Page 120 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
Raven flapped his wings hysterically, as if warning me, but I didn’t understand why. I reached out my hand, intending to run it across his back in a soothing gesture, but he cawed, threatening to snap my fingers between his beak if I touched him.
“Raven, what has gotten into you?”
The bird leaped into the sky and gripped a piece of my hair, pulling me savagely. I turned with the yank, and that’s when I noticed what Raven tried to tell me.
Evelyn walked gracefully from the depths of the water to shore, the distance from Zahara’s ship and coastline. The water lapped at her waist as she trudged through to me.
I gasped.
“Evelyn?” I cried, my body weakening at each step my sister took as if she had not been unconscious for days prior.
My drenched sister walked calmly, coming face to face with me.
But the smile that split her cheeks was far too wide, its edges cracked, her eyes wild with madness.The exact face I saw in the water at the Mirrored Sky Festival.
“You know, your Blood Tie’s powers are… intriguing,” she drawled, inspecting her legs like they were foreign to her. The voice was Evelyn’s. The body was Evelyn’s. But what lay within was not. “Switching souls? I should have done this a long time ago. The body of my great niece, but the ferocity of Thal’Maruun? Undefeatable.”
“Where’s Evelyn?”
“Oh, I can hear her screaming. It’s like music to my ears, honestly. She’s in here. Buried very… very deep. I must have done it wrong, I guess.”
“Release her,” I ordered, trying to force confidence and falling short.
The goddess smiled through my sister’s face. I should have been accustomed at that point seeing beings take the formof my family, but knowing the goddess controlled my sister’sactualbody stood my back straight in rage.
“You wanted her back,” Thal’Maruun chided. “Now take me out of her.”
The Ocean Mother knew I would never hurt my sister, even if Evelyn was getting lost within her own body. The goddess would win, knowing she would be able to walk freely without me even giving a scratch.
“What do you want?” I whispered, accepting the defeat. Accepting that the plan Raveeka and I conjured would not work. I was supposed to attack the Ocean Mother from behind as Raveeka distracted the goddess at the front lines. I was supposed to surprise her with the trident, the weapon Raveeka never allowed another being to use. Yet, it was all ruined as I stared into the eyes of my sister who unwillingly was controlled by the goddess.
“I want your blood.”
“But why?” I breathed, tears filling the crevices in my eyes. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t go back to being drained of my power. Of my life.
I had two choices—kill my sister and hope the Ocean Mother couldn’t switch her soul back to her own body fast enough… or let the goddess drain me and the power within to use in destroying the realms.
Thal’Maruun approached slowly, bare feet dragging sluggishly through the sand. It was as if she enjoyed taunting me. Her lips curved in a wry smile that didn’t fit my sister’s face, arms outstretched at her side as she tiptoed through the beach front.
“And if I refuse?” The tremor in my voice became prominent.
The grin on Evelyn’s face expanded excitedly. “Then I kill you, killher, and then kill everyone else. It’s simple really. Are you that selfish? Your mother sure was when she chose blood over her daughters.”
My mother.
I winced at the insult. My mother was tricked and fell into the Ocean Mother’s sick trap.
“Leave her out of this.”
Spit flew from Evelyn’s mouth as the goddess laughed, a nasty gurgling sound.
“She willingly took the first sip, niece. It was only I that offered it.”
The goddess reached out and gripped my arm, jerking me forward. A blade appeared within the Ocean Mother’s palm, slowly slicing away at the skin along my forearm. Cobalt blood rose above the skin, dropping across the sides of my arm.
The goddess took control as always, asserting her dominion over the realms and over me. Evelyn lowered, her mouth cusping the cut, tongue lapping up the sapphire syrup. I hissed when she drew the liquid from my body, my own hand reaching to clutch my vest.
The pain shocked throughout me, shivers overtaking my senses. I shook without external cause, like fear replaced every emotion I knew. My head spun with dizziness nearly immediately, my feet stepping in every direction, trying to steady myself.
