A man who has held power until the power meant nothing without one woman’s laugh.
The current pulls.
I will not stop it.
I will learn to steer it.
Chapter 16
Phoebe
First Shore—TheTidal Lands, Nightfall
The moment we stepped off the boat and I went ahead to greet the women of First Shore, I felt the distance between Kael and me like it was a living thing.
A ridiculous, ridiculous thing to feel when we’d only been separated by a few breaths and a few polite bows.
Still, when Kael slides back to my side, the crowd folding around us like a warm blanket, it feels like the world is being held together by his presence alone.
“Are you okay?” I ask before I know what’s coming out of my mouth.
He looks stunned, and really, I can’t blame him because the question surprises me too.
It comes out softer than I intend, because when was the last time I had someone in my life I actually cared about?
And I do care, I realize. Far too much.
Danger.
Warning bells are going off in my head, but it’s too late for that.
I’m watching him and I notice the second his face changes, reminding me of the way the tide does. Quick, inevitable.
For one split second he lookssmaller. Vulnerable. And I wonder if anyone else ever sees him this way.
“Yes,” he replies too fast, then quieter. “Stay with me. The clan elders will bring the priestess and lay a blessing on us.”
He leaned closer, and his voice was pressed against my ear like a secret.
“And afterwards I’ll arrange the handlers. The whales will like you.”
Something inside me warms, and I nod.
I stay.
Truth is, I want to be anywhere he asks me to be. I want Kael to be happy. To approve.
And I have no idea what to do with these new and strange feelings.
When the priestess arrives, I’m stunned.
She looks magical, and she has seaweed braided in her hair.
I know she’s a Demon, like all the people here, but her skin isn’t gray. It’s pale like mine except maybe a little sunburnt and weathered.
Her voice is what gets me, though.
It’s like it holds the ocean in it.
