Page 155 of In Rising Tides

“You think so little of me—” he shook his head. “I’m angry because we have no way to prove this was Aegir.”

Lyra slammed her palm onto her vanity, and the glass vials shook. “Of course it was him! They were acolytes.”

Drystan shook his head and inhaled sharply through his nose. “Just because they were acolytes doesn’t provehesent them there. We needed to get the information out of them.”

Her head throbbed, and her stomach rioted.

But he was right. Deep down, she knew he was right.

“I saved you from wasting your time,” she seethed. “They would never have turned on him.”

Drystan scowled. “We don’t know that. You didn’t give us a chance.”

“Good!” Her shoulders rose and fell with her heaved breaths. “I’m glad they’re dead. I’m only sorry that I didn’t take my fucking time.”

Drystan didn’t so much as blink as he stared at her.

The tension made the water feel crisp.

Finally, he sighed. His massive shoulders fell with the movement. “This is who I knew you were all along,” he said at last.

Something had shifted between them.

Lyra remembered his words before the attack and looked quickly away.

“We need to get married,” Drystan said.

Lyra reeled back in shock. “You see me murder a dozen acolytes and your first thought isour wedding?”

“It’s the only way around this. Once married, the throne is mine, and I can put an end to any future threats to our lives.”

A lump built in her throat, tightening and burning, and making speech nearly impossible.

“I know,” he said softly. “I know you don’t want this. But it’s the only way to protect you. To restore the kingdom. You—you were right. Aegir has too much power. And if you keep having to wield every time there’s a threat, you will die before you can unbind the tithe.”

A line cleaved between her brows at his words.

She was right.

But so was he.

“I know how to undo the tithe,” she whispered.

It was only speech she could manage, a small, broken whisper.

“We’ll break it after,” Drystan said. “I can’t protect you from anything until we have the throne.”

She felt as if the world were ending, but she nodded.

There wasn’t a way around this.

Wilder walked along the edge of the surf. It grazed his bare feet and sent a chill through his blood.

It’s not that the water was cold. On the contrary, it had warmed increasingly in the last few days.

Tomorrow was the equinox.

Tomorrow all his hopes and dreams would turn to dust when she had her hand fastened to Drystan’s.