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  Her heart was bleeding, and she could no longer hear his words.

  “Jou betrayed me,” she screeched.

  “No!”

  She strode back into the pool chamber, pacing anxiously in her rage—and yet every step, calculated.

  “Jou’re all da same. Love? Foolishness. I should have never believed anyting different!”

  “Bliss,” he pleaded, finally reaching her. “Give me a chance to show you. I promise…”

  He grasped her arm, but the touch of his hot fingers only ignited indignation within her. She reached into the dressing gown and withdrew the dagger that she had concealed, taking a swipe at him. The blade dragged across his chest, drawing a red line that filled with crimson. Ellister’s eyes were full of surprise—complete disbelief. He stumbled back, lost his footing, and was cast into his own pool with a graceless splash.

  Bliss did not try to deliver him, did not reach out. He went under, but emerged quickly, soaking wet and gasping for air. Streams of his blood stained the water, but his wound was little more than a scratch. He scarcely seemed to feel it.

  “Bliss, my love, you must believe me,” he gasped. “I have never loved anyone except you. I—”

  “Dat matters not to me,” she said coolly. “Jou did not aim to save dem. Jou kept dem here for jour own uses; I know. Jou see dem—us—as instruments for jour own pleasure. Not as beings in need of aid, equal to jou. To tink: I almost considered jou equal as well, but I suppose it was just not meant to be.”

  She stared at him as birds of prey had often watched her, relentless and without emotion. She did not need words to sway the world to her bidding, only her will. Ellister was brushing hair from his face when he noticed the shadows in the water. He saw the fins, but they were not the lovely tails of those he had chosen to keep here. They were the silvery slick tails of predatory creatures of the deep.

  Bliss had always felt she was like the sharks. Her tail had been similar to theirs, and now with her complete separation from emotion, perhaps she was more like them than she had ever been human.

  “No! Please,” the young king cried, trying to move toward the edge of the pool. The resistance of the water kept him from being quick, and the beasts followed the trail of his blood. “I did what you wanted. I gave my life to it. I am the king!”

  Bliss watched as the beasts opened their wide mouths, rows of sharp teeth gleaming. She watched as they bit into his flesh, as they tore him apart, the pool filling with blood and piss and shit. She heard his screams—shrill and gurgling—but felt nothing. Her heart was stone, and it would never be touched by another ever again.

  The water was red before her, the screaming past. Bliss reached down into the pool and collected an organ that had been rendered in the wake of the destruction. She needed only a piece of him to take with her. That done, there was nothing left for her here. Bliss turned and left the chamber as secretly as she’d come.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Bleeding Heart

  1

  Treasure had spent many hours alone and confused. She’d finally taken off her stained wedding dress, and then sat on the floor near the bed for a long time, afraid that the sirens would come once again to finish what they had started. The cuts on her shoulder ached, but she did not pay attention to the pain. She sat in silence, waiting, wondering what fate would come.

  A resounding knock on the door startled her.

  Her mind raced with all that it could be—Thaddeus coming to claim her as his bride, guards seeking to rush off with her, some wretched beast that might rip her to shreds, Nathan coming to take her away…

  No, not Nathan. He had given up. She knew that.

  Fearful and uncertain as she was, Treasure urged herself to stand. She pulled on her bridal dressing gown and moved to open the door. When she had unbolted the heavy latch, her heart was nearly paralyzed with surprise when she saw Bliss there.

  The fact that her old friend was walking on legs did not confuse her much more than her presence at the door, but of course Treasure could not question it. She was only to stand there, open-mouthed, as Bliss looked down at her. What catastrophe had drawn her forth from her depths?

  “Let me in,” she said, and Treasure obeyed.

  Bliss came into the room, pushing the door shut behind her, but she did not go more than a step inside. She stood at the doorway, observing Treasure, and finally she spoke.

  “I don’ know how much jou are aware of, but jou need to know de truth. De Mistress is rising. Her army is set to attack dis very day.”

  Treasure did not know what to think of this, but she did not react as she listened.

  “Dey have summoned de Leviathan, and de human king is dead.”

  That was nearly too much information to process as it fell on Treasure’s ears. The Leviathan—the beast of legend? She had certainly never seen it herself, but the Mistress had always believed it existed. And Ellister? Did Bliss mean that he had died? Thaddeus… He had always been kind to her. But again she did not try to speak, even though she felt a tiny stab of sadness in her heart.

  “De details are unimportant,” Bliss told her, perhaps knowing her thoughts. “Either way, she has come, and dere is no one left to protect jou. Jou must protect jourself. Dat is de only way a woman can be happy.”

  The girl was not sure what she meant, but Bliss reached into her robes and withdrew a dagger, a slender blade made of bone with a carved handle. She had seen it before. There was blood on it—blood on Bliss’s hands. For a moment, the lost nymph was afraid for her own life, but Bliss held out the blade as an offering, and did not relent until Treasure raised her hands to take it.

  “Dere is only one way for jou now. I tink jou know dat. De humans of dis city don’t know what dey are dealing wit. Dey will fall. Jou must come back to de sea.”

