Chapter Fifteen

Still trembling, I got up and shifted to sit on the edge of the bed. Where the fuck had he gone? Why say all that shit and then leave? I was baffled. After steadying myself, I pulled on the clothes and boots Vax had given me and went to find him.

I entered the stairwell and leaned over the railing. On our way up, we passed other doors. All of them were open. I heard a strange sound coming from one of them. Weeping? No. It couldn't be.

I crept down to the landing below. There were two entrances to this floor, the doors right beside each other, but only one of them was open. Only one of them emitted that sound. It was clearer there. Someone was definitely crying. No, not crying—sobbing. Great, gut-wrenching sobs. I stepped through the doorway and into a luxurious bathroom coated in pale blue marble streaked with swaths of cerulean. It was like stepping into a tidal pool; the water swirling around my feet. Except the only water in the room was streaming down the Sea King's face.

Holy fuck.

"Vax?" I whispered.

He'd been hunched over, sitting on the floor, his back against the low marble wall that encased the enormous, round bathtub. At the sound of my voice, he flinched and turned away. I saw his hands swipe up and over his eyes as he cleared his throat.

"Vax, I—" I headed for him, hand outstretched. My chest was tight with something I couldn't name. He wept for me? For me ? Had he wanted me so badly that he'd done something abhorrent to keep me?

"Stop," the King growled, cutting me off.

"Vax, it's all right."

"Do not call me that!" Vaxarion roared as he surged to his feet. Even naked, he looked intimidating. Deadly. Maybe even more so. Naked, his powerful body was completely revealed, and the rapid rise and fall of his chest didn't bode well. "I'm your king!"

"Yes, Your Majesty," I whispered. "I understand."

He stomped forward and pointed a finger in my face. "You don't understand anything, Zixin. Now, go. Leave."

"Leave? But you just claimed my life."

"I renounce my claim. Go."

"I'm not leaving." I lifted my chin. "We need to talk."

Vaxarion's hands shook at his sides. His eyes twitched. His lips pressed tightly together. Oh, fuck. There were still tears in his eyes. I reached up to touch his face. For a second, he softened, but then he slapped my hand away.

"Get out!" Vaxarion roared. "Go now, Zixin. The Lu-Ken is moored in Rasc. Yavess will get you passage there."

"What?" I whispered. "How do you know where the Lu-Ken is?"

"Go now," he snarled, getting in my face again. The tears were gone. All that was left was a cold determination. "You have five minutes before I put a fucking collar on you."

I blanched. How did he know? Maybe he didn't. Maybe it was a guess. But it was a good guess. My greatest fear, even worse than being a slave. To be a collared and chained slave. My throat closed up, only a squeak of sound emerging.

The King's expression cracked, and he spun away. "Five minutes. Now, four."

Terror filling me, I ran from the room and stumbled down the stairs to the bottom floor of the King's apartments. I ran down the corridor toward the entrance. On my left, a door opened. Men of many undersea races peered out at me. They were barely dressed, only loincloths covering their bits and golden chains hanging everywhere. They all wore golden collars.

"Fuck," I muttered and put on speed. That could have been me. Just one of the Sea King's many bed slaves. And to think I'd been falling for the guy. I was lucky he changed his mind. Lucky he—a sob escaped me as I burst through the doors.

"Hey!" one of the guards tried to grab my arm.

"Fuck off!" I snarled at him. "The King sent me away."

The guard drew back, more out of shock than anything, and I ran. I needed to find Yavess before the King changed his mind. Four minutes. I only had four minutes before he came after me. Four minutes before I was collared again. Chained. I almost threw up, but I managed to keep running.

"My lord Zixin!" someone called.

I stumbled to a halt and turned. "Thank fuck! Yavess!" I grabbed the guy's arm. "The King said you'd get me passage to my ship. The Lu-Ken. He said it's docked at Rasc."

"You're leaving?" Yavess sounded horrified.

"Yes. Now! He gave me four minutes, Yavess. Please! It's more like two now."

Spurred on by my anxiety, Yavess took my wrist and rushed me through the palace, past the shocked courtiers and servants. We reached the main doors just as a roar echoed behind us. Yavess went still.

"Come on!" I shrieked. "Help me!"

"I can't," he whispered. "The King will want you to—"

"The King is the one who told me to leave. He told me where the Lu-Ken is anchored. Now, hurry!"

Yavess shook his head, his expression one of fear and sorrow, but he called out, "Guard!"

"Yavess, please!" I begged, thinking that he'd called the guard to restrain me.

But when a Sea Dragon appeared, Yaves said, "See this man safely to the port of Rasc in Vix. Orders of the King."

Another roar came, and then the sound of things breaking. The soldier looked up toward the King's tower.

"Go!" Yavess growled. "Now!"

"Yes, my lord!" the man said and hurriedly stripped, tossing his weapons, armor, and clothes onto the palace steps.

Then the man leapt into the air, shifting into his sea dragon form as he went. Water gathered around him, forming a tunnel. A very large tunnel. It spanned the entire courtyard, as did his body. An enormous talon reached out of the water and snatched me up.

"Thank you, Yavess!" I called just before I was yanked into the water.

The water distorted Yavess's face, but I could still make out his expression. It was all sorrow now. Deep sorrow. And it would haunt me nearly as much as my last sight of the Sea King.