body, has its sight set on a rare one.”

She cocked her head to the side as the melody grew more frantic, a beat which rose and fell in tandem with my heart. Her eyes slid down my face to my breasts, and though part of me was appalled, frightened even, my nipples still peaked, and I felt my pulse grow stronger between my legs.

“Quit that,” I snapped as I closed my eyes, swallowing as I tried to stop listening.

“My daughter brought you here, knowing I have not once forged any kind of bargain with a conduit in the last three millennia. And she brought something which belongs to me along with her to sweeten it, though the one you call Fiona slipped away before I could give her the hello she deserved.”

The song continued in the same way, causing heat I didn’t want to spark between my legs. I closed my eyes, hearing her words in my mind again, focusing on them and trying to pick apart what she’d said. Mairin brought me here knowing there was no point in making a deal?

“I’ll give you anything your heart desires—an army, a palace made of the finest pearls, whatever you wish.”

“In exchange for what?” I asked.

“One night with me before I send you on your way with whatever you need.”

“Nothing more?” Surely there had to be something else.

She leaned forward, inhaling deeply. I glimpsed her sharpened teeth as she whispered in another language—and yet I somehow still understood. “To make you in her image and not gift you with her abilities was quite unkind.”

“What?” I breathed.

“I forget how long she’s been gone. Of course, you do not know.” She used freezing cold fingertips to tuck one of my braids behind my ear. “Rhia wore her hair loose.” She sat back, posture straight as she traced her hand over her body, the rasp of her skin touching told me the texture wasn’t as smooth as it looked. The harsh angles of her ribs as her long fingers slid down the ridges drew my attention to the tiniest of scales which glinted enticingly. Letting her words sink in, my tongue slipped out and wet my lips. “One night with me, and I will give you my armies. Come back to me after, and I will give you the world,” she whispered.

Chapter 62

Dewalt

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