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Thessa squinted to see something caging in her sea—so tall and dark she hadn’t seen them before. What she’d thought was infinite, was trapped. She’d been desperately keeping him out—everyone out—she realized, spending all this time, and all this energy, onwalls.
“Let. Me. In.” He bit out each word.
I’m trying.
He was her antidote in more ways than one, had been. He not only deserved her forgiveness, but perhaps love in return.
Water splashed as her walls crumpled into the sea, and what felt like the weight of the moon lifted from her chest.
Something immediately caught her eye, rippling through the water. Her magical sea eddied along each side of the black serpent swimming up to meet her.
Its red tongue flicked once.You found me.
Why are you in this form?
Your mind manifests a sea. Mine manifests this.
You're a giant. Way larger than Echidna.
Thessa, I need you to listen.
I’m listening, aren’t I?
There’s no other way for me to tell you this so I’m just going to say it.
You’re making me nervous.
If I wanted to exhaust my magic, I could shift into what you see here, but my mind would shift too. I’d become a full serpent.
Is this how you exhausted your magicduring the war?
His serpent head bobbed.You’re not afraid of me?
Never of you.
Thessa opened her eyes, gently pushing his bloodied arm away from her mouth. “Thank you for telling me.”
He nodded.
“So, what happened to make you shift?”
“Eiliana had just been killed, and we were running out of options. I did what I had to do. My father and a group of fighters managed to capture me before the Elementals did … leaving me inside a carriage, wounded and alone, for three days.”
“Three days, as a serpent?”
He nodded. “My father would open the door long enough to toss rabbits inside. That’s it.”
Thessa exhaled, listening.
“That’s when I finally accepted my bond with Echidna. I refused it up until that point. But she’s the one who helped me shift back. I’m not even sure how, but she helped me remember I was not meant to be a beast … at least not forever. Without her help, I’d be dead. I haven’t felt trapped like that since I was in the capital’s dungeon. I thought about shifting while I was in there—surprise the guards and go out with some dignity, but I’d given up all hope at that point. A hundred years of searching for a spellbook, for nothing, and my best friend was going out with me. I wanted to die.”
“So why leave with us? Why not stay and shift?” Her tone was sharp. She was aggravated that he cared so little for his own life.
“When I bled in that cell, you remained.”
“That’s because we share the same blood.”
“Well, it shook the nonsense out of me. You reminded me what I was searching for. Forgetting may be kinder to the mind, but it’s just another lie.”