  As much as Treasure might have hated to admit it, she knew. Without Nathan, it was pointless to stay, but she’d been too proud to ask for deliverance.

  What do I have to do? she asked in her mind. She knew that Bliss heard her.

  “De last ting dat jou want to do, but it must be done,” she said. “In order for jou to return, jou have to break ties wit de ting keeping jou here. Jou have to stab jour true love in de heart.”

  Treasure felt her body seize. Of all things, she could not. She would not do this! How could she rob him of his life for her own sake? No. Not him, no matter what he had done to betray her. She could never—

  “When his blood touches jour legs, jou can become a nymph again. Jou can return to de sea and live jour life in a different world. We will see to dat. Dat young pirate’s life is worth very little in de balance. He will let jou kill him, because he knows it is de only way.”

  Treasure’s breath quickened, tears running into her eyes. The very thought of what Bliss had proposed repulsed her, and yet there was a helplessness in the base of her heart, as if she could not deny this fate.

  “Jou do not have much time,” Bliss said. “I urge jou to make dis choice before it is too late. If jou return, know dat I have a place for jou beside me in the de new world beneath de waves. We will not be slaves anymore. It will be as we always wanted. If not, dis is de last time I will help jou. It’s time to stop being a fool.”

  With that said, Bliss withdrew her silvery eyes and turned herself toward the door. With a sweep of her cloak, she was gone, leaving Treasure to stand there, holding the dagger in her quivering hands, alone with the weight of her choice.

  2

  The sea was more violent than any had ever seen. All ships upon it were tossed as if they were made of paper, even those docked securely in the harbor. Clouds had gathered overhead, flashing lightning and groaning softly—a warning. On the land and rocky cliffs, lines of soldiers stood, waiting. And then, before the dawn that was promised, when the night was thickest black, it began.

  A song, light at first, carried over the crashing sound of the water. There were no words, but it was calling, begging for acknowledgment. It mov
ed along with the waves, growing stronger, grasping for ears.

  The soldiers who awaited began to see them, glistening bodies of every sort that a man could desire. True enough, when they had heard that their adversaries would be a choir of nude women, more than a few chuckles had been solicited. Some, however, had taken the stories of the coronation seriously and had prepared, plugging their ears with wool and beeswax. Others had decided to rely on their willpower alone.

  When the song reached the land, there was not an unbeliever among them.

  Several soldiers were taken by the melody, dropping their weapons and leaving their posts, wandering toward the sea. The others did not try to call them back. Their comrades were lost. Screams rang out and then were silent, and finally, over the sound of the song, something began to happen.

  Darker shapes began to appear, rising up from the water and onto the beach in a way that was not expected. The nymphs—showing their cracked, scaly flesh from beneath their illusion, came onto the land—riding the backs of hard-shelled crustaceans that were as mighty as horses. The soldiers were moved to act, forgetting the song and rushing forward on sight, many only to be crushed between wicked pinchers or run through with spears. Any nymph that was knocked off her mount was vulnerable, and numbers from each side were thinned beneath the sounds of cries, clanging of metal, and gunfire. The sounds of war.

  The Mistress looked on from her perch in the sea, taking in all that was and all that would come. She did not care about any lost slave or missing witch. This was her time of glory; and she would let nothing ruin that.

  Below, the Leviathan rumbled.

  3

  The dagger was in Treasure’s fist as if it had become part of her. She could not quite let it go since Bliss had put it into her hands, the weight of the task ahead keeping it attached. Her eyes were wide and her face was blank as she went from her room and walked down the hallways, passing by in her dressing gown like a roaming ghost. She was not sure that she felt anything at all, but she knew where the trek was to take her.

  She was going to Nathan. No matter what, even at the end, she found herself seeking him.

  Treasure had discovered where his room was days ago, but she had not gone to him because he had told her to stay away. In the distance, she could hear the booming of guns, and she believed in what Bliss had told her. Today was a day of war, and yet she had been too wrapped up in her own troubles, completely unaware.

  Perhaps there was truly nothing left but to care for herself.

  She wandered through the darkness and found herself outside Nathan’s room without incident. The door was not latched. Her nymph eyes allowed her to see, though the skill had been hampered a bit by too much sunlight. She could make out the outlines of the furniture, his bed. Nathan was lying there, restful. Or perhaps not. Maybe he was waiting for her, knowing what was to come.

  He will let you stab him. Bliss’s words to her. Perhaps the wise one had always known it would end up this way, and so she had plotted a way out for her foolish friend. Maybe all of this had been a trial—to show Treasure she could not have what she wanted, and to drive her back where she belonged. Bliss had always been smarter—cleverer than her.

  Treasure remembered the first moment she had seen him, sitting at the dock, conflicted; the night he’d run away from his old life and sought a new one. She had not been looking for him then, but being so close to him there made her realize what she was missing. She understood the life that she desired, and now she was poised to take it.

  She raised the dagger with a shaky hand, knowing that Nathan was looking back at her, but he did not say a word, silent as she had been all this time. Bliss had spoken the truth. He was going to let her do this. Treasure tried to find anger inside herself for him, for the way he had loved her and then turned her away time and again—for the way that he had given up and turned her over to Ellister without a fight. She wanted to hate him for these things, but as she held the sharp blade over his heart, she found that all she felt was sadness. He remained still and silent, looking toward her face instead of the knife, knowing that she could see him looking back at her.

