Sea Fae Trilogy

by C. N. Crawford

  Another frantic heartbeat, and I was ripped off the island, into another time and place in my mind.

  Now, I was standing on the side of a cliff in Ys. Clouds rolled in, roiling in the skies above me. I stared down at the churning sea, and the bells of Ys tolled for an execution. The man lay chained to the rock at the bottom of the cliffs—the traitor who wanted to kill the queen.

  A sacrifice to the sea god.

  Queens, princesses… we all had to do what was best for our kingdoms. Even if it meant getting our hands dirty.

  On the cliffs, sunlight beamed, radiant over the sea. I lifted my arms to the skies and called the sea forth. A wicked smile curled my lips as my magic crackled through my veins. I’d keep my kingdom safe with blood if that was what the gods required. The sea smashed the man harder against the rocks, breaking his bones, cracking his head.

  When I’d finished, I looked down at his broken body. The sea god’s euphoric blessing vibrated up and down my skin. But this had been a dark spell… a blood sacrifice, and it made my knees weak.

  And when I looked too long at my victim, the panic hit me hard.

  There he was, the broken prisoner. Rivulets of blood streaked his limbs, webs of crimson on his arms. The blood flowed over his pale skin, meeting in the center of his bare chest.

  My legs were shaking now. It wasn’t the prisoner beneath me. It was Salem, his body shattered by the waves. I’d killed him.

  This was all wrong. Wrong.

  Ossian’s screams ripped me from the nightmare, and I found myself straddling him, my arms around his throat. He flung me off him, and I landed on the rocks.

  My breath came fast and sharp as I scrambled to get my bearings. “The spell!” I shouted.

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Ossian was rattling off the spell, his melodic voice floating over the waves. Swallowing hard, I focused on the sea again. The Ollephest was only a hundred feet away now, rushing right for me.

  I stared at the creature, its body skimming the surface of the sea in undulating waves, and readied my sword. If this failed, we’d both be dead.

  But it seemed like Ossian’s spell was working. I stared as droplets of water rose from the Ollephest’s scales, rising into the air above it. It was like a heavy rain falling upward.

  The creature’s bitter scent curled into my nostrils, thick like bile on my tongue. My legs still shook from fear. The creature’s body writhed in the water. Its tail snapped back and forth in what looked like death spasms, but it was moving too fast for us, still strong.

  As it slammed onto the shore, headfirst, the monster opened its jaws.

  And I was struck by the sudden realization that this all may have been a miscalculation.

  Aenor

  I leapt out of the way, and the Ollephest reared its head above me. I thrust upward with my sword, and the blade plunged through the roof of its mouth. Blood poured from the wound. I pulled the sword out as fast as I could, but that hadn’t been enough to kill it, and I scrambled back.

  The creature was screaming, head writhing. He lunged for me again, snapping its jaws. I flung myself out of the way, landing in a tumbler’s somersault on the rocks. Frantically, I jumped up to run for the monster’s neck.

  With a jolt of panic, I tried to grab on to the scales to climb just behind its head. The only safe place was the one spot the creature couldn’t reach me with its jaw.

  The scales felt crumbly in my fingers, and it was hard to hold on, but I dug my fingers in. As I climbed the Ollephest’s back, I could feel its thick muscles beneath me. Heart pounding, I just managed to slide my leg over its neck. It was frantically slamming its head down, trying to fling me off, and I struggled to stay on, my pulse racing wildly.

  I was gripping the top of its head, clutching the dry scales as it twisted and jerked over the rocks. It was only then I realized I’d lost my freaking sword while I was trying to climb the bastard, but I was more focused on trying to stay mounted.

  But now, the water was streaming faster from the serpent’s body, rays of water shooting into the sky above it. It was withering beneath me, twisting and twitching as Ossian chanted the spell.

  Now, its single eye looked like rough black pebble, the scales on its back dry and desiccated. It was like the creature was deflating beneath me, body turning into dust. My heart started to slow down a little as its screams began to fade, movements growing weaker. The scales turned to powder in my hands, and I slid off him.

