Chapter 20
Phoebe
Fifth Shore—The Tidal Lands, Nightfall
Each village teaches me something new.
Here, they braid kelp into crowns and pour sweet, spiced wine into shells.
There, elders chant the names of the tides and bless the newcomers with salt on their tongues.
I learn that a bow isn’t always submission in Nightfall—it can be a prayer, a promise, a pact.
People show me how to tie offerings into the rigging of a boat so the sea will forgive them for taking at harvest time.
A woman kneels and presses a shell to my palm and tells me I have been given the name of someone the tides favor.
My name feels foreign and right in my mouth.
I am learning this world, and Kael is, for reasons I still don’t understand, teaching me to belong in it.
Every lesson is a thread in something bigger.
But threads can be woven into comfort or into traps.
There are moments—alone, in the hush between shores—when he presses his forehead to mine and I feel that same fierce, guttural claiming again, but softer this time.
Not just ownership, but a promise.
I let myself lean into it.
I let my hunger answer him.
When he kisses me? It’s both reverent and greedy, and I come away shaking, because his mouth is like a refuge and a summons.
If only I knew how Kael truly feels.
The fifth day of the festival is a blur of light, music, and sea-salted joy.
Children chase one another along the shore with glowing shells, elders sing ballads older than the tide, and Kael never strays far from me.
Ever since day two, when he pulled me close inside our tent and declared me his true viyella, he hasn’t been distant—not at all.
If anything, he’s been more present.
Fierce and watchful, yes, but also tender in ways I didn’t expect.
Every time his hand brushes mine, every smile he saves only for me, I feel myself sliding closer to something dangerous.
Something I swore I wouldn’t let happen.
Love.
Nightfall doesn’t make it any easier.
The wonder of it all—the pearlescent shimmer on every surface, the way the stars here pulse like living jewels, the sea creatures that leap from the waves as if celebrating right alongside us—it’s like being inside a dream.
How could anyone resist falling for the man who rules this kingdom of marvels?
Kael is busy speaking with Aloysious, his steward, about the course we’re taking to the next shore, and I excuse myself to the privy.
Something I never thought much about during the odd trip to the movies to see whatever fantasy was playing was how the folks who lived in those worlds went to the bathroom.
I mean, being taken by a sexy as hell Demon Lord is one thing—but finding out you have to pee in a pot or wipe with a leaf is another.
Lucky for me, Nightfall has mostly modern accommodations despite the whole otherworldly realm shtick.
Suffice it to say, magical plumbing is amazing.
I’m just finishing up in the ladies’ room when Amber catches me alone.
“Hey,” I say in greeting as she tugs at my sleeve.
Frowning, I follow her away from the revelers and the potty. If something is wrong with milady’s maid I want to help, I mean, she was a little rough at first, but I like to think we are friends.
Her face is pale, her eyes darting toward the bonfires and stalls where villagers are preparing the evening meal.
“My lady,” she whispers, voice trembling.
“What is it, Amber? Is it Corin?” I ask, mentioning her son whom I’ve developed quite the soft spot for.
“No! He’s well, thank you,” she says, wringing her hands.
“Should I fetch, Kael?”
She shakes her head, eyes wide with alarm, and now my curiosity is truly piqued.
“I should not say this, but you need to hear it. I overheard the Lords speaking.”
Something cold curls in my stomach.
“What about?”
Her lips press thin before she blurts it out.
“The mates. You. Lady Jules. The truth is, all the Lords need a zareth—a matebond—to gain the boon of power that will let them defeat the SoulTakers. They chose Earth to find soft women to trick into forging these bonds!”
I blink.
“What? Wait, first, who are they? The SoulTakers?”
Her hands twist in her apron, knuckles white.
“Terrible creatures who want more than they deserve. They devour, they corrupt, they take what is not theirs. I only tell you this so you can guard your heart, Lady Phoebe. Lord Kael is a good Lord—he cares deeply for the Tidal Lands and all who dwell here. But you are softhearted. And once—”
She pauses and swallows hard.
I take her hand and squeeze it, even though everything inside of me is screaming to stop this—to run away before she says something I can’t un-hear.
“Once, when the Lord was very young, he broke the heart of a woman who loved him. She could not bear his careless ways, and she—” Amber hesitates, voice cracking. “She drowned herself.”
The cold in my stomach spreads, battling with the warmth Kael always stirs in me.
Amber grips my hands, eyes desperate.
“I only say this to keep you from being harmed. Lords are not governed by the same morals that guide the rest of us because their duties are far greater. Just—be careful with your heart, milady. That is all I beg of you.”
Not for the first time since Kael claimed me as his, I wonder if my heart is already too far gone to protect.
It’s too late, Phoebe. You already love him.
I’m falling. I’ve already fallen.
The tide of it pulls at me every time he smiles, every time I catch the soft rumble of his laugh.
I tell myself to guard my heart, but the wonder of Nightfall makes that feel impossible.
How can I resist loving the man who rules over a kingdom where stars glow like living jewels and sea creatures leap in sync with festival songs?
I shake my head, frowning. “You make it sound like they’re using us. Kael—he’s not like that. He’s been nothing but—”
“Kind?” Amber cuts in, eyes darting. “Good, yes. But even good men can break hearts. I beg you, milady, be careful with your soft heart.”
Her words echo, sharp and cruel, lodging like splinters under my ribs. But I push back, clinging to what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt.
Kael holding me when I was too tired to keep my eyes open.
Kael explaining patiently, always answering my questions.
Kael watching me like I’m more wonder than even this magical place.
No. That is real. It has to be.
I thank Amber stiffly, but my thoughts churn like stormwater.
And her warning lingers long after she slips away, weaving into the sound of the waves and the laughter from the festival.
By the time I find Kael again, he’s standing near the outer ring of fires, his trident at his side, his broad shoulders haloed by the glow.
“Kael,” I say, breathless, tugging at his arm. “We need to talk.”
“About?” he asks jovially, and once more I am struck by his alien beauty.
His hair is damp with sea mist, and his storm colored eyes are sparkling with mischief and light.
“About us. About what this bond really means. I need to know if—”
Before I can finish, a sentry bursts into the circle of firelight, chest heaving, eyes wide with panic.
“My Lord!” he gasps, bowing hurriedly. “A breach in the Tidal Lands. SoulTakers have crossed the borders! They are almost here!”
The joy of the festival shatters like glass.
Kael’s head snaps toward the shore, his face going hard as steel.
My stomach does a somersault, and fear burns inside my throat like acid, killing my next words before I get a chance to speak them.
And just like that, whatever answer he might have given me is swallowed by the roar of duty—and the rising tide of war.