Page 69 of The Dark Sea Calls

None of the words passed my lips as Tor grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. Burying his face in my hair, holding me tightly as if he was worried I would turn to foam if he let go.

My brow furrowed, and my hands slowly rose to his back, returning the embrace.

Elsbeth said Kelpies didn’t like to show weakness, be it public displays of affection or emotion. I looked over his shoulder, meeting Elsbeth’s eyes. She seemed just as shocked as I was.

Tormalugh clung to me like a life raft in a sea of courtiers, each watching with a fixed stare, unsure of what they saw.

“I thought you’d gone to turn yourself into the Merfolk,” Tor said, his voice shaky. “I was so fucking worried, Maeve. Don’t ever run away from me again.”

“I just went—”

“I don’t care,” he interrupted, grasping me even tighter. “I’ll follow you to the ends of the world, but I only ask that youtellme where you’re goingso I can go with you.”

“Not so you can stop me?” I joked, trying to ease the tension.

Tormalugh growled, exasperated, but didn’t say anything else.

Movement caught my eye as Rainn stepped forward, opening his mouth to speak. When he saw my expression, he decided against it. His face turned blank, and he pulled his hand back to his side, clasping his fist tightly and pressing it to his hip.

I closed my eyes and leaned into Tor’s hold, allowing the scent of his skin and his warmth to clear my mind of all thought, save for the undying urge to get as close to the Kelpie as possible, to crawl under his skin if I could.

Maybe we were Shíorghrá, I didn’t know, but at that moment, I would take all Tor offered, and I wouldn’t allow myself to feel guilty.

I didn’t know how long Tor and I remained in an embrace in the center of his throne room, but when I opened my eyes, Rainn was gone.

Tor had excused himself after walking me to his chambers, leaving me alone with my own thoughts.

Pain throbbed behind my eyelids as my body begged for sleep, but I knew the moment my eyes closed that I would be at the mercy of the water.

Cormac Illfin had spotted me twice, at a distance, when no other Fae should have sensed my presence.

The hundreds of times I had sat on the High Throne and cast myself across the water to the front line, not a soul had spotted me, but Cormac had.

I didn’t want to take any chances.

But I had also made up my mind when I saw Liam in shackles.

I needed to get him out of Cormac’s grasp.

The door to the chambers opened, and Rainn stepped through, closing the door behind him. He kept his back to the door as he watched me, unsure if I would welcome him or attack him.

We stared at each other, locked in a standoff. Both of us were unwilling to make the first move.

Guilt surged through me, demanding an apology for lifting my voice—but the more significant part of me steeled my spine, met his gaze head-on, and refused to back down.

Rainn had lied to me. He could dress it up however he liked, but hehadlied. He had misled me and talked circles around me to deceive me. I had been the last person to know, as always.

I tented my fingers together and pressed them against my lips. I waited, exhaling sharply as I searched for something to say but found rage-filled insults instead.

I wanted to hurt him as much as he had hurt me, but I couldn’t.

So I said nothing.

In the beginning, Rainn had been the only princeling to treat me like a person. He had spoken to me, joked with me, and made me feel at ease. We had traveled the Twilight Lake together, and he had traveled across the Night Court to the Dark Sea, all to find me.

“Do you love me?” I whispered.

His sky-blue eyes softened. “Yes.”

---