23. Tahlia

Chapter 23

Tahlia

" C ut yourself!" Lija shouted into Tahlia's ears. "The sea needs your blood."

"What? No time!"

"Come on!" Marius attempted to snatch Tahlia's wrist, and she dodged him, swimming in place an arm's length away.

The siren was swimming toward Tahlia and Marius and although she was bleeding profusely, she was still speeding through the water as quick as a lightning bolt.

"Gods, her skin… She's beautiful. Horrible, but gorgeous and impossible…"

"Rider! Cut! Now!"

Tahlia blinked, pulled her nearest dagger, and sliced the top of her forearm. Blood snaked into the churning water and lightning flashed overhead. Thunder boomed through the ocean.

"She's still coming at us, Lija!"

The siren opened her bloodied mouth to sing.

"Wait," Lija said. "Don't try to out-swim her. She'll just catch you faster. Wait."

"Tahlia!" Marius looked ready to explode.

Tahlia's blood drew into a perfect sphere and pulsed like a heart. "It's doing something, Lija."

The siren's song filtered through the water and Marius began swimming back to his captor.

"Marius! Stop!" The water muffled Tahlia's voice.

"Draw the following rune into the sphere," Lija ordered.

"You know what it looks like?"

Marius stopped swimming toward the siren and pushed back toward Tahlia, rage and shame etched into his features. The siren swam in big circles toward them now, as if she was preparing for a kill like a shark. Her smile was a bracelet of diamonds, her flesh like the sea captured under glass. She was stunning.

"Rider! Focus!" Lija shouted into Tahlia's ears. "Draw a straight, vertical line, then a left to right downward, diagonal slash. Add a crescent on top like a dome and one dot inside the crescent."

Hand shaking, Tahlia did as instructed. Marius stared, his gaze going from her face to the blood and back again. He was frantic and she could almost feel his panic in her chest, thrumming side by side with her fear.

The thunder rolled again, but was it thunder?

Shadows curled from the distant deep blue and from around the coral and rock that shielded the siren's lair.

"What is happening, Lija?"

The dragon's quiet little laugh usually meant someone was about to suffer in exactly the way she wanted them to.

Eels with bright red stripes and jagged teeth shot from the shadows and swam for the siren. Sharks slipped through the water and opened their great maws as they closed in. Where did they come from?

The siren shrieked as she kicked out at a shark's nose. An eel wrapped her wrists and tugged her away from Tahlia and Marius. Another shark bumped her in the back and she whirled, or at least she attempted it, looking more like a broken marionette.

Tahlia set her gaze on Marius, then began to swim toward the surface. He was right beside her in a blink. His eyes said he had numerous questions; hells, so did she.

"Lija, what was that all about? Are you a dragon or maybe a goddess and you've been pretending to be a dragon like the others on the peak?"

Lija chuckled. "Dragons of the sea are more tied to the Unseelie realm than other dragons. We have access to the old magic. Not power enough to best any, but we have tricks hidden between our scales, rider."

"I can see that. I can't wait to hear more about this once we are out of this place."

"Do you know where the crown lies?"

"Not yet, but we are close."

"I wish you all the luck, Lady Tahlia," Lija said. "The communication herb has burned away, so Lady Fara and I will no longer be in contact."

"See you soon."

She walked up the shoreline with the sea tugging once more at her legs. Marius was right beside her. He smoothed his wet Fae-white hair away from his face and squeezed the water from his tangled locks. Drops ran down his inked torso and the muscles of his stomach.

"How are you communicating with Lija?" he asked.

"How did you know?"

"Because that was Seabreak magic," he said, "the likes of which I've only heard about in old stories."

Tahlia twisted her hair and the ends of her tunic, and water splashed onto the stones near her feet. "You've never seen Maiwenn's Donan do anything like that?"

"Similar, but not that powerful. He's never raised an army to defend him from enemies, that's for certain."

Marius wrung the seawater from the loose remains of his ripped trousers while Tahlia put her dry socks and boots back on. Pride in Lija swelled in Tahlia's chest.

"There's an herbwitch at the castle and she helped Fara and Lija communicate with me via my bond with Lija."

"And then talk to me via our mate bond?" Marius found his boots and removed the socks tucked inside.

"Exactly."

Raising his eyebrows, Marius nodded and grunted in approval. Once they were as ready as they could be, he grabbed Tahlia and kissed her hard.

"I'm glad you're still here to ruin my focus, Lady of the Skies."

