Page 98 of In Rising Tides

The words were spoken with such tenderness. It was something she never thought him capable of.

“I’m not asking you to,” she bit out, rolling her eyes.

His words and emotions rattled around in her skull. It was so volatile, like a hurricane incarnate. There was no rhyme or reason to his madness.

He swung from side to side like a pendulum.

He gripped her chin and pulled her face back to his. “No one can save you from this.”

There was true fear for her written across his face.

Not just for what this would mean to his position, but because he actually feared for her life.

But Lyra didn’twantto be saved.

She didn’tneedto be saved.

Drystan should be more concerned about the destruction of their world when the gods finally intervened.

“There is more you should know,” she said, so quietly she was worried he had not heard her.

He would need to know the bargain would claim her life if she did not complete it.

Drystan sighed. “I’m sure there is, but there’s no time now.”

She nodded, swallowing the words down.

There was a pulling sensation coming from her stomach.

A need she was shoving down as much as she could. She wanted to explain herself, to get them to understand as she had been forced to.

But there would be no way they would ever believe her.

Drystan resumed their swim to the council room without so much as a glance behind him that she followed.

When he arrived in front of the doors, he rolled his head from side to side, cracking his neck, and then squared his shoulders.

“I’ll do what I can for you,” he said at last, turning to look at her. “If you somehow leave this room with your head still on your shoulders, it will be a miracle.”

The words didn’t frighten her as much as they should.

A fluttering filled her chest, and she felt the gold thread of magic in her flare.

No—she would survive.

Or she wouldcommandit.

The muscles of his back bulged as he pulled the doors open, and silence enveloped them.

Lyra was frozen. She expected, at the very least, some yelling. Instead, she found varying displays of intrigue.

Had they not been informed?

Of course, there was anger written across Lir’s face, but that was no surprise. Just her presence seemed to anger him.

A merman similar in appearance to Drystan studied her with an aloof curiosity. Judging by the golden hair and emerald tail, he must have been Caius.

His hair wasn’t as neatly arranged as Drystan’s. It brushed the tops of his narrow shoulders. For all their similarities, their differences were staggering.