64. Enna
Chapter sixty-four
Enna
The sand is cool under my feet, lit by the moon. Stars stretch and curl behind Audrina in colorful swaths. A wisp of cloud covers the moon’s face, the only disruption to an otherwise brilliant, perfect sky.
I’m reminded of my old home in the Drink—the pricks of light against vast nothingness, small bioluminescent shapes hanging in a black sea. I cannot chase the stars or snap at them with my teeth, but I can watch them endlessly, and if I stare long enough, maybe they’ll move.
And maybe, if I stare long enough, the feelings from today’s events will sort themselves out. Queen of Coral. I still can’t believe it. Me. This morning, I woke as a death-dealer; tonight, I’ll sleep as a queen. It’s more than any half-blood from Vespyr could have dreamed.
High tide has shortened the beach, leaving me a few paces of sand on either side as I circumnavigate the keep’s walls. The boulders where we first fucked jut out of the surf now, like smooth molars cresting through the dark gums of the sea. On top of the largest boulder reclines a male shape, his green tail hanging lazily in the foam to keep from shifting. My heart quickens at the sight of him—my husband, my king.
A rogue wave crashes over the rock, spraying him in silver beads of water. His hair drips across his face, water slipping down the strong line of his jaw, the scaled expanse of his chest, before tracing the delicate path my fingers ache to follow.
I dive into the surf, paddling out to meet him. The water holds a touch of chill tonight, the cold season beginning to dip and stir its fingers in the reef. At last, a break from the heat.
A rough knob juts out of the rock, and I grab hold as I tread the waves, eyeing the flick of his tail. In a glittering arc, I spit the seawater from my mouth, spraying Soren’s tail.
“For someone who wanted a midnight swim, you are much too grounded,” I tease.
Soren’s teeth flash in a white smile, catching in the light of the moon. “Is that a challenge?” His muscles flex as he slips into the waves, shoulders rolling, his back a perfect arc. The tip of his tail flicks as it submerges in the waves.
Smiling, I sink beneath the surface, and open my eyes to the colors of the reef. Soren paddles backward, watching me with sparkling eyes. The strong curve of his tail ripples with power.
I glide my body over his, starving for his touch, and our tails slide together. My hands find his hair as his arm wraps around my waist. His mouth nuzzles my throat, nibbling along the sensitive lines of my gills. When he reaches my ear, he whispers, “I want to show you something tonight.”
My hands slip down the hard plane of his stomach, my claws catching on the raised edge of his scales. “Oh?”
His chuckle vibrates through me. “How do you feel about graveyards?”
My answering smile spreads on instinct—wide and greedy. “I love them.”
“Thought you might. There’s a new site nearby.” He slips from my embrace, leading the way.
We swim over the shallow reef, bellies skimming the urban sprawl of the homes perched among the coral forest. Fish dart into their holes as our shadows pass over the slumbering city.
The reef soon drops into open water. Soren leads me into the expanse, the proximity of the corals dropping sharply away. He dives, and we follow the slope to the sea floor. There, lying in the sand, rests the skull of a dredgebeast.
The large skull nestles in the sand, mouth still parted to display its rows of sharp, pointed teeth. The rib cage reaches for the surface like curved fingers around empty water, caught dead and grasping. The large bones slope and curl into the sand, disappearing beneath the grains. Small fish lounge by lazily, nibbling the last remnants of its flesh.
“The captain said it showed up a week ago.” Soren turns to assess me, and I realize I’ve stopped swimming. “You okay?”
I stare at the beast, the particular curve of its teeth, and frown. The scales on my neck prickle in recognition.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
I flick my tail, gliding to approach her great skull. I grasp a tooth, sliding my hand over the smooth bone, searching for a crack. The next tooth is smooth, and the next. I round the bottom jaw, searching for the proof I’m sure will be here. My fingers slip into a crevice on the back of her pointed molar, nearly invisible to the casual observer. I trace the fissure in wonder. My tail prickles with memory—the rip of my flesh, the grinding of my claws against the unpierceable enamel.
Soren’s arm brushes my waist, bubbles lifting from the stir of his tail. “Isn’t it marvelous? I’ve never seen one up close, and as of last week, there’s one here on my reef.”
“I imagine it got caught by a predator,” I whisper. My spirit shivers for a moment, acknowledging the uncanny with rising spines. Somehow, the Eater of Souls left me a trophy.
I slip away from the jaw, trailing my fingers along the edge of her gum, her nose, finding my way to her giant eye socket, hollowed out by the work of bloodfish. I settle into the hollow cave, resting against the cool bone. Soren joins me, tucking into my side.
“She’s beautiful,” I say.
“She?” he says. “How do you know?”
I smile. “Because I killed her.”
He grips my face, turning me to look him in the eye. His gaze blazes with anger. His jaw flexes, the veins on his forehead lifting from his skin. “When?”
“Remember that time I fainted at breakfast and ended up in the healer’s tank?”
His eyes widen. “How did it get here?”
I shrug. “Tephra has a wild imagination. I’m sure she had her reasons. I won my blood price fair as the tides—perhaps she thought to reward me with a trophy.”
Soren leans back against the bone, studying the slope of the eye socket. “Caught by a predator.” He chuckles. “How’d you do it?”
I lift up my hands and flutter my claws. “With these and a little help from you.”
His forehead wrinkles. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“We were too busy fucking.”
Soren growls, dragging me on top of him. His tail wraps around mine and his hands slide up my back to twist in my hair. “You’re telling me you killed a dredgebeast with your bare hands?”
I nod against the tightness of his grip, my scalp burning. “And teeth,” I say, swiping my fangs with the flat of my tongue. “It stood between me and the safety of a certain pretty prince, so I devoured it.” His collarbone slopes into a delicious divot beneath his neck, and I trace the line with my claw. “Do you require a demonstration?”
He growls, his sheath barrier rising to meet the slick of my scales. “I require nothing of you, my queen, only your love in return.” Our touch is electric, igniting a fire within us even the chilly waters of the night cannot extinguish. He kisses my forehead, my cheek, my nose. “You’ve stolen my heart, and I have no intentions of escaping your clutches.”
His lips press into the dimple on my chin. “Not now,” he says. He sucks on my bottom lip. “Not ever.”
I could stay here forever, wrapped in the arms of my king—my love, my equal.
As his kiss consumes me, the last internal fetter in my chest loosens and falls.
This is what freedom feels like.