My chest rises and falls beneath her back.
Paedyn sits between my legs atop the bed, her spine pressed against my beating heart. I can feel every vibration of her soothing voice as she reads a piece of her past self to me.
It’s no wonder she grew up to be so formidable if the women in these stories helped raise her. They are fearless, their stories thrilling.
She tore through Shadow and Soul, despite claiming it was only to appease me. A terrible defense, seeing that she would never do anything that she didn’t already want to do. So, her disguised interest in the tale had us reading long into the night. We spent longer still discussing the story after she’d snapped the book shut, unable to contain her annoyance at wanting more.
Now, she reads yet another one of her own books, and I am more than content to listen to the words falling from those familiar lips. I wrap an arm around her waist, letting my eyes flutter shut. This is how we have occupied ourselves over the last two days. It has become our distraction during the never-ending storm that is the Shallows. The sea has yet to stop raging since early yesterday morning, and with night now falling on our fourth day at sea, Paedyn has nearly read me three books.
The ship grows more nauseating with each violent roll and dip. In fact, when I’m not in the presence of Pae, I can likely be found emptying the contents of my stomach over the boat’s railing. But it’s her voice that seems to keep the stale biscuits and salty beef down.
The lantern on my bedside table teeters on the edge, readying to careen toward the wet floor after a particularly rough rocking of the ship. My free hand reaches out to steady it at the same moment Paedyn quiets.
“What?” I ask, clutching her closely when lightning flashes into the room.
“That was the end of the chapter.”
I rest my chin against her shoulder, pointing to the page. “Well, there is another one beside it. So, go on.”
“Kai,” she laughs out my name, and I wonder if she knows what it does to me. “It’s getting late.”
I tilt my head to study her profile. “Are you implying that you’re tired?”
“Of you?” She smiles. “Very.”
My mouth twists. “If you’re going to continually lie about wanting me, at least try to make it believable.”
“You know,” she says calmly, “there is still plenty of time for me to throw you overboard.”
“See, I knew you couldn’t go more than a couple days without threatening me.”
She turns to face me then, folding her legs so they rest against mine. “Because I know how much you like it.”
“How very thoughtful of you.”
Thunder shakes the very bed we sit on while waves pound against the ship. She presses a startled hand to my thigh, fingernails digging into the flesh beneath my pants. I can still see the terror that flashes in her gaze, but it’s lessened into something far more tolerable. Something like numbness.
Without a story to distract her, without words to form on the lips she chews with worry, Paedyn fiddles with the steel ring on her thumb. “I should get back to my room.”
I tilt my head. “And why is that?”
“Because,” she sighs, “the crew has already seen enough to gossip about when we get back to Ilya.” She flinches at a sudden flash of lightning. “If we make it back.”
“All the more reason to stay with me tonight.”
“Hmm.” She untangles her legs from mine to slide from the cot. “Still not convinced.”
“And if I said please?”
She stills beside the bed, her body swaying with the rolling waves. Pae’s eyes meet mine and suddenly I’m back in the palace, back to that night when I begged her to stay with me after watching her die in my nightmare. I’m reliving that moment, only this time, it’s my own selfish desires that have me needing her beside me.
Swallowing, she crosses her arms. “Well, go on then.”
I chuckle at her insistence before standing up right as the ship bucks violently. Caught off guard, Paedyn comes careening toward me with a gasp. I catch her against my chest, feel her body melt against mine. My head dips until our noses brush. “Stay with me. Please.”
Her head shakes, but she’s wearing a smile. I nudge her nose again as I murmur, “My pretty, pretty Pae.” She laughs breathlessly. “Stay with me.” I press my forehead to her own. “Stay with me. Stay with me.”
“Fine!” She laughs out the word while offering a gentle flick to the tip of my nose. “Fine, I’ll stay.”
I smile for her, only her, always her. “I was prepared to plead.”
She gives me a look. “You would not.”
