Page 66 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

I yanked the shackles from Vitulus’s grip and ran for him, throwing my bound arms around his neck and pressing my mouth to his. He responded hungrily, his lips meeting mine with a frenzy l had missed so desperately.

“Get him off her!” someone shouted. My father.

I clung more tightly to Caspian as Vitulus tried to pry me away from him. Caspian growled and fought, but his arms were bound behind hisback, and there was nothing he could do as Vitulus and two other selkie males pulled me away from my mate.

“No!” I cried, watching as Caspian was wrenched away from me, the Stormcrow yanking on his chains to pull him back. A gag was stuffed in his mouth and tied around the back of his head, but it didn’t stop him from trying to shout for me or break free of Ilya’s hold.

“Marina!” Large brown hands clasped my face, brushing the tears from my cheeks and drawing my eyes away from my struggling mate. My father looked down at me, face lined and haggard as I had never seen it, his eyes scanning mine. “It’s fine, my love. You’re safe now.”

“No!” I tried to wrench from his grip, to return to Caspian, but he held me firm. He frowned, as if not understanding, and I screamed. “He is my mate. Let me go to him, please.”

My father lurched back, eyes wide as he looked between me and Caspian.

I scrambled to my feet, determined to reach him again, when a single, soft note of music pierced my skull and stopped me in my tracks.

It was the Stormcrow who caught me as I fell.

Chapter 24

I awoke surrounded inwarmth and tried to nuzzle into Caspian’s chest as I had done every night since we’d been mated.

His side of the bed was cold, and the memory of the stormy beach came back to me in a rush as I opened my eyes and saw my mother pacing nervously before the window.

“Where is he?” My head pounded, but I pushed myself to sit up. The iron cuffs were gone, red welts around my wrists already fadingunder the influence of my fae healing. I sent a pulse of magic to the sea—to call on Ran or Phyll or the waves themselves to help me somehow. My magic was weak and sluggish, but I felt a faint pulse in response to my request, as if the sea were far away. I felt the sky restless above me, and the wind howled outside as if screaming on my behalf.

“Vitulus?” My mother came to sit on the edge of my bed as she had so many times before. She stroked my hair back from my face as I blinked the world into focus. “He’s in the dungeons with the prisoners.”

“No,” I shook my head, feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. Rain lashed at the windows, the sky the dark navy of approaching night. The pounding of drops against the glass made it even harder to focus. “Caspian.”

My mother pursed her lips and dropped her hand. “He is in the dungeons. Your father claims you are under some spell.”

“It’s no spell.” I shook my head and clutched her hands, ignoring the pounding in my skull. “Mother, youhaveto believe me. So much of what we’ve been told is lies.”

“My love,” she sighed, looking hesitant.

“Please,” I begged, trying to read my mother’s face. She was my last hope, and the only person who didn’t seem utterly convinced I was out of my mind. “I just need someone to believe me.”

“Alright.” She placed a hand on my cheek. “Tell me everything.”

The relief nearly overwhelmed me as I launched into my tale, beginning with my immediate connection to Caspian when he was first presented as Father’s prisoner. My mother listened, calling for tea when my voice became hoarse and furrowing her brow when I described the shipwreck and the fight with Morar and the siren library.

“And have you consummated this mating?” she asked when I got to the part about our handfasting. I blushed, and her eyes widened. “Marina—”

“Just listen, please.” I continued, emphasizing Ran’s insistence that we be mated and Phyll’s gift for Caspian.

When I got to my evolving magic, my mother pinned me with a hard look I couldn’t understand. “Show me.”

I nodded, going to the window and letting the rain and wind into my room to soak my face and hair. The storm was fierce, but I threw my hand toward the open window and willed the storm to still.

As if in slow motion, the water and wind stopped, stilling as they hit my wall of magic, as if the window was still in place.

Carefully, I drew a thread of both wind and water into my hand, forming them into the shape of a female with a selkie tale and siren wings.

My mother stood, eyes wide as she surveyed the figure of water and air I held in my palm.

“Where have you seen this?” she asked.

“It’s Melusine,” I replied confidently. “Daughter of Zephrus and Undine, the god of sky and goddess of sea. And she isinme, Mother. I don’t know how, but when I was born, her spirit became a part of me. That’s why, after so many centuries, Caspian and I found each other. Why we are meant to be and to unite the people of the Isles as Siren King and Selkie Queen. And if you don’t believe me, let me call the kelpies and the sea dragons to support my claim.”