  She raised the dagger, thinking of who she was and who she wanted to be—what she deserved. She had not asked for anything that had been handed down to her, except Nathan, but she did not have him either. She wanted to live, but—

  I would rather die than to take his life. I must choose. It was not a difficult choice to make.

  At that moment, something broke inside—a waver in her resolve. A sob burst from Treasure’s throat and she closed her eyes, twisting the dagger toward her own chest, just as Nathan sat up and gripped her wrists.

  “Treasure,” he said firmly, pulling her close, and the sound of his voice made her wonder if anything she was doing made sense.

  The blade fell from her hands, clattering to the floor, and he grasped her crying face. She collapsed into his arms.

  “What is this madness?” he asked, seeming to realize that it had fallen upon them both. “Have I been under some spell that has made me act so carelessly? What made me give up? I have not gone through so much for this. You’ve changed me. You’ve shown me that the life I was seeking was not the one I wanted. You showed me that there is goodness in me after all. I thought it was gone. I tried to banish it, but I learned to put others before myself—you. The answer has been before me all this time, but I have been too afraid to take it. You have been so brave and I have been a coward. Is there any way you can forgive me?”

  She did not have to think it over. Treasure nodded. Yes, she forgave him. She always would.

  Heavy artillery boomed in the distance, the sound of canons, but that had nothing to do with them anymore.

  “We don’t have to stay here,” Nathan told her. “We never did. Sure, they may hunt us, and the sirens may never stop, but I would rather be in danger every day to be with you than to be without you.”

  That was exactly as she had felt when she’d come here for him—when she’d given her tongue just for the chance to walk on land, when she had been willing to do anything to be with him—and he had finally realized that he must do the same for her. Catching sight of the dagger on the floor, he kicked it away.

  “This was all some trick by that silver-eyed demon. She does not believe in love, but I do. With us, it is real. Do you trust me?”

  She nodded, emphatic as ever. Nothing else needed to be said. He took her hand, and together they fled the palace.

  4

  There was no urgency in Bliss’s stride as she passed along the beach in her bare feet. Not far away, the king’s army was battling for their lives against feral nymphs with mounts and spears, but Bliss was ignored in her trek.

  She had learned a lesson this night. She had seen all that she needed to see. She would love nothing more than to turn her back on the human world forever, no longer caring for the outcome of this war. Not for them. It had never been about them.

  The water was around her ankles now, slowly climbing her legs. Once she was submerged, she would become a fish once again and return to the hidden depths, alone. Before she had left the bloody chamber, she had collected the young king’s heart. She would use the blood as she had instructed Treasure to, and she would keep it with her always, a trinket to remember this cursed day. Bliss had made her own choice, but she did not have hope for the girl either way. She had provided Treasure with a way out. Whatever she chose, Bliss would not think about her again.

  Those nymph sisters of hers had been left in the king’s pool, once for their own evil and also for the pain of Bliss’s betrayal. The truth was that she could not bring them with her, and she did not care about the individuals, only the cause. Her cause had been to dethrone the Mistress, but if this day failed, what was the consequence? She had many more years after all. She could continue to wait.

  I will never let anyone touch my heart again, she thought, clenching Ellister’s bloody organ in her fist. Not the way he had. Not the way Treasure had. She w
ould be cold, relentless—free.

  Against the water, a subtle glow began to reflect from beyond the storm clouds. On this dawn of war, the sky was red as blood.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Guts

  1

  On the shores, the ranks of soldiers were thinning and reinforcements were arriving where they were able, and yet somehow it was not enough. Hundreds of men could not hold back the amount of deep sea nymphs that rushed the ground. Many remained in the water, but others were able to rise on mounts that carried them into the city.

  Those in the kingdom who had not fled were hiding away in their homes, an occasional curious eye daring to look out and see the legs of giant crustaceans as they clicked along the stone street. These were the ones that had gotten past the soldiers, slipping in where defenses were low, prowling about on land with nymphs on their backs. Some were alone, their riders knocked free, but the danger was no less. In the streets, some ranks of brave civilians attempted to fight. The bloody results were inevitable.

  And then came a low humming sound which grew louder, and there was a crashing eruption as the water broke. The sea, vast as it was, seemed to split and shatter, as a slick back broke the surface, covered in lights like the night sky. It might have been confused for a whale, but it was so much larger in length and girth. The entire city of Ilsa might have fit on its back. Its head was as mighty as a ship, lit by a thousand beacons. When it roared, the air itself shook.

  The Leviathan had emerged, a creature that seemed to have no end, with great blinding lights along its face. It opened its mouth and the light that grew inside it was even greater. Massive suns shot forth toward Ilsa, ripping through the buildings and into the ground from the rocky cliff side, burrowing in, an unstoppable force like lava that erupted from the streets.

  It was then that many began to realize that they could not stay, could not cower in homes that would not protect them. All that was left was to flee, and many did so with their families in tow, much to their own detriment.