Page 17 of Of Rime and Ruin
But I canfeelit, all around me. Like the Rime is an extension of its essence.
A god among the fish.
The glacial wall comes into view. I adjust my course.
In my periphery, I spot it then. The large, blue body, strung in a tight line of muscle. Long, white hair slicks back from its face—hisface. The broad angle of that jaw, the fierce brow, is undeniably male.
Ruthless and handsome all at once.A god, after all. Shit.
I kick harder, tearing my gaze away. My arms cramp as I strike, faster, faster, parting the water around my body. I spy a crack in the glacial wall and send all my good vibes in its direction, praying to all the gods—minus him—that my body will fit.
He stalks closer, closer. Faster than I thought possible.
I slam into the wall.Shit.Pain explodes in my shoulder. I curse and dive, aiming for the crevice.
I slip tail-first between the ice, wedging my entire body into the narrow space. Jagged ice scrapes my skin, and I hiss in pain as a few scales rip away. The walls crush, freezing cold. The fresh iron scent of my blood floats around me. Through the crack in the opening, I’m forced to watch the beast as he makes his approach.
He’s unlike any merfolk I’ve seen before, propelling through the water with movement more akin to a shark than a whale. His hips swing side to side instead of up and down, two hind legstucked against his tail as the long rope of muscle whips through the water.
He pivots. His body angles for my hiding space, nostrils flaring.Stupid, stupid.Of course he’d try to follow. As he turns, I glimpse the spikes that sprout from his spine, following the line of his long, thrashing tail. Two curling horns pierce through the skin of his temples, framing a pair of dark eyes.
His gaze locks on me. Cold. Cruel. His lip curls, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
I’m fucked.
I press farther into the crevice. A rock digs into my back. My tail coils uncomfortably tight. My shoulders squeeze. The water is still in here, too still for my gills to filter properly.
Either the beast eats me or I suffocate.
What the fuck was I thinking, surviving on my own? I should have stayed on Ramona. Married that fucking land-bound prince.
The beast collides with the glacier and the ice trembles.
Another slam. His shoulder batters the ice. Then his claws grasp the entrance, curling into the rock. Dark blue. Sharp. They dig, and the ice crumbles in his grip.
Here dissolves Nahlani, Stupidest Princess of the Brine.
His face snaps into sight. Black eyes pierce me with a glare—void of emotion. He reaches inside, claws extended.
“Hey!” I shout. “I’m a friend!”
The beast cocks his head, but nothing more. I should have paid better attention in my diplomacy lessons.
“I’m Princess Nahlani of the Brine, and I mean you no harm. Please don’t eat me.”
His claws lengthen, slipping further out of the tips of his fingers. He opens his mouth as if to speak. Hope flares in my chest for a moment before the growl hits. Loud, reverberatingthrough my bones.Shit.The ice around me trembles. Then, gods above, he licks his lips.
Diplomacy is dead. No matter how merfolk he may look—a predator can’t be reasoned out of his meal.
Then make it your bitch.Keen’s words bloom in my memory.
I lock eyes with the beast. His mouth parts in a snarl. With a steadying suck of my gills, I ready my spell.
I start with a low, soothing song, reaching for his conscience. If he’s animalistic, my magic might work on him. I lift out of myself, glancing back to see my body cowering in the glacial crack. The beast’s claws reach for me, scratching through the ice.
A dark barrier shrouds his mind like a hardened shell. Walls stretch high and thick. I press against the barrier, meeting cold resistance.
I hiss, retreating as ice crawls through the mental connection. My brain freezes and pain splinters through my head. My song drops dead in the water, and I land within myself.
