Page 52 of Waves
Sahar jumped to my rescue, sliding around to gaze up at Ryan, this time providing a barrier for me instead of protecting him from me. “In most cases, yes. But our queen spends her travel time getting to know her suitors. I’m sure you’re well aware that a monarch needs to have a set of husbands she can trust.”
His nostrils flared, but my adviser had effectively sliced his kneecaps.
Her quick defense bolstered me, and I nodded in agreement.
Ryan’s deep brown eyes bored into me for a moment before he said curtly, “Well then. I’ll leave you to your tournament. Hopefully, we’ll be able to host you once it’s over.”
“Of course,” I agreed easily. “Thank you for coming, Ryan. Tell Bloss, thank you. I know it’s out of your way to travel this far north.”
He cut me off, holding up his hand. “You’re family. We are happy to support you however we can.” His eyebrow rose and he stared at me silently, as if he was willing me to confess that I needed help.
But I had Sahar. I had Mateo and Keelan and Felipe. And after yesterday, I had my powers. The silence stretched out, long and expectant, so long that I nearly gave in. I nearly fell prey to my need to please others, to quell the discomfort I had due to their displeasure.
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I forced myself to stand firm.
Ryan tilted his head, studying me, well-aware of my tendencies after all his years living in the castle at Evaness. I thought I detected a tiny note of pride in his voice as he stated, “Alright then. I brought a page to go through all the details. I really must get back to our border. There are some unruly soldiers on gargoyles who need to be set straight about patrols.”
With that, my adviser and sister’s husband left the room, giving me a moment to bask in the way the universe seemed to have tilted on its axis and started to spin in my direction.
Of course, the moment one got cocky was the moment things all started to fall apart.
Not two minutes later, Mateo swam up, a bundle of worried energy. Agitated, his silver tail swished back and forth, and his eyes took in the chaises, the curtains, the fireplace, every detailof the room rather than landing on me, almost as if he was searching for something.
“What is it?” Immediately, I hurried closer, wings fluttering in response to his show of nerves.
“Have you seen Taft?” His fingers clenched and unclenched.
Worried guilt immediately punched a dozen holes through my gut because I’d sent the nixe off on a mission, but I had been so caught up in all the other events that I hadn’t thought to check in with him yet. I’d operated on the assumption he’d come back to me with information.
Cautiously, I went to the door and peered out to make sure that only Ugo and Paavo were in the hall before closing Mateo and I inside. Then I turned back to the mer and bit my lip.
“I asked him to watch Watkins,” I admitted softly, my words hardly more than a breath. But the room was so still that they made the current waver anyway and I could see them drifting across Mateo’s face.
His brow furrowed and his lips twisted, expression growing so dark that a knot formed in my own stomach. That knot tightened painfully when he added, “Well, he’s missing. And so is Valdez.”
Chapter 22
Avia
The weight of an entire castle wall seemed to press down on my innards as I clutched a parchment that Lizza’s bewitched with squid ink images of Valdez and Taft, fear gnawing at me.
Of course, disaster would befall us right after I’d lulled myself into complacency. Right after I sent Ryan away without consulting him.
The past several hours were a blur of panic and orders, chippy words and threats, apologies and handwringing.
And fear.
Lots of fear.
Pacing the mayor’s sitting room, I felt certain my feet were eroding a channel in her floor. The flickering violet fire in her fireplace did nothing to quell the chill pervading the room.
There was no warmth from the solemn, serious faces of Ugo and Paavo. Both stood guard at either door, carefully checking before they allowed anyone to enter. My mer guards held their spears in white-knuckled grips. We were all on high alert.
When I paused my pacing to debate whether tea or bubble would better get me through this moment, Mayor Didero came closer and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. Her whitehair was swept into a swirling peak studded with gray pearls. Her pink tentacles were drawn in tight, which I took as a sign of tension despite the soft smile she gave me.
“We’ll find them. I have all the city guards out looking, searching every nook and cranny of Kremos for them.”
I gave a stiff nod as I folded the parchment and slid it into a small pocket inside the fringed skirt of the gold dress Gita had put me in earlier for the tournament. The gown was comprised of a lace and gemstone laden top with a diamond cutout on my stomach before it flowed into the beaded fringe. The look was glamorous and daring and the opposite of every emotion I was currently feeling. Part of me wanted to rip it off at the neckline because I felt like I couldn’t breathe, though that fact had extraordinarily little to do with what I wore.
