The last thing I see is the terror on his face.
Then I’m falling again.
I am going to drown.
Death will meet me in this watery grave, grinning as he snatches my soul from the sea.
When I felt that Tele ability release me, I wouldn’t let my eyes leave his. I wanted Kai’s gray gaze to be the last thing to take my breath away, not the ravenous waves.
But something happened.
I didn’t hit the water.
Kai lunged forward, nearly falling after me, and grabbed hold of the only thing he could.
Adena’s vest.
I’m halted in the air once again, heart in my throat.
Waves crash angrily below as Kai grunts, using every bit of his own strength to pull me upward. I hear the seams rip as my beloved vest begins splitting apart from my weight. Hands bound behind my back, I can do nothing but stare at the popping thread as Kai strains to lift me.
Water drips from my drenched body, making the tearing vest slippery. Kai cries out, his arm bulging beneath a soaked sleeve. Another sharp tear from the thick fabric has me accepting my watery fate.
Then an arm wraps around my waist.
Kai grits his teeth, pulling me up and over the railing. I’m pressed to his chest, my legs dragging over the wood railing.
Blood rushes to my head. Knees buckle. Kai guides me to the soaking deck with arms that dragged my soul from Death’s clutches. “I’ve got you,” he pants against my ear. “I’ve got you, Pae.”
I press my head into his chest, tears leaking from my eyes. The storm rages around us and still he holds me. His body quivers against mine, likely from exhaustion, but perhaps from the fading fear. I feel him shift, lifting an arm from around me. I’m too tired to track the movement, but when the rope is suddenly cut from my wrists, I realize that he’s pulled his sword from the sailor’s chest.
Kai then gently stretches out my legs, cutting them free with a precise swipe of his blade. My dazed stare lands on the bodies littering the deck beside us. Both are covered in blood, their gazes glassily turned to the stormy sky. The realization that I’m likely sitting in their blood doesn’t torment me as much as I thought it would. In fact, I believe I could bathe in their remains for being the reason my last piece of Adena is destroyed.
And just like that, I’m one step closer to overcoming this choking fear of blood.
Kai is suddenly crouching before me, turning my face from the dead bodies with a gentle press of his fingers against my jaw. “Are you all right?” As if unable to restrain himself, he cups my face in his hands before running swift fingers down my body to check for wounds.
“I’m okay.” My whisper is nearly lost in the howling wind, but I know he hears it when his eyes snap to mine. “I’m okay. I’m alive.” Tears are pricking my eyes again. “Because of you.”
Water drips from his lashes, but it’s the slight indent of his right dimple that my eyes fall to. “I promised to save your life again and again. And I will, whether you allow me to stay in it or not.”
I nod at him, vision blurry from my tears and the sky’s. “Now, let’s get you inside,” he says, scooping me into his arms.
I let him carry me into my cabin. Let him convince me to stay put. Let him retrieve my dagger from under the pillow and shove it into my hand. “This would have been useful tonight,” I say weakly.
He shakes his head, and I see the shade of anger that falls over his face. “They drugged me in my sleep. Then that Illusionist cast you sleeping beside me so I’d see you when I woke up.”
“What?” I could almost laugh. “They hardly seemed like the calculating type.” My gaze drops to the dagger I wish I’d had with me. “But after they drugged you, I woke to the three of them dragging me from the room. I couldn’t break free, couldn’t move….” I swallow at the reminder of my panic. “I was screaming, but no one heard me. Or no one wanted to hear me. Then they tied me up, gagged me, and… well, you know the rest.”
Rage rolls off him in waves as deadly as the ones colliding with this ship. “You’re not safe here. I told Kitt that. And where was the rest of the crew?” He begins pacing, fists clenched beside his drenched pants. “They were likely in on this in some way. And if I’m right, I will deal with them when we return to Ilya. But for now, we need them to get us back there in one piece.”
I offer him a nod. “That sounds like a good plan.”
“What,” he muses, “you’re okay with the spilling of so much blood?”
I run a finger down my blade before flicking my eyes up to his. “It depends on whose blood.”
He’s never kissed me so thoroughly.
“Paedyn, miss, I cannot tell you how shocked I was to hear what some of my men tried to do last night.”
I stare at the captain, my face blank as I await an apology. Kai had already charged into Torri’s quarters last night to fill him in on the eventful evening. By the time he returned to the cabin, I was fast asleep, my dagger clutched in a fist.
Now I sit in the captain’s cushy dining area, my fingers laced atop the wooden table and expression unamused. The sleepy sun fights to peek around the thick blanket of clouds, occasionally slipping a ray of light through one of the many windows. The room is larger than I’d expected with wide shelves that line the walls, all filled with toppled-over trinkets and maps.
A particularly worn piece of parchment curls against the wall opposite me, snagging my attention. It’s decorated with an assortment of sketched cities and their accompanying flags. Well aware of what kingdoms live on our map, I begin to steer my gaze away before it stumbles over splotches of unfamiliarity.
