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“Oh no.” I gave her a wide smile. “I’ll do that myself.”

Lorian looked deep in thought. I still didn’t understand his motivations. The Bloodthirsty Prince had a task to complete—get me to his brother in the fae lands. This little trip would push his timeline back. The fact that he’d told me I could go directly to the hybrid camp…it just meant there was definitely something in it for him.

“Can you help us or not?” I asked.

“It just so happens I have one of these.” She held up a silver coin, and Telean sucked in a breath.

I just nodded as if I understood the significance. “You provide us with an armed escort to and from the city gates to the west, ensure my aunt stays safe and unharmed for the rest of her journey down to the fae lands, and I’ll owe you a favor of equal measure,” I said.

“It will be one hell of a favor,” Daharak warned. “The magic will demand equality.”

My stomach clenched at the thought. But I needed armies. Allies. Regner sending his iron guards had just been a warning. A test. And they’d still managed to kill four hybrids. People who had suffered in that dungeon, enjoyed their first taste of freedom, and been cut down just days later.

I met her eyes. “Deal.”

She rolled up her sleeve. “The fae are so very interesting, don’t you think? With their deals and bargains? But I must admit, their blood vows have always fascinated me the most.”

I couldn’t help it. I glanced down at the place on my own hand where the thin line had once scarred my palm. But it was gone, that blood vow kept. Something tickled the edge of my memory, but Daharak was already holding out her arm.

I sucked in a breath. Her skin was crisscrossed with those thin white lines from palm to elbow—too many to count at a glance. How did she keep track of all her bargains and debts?

She winked at me. “You’ll need to learn to hide your thoughts much better than that, Hybrid Heir. I’m a busy woman. Now, are we doing this or not?”

Eighty thousand men and two thousand ships? Oh, we were doing this. Hopefully, this vow would be the beginning of a productive relationship for both of us.

* * *

The captain stared at me. “Are you certain?” he asked, his voice croaking. “Gromalian waters…”

“I’m certain,” I said. “The pirate queen has guaranteed our safety.”

Truthfully, our meeting with her had been a twist of fate. And I would be at Prisca’s side to make sure her favor was equal to Daharak’s.

Although, from the way Prisca had negotiated with her, I had a feeling she would be just fine handling that conversation alone. Pride swept through me at the thought.

The old captain nodded, although he still wore a disconcerted frown. “If you say so,” he muttered. He’d likely lost cargo to Daharak’s pirates more than once over the years.

Prisca and her aunt were standing on the deck, speaking in low voices. Daharak had left the wildcat some clothes that seemed to have been designed to drive me out of my mind. The leather breeches cupped her round ass, while the white blouse bared the creamy skin of the tops of her breasts. She looked entirely too sensual.

“Tell me about the coin,” Prisca was murmuring as I approached.

Telean sighed. “The Gromalian king uses them to represent favors owed to him. People fight and die for those coins. Whatever the pirate queen did to receive one…”

“She’s using it for this favor?”

Telean shrugged. “It may grant her safe passage infinitely until she uses the coin for the favor she needs.”

I stalked closer. “As your aunt mentioned, we don’t know what she did for that favor from a king.”

Prisca’s shoulders stiffened. “You said I could trust her.”

“I don’t trust her. But I trust a blood vow.”

She still refused to look at me.

I clamped down on the snarl that wanted to escape my throat.

Telean glanced between us, rolled her eyes, and wandered off. I grabbed Prisca’s hand and hauled her away from the crew until we had some semblance of privacy.