Page 56 of The Dark Sea Calls

I pulled away, spindling back into my body.

I woke with a choking gasp, clawing at the blanket as my stomach heaved.

Pain, pain, pain.

Three bruises below my ribs where Cormac had aimed his trident.

Torn in two, my soul shifted outside my body, pressing against my skin repeatedly like the waves lapping at the shore. Unable to get back inside my skin as pain raced through my body, knocking me out of my skin every time I felt like I had woken up.

I couldn’t breathe.

Tor and Rainn slept soundly on either side of me. Turned away, under the blanket together. I couldn’t remember when we all fell asleep, but the bed was large enough that even as I thrashed and bucked, feeling the searing pain of Cormac’s trident, feeling like I was going to die, I didn’t touch them. My teeth locked as I screamed.

Tears burned in my eyes but went unshed underwater.

My hand pressed to my stomach; my skin was tender, and my mind finally caught up to reality. It hurt, but I wasn’t dying. My skin was bruised, but not much more.

Finally able to move, I reached out. Fists clasping, scrambling under the covers to try and find something, anything, real to grab onto.

Finally, my fingers curled into the back of Tor’s tunic—fully clothed under the blanket—my fist bunched the leather as I pulled at him. He rolled over, his eyes wide as he searched for a threat in the darkness. His hair stuck out in all directions, caressed by the current stirring around us. Tor propped his head up, leaning on his elbow as he looked down at me. His brows knitted together as he found something in my fearful expression he didn’t like.

He didn’t ask if I was okay. Tor reached out with a single finger and tilted my chin, studying my face for injury. The Kelpie relaxed just a little when he found nothing, but his eyes never left mine.

“Bad dreams?” Tor asked in a low sleep-rough voice.

I exhaled, unable to speak. Instead, I lurched forward, burying my face into his chest. The same way that I had in the hall of silvers. Allowing Tor to protect me. Allowing him to comfort me.

The sight of my uncle had spooked me. The dream even more so, but seeing Cormac? Seeing the hate in his eyes and the knowledge that he would draw his trident to kill me if he saw me? It had shaken me to my core in a way my mind couldn’t consolidate.

Cormac had planned to marry me; he had announced our betrothal to all of Tarsainn. How quickly did he believe the worst? How quickly had the Mer-King decided that I was his enemy after all?

I had saved his life.

And he wanted to end mine.

Rainn stirred in his sleep, his eyes fluttering blearily in the darkness. His long lashes cast shadows down his face. When his sky-blue eyes locked on Tor and me, he scoffed. “Waited until I was asleep to make your move, Tormalugh?”

“Don’t call me that,” Tor grumbled, his chin resting on the crown of my head.

I shuddered, feeling the terror of my dream melt away with Tor’s warmth cocooning me.

Rainn scooted closer, grumbling about ‘sneaky kelpies’ until he pressed against my back. Rainn’s arms came around my waist, his hand flat against my stomach—a tight fit considering how close Tor and I were in our embrace.

I wanted to comment about Rainn being unable to be left out of anything, but then he might move away, unwelcome. Instead, I had to admit that it felt nice. Right. To be between the two of them.

Rainn, with his wide grins, and how he found everything funny in its own way. His eyes always sparkled like he was letting me in on a joke only the two of us shared. Willing to follow me into the Dark Sea with nothing but a hare-brained plan and trust that I didn’t deserve.

Tor, a dark glass sea, unmarked by waves on the surface, but deeper and more dangerous than I could imagine. A male that had protected me without question and placed his alliance with Tarsainn in jeopardy on the impossible idea that he didn’t want to make an enemy ofme.

Maeve Cruinn. Daughter of a dead, mad queen. An orphan without great magic, with a target between her eyes from every creed in the Twilight Lake.

“You’re both utterly insane,” my words were muffled by Tor’s clothes.

Neither Sídhe asked for clarification; instead, they both chuckled. Proving my statement correct.

“I saw Cormac.” I closed my eyes and let out a wobbly sigh. “In my dream.”

I glanced over my shoulder at Rainn and gave him a meaningful look. “It was like sitting on the High Throne. I saw across the water. I saw the Mer soldiers, not even a day away from the Reeds. Cormac saw me. I don’t know how, but he did,” I stuttered on Cormac’s name but pushed through.

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