  Ossian handed me my sword, and I looked down at the wilted monster.

  “If you take his head off,” said Ossian, “he’s dead.”

  I raised my sword above his neck. “I dedicate this death to the god of the sea, and I ask for his blessing.”

  I brought the sword down hard, severing the monster’s head. Dust clouded around the blade as I brought it through cleanly to the rocks beneath. Not a single drop of blood spilled out—only a powder.

  For a moment, I looked up at Ossian.

  He beamed at me, eyes shining. “I think I love you, Aenor. I think we are a perfect team.”

  I caught my breath, waiting to feel the sea god’s blessing. “I don’t feel any power yet.”

  Despite the chill in the air, a bead of sweat dripped down my temple, and I wiped it off. The scent of almonds and sea-swept stones rose around me, reminding me of Lyr. When I turned to look at the water, it seemed to grow darker with a red sheen, the color of dried blood.

  Coldness surged through my veins, and icy tingles ran over me. There it is.

  My back arched as the blessing filled my body. Now, each beat of my heart was like a wave slamming hard against the shore. The gale picked up, rushing over the salty ocean, carrying the scent of brine over the rocks. My hair whipped around my head.

  Life.

  The sea was the source of all life. This was where it had all begun, and its power was mine. Waves of ice rushed through my veins, and I lifted my hands to the skies. The god imbued my muscles with strength. I closed my eyes, and the magic rose stronger within me, a tidal wave. I could feel the sea god’s presence here, feel his silky magic.

  Ossian was speaking to me now, but I could hardly hear him. A bell-like god’s voice filled my skull, a language meant only for the divine. I couldn’t make out the words, and they made me feel half-mad. But I was sure this would do it. This was what I needed to seal the fissure, to rip the soul cage open once more.

  My body vibrated like a harp string.

  When I opened my eyes again, I found that someone else had joined us, standing just ten feet away before a portal ripped in the rock. My heart slammed against my ribs at the sight of Lyr—the demigod of the sea. Sunlight streamed over him, and his cold breath clouded around his head in the chilly October air.

  “Lyr,” I whispered. I had certainly just been caught doing something he would not approve of.

  What a time for a knight to return to collect the bodies.

  Lyr’s fingers twitched at the hilt of his sword. As he prowled closer to me, his eyes were glacial. He must have seen his father’s magic radiating from me, and I felt like I’d stolen it. But he couldn’t stop me now, could he?

  “What are you doing, Aenor?” he asked, his voice distant.

  Becoming a god. At least for a moment.

  When I breathed out, frost spread along the wind. When I inhaled again, glimmering snowflakes fell from the skies, catching with amber in the sunlight. Beneath my feet, webs of frost spread out, crawling over the bloodied rocks in thin tendrils. Ice gathered on the eyebrows of the dead, in their beards.

  Ah, this wasn’t an October chill. This was me.

  I beamed at Lyr. “I have been blessed with the magic of the sea god. Your dad gave me this gift. I’m going down to the fissure, and I’ll seal it up for good. We won’t need any more drowned gods.”

  Lyr’s hand was at his sword again. “Aenor. What have you done?”

  “I did what I had to do, Lyr.”

  “My father will extract a
price from you that you might not want to pay. This is an outrageous transgression.”

  The surge of power roiled in me like a storm. “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “But you did have a choice.” Lyr took another step closer, like he was trying to calm a wild animal. “Because you’re not doing this to save the world, are you? Salem’s magic is keeping the fissure shut. You could leave him there, and a wise person would. You’re doing this because he is your mate.”

  That felt like a fist to my gut. I hadn’t wanted everyone to know. “Where did you get that idea? Is that what the Winter Witch told you? She’s mad, you know.”

  “And yet she’s often right.” Sadness shone in his pale eyes. “Beira suspects he’s your mate, but she doesn’t know for sure. And I think that she must be correct, because why the fuck else would he lock himself in a cage—a monster like him, who cares for no one, who likes it when things burn? And why the fuck else would you be making an idiotic decision like this?” His eyes were shards of ice. “So, I think perhaps the mad old hag is right. Again.”

