Page 64 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

The nymph mumbled some half-breed slur under her breath as she poured us three pints.

“This is a side of you I’ve never seen before,” Baylis said, taking a swig of her drink.

“This is what five years of living in the shadows will do to you.” I drank deeply, savoring the shitty cider.

The man returned, whispering something in the nymph’s ear.

“She’ll see you. Up the stairs to the left. Last door on the right.”

“Thank you.” I returned the gold coin to the bar and signaled Baylis and Amolie to follow me.

The water-warped stairs creaked under our feet.

“Maybe I should have asked this earlier, but who is Ursula?” Baylis asked.

“She’s the queen of the Undersea’s favorite assassin,” I said, wiping my moist palms on my cloak.

“And your former paramour,” Amolie chimed in.

“Yes, we have a history.”

“Ah, I see.” Baylis didn’t ask any further questions.

We stopped in front of the master suite. How predictable of Ursula to stay in the best room in the shittiest dive.

I knocked. “Ursula? It’s Aelia. Can I come in?”

A faint, “Yes,” answered me.

I opened the door to find Ursula in the center of a plush bed, flanked by a nymph and a merman. Feathers and broken glass littered the room. Clothes lay strewn about, and the smell of incense and myrrh hung heavy in the air. A single candle burned low on a desk covered with a half-eaten roast chicken and lines of half-snorted dust.

Anxiety clenched my stomach tight at the sight. I hesitated in the doorway, knuckles white on the knob, bracing myself for the familiar craving. This looked like too many of my rooms in the past. A different version of myself would’ve leapt at the chance to join in on the debauchery. But now, the sight of the dust didn’t make my brain light up like a firecracker. Instead, I felt… numb. Sad. If I was being honest with myself, a little ashamed of the person I had been—so much time wasted drowning in self-pity. And for what? Terrible things happen to people every day. What made me think I was special? My own ego?

Releasing my grip on the door, I strode across the room.

I pulled open the curtains, and light came streaming in. Ursula hissed, shielding her eyes. Her companions groaned with displeasure, pulling the nearest pillow over their faces.

“Ugh. What do you want, Springborn?”

“I need something from your queen.”

She let out a hearty laugh. “Oh yeah? You think the queen of the Undersea just does favors for mercenaries?”

“No, but she would do something for the Alder King who technically is her superior.”

Ursula rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“Eh, maybe. But shewouldhave use for a telepath.”

“I’m not in the mercenary business anymore, Ursula.”

Sitting up in the bed, she picked at her nails lazily.

“What is the favor anyway?”

“I need her to call off the creatures protecting the Isle of Fate so we can enter.”

“Going home to see Mommy?”

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