Chapter 4
Consciousness came to Kalyani sluggishly, like surfacing from a great depth.
She opened her eyes to find everything around her fuzzy and distorted and quickly shut them again.
There was a dull ache in her side—slight but constant.
Her mouth felt as if someone had stuffed a rag into it.
She tried to swallow and managed a little saliva on her second attempt.
Her tongue stuck to her chapped lips when she made the mistake of licking them.
The next time she tried to open her eyes was easier.
After two blinks, her vision cleared. She stared at the pale aqua light moving on the ceiling.
Something about it was strangely familiar, as if she had seen it before.
She frowned up at it, trying to figure out when that might have been.
She gave up when her head started to throb.
Kalyani was desperate for a drink. She couldn’t hear anyone moving about, and she had no idea where she was. It was only while studying the slightly domed ceiling and the etched reliefs of sea creatures there that her foggy brain registered a niggling worry and a directive to be careful.
She rolled to her side and winced as a bolt of pain shot through her. Her arms worked, but not well. It felt as if she were moving against the tide. As if something else fought with her over control of her body.
It took some doing, but eventually, she got a hand beneath her and pushed herself into a sitting position.
That little bit of movement made her breathless.
Her side throbbed again, but she was loath to move any more.
She sat with her eyes closed and waited for the pain to subside, until her arm began trembling from the effort of leaning on it.
She drew in a shaky breath and opened her eyes, her gaze landing on the broad, arched opening of a window.
It wasn’t just any opening. Beyond it was a luminous expanse of deep blue water, growing darker the farther she looked.
The sight of the enormous krelite drawing near had her on her feet, but it quickly ducked out of view.
She shuffled across the floor on wobbly legs, intent on getting to the window as quickly as she could manage—which wasn’t that fast at all.
When she reached the opening, she got as close as she dared and looked out, but the krelite and all eight of its tentacles were gone.
She stared out at the water for a beat before focusing on the window.
It wasn’t glass between her and the ocean.
It appeared to be some kind of transparent membrane that glistened faintly like oil on water and flexed with the ocean’s movement.
But nothing penetrated the film. Unable to stop herself, she lightly pressed a finger against it, gasping when it gave slightly.
But it was the warmth that met her skin that truly astounded her.
If she had felt this with her eyes closed, she would’ve sworn it was alive.
Kalyani dropped her arm to her side and started to turn away when the window structure itself caught her attention.
Her lips slackened in amazement as she spotted the faint traces of silver coral filigree along the window edges in a wave motif.
She smoothed her finger along the inlaid silver, her eyes tracing the engraved motif up the tall, elegantly curved opening designed for both light and view.
Her gaze shifted to the walls then. It took her a moment to realize that the smooth, iridescent material was living coral.
Within it were faint veins of bioluminescent light that shifted like currents through stone.
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
She reached toward a vein of light, but it shifted before she could touch it.
Something tugged at her side. Kalyani looked down to see a gaping hole in her tunic, stained dark with dried blood.
A memory of one of the elves striking her with magic rose.
In an instant, she was taken back to the battle and the fury she had seen on the Wood Elf’s face as he launched his green magic at her.
The pain had been instantaneous, snatching her breath even as her body tried to move away.
The memory faded, and she focused on the mosaic of shell, pearl, and stone at her feet. The colors varied, going from a deep blue to silver and sand white. She lifted her bare toes against the slightly cool texture. There was no distinct pattern, but that was part of its beauty.
Her perusal eventually brought her to a woven rug that faded from indigo to black next to the bed.
She hadn’t remembered walking on it, but then again, her attention had been focused outside the room.
She returned her gaze to the rug and ran her foot over the geometric pattern.
The tightly woven sea-grass fibers were something she had never seen before.
Her people knew how to soften the shrava stalks to create mats, but this went beyond their skills.
She leaned closer and saw what looked like thin strands of kelp silk threaded through it, creating subtle color shifts.
Kalyani then noticed the bed on the raised coral platform.
Atop it was layered kelp-fiber bedding in the same indigo and silver as the rug.
She rubbed the material between her fingers, marveling at its silky feel.
Next to the bed was a low table, empty save for a book, its spine creased from many reads, and a bioluminescent crystal sphere that illuminated the room with soft light.
The only other piece of furniture was a tall wardrobe made out of polished coral.
The room itself was quiet, the comfort noticeable through the craftsmanship, and very masculine.
She looked up at the ceiling again, then turned around to follow the wavy, aqua lights down the wall.
She found herself looking into iridescent blue eyes that watched her like a predator observes its prey.
And with that realization came another.
She was with a Sea Elf.
She stopped herself from taking a step back just in time.
She hadn’t heard him approach. She didn’t know how long he had been standing there, silently scrutinizing her.
The one thing she did know was that he was possibly the tallest male she had ever seen.
He had at least four inches on Rohan, and that was saying something, because her brother was tall.
The elf wore a sleeveless tunic of midnight blue that showed off muscular arms and his blueish-green skin.