  “The old hag wanted me to wear a binding collar, remember? She wanted to turn me into a husk of a person.”

  “I remember. You ran from me. But the collar is gone now.”

  “Look, Lyr. This isn’t just about Salem. His mother issued some very specific and disturbing threats if we didn’t get him out right away. Lots of winnowing and burning of fae, starting with Ossian and me. She happens to be the war goddess Anat, and she’s not messing around.”

  “I was there,” added Ossian. “She was terrifying. Hot, but terrifying.”

  “Perhaps,” said Lyr. “But what you’re doing will cost you dearly. And maybe Salem is your mate, but he killed your mother and destroyed your kingdom. You haven’t forgotten that, have you? This is traitorous.”

  “I’d never forget that,” I said. “But just so you know, we weren’t innocent either. Mama and I drowned his sister. It was a way of stealing more magic for Ys. We drowned his twin, Lyr. The only person he ever cared about.”

  Palpable anger rolled off Lyr. “You’re actually defending him.”

  “The bargain is made.” The ocean was calling to me now, a seductive whisper luring me closer. “It’s done, Lyr.” That time, it wasn’t my voice. No, I thought it was the voice of the sea god.

  Shadows darkened the air around him, but I turned away.

  I rushed into the oncoming waves, feeling the cold crashing against my legs, my hips. I had only one thing on my mind now, and that was freeing Salem.

  The wind whipped over me, and I dove into the salty water, rushing deeper. Rays of light pierced the surface, streaming over the rocky seafloor, the seaweed and broken shells.

  Deeper and deeper I went under the waves, until the rays of sunlight grew dimmer. Still, the cage looked so far away from me now—a pinprick of light in the sea.

  Salem, can you feel me coming for you?

  I didn’t care if I hardly knew him; I wanted him in my arms. Heat burned in my chest as I swam. The radiant light around the soul cage grew brighter as I rushed for him through the icy currents. His starlight pierced the darkness, starting to warm me.

  But before I reached him, my gaze snagged on something else—shiny and blue, a gleaming piece of sea glass at the bottom of the ocean floor. It was the one from Mag Mell. The one meant for me.

  I can’t say exactly why I did it, but I rushed down, down, down.

  A gift from the Merrow, the sea glass was the one thing that could kill Salem, and I was the one person who could wield it.

  Clearly, I’d been unable to kill him before when I thought I needed to. But maybe someday I’d need it to pursue him. It could slow him down, and I wasn’t sure anything else could.

  Did I have trust issues? Hell yes I did.

  From above, the splendor of Salem’s magic spread out over the seafloor, sparking off the glass, bright with divine light. That little fleck of blue beamed like a star.

  I snatched the glass off the rock, and it felt smooth and cold between my fingers. I shoved the shard into the pocket of my jeans, hoping not to stab myself with it.

  From the floor, I looked up again at the driftwood cage, nearly blinded by Salem’s opalescent light. The primordial voice of a god echoed in my skull. Use my power, pay my price.

  I swam for Salem, shielding my eyes from his radiance. By the time I reached the cage, I had to close my eyes against the light. My hands trembled as I ripped it open.

  All the light around Salem slammed back into his body. His eyes snapped open, burning with the colors of a dusky sky. He was shirtless, his body divinely carved muscle. His sword rested by his side. He was fine now.

  Tension uncoiled in my body.

  But in the next heartbeat, I realized his fiery gaze didn’t appear relieved.

  No, it was a look full of fury.

  Salem

  My blood pounded hot, fiery as I stared at the goddess before me. My heartbeat echoed like a drum. I wanted war and conquest and my tongue running over supple skin, fingers gripping flesh. A guttural growl reverberated off the inside of my skull. Everything around me was a fog of red.

  She swam before me, and I wanted her clothes off, her body under mine, my hands gripping her tight as I claimed her.

  The beast returns…

  I wanted to feast on flesh, to leave a trail of burned cities in my wake. I’d paint my cave walls with blood.