“Oh, darling, I would do so much worse if only you asked.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear with a smile. “Or, even more difficult, so much better.”
“You know,” she says slowly, “you’re not nearly as terrifying as you seem.”
“Not to you. Never to you.”
I sit down beside her, feeling the ship rock viciously all around us. She looks at me, eyes as bright as the sea itself. I stare into them, memorizing the multitude of hues they hold in the flickering lantern light. My favorite color is a shade of her, a sliver of the vibrance she exudes. And I will gladly drown, gladly burn, gladly fall into those blue eyes until the day she looks at me for the last time.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she breathes.
My lips twitch. “This is the only way I’ve ever looked at you, darling.”
Her smile grows uncharacteristically timid. I lean forward, grabbing our book to flip deftly through the pages. “Well, you might as well keep reading since you’re here.”
“So, that’s why you wanted me to stay.” Her scoff is accompanied by a shake of her head. “So I’ll read to you.”
“Among many other reasons”—she hits me with the pillow—“including your wonderful company.”
“You’re unbelievable, Azer.”
My eyes flick to the dimly lit bed we occupy. “Not the first time I’ve been told that in a setting like this—”
The pillow collides with my face, muffling her laugh behind it.
I’m jolted awake to the rumbling of thunder.
I lift my head off the pillow to—
Shit.
Pain pounds beneath my skull, growing sharper by the second. I vaguely wonder if my temple had met the bedside table during the night to cause this current throbbing.
My head feels heavy as I turn to face her.
Dull moonlight creeps over Paedyn to mingle with her silver hair. It’s fanned across the pillow, surrounding the placid face she wears in sleep. The covers have been kicked down below her feet, and I’m shocked to see she isn’t shivering without them.
My head aches as I sit up to grab the forgotten quilt. I’m about to throw it over her when I lean in close, my mouth mere inches from meeting her forehead.
I stop suddenly, my eyes scanning her face, the bridge of her nose—
There can’t be more than ten.
I jerk back, staring at the body beside me.
This is not my Pae.
I still my mind and focus on the distant thrum of powers beneath my skin. Flash, Tele, Hydro—
And that is when I feel it. Close and strong and to blame for this.
Staring at those ten freckles, I throw the blanket over her.
It meets nothing but air as Paedyn’s body vanishes.
Illusion.
I jump from the bed, my pounding head clearing enough to realize that I have been drugged. All so someone could rip her from my bed.
Boots are suddenly on my feet before I’m buckling a sword around my waist. I shove open the door and do the same to those awaiting me at the end of the hall.
It’s as though I’ve stepped out into the sea itself.
Wind whips at my thin shirt, instantly numbing every inch of me. Water pours from the sky to pelt my skin and soak me to the bone. I can barely keep my footing on the drenched deck as waves continually crash over the railing. The ship groans with each dip into the water, leaving me swaying like a drunk as I try to keep my balance.
I stride out farther onto the deck, struggling to see anything through the sheets of rain. “Where is she?!” I shout the words into the storm, hoping the whipping wind will carry them toward the scattered crew members.
It’s the sea that responds with a towering wave, drawing my attention to the far end of the boat. I squint through the rain, watching water curl over the railing to drench the three figures huddled there.
The Illusionist’s ability burns hot beneath my skin, growing stronger with every step I take toward the group of men. I feel for the other powers, finding a Tele and Gust awaiting me.
My heart beats wildly against my soaking shirt as I stride toward them. When the ship pitches violently, I drop to a knee until I’m able to get my feet beneath me. Then men grow closer, clearer against the rain. The three of them—
No. Not three.
The world goes quiet. The storm fades. Lightning dulls.
There are four figures beside that railing.
One of them is gagged and bound, her arms tucked tightly behind her back. She still wears that green vest, having fallen asleep with the comfort wrapped around her. The men have her raised in the air, two of them clutching her roped ankles while the other sinks his fingers into her shoulders.
