Page 82 of The Dark, Dead, Deep

Elder fae were shrewd, some wore their true youthful appearances, and others chose to appear wrinkled and therefore less threatening. While the wizened appearance might lend me some leeway, there were ways to peel back a glamour. All of them were painful.

I had a moment to hide as I ducked behind a statue and contorted myself to its shadow not a moment too soon as Lady Bloodtide swept into the room. Her crimson tail and cloak trailed behind her like a river of blood—her name made sense, though I couldn’t tell if it was by design or luck. I couldn’t see who was with her.

“He hasn’t stirred?” she murmured, her voice indecipherable.

“No, Lady Bloodtide.” I held back a gasp when Rainn responded to her question. “Not a sign. If we could just get Maeve—”

“You cannot trust the undine whore,” Lady Bloodtide snapped. “She tried to kill my son.”

“She—”

“I will not hear any more of it,” she declared. “I truly thought you were my son’s friend, Rainn Shallows; I would be very disappointed to know that you have fallen prey to the undine female’s intrusions.”

Rainn laughed. “Selkie are not prey.”

“Just so,” she agreed. “The undine have returned from their ceasefire with more fervor than I expected; it seems they took my son’s attack on the Frosted Sands to heart.”

“Hmm,” Rainn hummed.

“The undine took possession of the northern trench and killed an entire school of mer to do so. They offered no explanation or demands. It seems that they do not know of my son’s condition or that we have King Irvine’s niece in our possession, or I would have received a missive by now.”

“Perhaps,” Rainn replied cryptically.

“Doyouknow something?” Lady Bloodtide’s voice grew closer as they walked by the statue and stopped to continue their conversation.

“I know King Irvine and Maeve are not on the best of terms, and he planned to kill her,” Rainn said.

Betrayal slashed through my middle like a hooked claw. The wound was so painful that I was surprised I wasn’t bleeding from my stomach. I gripped Rainn’s blanket around my shoulders, wearing the material as a cloak. I forced my fingers to loosen. Somehow it didn’t feel warm anymore; it just felt heavy.

“Perhaps we can use that,” Lady Bloodtide replied thoughtfully.

“Perhaps,” Rainn agreed. “Though I doubt King Irvine will care much that his niece is in the dungeons. In fact, you’re doing his job for him. Keeping her out of the way.”

“You think?” Lady Bloodtide hummed.

“There is more to Lady Maeve Cruinn than we know or believe,” Rainn said cryptically.

My eyes narrowed as I tried to parse together his words. There was silence for a long moment before Lady Bloodtide’s cloak swished in the current as she swam through the corridor and disappeared through the doors on the other end.

I didn’t allow myself to relax until a minute passed and there were no more sounds save for the rush of water through my gills.

I eased myself out from behind the statue, feeling my muscles burn as I twisted myself from the unnatural position I had adopted.

I brushed my hands down the front of my stomach and checked the glamour—I still appeared to have a tail.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Rainn asked dryly as I made my way to the door.

I froze, glancing over my shoulder, to see the selkie standing in the center of the corridor with his arms crossed over his chest and only a pair of trousers on his body—save for the chain around his hips that held his coat.

“Well?” he demanded once I had finished taking visual inventory.

“Hello…?” I tried to affect a frail voice. “I think I’m lost.”

He put his hand on his hip. “Are we playing this game?”

“What game?” I blinked innocently.

“Selkie can see through glamour.” Rainn waved his hand dismissively. “Are you mad, Maeve?! You could have been caught.”

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