  But slowly, the heat searing my skin was replaced by the glacial cold of the goddess’s magic. Awesome—a word ruined by humans—had once meant the melding of terror and wonder. That was the power emanating from the goddess before me. And I ached for her.

  Was I in heaven or hell?

  Then it hit me again—the pain racking my body, the lack of air. I was underwater, by the soul cage.

  My heart thrummed, a weak pulse in my chest. My mind swam with sludge, and I struggled to orient myself with my magic back in my body.

  Not a goddess before me. She was beautiful as a goddess, but she was fae. Even through the water, I could smell her scent. Wildflowers. She was mine.

  With her near me, memories started to return.

  I remembered that her name was Aenor, and that she was my mate. Her blue hair danced around her head under the water. Dark eyelashes framed her glimmering green eyes. Her wet clothing clung to her curves, her chest rising and falling. My desire to fuck her senseless did not wane.

  As I stared at her under the waves, I forgot all the pain of drowning. For this moment, there was only her and me, the beginning and the end. We were two moths dancing around each other, and our mating bond was the candle flame that would burn us alive.

  She’d come for me, and it made my heart race faster.

  But my time in the soul cage had changed me, I thought.

  Long ago, I’d been cursed. I’d spent forever trying to defeat that curse, and now it was roaring and crackling louder than ever before. I reached for Lightbringer, relieved to find I still had my sword with me.

  Aenor touched my face, and the coolness of her magic calmed me. With her, maybe I could gain control again, force the fires down within me. But I would only be with her a few days more, because my destiny awaited me.

  My freedom—after all these years.

  I frowned at Aenor, and dread slid its fingers over my chest.

  Something was just a little bit wrong with her. The faintest hint of dark magic flowed under the surface of her skin. And something behind her eyes didn’t quite seem like her…

  It was at that point that the question rose in my mind: how had she opened the soul cage? Where had she gotten the magic to seal the fissure without my magic stopping it?

  As her gaze darted down to the ground, I saw the answer. She hadn’t yet sealed the Fomorians in. The world rumbled around us, and I slipped out of the driftwood cage. I watched as the dark seafloor cracked open, like a bright red scar splitting open in the earth’s skin. In that crack, molten lava burned.

  It
looked, frankly, like the sort of place I would live.

  The first Fomorian flames blazed in the dark waters beneath me as they started to crawl from the crack. Aenor was moving away from me, rushing for the gaping crevasse. It seemed she did have a plan in place.

  But from the depths of the sea, I heard a distant voice rushing through the waves. Use my power, pay my price.

  My muscles tightened. What had she done?

  I had a terrible feeling that I wasn’t the only one with a curse now.

  Had she really done this for me? I wanted to burn myself all over again.

  She didn’t even know the truth about me. I couldn’t love her, not truly. Because my love would mean her death.

  Aenor

  The sunlight slanted in from high above, rays of peach and umber tinging the water.

  Life bloomed in me: algae, coral, barnacles sprouting over my bones. I was divinity.

  But my mind was dark—murky, primeval. God of the first living sludge.

  It was just as I’d hoped, the sea god working through me. Danger lurked beneath me, but it would be over soon.

  Flames from the Fomorians’ heads sprouted from the cracks. This time, I felt no fear, only the darkness coursing through the chambers of my heart.

  I swam toward the fiery crack and let the ancient source of life spiral from my body. Words dimmed in my mind now, only the sea pounding in my veins. Ice flowed through my skull.

  It was a dark sort of ecstasy as life rushed out of my body, green and silver tendrils, the shadowy creatures beneath the waves. And the cold went down to my bones. It shook me, the force of the god’s power.

  Maybe… maybe this was more than I was meant to handle. My body trembled, and a strange, haunting music rose in the water. It grew louder, wilder, drowning out my own thoughts and words. Divine music was too much for me, driving my thoughts mad.

  Slowly, my euphoria blended with dread. Shadows of terror crawled up my chest as the magic exploded from me. Life reverberated through my bones, my limbs. This was it, the end of the Fomorian threat. And I was an instrument of the gods. I wasn’t Aenor anymore, but a vessel for power.