Page 137 of Of Rime and Ruin
With a kick of her feet, she angles toward the glacier. A cave is carved into the rock, the mouth just large enough for her to fit through. The water darkens as she slips inside.
Let go, I press.Abandon the meal. You’re not hungry.
The tunnel into her lair twists like a labyrinth. We weave and turn until I no longer recall the path we’ve taken. I couldn’t find my way out if I tried.
This is where I die, in some nondescript cave at the edge of nowhere, as food to a beast. My flesh will tear, my bones will dissolve into the foam whence I came, and no one will be the wiser. Beasts don’t care if you’re royal or low-born. You’re either food or foe, and tonight I become both. It seems right that I should die to an animal, after I spent so much of my magic to bring about the demise of other fish. The gods will even the score of the sea.
At least I won’t taste good, when she finally eats me. Meat tastes best when the prey dies happy.
Disgusting meat. Unworthy of your taste buds. You’ll get indigestion.
Her hand wraps around my throat. My song falters, and our connection wavers. She slams me against the cave wall. Stars explode across my vision as the impact rattles my skull.
Quiet.Her command rumbles through my mind, enraged and raspy.
I freeze.
She releases her grip on my neck and crouches in front of me, dark blue gaze steady on my face. Intelligent, searching eyes. Her thick tail curls around clawed feet, the barbed tip flicking. She’s gorgeous, in a shocking kind of way. Sharp cheekbones. Jagged teeth. Small breasts. An athletic body with broad, muscular shoulders and an angled waist. She’ll kill me in a second, if it comes to a fight.
I slide my hand against the wall behind me, grasping for any loose bit of stone to clobber her with. I find a decent sized piece and secure it in my hand. As I drag it closer, it catches on something, and shale clatters in the silence.
Her eyes flick down, then back to my face. I bite my lip to stop it from trembling. She reaches for me, hooking her first claw, and trails it down my cheek. Slips beneath my chin. Tilts my head for a clear shot at my neck.
I brace for her killing blow. A slice through my gills would be the quickest. Easy. It’ll only hurt for a few seconds as I bleed out, and then I’ll be dead.
The color of her eyes reminds me of Aethan’s. Blue as midnight with small flecks of white. A small piece of him to comfort my final moments.
I shouldn’t have left him like that. I should have stayed. Should have been braver. Smarter. More forgiving.
He fucking needed me, and I left him at his worst. We’ll never have a proper goodbye. His last memory of me will be my face, covered in tears as I ran away.
The beast’s claw slides lower, grazing the soft hollow of my throat.
What’s taking her so long? She should have finished me already.
I squeeze the stone in my hand to channel my anger. Isn’t she a beast? Am I not her prey?
Her lip curls, and a deep rumble emanates. Raspy. Chortling. Her eyes glint with dark humor. Is shelaughingat me?
Fuck it.
Hefting my rock, I swing out and smack her in the temple with all my might.
It bounces off her head like a pebble.
The clawbeast blinks. Her rumbling stops. Then she rolls her eyes and launches away, leaving me stunned against the wall.
Alive.
Chapter fifty-seven
Aethan
Ilaunchacrosstheice, faster. Faster. I jump from the edge without hesitation, plunging into the dark, frigid water.
Nahla needs me, and I will tear the world apart if it means keeping her safe.
Cold pierces my heart. I squint into the blue expanse, searching for any sign of her. A trace of blood or the scent of her fear. The clawbeast’s howl. But my senses are dull now, and I can’t mark her location among the turmoil of the sea.
