Bloodline (Whyborne & Griffin Book 5) (28 page)

“I know. I just…” I wiped my eyes. “Ignore my foolishness.
Are you…are you happy beneath the sea?”

Her smile was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever
seen, even lined with shark’s teeth. “Happier than I’ve ever been.” She took my
hands in hers. “I’m free. Free to go where I wish, do what I wish. To swim
beside dolphins and dive with whales. Or to gather in the House of the
Matriarchs and listen to the old tales—such tales!” Her eyes shone. “They
asked for our stories in return, so I told them about the grail, and Camelot,
and the brave knight Percival. My sea name is Speaker of Stories.”

I managed a smile of my own, even though it was tinged with
sadness. “I’m so happy for you.” And I was. She had a life she could never have
ever dreamed of before. And yet I couldn’t help but be sorry for myself. Never
again would I sit in her room, discussing those same stories she now told to
ketoi. Never would I knock on the door to Whyborne House, the gift of a new
book tucked under my arm. No more Christmas dinners or quiet teas.

It was selfish of me, of course. There was no mistaking the
joy in her eyes, the exhilaration. She’d left behind the confines of her
sickroom in exchange for a new world, one of magic and mysteries none of us who
belonged to the land could comprehend.

“I’m not gone, you know,” she said, correctly interpreting
my expression. But then, she’d always known me better than anyone except for
Griffin. “I’ll return every month by the light of the full moon.”

It wouldn’t be the same. But at least it would be something.
“I’ll wait for you here. Every month.”

Her fingers tightened lightly on mine. “If you wished it,
you could come to the sea. They’ve given you a sea name already.”

“What is it?”

“Fire in His Blood.”

The memory of my coat and shirt charring into ash against my
skin haunted my dreams some nights. Widdershins lay quiescent, but like a
dozing cat, it might wake again at any moment. “I see.”

“Think about it,” Mother urged. “You could swim beneath the
waves. Taste the waters of every ocean, and be honored for the magic in our
blood. Love who you wish without fear. Be free of all the constraints society
has placed on you.”

How strange that, in the end, the Endicotts and the ketoi
both wished to offer me the same thing. A part of me wondered what it would be
like, to cast off all shackles of humanity and swim beneath the waves. I’d have
my sister with me, and my mother, and perhaps other family members I’d never
imagined existed.

But no amount of freedom was worth giving up Griffin. “I
can’t,” I said gently. “I’m sorry.”

She nodded. Her hands slowly slipped from mine, leaving me
grasping only empty air. “I know. But I wanted you to understand you had a
choice.”

“Mother…”

“Here.” A pouch hung knotted into the mesh of her loincloth;
she untied the strings and held it out to me. “I asked Persephone if I could be
the one to give these to you.”

Oh. Oh dear. When Persephone hadn’t come for so long, my
worry about Mother had driven everything else from my mind. I’d forgotten I’d
even asked for anything.

The pouch lay heavy in my hand, water spreading slowly
across my palm. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She pressed her lips lightly against my
cheek. “Now, go back to Griffin, before he starts to wonder if I mean to drag
you away beneath the waves.”

“Goodbye, Mother.” I blinked away tears. “Thank you.”

“No, my son.” She smiled at me, a bit sadly. “Thank you.”

Then she was gone, slipping away beneath the water. The rest
of the ketoi vanished as well. Their fins broke the waves here and there as
they returned to deeper water. And then one leapt like a dolphin, bright and
laughing and full of joy, before she plunged back with the rest and disappeared
beneath the ocean.

I turned from the sea, holding tight to the pouch in my
hand. My clothing was soaked to the knee, my shoes full of seawater and sand,
and I shivered as I rejoined Griffin.

“Are you all right, my dear?” he asked. The lantern light
gleamed from unshed tears in his eyes.

My sister was dead, my brother locked in an asylum, and my
mother turned into a shark-woman. It seemed likely the English branch of the
Endicotts would hunt me down like a rabid beast.

But for everything I’d lost, I still had Christine’s
friendship and Griffin’s love. “I am,” I said, and meant it.

“I’m glad.” He glanced at the pouch in my hand. “What did
Heliabel—or perhaps I should say Speaker of Stories—give you?”

