Page 17 of Depths
I glanced up at him sideways, a little taken aback. Most sea people hated sky breather traditions. “You did?”
“Well, I do want you to be more comfortable around me,” he murmured as he turned toward me and snuck a hand around my waist.
As if the orchestra had been waiting for this cue, they struck up a waltz, and the handsome siren, whose name I didn’t even know, led me around the glass dance floor.
He didn’t sing, but his eyes were just as enchanting as a siren song. Their hazel green color held me captive as he pulled me close and spun me out, reeled me back in and dipped me. My feet moved on autopilot, having had years of ballroom training. But my heart was hardly keeping pace with my feet. It was sprinting.
I felt light-headed and giddy.
I felt like I was floating.
As the music drifted through the water, it felt like it enveloped the two of us in our own private bubble. The rest of the world dissolved. There was only the grace of the dance, the fluidity of the movement, the slide of his hand over my arms, the grip of his thick hands on mine. There was only the warmth of his touch kindling an equally strong warmth inside my chest.
When he stopped moving, it took a moment before I realized the song had ended.
He released the hand that had held my waist, took a step backward. Then he bowed and raised my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles before turning and disappearing into the crowd.
I stared at the point where he’d disappeared for a long moment before I realized he hadn’t even told me his name.
* * *
The next manthat swam up to me gave off the vibe of a cold-hearted predator as he approached me where I stood in front of my throne. The combination of the jagged scar on his bicep, the shock of white that ran through his otherwise black hair, and the shark fin on his back told me that he wasn’t someone to mess around with. He was stacked with muscle, and his face looked far too young for his expression, which dripped sarcasm.
He didn’t bow like the others, which immediately put me on high alert.
It only took me a second to realize why. “You’re one of the rebels I invited, correct?”
His black eyes glimmered with amusement. “Not as stupid as you look.”
Felipe turned, spear tip gleaming, but I held up a hand to slow my guard. “Well, now, I suppose I’m a bit brighter than you, protesting when you’re surrounded by guards.”
The rebel’s eyes narrowed; apparently, he hadn’t expected to be insulted. “We’re standing up for ourselves. If someone had bothered to do it when Mayi first ascended, then maybe that entire debacle—”
I interrupted what I could tell was going to be an impassioned speech. “Mayi was deranged. I highly doubt she would have let you live.”
“She only became that way after she got involved with that sky lover.” The rebel’s deep grey eyes gleamed with the fierce conviction that he was right.
“Ah.” I nodded. “I see. Sky lovers can’t be trusted.”
“They only want to murder us for their own ends, dump their trash to pollute our home—”
“I can see your point,” I acknowledged, realizing that this fellow was rather long-winded. Seeing as I’d been standing and receiving competitors all night, I decided that, if I was going to have the energy to listen to his theories, I needed to be seated. I gestured toward a nearby table, where my untouched plate of food sat. “Please sit with me and express your concerns for a moment.”
The rebel raised a black brow, surprised by my offer. “Sit with you?”
“Yes. Please.” I started to flutter my wings to swim the few feet to the table, assuming he’d follow. Immediately, I felt a swish of water as Felipe moved to protect my back, which I’d inadvertently shown the rebel.
Damn. I’d get a lecture later for that one, I was certain.
I sat and shoved aside my plate. I wasn’t hungry, my body floated somewhere on the strange plane between tension and exhaustion. I took a deep breath, but that was the only break I allowed myself, because I was in public. I did lean and call to Sahar, “Can I get a pen and something to write on?”
Sahar smoothed out the surprise in her expression quickly and found a servant to swim off.
After a long moment, the rebel joined me at the table. “I’ve been instructed to keep my hands above the table at all times and my legs visible if I don’t want them cut off. That normal protocol for talking to you?”
I turned to glare at Felipe. “Only when my guard really feels like he needs the exercise of mucking out the seahorse stable.”
Felipe’s expression remained neutral, and he didn’t respond, the shite.
