Page 16 of Of Rime and Ruin
But it’s not enough to calm the rage. I can sense it, crawling up my hands, my toes. Cold claws, climbing.
I grip the desk. The wood cracks, divots forming where my fingers clutch the edge.
I push out of my chair. If I pace, if I channel the energy elsewhere, I might control it—
There’s a spy in the Rime.
One step. Two steps. Walk in a circle.
There’s a fucking spy. Here to uncover my secrets.
Unlikely. She’s high-born. Playful and innocent. She could be lost.
That’s what they want me to think. It’s the perfect disguise.
Her eyes. Dark, playful eyes, looking into my soul.
Fuck.
I flare my nostrils, inhaling the iron scent of my chamber. Focus on what I can feel, what I can see.
Only darkness.
Wooden slats beneath my bare feet. I strip off my clothing.
She can’t be here.
My hands grasp the wardrobe, sliding it across the floor.
In the floor, a beast-sized hole. I slip inside. Set the wardrobe in place with one hand. I will not remember this in the morning. Already, the darkness has descended.
She doesn’t belong.
I plummet.
Splash.
The water swallows my body into its icy gullet. Blue scales sleeve my arms, crawling over my shoulders. Beneath the scales,my muscles scream for release, burning, shifting, growing, until finally my vision darkens, and the transformation drags me under.
Chapter eight
Nahla
Onemoment,I’mskippingwaves with glosswhales. The next, I’m someone’s snack.
I sense it coming, the beast. Its large body forces through the water with shocking strength and speed. Fish flee it, their little minds sparking with terror.
What kind of beast this is, I have no clue. But I can’t fuck around and find out.
The glosswhales shriek, abandoning our game. They kick their tails and speed away in a fury of bubbles. My body catches in their wake, spinning from the force of the escape. The dark water swirls, and with it my sense of right-side-up.
I’m caught in open water. The sea floor is the same monotonous shade of blue as the dim light from the surface. I steady my fins, searching for somewhere to hide. Glacial walls surround the basin. If I could make it there in time, I could find a crevice—
I kick my tail. There’s no time to think. Just do.
My muscles ache with a chill. My gills flutter at record speed, laboring to filter oxygen from the cold water. Too slow. I kick harder until my tail screams from exertion. And it’s still not enough.
The beast barrels toward me, all my senses alert to its presence. How large is this thing? I risk a glance to my left, scanning the water. Nothing. To the right, nothing.
