I started at the voice in the doorway. Vouri stalked into the room, seizing Pheolix’s knife from his hand. “This is a prehistoric ammonite,” she shot at him.
He sat up slowly, unbothered by the hiss in her voice. “It’s beginning to decay.”
“What?”
“The tiny gray flecks in the shell. Calcium carbonate age spots. They need to be scraped off and sealed.”
Frowning, Vouri blinked at him then turned sharply to scrutinize the wall up close. He gave her an affectionate slap on the arm. She backed away a step, straightening. “Aegir is ready for you both.”
“Excellent.” Pheolix pushed to his feet and swiped his knife back, stepping toward the door. Behind him, Vouri sent me a look, eyes wide and accusing.
“I didn't pick him,” I huffed under my breath. Then stepped around her only to collide with Pheolix. I’d thought he’d already left the room, but there he stood, waiting for me only a mere foot away. He steadied me by reflex, hands latching onto my arms before I fell. The crash into his chest provoked a frustrated growl from mine. “Let go,” I forced through my teeth.
He leaned in, the corner of his mouth crooked, storm-gray eyes glinting something between a half-hearted apology and stark entertainment. “I didn’t pick you either, heiress. You were a means to escape the mines and return to the palace. You needed a disposable guard, and I’m the best drone Thaan has. If you don’t want to run into me again, stay ahead of me rather than where I can’t see you.”
“As though I would stab a guest of the colony in the back.” Vouri rolled her eyes. “And I’m not sure that a drone is the best at anything. That’s like saying a vagrant is the best at being poor.”
Pheolix’s smirk grew, though he didn’t look at her. Arrogance swathed him as easily as the silk cloak that hung from his shoulder, something about it just as transparent and fluid.
Try me, it said.
I relinquished the space between our bodies, shaking his hands off.
Vouri gave an impatient sigh. “He’s waiting.”
The colony throne room opened over our heads, twinkles hidden in the chiseled smooth arch that wrapped from one end to the next.
A line from sacred texts flashed in my mind.The room where Naiads dine.Where the power of aVidereis passed from one Naiad to another, whether inherited or taken by force. According to rumors, Aegir drank his grandfather’s blood and ascended to monarch of the Venusian Sea less than a year before. My musings ended as I spotted him across from us. Blue whirls danced across his chest and face, illuminating his tidal wave tattoos.
Cebrinne stood next to him.
My heart lunged. I hadn’t realized she’d even left her room. The entire reason I’d come had been to ensure she wasn’t left alone with Aegir. Cebrinne’s skill at water-calling and defensive forces cast a tall shadow over mine, but I could still summon a formidable amount of power compared to the average siren.
Pheolix halted as well. In an instant, heat vanished. The humidity of the colony shriveled into the air, and my ties to any moisture floating around us snuffed out. Like a blindfold thrust over my eyes or my hands bound behind my back. I glanced at him, startled.
“That’s unnecessary,” Aegir said calmly.
Pheolix didn’t answer.
Aegir raised a curious brow. “How long can you hold it?”
“Hours.” Pheolix’s voice hardened from the easy taunting he’d used when we were alone. “But you’d be dead long before it ran out.”
Aegir didn’t react, though something about him bristled. “I won't tolerate threats of death within the walls of my colony.”
“It’s not a threat.”
Cebrinne rolled her eyes, leaving Aegir’s side and approaching us dispassionately. “You realize you hindermyability to protect myself when you do that, right?” she snipped.
“You don’t need it,” Pheolix replied.
Aegir forced a long-suffering sigh, his jaw jutting slightly to one side. He pulled his silver cloak away, unsheathing a knife from his hip, and pressed the small, wicked curve into the pad of his thumb.
Vouri gave a startled gasp, but Aegir had already turned his palm upright, a streak of crimson dripping to the floor.
“Unless attacked first, I will not harm the three of you here in Venusia. I swear it on my blood.”
“Aegir,” Vouri hissed, stalking to her brother.
