“Yes.”

The second the word is out my mouth, I know it’s true—I trust Ilian with my life. A smile lights up his bony visage, as if I’ve made his day.

“Thank you. It’s a lot to ask for given the circumstances—”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t blame you for imprinting on me! Time and time again, you’ve proven you’re only care is for me. How could I not trust you?”

Ilian ducks his head. “Still, it means a lot to me.”

We stare at one another until the silence stretches too thin and our pulses begin to race. The ever-present heat between my legs roars to life, and I know Ilian can smell it.

“I’m ready.”

His fuchsia gaze nearly blinds me. “Ready for what?”

For you to fuck me.

“To go see your friend.”

He groans, knowing it’s not what I was thinking, but bundles up our bags and directs me out of the cabin.

“This way.”

The walk to the port isn’t long, but the wind chaps my cheeks. Ilian shields me once more, obscuring my view so I don’t spy the monster waiting for us.

“Greetings, my friend,” calls a mellifluous voice.

I yank free from the warmth of Ilian’s fur to whip around. There, standing in the freezing cold water, is a monster I’ve never seen before.

They are tall, with four arms, and colored similarly to a koi fish—pale blue with orange splotches.

Long, translucent fins sweep off their elbows and the top of their head, as well as along their tail that reminds me almost of a mermaid’s.

“Hello again, Dairfyn, please meet Zhuliya.”

Dairfyn clasps my right hand with their lower one. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m pleased to be able to help you in your mission.”

Their grin is all sharp teeth, much like a shark, and I swear a mischievous glint twinkles in their turquoise gaze.

They sound sincere, but I’m not certain this lovely creature isn’t up to no good. I shoot Ilian an apprehensive glance, but he runs a clawed hand down my back.

“Dairfyn will take us to the palace. He will create a bubble of sorts around us so that we’re able to get to kueengdom’s main city at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk.”

“A b-bubble? Out of what?”

“My saliva,” Dairfyn supplies unhelpfully.

I blanch. “Um, no. This monster is going to spit on us and take us to the bottom of the sea? Are you crazy?”

“You said you trusted me.”

“This is going a little bit further than trust!”

Dairfyn grunts. “Ilian is a prince among paupers. You will never find anyone more trustworthy than him.

In fact, I owe this Ithaqua my very life, and it’s only because of this that you are being allowed into the Dagon kueengdom. No other human has ever set foot in one of our cities.”

My mouth flaps open. “You saved his life—how?”

Ilian frowns. “They’re overexaggerating.”

The Dagon snorts. “Am not. Shall we?”

Both monsters turn to me, and I stare at Ilian. I said I trusted him, and now’s the time to prove myself.

I nod, and Dairfyn leans back on their tail until it lifts them out of the water and above our heads—even Ilian’s.

The sheer strength it takes to do such a thing is mind-boggling, and I can only gape as the Dagon shapes a bubble around us from out of their mouth.

It doesn’t look like spit—thank the Heavens—but I have no idea how it’s going to hold both me and a giant Ithaqua.

Turns out that Dagon drool is stronger than their tails.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Ilian

Dairfyn leads us into the dark, cold waters of the Sea of Okhotsk by a rope of spittle attached to the bubble.

Their salivary secretions buffer most of the freezing temperatures, as well as stabilize the pressure of descending into the depths, but I still wrap myself around Zhuliya to keep her calm.

With every passing second, her body trembles harder. I taste her fear through our bond, and I send soothing reassurance back at her.

It goes against human nature to descend into the black depths of the ocean, and I know she worries Dairfyn’s bubble will burst and kill us both.

But I know what Dagons are truly capable of.

They are amazing monsters who are one of the few species still cut off from the human world since their kueengdom resides far beneath the surface.

When I was still a tugan on the hunt with my Mulen pack on the Kamchatka Peninsula, we tracked a polar bear into the Sea of Okhotsk.

My brethren and I dove into the water after the animal when we came across a strange creature frozen in a block of ice.

With our meal long gone, my Mulen pack left to return to land, but I couldn’t let whoever was in the ice die.

I nearly drowned trying to keep afloat and help the monster escape. Luckily, my claws easily carved into the frosty chunk, and out popped Dairfyn.