Page 124 of Cruel Tides

As the queen leaned back, her gaze fixed on the sea wizard, the glint in her eye making my insides twist. “I require your blood, puppet.” The sweetness in her voice only made the horrifying command more chilling. “Show it to our guest, so she might know she has nothing to fear from you.”

Suffocating magic seemed to fill the room, draining the air. The sea wizard’s teeth grit, and the hand holding the dagger trembled as he turned it in on himself. But more shocking than that was the black halo of magic forming over Queen Sagari’s head, emanating from her tarnished crown.

“Mmph.” I could just make out the sound of the sea wizard’s resistance as he lifted the edge of the blade flush with the side of his neck.

Tension gripped his body as dark magic slithered toward him, sinister tentacles that coiled around his shoulders. Veins bulged along his neck with the effort of his struggle, yet an otherworldly force seemed to manipulate his hand, guiding his actions. As the first drops of crimson stained the blade, a mocking laughter echoed through the room with twisted delight.

“See! There’s nothing to fear, dear child,” Queen Sagari said as the sea wizard held the dagger to his neck, fighting against it but somehow driving the blade in deeper. “He is under my complete control.”

The sea wizard’s eyes flickered with white. I stared in horror, realizing that he was attempting to call on his magic to stop it, but the wound only widened.

“Stop,” I said, a feeble plea. A thick stream of blood flooded down his neck, soaking his black suit and making my stomach weak. “I get it, soplease.” When she did nothing, my panic built.

Pain etched over his face, his cheeks sunken and hollowed out, but it didn’t stop. It couldn’t stop. Not without the queen saying so first. “Stop it!Please!”

“That will do, puppet,” the queen said finally, and when the dagger fell to the ground with the sea wizard’s gasp, I felt my own breath catch in my throat.

Poseidon help him, I’d never seen so much blood.

He fell forward, retrieving the dagger with a grunt, inadvertently smearing blood over the floor as he did it.

The queentsked. “I suppose we can’t use that now, can we?” She went back around her desk, rummaging through a new drawer. “Here we are. Puppet,” she said before tossing him something new across the room. This time, he caught it.

When he turned back to me, a fountain pen was clenched in his fist.

“Your finger,” he said, an uncharacteristic rasp in his voice. Blood seeped freely from his wound, saturating the front of his suit, but he didn’t bother applying pressure to the gash.

My heart felt wrung out, warped from conflicting emotions. It’d been my fault, hadn’t it? My doubt in his queen’s control had been the reason for the pain the sea wizard had to endure.

I stared down at the fountain pen, noting the remnants of ink left behind from previous use. The tip was sharp enough to prick a finger. But before I held out my hand, I asked, “What will the spell do?”

I didn’t expect the sea wizard to be the one to answer. “Our location and this meeting are to be kept hidden.”

The queen slammed a desk drawer shut. “Come now. I’m a busy woman. We do not have all night.”

I swallowed. Neither did I. And while I didn’t like the thought of being under a spell, a finger prick seemed far better than an execution.

“Fine,” I whispered, holding out a finger. Leaning forward, the sea wizard’s cold hand closed around mine. When he looked down at me with his darkening eyes, it was like the rest of the room had disappeared.

“One poke,” he said, the rasped words only meant for me. I winced at the bite of the pen’s tip as it punctured my skin. A dot of blood formed over the tip of my pointer finger, and he swiped over it with the press of his thumb.

His eyes flashed white, and the air thinned as my blood was eaten up by a rush of magic smoke. And then he was gone, turning from me, returning to his corner of shadows.

Queen Sagari’s smile curled. “Excellent,” she said, her hips swaying as she moved toward me. “Now, dear child… Let’s talk business.”

30

Claira

My gaze followed the drips of blood over to the sea wizard when the queen seized my chin, angling it up in the light. I swallowed nervously, watching her smile deepen as she studied my face.

Crisp wrinkles, as delicately thin as tissue paper, feathered out from the corners of her eyes, making me wonder how old she truly was.

“What business do you have with me?” I asked.

The sheer delight in her grin made me question if I was ready for her answer. Her covetous gaze roamed over me like I was already one of her trinkets. A fanciful bauble or a toy collected for her amusement. One she seemed eager to put to good use.

But what purpose could I serve here? My one strength was worthless to them. The cecaelia weren’t cursed. They could go underwater as they pleased.

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