Page 45 of The Dark Sea Calls

Tormalugh was not a male that showed much emotion. When I had first met him, I would have said he was cold and calculated—now, I would describe him as measured.

Tormalugh did not waste time on pleasantries. He stood and accessed every threat without saying a word.

I wasn’t sure what I expected. I wasn’t sure why I even pressed to meet the Kelpie.

“How long did it take you to get here?” I said. “It’s a fortnight’s walk on the dried river path.”

The Kelpie tilted his head, looking down his nose at me. “Four legs,” he stated plainly. “Less than a week.”

My eyes flicked to the side, to Rainn. “How long have you been hiding him?”

Rainn winced. “A day.”

I turned back to the Kelpie. “You won’t make it back to the lake before the Mer attack Cruinn.”

Tor shifted. “Cormac has left Tarsainn, and it won’t be long before he passes the Reeds. He tried to enlist the Kelpie for his battle.”

“How many took up the call?” Rainn frowned.

“Not many,” Tor conceded. “The s will send their soldiers to the front line, but they won’t send inexperienced children to Cruinn to die. I told Cormac that I wanted no part in his revenge.”

“Why not?” I stepped forward, anger flashing through me. “You hate the Undine. Why would you give up the chance to raze our city to the lakebed?”

Tor’s dark eyes burrowed into mine before he blinked, languid and unbothered.

It dawned on me then that both of the males in the room had been inside me. I didn’t know if that gave me an advantage, but I felt like a yapping pup at their heels. Struggling to keep up with whatever politics they were determined to ignore.

“Well?” I demanded harshly after Tor did not answer my question.

“The Kelpies have no intention of going to war with you,” Tormalugh said.

I quirked a brow. “Me? I’m not at war. The Undine are.”

“Exactly.” Tor stepped further out of the shadows, folding his hands and tucking them in front of his hips. “King Irvine will not be on the throne much longer. Cormac intends to see to that. After seeing those collars on the dead in the Whispering Pass, he concluded that King Ullurick, the previous Mer-king, was gifted a collar that might have influenced his actions during your uncle's coronation. Cormac believes that his father was forced to act in such a way that resulted in his death.”

I sucked my top lip between my teeth. The thought had also occurred to me, but I hadn’t spoken it for fear that I would be dismissed as paranoid. “And me? Cormac believes I killed his mother.”

“Didn’t you?” Tormalugh tilted his head.

“Well—”

He held up a hand to dismiss whatever I planned to say. “I don’t care if you did or not. It was justified after she locked you in the dungeon. Though Cormac might not see it that way. He believes that you engineered yourself to be taken to Tarsainn.”

“That means I engineered being beaten to death and left on the beach,” I pointed out in disgust. “That would imply that I engineeredeverything.”

“The Undine are wily,” Rainn bit back a smirk.

“I’m the first to admit that I like the idea of being feared, but might I point out that I don’t have the foresight to pull off something like this,” my voice pitched higher as hysteria coated my words. “I’m not smart enough.”

Tor snorted and shook his head. “Self-doubt aside, Cormac wants your head.”

“He no longer wants my hand?” I bit out sarcastically. “I thought he wanted to wed me?”

“Males are fickle,” Rainn pointed out, reclining back on his tiny bed and getting comfortable. His feet hung over the wooden bar at the end.

“Hmm,” I hummed pointedly, rolling my eyes. “Does the Siren Queen know she has a Kelpie in her stronghold?”

Tor and Rainn exchanged a look.

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