He was thin. Stringy, but not in a weak way. He walked with more confidence than I’d ever noticed without Thaan to soak up all the air in the room, his short-cropped hair out of vogue with what the lords at court preferred and his glasses round and thick. His clothes were likewise unassuming, not the attire of a commoner but certainly not that of a high society prick, and I wondered why Thaan dressed Selena and Maren so lavishly and left Cain in clothes so plain they rendered him nearly forgettable.
We rounded the corner, and I realized he was taking me through Thaan’s rooms. My back suddenly felt too light without the comforting weight of steel within reach of my fingers. Alarms rang through my head. I flexed my hands, straining to control the sudden shake in them.
What was Maren doing in Thaan’s rooms? Cain led me through the most dour fucking living area I’d ever stepped foot in—a feat for any space in a palace carved from glass—and opened the door to what I was sure was a shared study if I knew the layout of this wing well enough, although all I could see inside were blue patterns floating across the ceiling and walls.
In the doorway ahead, Thaan blocked my entrance.
“Out of my fucking way,” I said.
He brought the fingertips of both hands together. “I beg your pardon?”
“Then beg.”
The smile that earned from him only left me more impatient. I shoved past, leaving him to stand in the doorway, and my eyes immediately narrowed on a black dress folded on top of a small desk, though as I crossed the threshold the sight of an enormous tank came into view. It took up the entire wall, almost as tall as the ceiling, the water inside a lusterless green, but I recognized the seaweed that grew in abundance inside, a forest so shifty and thick I could barely see the window behind the glass. Dawn illuminated the aquatic plants, leaving their outlines fuzzy with light, and a face appeared through the long leaves.Underthe water line.
I locked into those eyes like a hawk driving toward its prey, precise and unerring, cutting through the distance of the room with talons wide and ready to fight.
“What in Aalto’s fucking name,” I murmured, stalking to the glass. Thaan’s voice trailed me in quiet song, not with words I could identify, a series of notes and tunes that send goosebumps over my flesh.
An arm, a knee, a hand. Parts of Maren’s body emerged between the cloud of seaweed, unmistakably naked, but it was the few inches of air between the lid and the water that stopped my heart, and I stormed to the stairs to inspect the lock on the lid as she swam up to meet me.
“It’s secured,” I heard her say. I ducked down to find her pointing to the chain in the iron lid.
“How long has she been in here?” The chain clanked as I turned it in my shaking fingers then wrenched back around to glare at Thaan. “Get. Her. Out.”
The man didn’t respond. He watched her, the shadow of a smile on his fucking face. “You gave yourhumanhusband shield weed?”
“I warned you that I did,” she seethed back at him before her head dropped underwater. Something about her wasn’t right. Maren usually shifted like a wraith in the water, but her movements seemed stunted now. Choppy and aimless. She bared her teeth as she pushed back up to the surface, though I couldn’t tell if it was in anger toward Thaan or the grin of a pain ignored.
“Fool,” Thaan spat.
I pushed off the top stair, landing on my feet and streaking to Thaan, fist cocked. “Open the lock.”
Thaan’s eyes never left hers. “Selena,” he called.
I grabbed him by the front of his fucking tunic. “Get her out.”
“Yes,” said a breathless female voice behind the closed door across from us.
His brows tightened. “Why would Maren visit the Sea Witch?”
Silence came from Selena's quarters. Behind me, Cain stepped from the room, shutting his own door. The lock tumbled in my ears as he turned it, leaving Thaan alone with me.
“Can you hear from behind that door?” Thaan asked, and I wasn’t sure if he was speaking to Cain or Selena. “I want to make sure you’re paying close—”
He didn’t finish his sentence. My fist slammed into his mouth with an audible crunch, and for a moment, life left his eyes. My knuckles split on the edge of his teeth, and I ignored the electric jolt that ran the length of my wrist and into my arm, ready to do it again. Thaan stumbled backward, hitting the desk, hands roaming behind him for balance. I followed, arms ready to deliver another blow, and Thaan watched me approach without trying to run or defend himself.
“No!” Selena shrieked. “No! Stop,please!”
I pushed the bastard upright. “Where’s the fucking key?”
Blood smeared his mouth, a cut from my ring. He didn’t answer. I’m not even sure he heard me. My hands searchedthe folds of Thaan’s tunic, finding nothing. I gave him a violent shake, inflamed enough to break his fucking neck, but buried in the depths of my own fury, I knew I was wasting my time. I stole a glance behind me where Maren was watching from underwater, the pads of her fingers and palms discolored as she pressed into the glass. Her gaze had locked onto Thaan’s, something halfway between alarm and understanding widening her eyes.
He flopped like a ragdoll when I released him, shaking the ache from my hand. I reached for my sword on instinct, thinking to ram it inside the chain and turn it until the iron broke. But my hand hit empty air instead.
That creepy little fucker.
The door to Thaan’s rooms rattled as I raised my leg and kicked it. But I knew well enough from being locked in my own rooms a few days before, the only thing that broke these solid palace doors down was a sharpened blade.
