In the Veins of the Drowning

When Imogen wakes three days later, she discovers her former engagement ring hanging on a chain around her neck. At the foot of the bed is a black gown with material that resembles the iridescent sheen of Siren wings and another ring—gold with a honey-colored jewel that matches her eyes. A handmaid informs Imogen that Theo had carried her inside and stayed with her for a day and a half until she stopped bleeding. He turned her over to the healers when Chancellor Eftan arrived to drag him out.

Lachlan has left a note, informing Imogen that a ship, The Hercule, has been prepared for her. It is staffed with Siren-bound men who’ll be immune to her lure. Imogen meets with Chancellor Eftan, who calls for a carriage to escort her to the docks. Inside the pocket of her dress, Imogen finds a letter from Theo that explains how agonized he is to be apart from her. His council has accused him of abandoning his duty because of his feelings for her, but he does not regret anything and will continue to hope for her return to him.

At the docks, Imogen recognizes Empress Nivala’s ship sailing away and wonders why she left prior to her daughter’s wedding. Lachlan greets her on the docks, but when she asks him to tell Agatha she is loved, he admits that he hasn’t seen her since last night. Imogen finds this suspicious and urges him to find her immediately.

As The Hercule is preparing to sail, King Nemea’s warships appear on the horizon. Imogen attempts to join the ships headed toward the Serafi fleet, intending to use her power to sink them, but is prohibited by The Hercule’s captain. Imogen escapes anyway, luring four men on the dock to restrain the captain while she boards a naval warship. She loses control of her lures and is unable to stop the men from killing the captain and dumping him in the sea as an offering to Eusia.

Aboard the naval ship, Imogen introduces herself as Imogen Vathia—using Ligea’s inherited name. The captain claims to have known Ligea, who helped her ship once before many decades ago. She accepts Imogen’s help in drowning enemy sailors as long as Imogen promises not to harm her own crew.

As the crew fires at enemy ships, Imogen lures the enemy to jump into the ocean but is disturbed by the chants she can see them mouthing to Eusia. Eventually, they reach the flagship, where King Nemea is onboard. Instead of sinking this one, Imogen abandons her crew to board it. Her lures prompt all Nemea’s men to sacrifice themselves to the sea, leaving only him on board.

When confronted by Imogen, Nemea claims that during the years he was rumored to be missing at sea, he was with Ligea. He took a small fleet to find the Mage Seers and discover how they made their magic but was not willing to pay the cost. One mage told him to travel north, where he would learn how to gain power without paying for it—by serving Eusia.

Eusia began as one of Obelia’s saints. She washed up on their shores, gutted, and Obelians began to worship her when she granted favors in exchange for offerings. Nemea met Nivala, who was just as hungry for power as him. She taught him how to worship Eusia. During his first offering, he asked Eusia to kill the Sirens who had destroyed his fleet. Eusia agreed in exchange for his help in bringing her home so she could perform a spell needed to end Ligea.

Nemea sacrificed the Nels to feed Eusia long enough to survive their journey to Anthemoessa. Eusia plotted for Nemea to bear a child with Ligea. Humans kept Eusia alive, but Ligea’s offspring could give her Gods’ power. On his return journey to Seraf afterward, Ligea discovered the deal he made and bound herself to him so he couldn’t harm her or her people. Nemea admits that he liked possessing her; he wanted to hate her for the suffering she brought him and his kingdom, but he couldn’t. He believes the bond convinced him he loved her, though Imogen has come to learn the bond doesn’t work that way.

Nemea spent years keeping Ligea safe from the sea, but Ligea was determined to give birth to Imogen in the sea. When Nemea woke, he found baby Imogen screaming on the sand and the water red with Ligea’s blood, one of her wing’s floating atop the waves. Nemea still felt the bond for many years—proof that Eusia had not killed Ligea but taken her to feed on slowly. Now, he can no longer feel the bond and believes Ligea to be dead. Nemea claims he kept Imogen in Fort Linum so far from the sea where she would be safe from Eusia, but Imogen does not see it as a kindness.

Nemea attacks Imogen, goading her into killing him. Though she attempts to lure him, she is unable, proving that his bond with Ligea still remains. Nemea reveals that he’d promised to keep Imogen safe as long as Ligea lives. He desperately begins a spell he believes will ensure her safety, chanting a prayer as he cuts open his finger, mixing sea water with blood to trickle over a stomach wound she sustained from one of his blades.

While he’s weakened by the spell, Imogen questions Nemea about the Siren’s homeland, Anthemoessa, where she believes Eusia was returned to. The waters are notoriously impassable, but Nemea claims Eusia allowed only himself and Nivala on the island. When Nemea claims Nivala still has Eusia’s favor because she feeds her Sirens, Imogen fears that Agatha was missing that morning because Empress Nivala has taken her to be sacrificed. Imogen beheads Nemea.

Eusia appears, claiming Nemea “did it wrong” (342). Imogen agrees to the spell Eusia wants to cast to feed off Imogen’s power, in exchange for being allowed onto Anthemoessa. To cast the spell, Imogen bleeds onto the sand, places kelp over the wound, and takes flesh from her navel, sticking it into her mouth as Rohana had. She then repeats the spell Nemea attempted to cast, after which Eusia claims she’ll feel pain and “will only find relief in [her] king” (347). The comment makes Imogen worry Eusia wants Theo’s power for herself too. Imogen writhes in pain, and when it stops, she is alone. She jumps into the water with three goals: kill Eusia, find Agatha, and keep Theo safe.