Dark Tides (Kingdom of Bones #2)

Original Edition: ◇ Chapter 4 ◇ Bottled Storm ◇

LORELEI

 Baltessa

Early Rainrise

T

he sea breeze in Cerulia was a stark difference to the bitter wind of Incendia.

When Lorelei stood on one of the many balconies of the palace in the Cerulian capital, the warm wind played with strands of her long dark hair. Even during frostfall, the breeze was kissed by the sun. But in Incendia, the wind always seemed to hold a bite, the skies a never-ending dull gray. Living in Cerulia was like living in a whole new world—a world she'd only seen through her mother's stories.

Now, she was living them.

Back then, she'd thought she was just one stalk of wheat in and endless sea of crops. Because of her mother's omissions, Lorelei hadn't known the vital importance of the blood in her veins. Since this came to light, Lorelei was typically flanked by guards who watched her every move throughout the palace grounds. She knew it was for her protection, but that didn't make her feel any less caged. She was a bird that needed to spread her wings, and when her guards weren't looking, she would take flight.

Today, she'd escaped to the Coin District, navigating through the bustling crowds perusing the rows of market stalls. The navy-colored cloak she wore masked her identity, the hood she'd pulled up over her hair casting the top half of her face in shadow. She'd stopped by many stalls already, emptying her pockets of gold, her satchel growing with the trinkets she'd found. No one questioned if she was the Storm. No guards ushered her back to the palace. She felt like she was back in Port Barlow again, just a harbor-girl of no importance, except to her mother and her old friend, Luis.

She wondered what they would both think now, their Lorelei brought back from the dead, living in the city she never thought she'd see. But now her mother was gone, lost to her because of Dominic Rove who still sailed free on the seas, and the trapped fire god, Magnus, whose whispers had brought the pirate to do his bidding.

She also didn't know if she'd ever see Luis again, the butcher's boy she used to race down the slippery docks of Port Barlow with when they were children. Their last conversation involved him leaving for the Incendian capital to train for the navy, despite how much Lorelei had to say about it. Though she'd been angry with him and they often argued over his view of Cerulia and pirates, she still missed his too loud laugh and the scent of embers he brought with him from his father's smoke house.

Lorelei let herself get lost among the market stalls, pretending that she was just that ordinary girl her mother and Luis knew, even though she was anything but ordinary. The magic swimming through her veins promised that much. The power of the Storm she'd used while fighting Magnus in Limbo didn't fade like she thought it would when she returned.

Thinking about the magic made her skin buzz. It was an unwanted presence, resting under her skin, waiting for its moment to unleash. But Lorelei kept it bottled tightly, terrified of what might happen, who she might hurt if she didn't. The prickling sensation started in her core, sprouting through her chest and trickling down her arms like raindrops.

Control it, she told herself. Losing it in the middle of the Coin District on a market day wasn't an option. Think about anything else besides magic.

A face she hadn't seen in many moons flashed in her mind. The more days that blurred past, the more she found herself longing to see the captain of the Iron Jewel again. Facing the trials of Crossbones had ignited a connection between them, one that Lorelei was still trying to figure out. She remembered when the Trials ended and she was lying in the bed in Kane's quarters, broken and tired from returning from the dead. He rarely left her side, and with each day that had passed at sea, his gunmetal gaze softened to inky pools that watched her with what she hoped was something more than comradery. Had their time apart squashed the blooming possibility of them?