Nervousness turned my stomach sour. If it had been possible
to conceal the pouch at this point, I might have done so, just to give myself a
little more time to prepare. “I, er, that is, the second time I spoke to
Persephone, while you were still recuperating, I asked her to…Damn it, I’m
saying this completely wrong.”

Griffin’s expression turned worried, which was the last
thing I wanted. “Is something amiss?”

“No! No.” I took a deep breath and began to pick at the
knots on the pouch. My heart felt like it might pound its way right through my
ribs. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what Persephone said, when she climbed
through the window that night. Morning. Whatever. About us.” Would the damned
knots never come free? “About how things are different, for, well, people like
us, among the ketoi.”

“I have, too,” he said, and I caught the wistfulness in his
voice. “If I could join you beneath the waves…”

Finally the knots gave way. I upended the pouch and shook
out the contents into my palm. A pair of heavy gold rings of ketoi make fell
out. Each was set with a pearl—one black and the other white—framed
by a protective sigil to either side. Innocuous enough; they could easily pass
for those denoting membership in a club or society.

Griffin looked at them, then back up at me, his brows
drawing together slightly. “Ival…?”

My hand shook with nerves, but I would do this properly. I
went down on my knee in the sand. At least my trousers were already
half-ruined. “Griffin, I…well. It’s not the same as a church ceremony, I know,
but would you consent to call yourself my husband?”

His emerald eyes were wide, his lips parted in surprise, but
no sound came out.

Oh dear. Why had this ever seemed like a good idea? What was
wrong with me? “You, er, don’t have to,” I stammered. “I—”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” I repeated like a fool.

His eyes brimmed, and his smile turned tremulous. “Yes, yes,
God, of course I will.”

My vision wavered, and I blinked rapidly, letting the tears
fall. My chest didn’t seem to be big enough to contain my heart, or my face to
contain my smile. “Then—then put out your hand.”

He did so, and I took it in one of mine. “Griffin Flaherty,
I promise to love, comfort, honor, and keep you, in sickness and in health, for
as long as we both shall live.”

I slipped the ring with the pearl onto his finger. It fit
surprisingly well. “With this ring, I thee wed,” I said.

A sound that was half-laugh and half-sob escaped him. I rose
to my feet, and held out the other ring with the black pearl. “Would you care
to…?”

He took my hand. “Percival Endicott Whyborne, I p-promise to
love, comfort, honor, and keep you, in sickness and in health, for as long as
we both shall live.” He slid the ring onto my finger. “With this ring, I thee
w-wed.”

His voice cracked, and he pulled me into his arms. His mouth
tasted of salt spray and tears. “I love you, Ival. So much.”

“I love you too, Griffin.”

We held each other for a long time, crying and laughing by
turns. The gold band on my finger felt heavy and real, and I couldn’t stop
looking at it.

Eventually, Griffin leaned back from my embrace. His eyes
were red, his smile brilliant. “We should probably leave,” he said. “The tide
is coming in. And we can celebrate more properly at home.”

I pulled him closer for another kiss, to sustain us until we
reached our door. Then, hand-in-hand, my husband and I turned to Widdershins
and left the sea behind.

The adventures of Whyborne, Griffin, and Christine will
continue in
Hoarfrost (Whyborne & Griffin No. 6)
, coming 2015.

If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review
on the site where you purchased it, or on Goodreads.

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Hainted

Whyborne & Griffin:

Widdershins

Threshold

Stormhaven

Necropolis

Bloodline

SPECTR

Hunter of Demons

Master of Ghouls

Reaper of Souls

Eater of Lives

Destroyer of Worlds

Summoner of Storms

Short stories:

Heart of the Dragon

After the Fall
(in the
Allegories of the Tarot
anthology)

Eidolon
(A Whyborne & Griffin short story)

Remnant
, written with KJ Charles (A Whyborne &
Griffin / Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal story)

Carousel
(A Whyborne & Griffin short story) in
the
Another Place in Time
anthology

Jordan L. Hawk grew up in North Carolina and forgot to ever
leave. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave her a
life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When she isn’t writing, she
brews her own beer and tries to keep her cats from destroying the house. Her
best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with 
Widdershins
)
can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook at Amazon and other online
retailers.

If you’re interested in receiving Jordan’s newsletter and
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