Page 120 of Cruel Tides

He touched the tip of a long finger to his lips, signaling me to keep the conversation quiet. “Guilty,” he mouthed.

“Why… why would you do that?” I all but yelled. He wanted quiet? Well, screw that. He might have had magic, but he didn’t have all the power here. “I was looking forward to teleporting, youcreep.”

Maybe it was stupid of me to goad the man wearing a black suit that looked like it could have easily belonged to a mobster, but I didn’t care. I’d wasted so much time mulling over the sea wizard. Contemplating his true intentions.

Now, it was official. From here on out, I was considering him a threat.

“And teleported, you have,” he said, a black strand of hair falling over his eyes as his jaw lifted. Smirking like a true villain, he placed a hand high on his chest, a gesture to himself. “You’re welcome.”

Was he serious?

“You know that’s not the same,” I snapped back, my teeth grating. My hand twisted around my weapon as I imagined what would happen if the shell came in contact with his pale flesh. The Rook’s face had ripped apart effortlessly, but the sea wizard’s wide jaw was so solid, so distinguished. It was hard to imagine a knife sharp enough to leave a mark on it.

“It’s not?” His dark laugh lingered in the air like smoke. “And how many times have you teleported?”

“Well…” I gnawed at my bottom lip, attempting to formulate an answer.

“Well, while you think on that, I must inform the crown of your arrival.” He straightened his suit. “I’ll only be a moment.”

Thecrown?Shit.

I seemed to be popular with royalty today. Only, if this was cecaelia royalty I was about to meet, there was a good chance this meeting would turn into an execution.

In my mind, I could still see the Rook. His wails as I dragged my shell through his flesh.

I was still holding the shell in the air when the sea wizard turned, heading for a set of wooden doors behind him.

A shudder racked me. Even on land, he moved like a shadow. And when he slipped through the doors, leaving me alone in the hallway, a strangled sob tore up my throat.

Shit, shit, shit.

I whipped around and could have cried with joy. The doors behind me weren’t barred.

Time to make a run for it.

But when I opened one of the doors, the bulky backs of two towering men blocked my only path to freedom.I closed that door so fast.

Okay—new plan.

I was stuck in the hallway, unable to move forward or backward, confined between two sets of doors. Stuffing my shell back into my bag, I whirled around, searching for an oversized air duct or some other equally unlikely escape route to present itself.

Nothing.

When I reached for a painting, imagining the possibility of a hidden window just waiting to be discovered underneath it, I knew I was really in trouble.

“Dammit!” I dropped the painting back in place, and my eyes widened as I noticed the fish tank below it.

In the center of the glass, a tiny sky blue and white speckled fish hovered. Its head lifted, its beady black eyes staring right at me.

A betta fish.

The longer I stared back at it, the more certain I was that the fish was, in fact, looking right at me. Tiny, intelligent eyes probing deep into my soul.

My stomach coiled.

… Could it really be?

“Shit,” I muttered, my panic rising. It seemed I wasn’t the only one held captive here.

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