“Around thirty or forty, if I were to guess. I don’t know for sure these days. He doesn’t let us hold custard-cream socials anymore.”
I scowled in the opposite direction, unamused. Pheolix tossed his knife. “We’re the ones he brought to take you from Cypria. He always sends drones when initiating new Naiads into hisDomus, in case one of them has a powerful water-call they can’t control that needs neutralizing.”
I hadn’t expected that. But I disguised my surprise, narrowing my eyes. “I keep Thaan’s personal library. There’s very little recorded information about drones.”
He barked a laugh under his breath. “Do you not know the history of drones?”
“No, I suppose I don’t,” I grumbled. “I know you have no water-calling abilities. That you repel the power of other Naiads for short periods of time.”
“Only when we’re uninjured and healthy.” Pheolix sat fully upright, swinging his legs off the side of the contoured shell to face me straight-on. “Other than our tails and sharper sensories, we’re essentially human. Drones were created to be quick guards. Easily disposed of. Pleasure servants forVideresandPrizivac Vodeswho had lost a mate. It’s not just water-calling, heiress. We don’tcordae.”
9
Cebrinne
The calcified walls of the Venusian colony insulated every sound. Lying against the far wall, I could only make out faint murmurs as Pheolix and my sister spoke in the room next door, though with my ear pressed against the cool shell, the soft current of the ocean beyond grounded me from the outside in.
I wasn’t surprised Selena refused to share my room, if that’s what this was called. I’d never been this deep inside a Naiad colony before. I would have preferred to strategize next steps with Selena. Discuss how many of them we’d counted, whether there might be an exit besides the entrance we’d come in through, what we think their plan with us might entail. And what ours should be.
I understood why she denied me the right.
The split-second decision to confess my role in Aegir’s demise had been all mine. Though if I were honest, I’m not sure it was split-second.
Maybe.
If a second loomed in the back of a mind for years, waiting for a chance to voice itself. If a second is a thing that can be stretched from memory to memory, each one fouler and more fueled with fire. If a second can sneak up on you, warping your tongue into words you didn’t intend to speak until they were beyond the cage of your throat.
Then yes. I’d chosen the words in a split second.
I want you to help me kill Thaan.
A movement in my periphery rattled my attention. Vouri watched me just beyond my open door. Her mouth twitched when our eyes met, the green in her eyes flashing. She tipped her head the smallest fraction down the corridor outside. Then padded away without a sound.
I rose to my feet. Venusianbyssussilk shifted around my calves, silvery where it creased under the blue light. The cadence of my steps hid under the hum of the water beyond, past Selena and Pheolix’s doorway. I caught a brief scoff from my sister as I went, the noise aimed at something Pheolix had said.
Vouri paused as she passed Sindri, pressing her hand against the side of his chest that lay bare. He didn’t stir at her touch, his gaze pointed forward, an unblinking vigil over the two doors behind me.
The walls wove and dipped, smooth as ceramic. Markings had been etched into the calcified white. The cycles of the moon, charted stars, crashing waves. Selena would have asked Vouri what they meant. She would have wanted to know who carved them, what tool they used, how long ago they were created. I kept my eyes forward, searching for small landmarks in between the sheathes of blue light. The tunnel opened to a broad room, littered with corners and alcoves, though the wordroomdidn’t quite fit. Temple seemed more appropriate, but even that felt deficient. This was a city.
Constellations stretched across the smooth canopy high above, the stars themselves carved with exquisite details, each of them multi-pointed and faceted. Diamonds chiseled from the sea.
A single, winding ramp wrapped the far walls, channels and tunnels leading from the main path. Naiads strode along the walls, disappearing through the passages, the echoes of walking and splashing softer than I might have imagined, though still loud. In the center, a wide pool glowed, its depths so far from view I couldn’t make them out.
“What is this?” I asked.
Vouri paused to give me a strange look. “Our colony.” She turned down the nearest tunnel, walls stained by blue light, and I trailed her, arms crossed.
We left noise behind and entered something quiet. Sacred. Two long pools lay under a raised dais, though the platform was empty. Instead, Aegir stood leisurely in front of it, his silk pants low on his hips,byssuscloak draped over one shoulder the way the other male Naiads wore them. A nautilus shell hung from his fingertips, and he poured water from its spiraled basin into a shallow bowl seated on the dais before him. Vouri veered to the right, opting to lean against the wall, the lines and angles of her face hard as she watched.
I simply placed my hands behind my back and stretched my neck, haughty as I waited for whatever he wanted.
“You may go, Vouri,” he said without looking at her. He didn’t look at me either. His gaze lingered over the bowl as he slowly poured.
“I’ll stay,” she replied.
“You’ll go.” A bite to his words this time.
She pushed off the wall with the bare pad of her toes with languid efficiency, hands on her hips as she circled around me and out of the room. Knives lay in her eyes when they met mine, poised to slash. I surveyed her just as coolly, my chin high.
