Page 28 of The Dark Sea Calls

His eyes narrowed playfully, and he spun his spoon around his fingers. “You certainly know what untoward means, Lady Maeve.”

Moira’s eyes flicked to mine. “You seem to be good friends,” she said, unable to keep the hint of accusation out of her voice.

I had told her about the princelings but hadn’t mentioned my night with Tor and Rainn.

I wanted to put that moment of weakness behind me.

My skin began to itch under scrutiny. I stood up, allowing my spoon to clatter to the table. “I’ll meet you in the cradle,” I told Colm and Moira as I wiped the back of my mouth with my wrist and turned to leave.

Rainn stood up, leaving his untouched food. “I’ll join you,” he said brightly.

“I’d prefer you didn’t,” I muttered.

Rainn pretended he didn’t hear me. Together, we walked the narrow staircases through the cavern until the dry air of the canyon washed over my face in a wave of heat. I took a deep breath, my heart yearning for the water and instead getting nothing but desert.

I squinted as the faelights winked out and were replaced by the dim orange glow on the night court’s horizon.

“Are you going to continue to hate me?” Rainn asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

I glanced over my shoulder, frowning. “Huh?”

Rainn chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “You don’t let anything bother you, do you, Princess?” he asked wryly. “Hate might be too strong of an emotion; I’m halfway convinced you don’t feel anything at all.”

I turned to face him. “Is that what you think of me?”

“I don’t honestly know,” Rainn said, frowning. “I don’t have a guidebook to navigate this situation.”

I studied him, trying to piece together whatever he was saying.

Rainn cleared his throat and gestured for us to keep moving, but I held up my hand. My mouth was dry, and my hands were sweating. All I could see were the flashes of red on the frosted sands. The way it felt as Lady Bloodtide’s body turned to foam above me.

All of the times I felt scared, angry, and small.

I didn’t want to feel small anymore.

“You want me to hate you?” My nostrils flared. “Well, I do. I do hate you, Rainn. I loathed you from when we met on the frosted sands to when I realized you tricked me. I have wanted to wrap my hands around your throat and choke the life from you,” I snarled, stepping forward. “I have spent my life reigning in my anger, lest I be compared to my mother. A woman that I didn’t know as anything but nurturing and loving. Foryears,I have been the subject of gossip. I have been the butt of everyone’s jokes. And the moment I was about to get my magic and finally have some modicum of power for myself, youstole it from me.” I threw my head back and shrieked. I wished I could pull the air the same way I could pull the waves, but even if I hit Rainn with all my strength, I doubted he would have flinched.

That fact stirred my rage even further.

“The lake is at war. I am a Selkie Prince,” he said through gritted teeth.

“And what am I?” I put my hands on my hips. “Seabird shit? You made a choice the day we met. You all did. They aren’t here to take the brunt of my anger, but you are Rainn Shallows, and believe me, Belisama will turn the sea to blood before I forgive you.”

“I never asked you to forgive me,” he said.

“But you don’t want me to hate you?” I choked in disbelief. “What is it you want? Why did you follow me here? All the way to the dark sea? I am not delusional enough to believe my existence can end a decades-long war,” I laughed bitterly.

“I think this is the most you’ve ever said to me.” Rainn blinked, clenching his fists as if restraining himself from touching me. “I can’t take back the frosted sands, all I can say is that Lady Bloodtide made that decision, and I was overruled.”

And I’d killed her. Too quickly.

“We can go in circles forever, like cursed ducks on a pond.” Rainn looked up at the sky. “Or we can move on. I’d like to move on.”

“What are you doing here, Rainn?” I sighed.

He closed his eyes and tilted his face to the stars. “Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know?”

Arden was in a bad mood when he arrived with the rest of the recruits at the cradle. The Siren stepped in front of me when everyone, including Rainn, was doing pushups in the sand. His boots were within kissing distance with every struggling pushup I did.

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