Yes, Hailana had died, but she’d done so on the day I’d headed home. And when I’d left, everything had been the same as it always was. She’d even wished me a safe trip and reminded me that it was going to have to be my last one for a long while. I’d agreed and she’d seemed satisfied. Content, even, with the idea of leaving Coral Straits in my hands. I couldn’t imagine that in the very last hours of her life she had changed her mind and issued a new edict leaving someone else in charge. If she had, wouldn’t Kona have known about it? And wouldn’t Bali be more forthcoming with his answers?
I started to call him on his comments, to demand a more complete answer, when I realized that he had stopped. I’d been so preoccupied that I hadn’t realized we’d gone around the last twist in the hallway and were now standing in front of the door that led to Hailana’s throne room. To what should have been my throne room.
Bali glanced down at me and again there was that flash of emotion. It looked like concern this time, an impression that was reinforced when he asked, Are you ready?
I was more than ready. I wanted to know what was going on. And even more than that, I wanted to know who the hell was on the other side of this door. I didn’t say all that though. I just gave a simple nod and waited while he threw the door open and announced, Ms. Tempest Maguire here to see Your Majesty.
I was bewildered by the old-time formality of the gesture. Hailana had stood on ceremony, had observed many customs that I found absurd, but even she didn’t demand a full announcement like that. It made me even more nervous about what was waiting in that room for me.
There was only one way to find out. I squared my shoulders, lifted my chin up so that my head was high even as I forced myself to relax the hands I’d unwittingly clenched into fists. When I was ready, I swam into the room, telling myself as I did that I was prepared for anything.
Anything, that is, but what I found.
I stopped dead only a few feet inside the door and stared in horror at Hailana’s throne—and the merman happily sitting in it like he owned the whole world.
Well, don’t just stand there, Tempest. Come in and say hello.
He held his arms out in a blatant mockery of a welcome, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to turn and flee. I suddenly wished I had shifted back to my human form. Not because legs were faster but because I always felt more confident when I had them. I was going to need every ounce of confidence—and luck—I could muster if I was to get out of this meeting alive.
Feeling a little like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, I swam farther into the room, doing my best to keep an escape route. Not because I actually thought I’d have a shot at getting out of here unless he wanted me to, but it made me feel a little better anyway. Right up until an entire row of his soldiers slid in behind me, neatly closing off my access to the door.
So, Tempest, it’s been months since we’ve seen each other. Why don’t you grab a seat and tell me everything you’ve been up to.
Obviously not as much as you’ve been up to, Sabyn, I said in the coolest voice I could muster. Launching coups now, I see.
I prefer the term friendly takeover, he answered.
I looked around the room, noted the number of bunyip clutching weapons. Small and evil, the bunyip were among the ugliest and nastiest sea creatures in the ocean. I’d run into them once before, when I’d been rescuing Mark and Kona from the shipwreck where Tiamat had been holding them as bait—and payback. I’d defeated them once, I told myself as I realized their plethora of weapons was all currently aimed at me. I could do it again.
Doing my best not to look as freaked out as I felt, I rolled my eyes at Sabyn. Yes, this looks exceedingly friendly.
He bared his teeth in what I knew was supposed to be a smile but looked much more like a snarl from where I was hovering across the room. They were a little … worried about running into you after what happened before. I told them you were going to behave this time around, but I think they wanted a little extra insurance. I grew abruptly sick of the game. What are you doing here, Sabyn?
I thought that was obvious. I’m honoring the wishes of the merpeople of Coral Straits by accepting their nomination for merKing.
Scaring the hell out of people and then seizing the throne isn’t exactly legal these days.
Au contraire, my sweet, sweet Tempest. I didn’t seize anything. They asked me to be king of their own volition. I just said yes.You’re telling me they came to you?
After I made them aware that I was interested in the position—and had no pesky ties to the human world.
No, you just have ties to Tiamat.
Things change, Tempest.
I looked around at Hailana’s throne room, which had already been changed to reflect Sabyn’s much more masculine tastes. I was gone only eight days. You’re telling me all this happened in a little more than a week?
He shrugged. Actually, it happened in four days, but who’s counting.
I am.
You always were a stickler for details. He motioned me closer. Come in. Come in. I want to get a good look at you before dinner arrives.
Dinner?
I took the liberty of ordering a few things. You must be famished after your long journey.
I snorted. Like I would eat anything that came from you. How stupid do you think I am?
His eyes narrowed dangerously. If I wanted you dead, Tempest, believe me, you’d be dead.
Really? Because I was under the impression that didn’t work out so well for you last time.
He was across the room in the space of a heartbeat, his long red robe billowing out behind him. Nice dress, I told him, eyeing the elaborate design.
The comment made him even more furious, as I’d expected it to. Sabyn wasn’t normally a robe guy—he was too vain to cover up any part of the gorgeous body he was so proud of. So if he was dressing in robes, it was because he was hiding something. Like burn scars from our last run-in.
His hand came up, tangled in the hair at the base of my neck. He pulled, hard, and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep pained tears from flooding my eyes. But there was no way I was going to give him that satisfaction. I’d rather die first—a turn of events that was looking more likely with every second that passed.
If I were you, I’d keep a civil tongue in my head, he warned me. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. His voice was a silky caress along the private communication path he’d forged between us months ago, when Hailana had recruited him to be my trainer. It was the first of many bad decisions that had led to the attack on Coral Straits that had wiped out half our population—and dealt Hailana the injuries that had eventually killed her.
I responded on the public pathway, not wanting the intimacy of private mind-to-mind communication with the merman who had nearly killed Mark, Kona, and my best friend, Mahina. Oh, I know exactly who I’m dealing with. Tiamat’s boy toy.
He dragged me across the room and through a line of bunyip to slam me, face first, into the wall. Then he was behind me, blocking me in, his body pressed painfully against mine as he hissed in my mind, You are in a very precarious position right now, Tempest. I strongly suggest you think about your options before you run off at the mouth again. I have only so much patience.
Terror ripped through me, not at his threat—I’d heard it all before—but at the positioning of his body against mine. His chest was to my back, his hips against my butt, and while he hadn’t made any sexual move, the threat was obviously there. I could handle him beating the hell out of me, but that … I shuddered. There was no way I would survive Sabyn hurting me like that.