I’ve found her.
Lifting Paedyn toward the rail, they grin as she thrashes in their hold, desperately trying to free herself.
And something snaps in me at the sight.
I unleash that piece of myself that Father carved into me. That lethal sliver of darkness he once commanded at will, having known it by name. Created it in the depths of his dungeons, in every one of my fears, in a shadowed home with my sword through an innocent man’s chest.
It’s a piece of Death himself that lives within me.
And now, I command it.
I grip the Tele’s power in my hand, feeling the ability course through me. My steps don’t falter or slow. Nor does my soul repent for what I’m about to do to theirs.
With little more than a vengeful thought, I throw the Gust over the ship’s edge. It’s a lazy toss that has his head cracking against the wood before he’s plummeting into icy water.
After watching a wave swallow their friend, the other two men whip around to find me steadily striding toward them. Paedyn’s legs drop to the ground, her frantic gaze widening when it lands on me. The men react the same, though it’s fear filling their eyes, not relief.
And I smile at it.
Paedyn struggles against the Illusionist’s grip while the Tele steps toward me. Even through the pouring rain, I recognize his blurry face. This is one of the men who was watching Paedyn dance that first night on the ship.
He throws out a strand of power, wrapping it around my neck. It feels as though a phantom noose has been knotted against my throat, squeezing hard enough to have black creeping in at the corners of my vision.
He’s choking me with his ability.
Pathetic. All that power, and this is how he thinks I’ll meet my end?
I can no longer breathe, but I’ve faced far worse from my own father. Closing the distance between us, I throw a punch at his face. And when he dodges like I knew he would, it’s already too late. My left hand is drawing my sword from its sheath and slicing the blade across his stomach within one swift movement.
His choking hold on my throat drops at the same moment he does. I suck in a breath before rolling my tight neck. The man sprawls onto the wood before me, blood gushing from the deep gash, even as water pelts the wound. A stream of scarlet quickly seeps out beneath him, staining the deck before the rain can wash it away.
I step over his body, not offering him another glance. Pushing dripping hair from my brow, I turn back to Paedyn and the Illusionist. With his eyes locked on mine, he lifts her bound body into his arms.
The tip of my blade is pressed to his heart within the next beat of it. I shake my head, panting, “Put her down, and I won’t make you suffer.”
He holds my gaze, body rigid beneath my blade. “I’ll die before seein’ an Ordinary sit on Ilya’s throne.”
My sword plunges into his heart at the same moment he throws Paedyn over the railing.
A scream rips from my throat, lost in the raging storm.
I don’t think. I don’t breathe. I don’t hesitate to leave my sword buried in the sailor and dive toward the railing.
She’s falling to her death.
The gag has slipped from her mouth to allow a chilling scream. Those blue eyes are locked on mine as she plummets farther and farther and—
The Tele’s power grows weak beneath my skin. He’s barely alive, but barely is all I need. Tugging at that power, I hurl it toward her bound body.
The ability grows taut, like an invisible rope has wrapped itself around her waist. I grit my teeth as her falling weight slams against my mind, and her body hangs suspended above the waves.
Her head falls back, silver hair brushing the hungry water awaiting her. I strain to lift her toward me even as piercing pain cuts through my mind. When the ship threatens to tip from a vengeful wave, I’m nearly thrown over the splintered railing. Urging myself to focus, I will her toward me, commanding my tired mind to obey.
A wave crashes over the ship, soaking Paedyn’s hanging body before meeting my own. The force of the water nearly pulls her down, but I fight to keep her rising upward. Grunting against the pain in my head, I reach toward her, stretching my dripping arms over the rail.
Her head lifts then, our eyes locking in a moment that even time cannot contain. She stares at me with a sort of fear I’ve never seen her wear. And maybe I’m looking at her the same, like nothing has ever terrified me more than losing her.
And that is when the Tele’s power flickers and dies beneath my skin.
