In the Veins of the Drowning (The Siren Mage, #1)

by Kalie Cassidy

He gave a bitter laugh. “And why would he do that?” I kept my lips pinched, not eager to offer up the true answer: that my family had been wealthy, and it was my inheritance that kept King Nemea’s kingdom afloat. “You’ll have to ask him yourself.”

It felt like blood, hot and pulsing, flooded my back, deep around my spine. My body tensed. He slowed our dance. “What’s wrong? Are you tired?” I could only nod.

It was not Agatha whose help I needed to get out of Fort Linum. It was the king of Varya’s.

Hell yeah

“Someday,” she whispered, as her fingers played through my damp hair, “you will have a full life. A home, if you want one. And you’ll see more than these stones and mountains and sky. And I’ll be with you when you first touch the sea. You’ll feel sand between your toes, and salt water on your tongue, and you will feel more joy than you can fathom. I promise.”

“I… I swear my… loyalty—” Theodore lowered himself to his knees before me, his eye to mine, and my every thought dissipated. He was close enough for me to whisper and still be heard. My brow buckled with confusion at the gesture. He gave a sharp nod. “Quickly.”

“I, Imogen Nel, pledge my loyalty to you, King Theodore Ariti of Varya. I… will try… to honor you in word and deed, will and action. Before Eusia—” I shook my head. Cleared my throat. “Before the Great Gods, wherever they may be, I swear it.” The side of his mouth gave a wry downward curve. “You’ll try?” I nodded. “I swear it.”

Theodore’s deep voice was quiet, filled with a soft sort of tension. “Marriages are not performed as blood bonds on Seraf, Lach. She didn’t know.” “Marriages!” My gaze bounced between all three of them. “We’re married?”

“That’s fine,” said Lachlan, clearly annoyed. “But you did. And you agreed. So now, in the eyes of the Great Gods, you’ve taken a fugitive wife, right before you’re supposed to meet your fiancée.”

LMFAO yeah buddy

His acerbic tone fled, and he sounded suddenly like he was speaking to some spooked creature that was a moment away from a rampage. “I believe you’re the daughter of the Great Goddess Ligea.”

“And the king—he doesn’t need to touch to heal flesh or to make plants flourish.” My attention snapped toward her. “I’m sorry—what?” “What?” Agatha reared back at my reaction. “Every time the king has healed me, he’s touched me.” “Oh. Well.” Agatha’s lips curled into a knowing smile. “I can’t imagine why.”

HA

Theodore’s mouth pinched. “Bloody Gods—I’m not. I’m saying that the empress will think I’m slighting her and her daughter if I bring such an uncommonly beautiful woman with me into the negotiations.” My cheeks warmed. “Oh.”

“I told him to have the warships and land soldiers prepared for an attack from Seraf.” His voice had sunk so deep into his chest I could nearly feel it rumble through me. “And I told him you would be sleeping in my room for the time being.”

Eftan’s brow quirked. “His cousin? Oh. I—well.” He set the stack of folders onto the table with a loud thwack. Bewildered, he chewed on the air, then pulled a kerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed his upper lip. “Hello. Again.”

I inclined my head politely, then glanced at Theodore. He stood at the head of the table, fist around his refilled glass of wine. He’d watched the entire exchange with a terrifyingly empty look on his face, then grumbled, “Ahh fuck.”

He stopped, looked back at me, and spoke in a scraping voice. “If you wish to remain in the garden, you may. I’ll still go with you.” Words wouldn’t come. Just a deep bloom of gratitude.

“I called you a gnat, and I detest myself for it. I am the bug. A moth. And you are the moon. Drawing me, pulling me. But I’ll never be able to reach you without destroying myself. All I can do is pray for the day.” He gave me a pleading look. “Do you understand? I am doing my very best to keep a grip on myself, to keep my distance, but everything you do seems in service of thwarting that goal.”

Slowly, he spread his fingers wide and dug into my ribs, as if he wanted to touch as much of me as possible. “I would have worshipped you,” he said, husky and slow. “Laid you out over my bed like a goddess on her altar and gotten on my knees before you. And when we were done, after a very long time…” He brought me tighter to his chest, and I all but melted into him. My nose brushed his chin. “… I’d thank you for tearing me to ribbons with those pretty talons of yours.”

YESSSIRRRR

“Lay a hand on my wife and you’ll lose it.” Theodore gripped the hilt of the dagger.

Bro chill, that's your fake wife

“Do not fear. You and I are one,” the nekgya said. “Bound with your given blood. Bound with the words. We cannot harm one another.” “Bound to you?” I thought of the scars on my hand. Of all the blood I’d been forced to give over the years. Of the words—Nemea’s ritual prayer. A trickle of cold, complete horror ran down my body. “You’re Eusia.”

Theodore was calm and collected beside me. “She’s your queen.”

O m f g

“Is Nemea…” Rohana began to giggle, and with sickening assuredness, I knew. “He’s my father.”

EWWWW

The unsettling, empty way he would lose himself to some remote place while looking at me. I wondered if it was my mother he thought of then. My mother—whose wing hung upon his wall.

“Close your eyes.” A mischievous smirk tried to lift one corner of his mouth. “You’re joking,” he mumbled. “That wet shift you barged into my chamber wearing was worse than seeing you bare. I think about it all the time.”

“Tasting that brew again reminds me of death, Imogen.” He pushed back a burgeoning emotion. “You remind me that I am alive.”

When will it be MY turn

“Of all the very eligible, very safe, very unproblematic women you’ve had your hands on, this is the one you fall in love with!” Theodore went so still beside me that time seemed to halt.

“I cannot even see her for the way you encompass me.” Emotion etched his face. “You fill my every sense. You stalk my waking mind. You make up the entirety of my dreams. I couldn’t speak to you after what Lachlan said because it shocked me—that he was right. About what I feel—”

my heart my goddddd

“What’s this mean?” I asked, my voice soft with overwhelm. “‘A wife worthy enough to kneel before’?” “In Leucosia, a king or queen will kneel to their betrothed, and only their betrothed, as part of the binding ceremony.” His eyes were closed. He shrugged. “My father never did

OOP

Halla shook in my grip, and I hauled her up, so her face was mere inches from mine. “I will see an end to your saint.” Unceremoniously, I released her. She fell with a shriek below the surface, and I sent a wave to carry her back to the sand.

Hell yeah Im

Theodore was leaving me, one drop of glistening Gods’ blood at a time. I’d never known the sea without his power stitched through me. I’d never known the sea with only my bond to Eusia lingering in my gut.

Slowly, I rested his crown upon my own head. He scowled. Then the expression on his face slackened as he realized I knew precisely what his strongest claim to me was.

“She’s still alive. If your lure didn’t work, that means Ligea’s still alive. Our bond remains.”

I shoved the sword down. I felt it crunch through the tough pieces in his neck. I felt when it hit the bones of his spine, when it hit the wood beneath him. I was grateful for the shroud of night. I released the sword. Stumbled backward. Fell to my knees and vomited.