The top molded to his wide chest like a second skin before opening diagonally down his torso.
His pants were a dark teal with faint silver piping at the seams, and a broad belt of braided kelp encircled his trim waist, secured with a carved rune belt clasp. His feet were bare.
She studied his webbed toes for a moment before slowly running her gaze back up his intimidating frame, taking in the polished drift-leather wrist guards and the torc necklace made of interlinked shells, before returning to his face.
The minute she did it, she knew it was a mistake.
His eyes were piercing, cutting through her like the sharpest blade.
His blueish-black hair held a slight wave, and he’d gathered the top portion behind his head while the rest fell past his shoulders.
She couldn’t tell how long it was, but she suspected it was longer than hers.
He had a jaw cut from stone, a square chin, and wide lips that were neither full nor thin. Just right. Dark brows cut over his penetrating eyes, and his pointed ears held no ornamentation. He held himself like an elf who went after—and got—what he wanted.
The question was: What did he want from her?
Meeting a Sea Elf had been Kalyani’s dream for so long.
Her first experience with them had been fighting against them to save her own kind, which hadn’t turned out well.
This second encounter wasn’t shaping up to be much better.
She wasn’t sure whether he was friend or foe.
She would have to tread carefully until she knew where she stood.
She shifted, her arm brushing against her ripped tunic.
Something scraped softly against the inside of her arm.
She wished to see what it was, but she didn’t want to take her eyes off the elf for too long.
Kalyani searched for the offending culprit with her fingers and found the edge of something that seemed stuck to her side. She grasped the corner and tugged.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
His voice was as smooth as a fish cutting through water, and as deep as the ocean behind her. Something about it tugged at a memory. She was sure she had heard it before. Why couldn’t she place it?
“You aren’t fully healed,” he said.
She stilled as the memory of the chain being wrapped around her filled her mind.
Her heart raced as she recalled struggling against the pain from her wound and her arms being bound.
She had been sinking. She’d noticed a shadow in the water out of the corner of her eye right before she struck something.
Her hand rose to her temple. The spot was still a little sore. Kalyani looked closer at her side to see a broad, translucent, pale jade leaf with golden veins that pulsed faintly.
“It’s a serynth leaf,” he said. “It’s used to stanch bleeding and draws out toxins, among other things. It secretes an adhesive film that seals the skin and releases antiseptic oils.”
She immediately released the edge and slid her gaze to the elf. Then she shot a quick look over her shoulder out the window. “Where am I?”
“Safe.”
“That depends on who you’re talking to. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“I have questions of my own,” he replied.
She had almost put him in the friend column, since he’d obviously helped her. The longer she talked to him, the more she realized he might be anything but a friend. “Answer mine since I asked first.”
His nostrils flared, and those iridescent blue eyes turned frosty. “You’re in a Sea Elf city. That’s all you need to know right now.”
“Says you. Why did you bring me here?”
“You were injured,” he stated slowly, as if she were a child who couldn’t possibly understand.
Kalyani bristled at his arrogant tone. “I would’ve been fine.”
“A vorash was coming for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “She wouldn’t have hurt me.”
His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head, his body going rigid. “Oh? And how do you know that?”
Kalyani inwardly kicked herself. She kept a great many secrets for a great many reasons. Mostly not to worry Rohan because her brother took on the weight of everyone’s problems like it was his duty to solve them. No one knew her secrets. No one.
And it was going to stay that way.
“What I meant was that if she had wanted me for a meal, she wouldn’t have swum away.”
The elf eyed her for several tense seconds before relaxing. “And how were you going to get out of the chains?”
“I would’ve found a way,” she replied with a shrug. “I always do.”
“So, you find yourself chained often?”
She stopped short of rolling her eyes. Did he take everything literally? “Of course not.”
“How do you explain your connection to the sloop and its occupants?”
He was really getting on her nerves now, but he also had her at a disadvantage.
She was weak and disoriented. Going up against him now would be unwise.
“If you were there, then you saw what happened. I was trying to save them. They had been kidnapped. Or do you not realize what’s going on out there?
” She studied him, her eyes narrowing as another thought took root.
“Unless you were there because you work for the Masters. You do, don’t you?
” Kalyani took a step back, her mind racing as she glanced around for an escape.
The window was the closest. “I won’t be locked away, tortured, or sold as a slave. ”
She spun to race to the window. She only got one step before her knee buckled, and she dropped heavily to her hands and knees. Pain radiated through her body, coalescing at her side to throb in time with her heart.
Kalyani looked behind her. The elf didn’t rush to stop her or to offer help.
He hadn’t moved from his spot. She clenched her teeth against another wave of pain as irritation slid alongside it.
Even Rohan had helped Farah when they were enemies.
Then again, her brother had feelings. This Sea Elf was obviously as stony and unmoving as the coral that surrounded them.
A sound at the windows drew her attention. She swung her head around and watched some coral lattices slide closed.
So. He was definitely in the foe column.