That doesn’t explain why the castle brought me here, though.
I look up at the dark curve of stone overhead and frown. “I’mcertainthis is not the way back to my room.”
A sound in the water has me turning in time to see ripples on the surface... as if something large is swimming toward me.Fast. I stumble back a step. “Oh god, there’s monsters down here, aren’t there? You fed me to monsters after I was nice to you!”
But the being who rises from the water isn’t a monster. Or isn’tentirelya monster. They’re broad with blue-gray skin that is strangely attractive. Also... “You have tentacles.”
They stop short. Or their human parts—a well-defined torso and muscled arms and a face with a very cold expression on it—stop short. The tentacles that seem to pass for hair slither around their shoulders, and the bottom half of their body—all tentacles—shifts and lashes out.
“Who are you? A welcome party?” They say it with a sneer of derision. “A single human to meet a king?”
A... king.
I’ve never met a king before. Then again, I’ve never met a fish-man made of half tentacles either. The smart thing to do is most likely to run, but when presented with the smart thing and the reckless thing, there’s really only one option for me.
I tilt my head to the side and make a show of looking him over. “Guess Azazel doesn’t think much of you.”
His hair tentacles move around his cold face like snakes. I half expect them to hiss at me. Or for him to get pissed. But his expression never wavers. He looks down his crooked nose at me. “Go get your master, human. I don’t have time for this.”
I eye the mass of tentacles that make up the lower half of his body. It would be very, very easy for him to drag me into the canal and drown me. Pretty sure death by drowning counts as harm, but I still don’t really know how the whole demon contract gets enforced, and punishing my murderer is great and all, but I’ll be too dead to care.
“Sure,” I say slowly. “I’ll, uh, go do that now.” I back toward the stairs.
Thankfully, the castle hasn’t made them vanish in the few minutes since I reached the bottom. Even better, the ascent—which I walk and definitely don’t run for my life on—only takes three curves of the staircase before it spits me out into a familiar-looking hallway. “Thanks a lot, Castle.”
A door halfway down the hall opens, and I peek inside to find my room. “Oh, thank god. Or thank Castle.” I duck inside and shut the door behind me.
Only then do I realize I’m shaking. I knew I was in a different realm, of course. “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore” and all that. Somehow Ramanu and Azazel didn’t ping my monster meter nearly as hard as the kraken king did.
I walk to my bed and flop onto it. “A single human to meet a king.” I can’t really mimic his deep, icy tones, so I exaggerate the haughtiness. “Someone should meet you with a fucking harpoon. Maybe that would be enough to get the stick out of your ass.” Oh well. It doesn’t matter if that fishy king got under my skin in record time.
I’ll never see him again.
3
THANE
I’m still thinking about the human woman an hour later when I’m led by that blasted demon Ramanu into a large room containing two of the three other territory leaders. Even knowing to expect it, I can’t help tensing as I move past them to the inset pool of salt water Azazel has provided. I’m sure the demon knows it’s not actually necessary—I hardly dry out after being out of water for only a few hours—but if the other territory leaders underestimate my abilities, I would rather they continue to do so.
Azazel’s thoughtfulness makes me suspicious. He’s better than his predecessor and shows no inclination to conquer the entire realm, but I’d be a fool to think that isn’t a possibility. He’s offering a sweet bribe, but I’ve been around long enough to look for the poison hidden within.
More, I simply don’t want to be here.
I have no interest in siring children or taking a partner, even in name. Not after...
I shudder and try to cover the involuntary movement. Best not to think of my past, not here while surrounded by predators. To distract myself, I survey the other territory leaders. There’s Rusalka, with her indolent smile that doesn’t quite hide the potential for violence in every line of her tall body. Bram, the most human-looking of us... as long as one doesn’t pay attention to the giant wings tucked tight against his body. Or his tail. Or his horns. His long white hair is looking particularly lustrous today. Bastard.
The doors open and Sol stalks through. It takes all my considerable control to remain still as the big dragon passes me. Our territories haven’t had a conflict in some time, but old grudges run deep.
It’s not his fault Brant’s dead. It wasn’t his hand that killed my beloved. It wasn’t even during one of those conflicts.
But itwasone of his people who murdered my husband.
“Shall we begin?” Azazel, as always, has impeccable timing. There’s a reason the bargainers haven’t needed to involve themselves in skirmishes with the other territories recently, and he’s it. He’s too smooth for my liking, but I can’t deny that the entire realm has stabilized since he took over for his people.
Tonight is an extension of that striving for peace. It’s entirely possible this whole thing a trap, but I don’t think so. The other leaders may waste time chasing their respective tails and trying to prove who’s the most dangerous. I don’t. I prefer to watch from the depths, weighing their words and actions and considering paths forward. My people are the least in number, and while we can retreat to the deep where none of the others can reach us, if necessary, it’s my job to ensure we don’t have to make that choice.
Hence my presence here tonight.