She nipped his bottom lip and gripped his narrow, delicious, male hips. "Back at you."

They hurried back the way they'd come. The siren's portal remained, shimmering and dizzying. They entered the labyrinth and took a right.

"The minotaur was an illusion. But it was an illusion strong enough to kill," Marius said as they walked on, drawing their blades and shaking or wiping them dry as best they could.

"The siren's doing, I guess?"

"Yes. Did you not feel swayed by her?" Marius asked.

"I did somewhat, but Lija was able to bring me back to myself."

"Thoughts of you are the only reason I was able to strike out at her."

Tahlia's cheeks warmed. "Glad I could help."

The labyrinth went around and around until it reached an arched wooden door with a small, simple brass knob.

"I suppose we're headed in there? The crown is probably sitting right in there on a fine pillow with some magical light illuminating it for us, right?"

Marius lifted one eyebrow and growled.

"Yeah, I didn't think so," she said. "Let's get whatever this nightmare is about to be over with. I'm ready to leave this crazy place."

Marius kicked the door open and Tahlia nearly leapt out of her skin.

"Did the door knob insult you?"

He pushed the broken remnants away and walked forward into the chamber. Tahlia followed him. The room was a twenty-by-thirty-foot dusty enclosure. Footprints ran in a crescent shape around a raised platform crafted of dark wood. On top, a box large enough for three crowns boasted a seashell-shaped lock.

"That has to be it, right?" Tahlia asked. "Or is this another ruse?"

"We won't know unless we try it. Can you still communicate with Lija? She may know something about such a lock."

"Because of its shape."

"Aye."

"I can't talk to her anymore, I don't think. She said the herbwitch ran out of the rare plant that allowed us that link. I'll try though just in case."

Marius nodded, and from the small bag at his belt, he removed the key the contact had given them at the warehouse.

"Lija? Fara? Can you hear me?" Tahlia closed her eyes to focus, listening for any sound, any whisper.

Sighing, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "No go."

Marius jerked his chin in understanding. "Tell me immediately if you notice anything amiss when I put the key in place."

"Do you think that's the right key?"

Chewing his lip, Marius lifted his eyebrows. "There's a solid chance it is. That contact has worked in Spycraft since he was a child. It's in his family."

"You know them?" Tahlia asked.

"I've heard of them."

Glancing around the room once more, he lifted the key to the seashell lock. His shoulders moved in a breath and he inserted the key. The lock clicked, the sound loud in the small and silent chamber. The walls had to be incredibly thick because not even the sea's crashing was audible here. The seashell fell open and the corner of Marius's lips tilted up in a half grin. He removed the lock and Tahlia took it from him, tucking it into her pocket. He lifted the box's lid…

Another box sat inside with another lock, this one in the shape of a fist.

"Think the little key will help us one more time?" Tahlia removed it from her pocket and stuck it into the fist. "It fits!" She tried to turn it, but the lock didn't give. "Damn. I was hoping it would be that easy."

"Easy?" Marius stared at her, wide-eyed. "A collapsing floor, a bespelled darkness, a minotaur, and a siren, and you call that easy ?"

"We made our way through it all, didn't we? I only have some sore ribs and an angry ankle."

"Maybe you have a terrible concussion. I don't think you're clearheaded at the moment."

Tahlia grinned and smacked his arm. "Shut it, you big lug."

Marius pursed his lips and lifted the box carefully. "Maybe it's time for a blunt approach."

He slammed the box onto the floor. Tahlia gasped as the wood splintered as the door had. There was nothing inside the box. But then again, the crown was invisible.

Marius took the concoction the Witch had given them from his pouch, uncorked it, and sprinkled the floral-scented blend over the mess of what had been the second box. The air glimmered as if it was under water with the sun shining on ripples of seawater.

"Is it not working or is the crown not in here?" Tahlia fisted her hands.

Durniad would be here soon, if their information was accurate. Sweat beaded on her upper lip and she swallowed while Marius bent to squint at the sparkling area.

"Look." He pointed near a broken corner of the box.

Fingers of a dark metal appeared out of the Witch's shimmering magic. The tines came together with sapphire circles and bronze leaves, and soon, the crown showed itself in full.

"Can you just pick it up?" Tahlia asked. "Is the crown's power only activated if you put it on?"

Marius exhaled. "That's what King Lysanael said."

A shuffling sounded behind them. "Is that so?"

Tahlia's heart iced over.

Durniad.