The scribbled world I’m staring at extends beyond Izram.
My eyes narrow on the foreign masses of land bubbling from the Shallows. No map I’ve ever studied has looked like this. I can’t make out the names of these supposed kingdoms from where I’m sitting, but after reading about that mythical city of shadows, I’d bet “Astrum” has been wistfully scrawled atop an inky landmass.
I almost smile.
So this is what keeps sailors setting off for a horizon they likely won’t meet before their doom. Adventure. The hope of a discovery thrilling enough to risk their mundane lives. They navigate from a different map, one inked in myths and legends.
I admire their resilience in finding something to live for.
I turn my attention back to where Torri sits at the head of the table, his splotchy face wearing an uncomfortable expression. Kai stands beside me, looking every bit my Enforcer as he leans against the back of my chair. “So, you knew nothing of your crew’s plan to murder their future queen?” he asks smoothly.
“Crew?” Torri bellows. “No, sir, as we discussed last night in private, these three men acted alone. There were only a handful of sailors on that deck last night and most of them were at the helm. We could hardly see a damn thing through that rain.”
He says this all rather quickly, as if forced to spit out the words before they are forgotten. I incline my head toward the captain. “Why were so few of your men on the deck during such a storm?”
Torri’s large hands wave with each of his words. “My crew had been battling that storm for two days straight. They needed sleep, miss.” He laughs uncomfortably. “I had them on shifts to conserve their strength and—”
“Forgive me for interrupting, Captain”—Kai says this in a tone that suggests he’s certainly not asking for forgiveness—“but I still haven’t heard an apology for Miss Gray.”
I have to fight the grin that wishes to form on my lips. Torri clears his throat and flicks his gaze down to where I sit. “Miss Gray,” he says slowly, “I am deeply sorry for the distress this must have caused you. And, rest assured, I will not let it happen again.”
Leaning forward, I offer him a thin smile. “No, it won’t happen again. And rest assured that I am not distressed.” My eyes narrow slightly. “I’m disappointed.”
I stand then, letting the chair scrape loudly against the wooden floorboards. As way of goodbye, I add, “I trust we will be making it safely to Izram tomorrow?”
It takes Torri a moment to gather his words. “Um, yes. Yes, that is correct. We should be docking no later than midday.”
I flash him a smile before turning to leave. “Good.”
Kai trails behind, stopping only to throw a question over his shoulder at the captain. “Why was an Illusionist on board? They aren’t easy to come by, especially not one with sailing experience.”
“Well, I requested one from the king,” Torri explains with a slight shrug. “He would have come in handy if we encounter the beast that lurks in these waters. Created an illusion for it to chase after rather than us.”
The Enforcer seems to be mulling this over. “And what is it you do, Captain?”
Torri looks confused before a loud laugh escapes him. “Well, exactly what you said, Highness. I captain.”
“Ah, yes.” Kai nods slowly, and I study his face, unsure where this is going. “So you’re the one who was fearlessly steering the ship during that storm?”
“Aye, sir! Right up until you charged into my quarters.” The captain laughs again, slapping a hand to the table. “The Shallows are a bitch that I intend to tame.”
I can only muster an annoyed sigh at his words before Kai is heading for the door once again. “Sorry for killing your men, Torri. But I’m afraid they deserved it, so I’m really not.”
“Of course,” the captain calls after us.
“And do keep a watchful eye on your men, Captain.” Kai is halfway out the door when he turns one last time. “I know you’re capable of it.”
I follow him quickly into the hall beyond, trying to keep up with his long strides. When we turn into his cabin, I finally blurt, “What just happened in there?”
Kai shakes his head. “He knew you needed help last night and did nothing.”
“But the storm. He said—”
“No one at the helm could see or hear anything on the other side of the ship with that rain,” he finishes for me. “But that bastard was the only one who could.”
The pieces suddenly click into place, leaving me murmuring under my breath. “The captain’s a Hyper.”
Kai rakes a hand through his disheveled hair. “He could see and hear you just fine. He just chose not to.”
I scoff. “That shouldn’t even surprise me.”
“I’ll deal with him when we get back to Ilya. But until then”—he pats the dagger strapped to my thigh—“this doesn’t leave your side. Even when you’re with me.”
I step closer with a teasing smile. “Oh, especially not when I’m with you. What if I wish to threaten your life?”
“Even after I just saved yours?” He says this fondly.
I trace a finger down his thin white shirt. “Perhaps I have yet to forgive you for chasing me across the Scorches.”
He pulls me close, his fingers tipping my chin up toward him. “And I would do it all again just to hear you threaten my life.”
“That seems foolish,” I breathe.
“Then it’s fitting.” He runs a thumb over my bottom lip. “Seeing that I am a fool.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “You told me you weren’t anymore.”
His lips brush my cheek. I smile when they meet my nose. Gasp when they graze my neck.
“That was pretend, darling.”
