Page 88 of Of Song and Scepter
Anger burns hot in my veins. My spines flex out of their sheathes, ready to defend. Or attack. “You robbed an innocent guppy of a better life.”
Everything Odissa taught me has been a lie. Since the day I met her twenty years ago, I’ve been living in an illusion of her careful design.
“Robbed you? I saved your life. I gave you a purpose. You should be thanking me.”
Who does this bitch think she is?I draw my blade, lunging for the cage. The bars catch my face, cold and slimy. I thread my arm through the gaps, swiping with my knife.
But Odissa swims to the back of her cage, calm and smug, where I cannot reach her. My blade cuts the water, snaring nothing but a rush of bubbles.
“You’ll never be free of me, Enna.” Her grin spreads wider. “I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your miserable life.”
I grip my knife, pulling my arm back. I turn away from her, swimming up the way I came. I will not stay here all day, drowning in her lies. The water clogs my gills, and my head grows light and weary. I crawl up the stones, gasping as the damp dungeon air fills my lungs and my tail rips in half.
I will never see Odissa again. Tephra will claim her in the night, and I will live on. Tomorrow, I will wake to a sea without her in it, and that will have to be good enough.
Chapter fifty-six
Soren
Enna curls into afetal position outside my door, lying in a puddle of grime. Water drips from her hair, rolling off her bare skin. Her shoulders tremble, and she hugs her arms to her chest. Her spines flex in and out of their sheathes, a nub appearing where her broken one used to be.
Captain Nara squats beside her, shooting me a panicked look. Her hands hover over Enna, hesitant to touch.
“What happened?” I demand, storming down the hallway.
My newest guard cowers in the corner, looking like someone pissed in his lushfruit tea. Enna is lying in a puddle, and my guard service stands there, supervising her misery. He splutters excuses as I approach. I cut him short with a hand around his neck. His eyes widen under my grip.
“Fetch the servants. My lady requires a warm bath.” I crouch beside Nara. “He’s discharged.”
She nods. “I already told him that.”
With the back of my hand, I brush Enna’s forehead. She jerks at my touch, her eyes flying open. Shadows dance across her tired face. Her gaze rises to meet mine for a moment, then her eyelids close again.
“Any ideas?” I ask Nara.
The captain sighs. “She hasn’t been here long. There’s a trail of grime up the stairway. Looks like she crawled here from the dungeon. No signs of injury that I can see.”
Enna’s mouth curls down at the corners, and my heart aches to see her so unhappy. I lift her to her feet, folding her into my chest. Her skin smells pungent. I inhale again and—“You smell of dead fish.”
Nara unlocks my bedchamber door, kicking it open with a promise to keep watch.
I walk Enna gently toward my bathtub. She nuzzles underneath my chin, and my breath hitches. Already I can feel my heart slowing, lulling me into that sense of wholeness whenever she’s in my arms.
“She’s a monster,” she whispers. Her lips brush the skin of my neck. “She always has been. You should have killed her.”
“You saw Odissa.” I shudder at the image of my Enna, swimming in the gunk of the dungeon.
Servants rush past me, dropping warm stones into the bath, setting out fresh towels, mopping Enna’s puddle on the floor. I set her at its edge, shifting her so I can see her face. “Hey, look at me.”
Her eyes open, brimming with fresh pain. I stroke her cheek, plowing a clean line through the dirt.
“Let’s get you cleaned up. Then you can tell me everything.”
She nods slowly.
With a towel, I wipe the grime from her face, her neck, her chest.
“Thank you,” she whispers. The towel brushes across her nipples, and they pucker. She sighs and leans against me.
