Page 137

Roman didn’t deign to answer her. Instead, he twisted in his seat to check on Paxton. “How you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“Your eyes are looking better,” Roman said. He eyed the backpack Paxton was using as a pillow. “Is Itzel still in there?”

“Where else would she be?”

Roman wasn’t convinced. “Hey, Itzel,” he called. No answer. He frowned. “You alive in there?”

When the Hob hissed at him like a cat, Shay had to try not to choke on the painkillers she was in the midst of swallowing.

“All right, I’ll take that as a yes,” Roman muttered.

“Do we have a plan?” Shay asked as she set her empty bottle in the cupholder and buckled in.

“Get to Angelthene,” he replied. “That’s about it.” And stay away from Donovan, wherever he was. That was a given.

It would be a long drive. They’d left via the northern exit, which meant they would have to go around Yveswich. It would add another day’s time to their journey, but at least the car was working now.

“Why don’t you recline and get some rest?” Roman suggested as he pulled into traffic. “I’ve got this.”

Shay didn’t argue. Not when her head felt like it was going to explode like the Well.

She reclined and shut her eyes, ignoring the sense of calm that washed over her.

Somewhere along the way, she had gone from not trusting Roman Devlin at all to trusting him completely. And that scared her.

Because unless Donovan and Athene were still trapped in Yveswich, they would be looking for them. Sooner rather than later. Being out of Yveswich didn’t mean they were safe. If anything, they were in greater danger now than ever.

Because they were together. A Selkie and a Shadowmaster, on the run.

With Donovan Slade’s kid in the back seat.

53

The Ocean

YVESWICH, STATE OF KER

If there were everan award forWorld’s Biggest Asshole,Malakai Delaney would win in a landslide.

Travis had never wanted to get away from anyone more than he wanted to get away from this prick. He had been nothing but an ass to everyone on this boat from the minute they’d climbed on, making snarky remarks and imitating in a squeaky voice every chance he got. It was like he was making it his own personal mission to completely and thoroughly sabotage the hours—days, if they were lucky—they had left.

They were getting close to shore, though. That was a small blessing.

Boats lined the docks, the white sails on a few abandoned vessels snapping and blowing in gusts of wind. Travis had spent the whole ride here briefing Max on what’d happened, and now Max was finishing up with his own explanation.

“And that’s when you guys found us,” Max concluded. He sat beside Travis on the bench seats in the bow, both of them sopping wet and frozen to the bone. “I have to admit, that was probably the first time I’ve ever felt genuinely happy to see Delaney.”

Travis grunted. “He has his uses, but there aren’t many.” He glared at the long-haired idiot steering the boat. Aspen was the only person who was close to him by will. The two were talking quietly, as if indulging in secrets. Travis wondered what the hell she saw in him. Was he even capable of holding a conversation without saying something rude or offensive? Doubtful.

“He still giving you a hard time for the whole dating his sister thing?” Max asked. They had a sound barrier up, but it was thin. Jewels was sitting on the bench across from them, arms wrapped around her knees. On either side of her sat Dallas and Blue. The three were talking quietly with their own invisible barrier up. Travis couldn’t help but wonder what they were saying.

What a shit experience this was for Jewels. It sucked for everyone, yeah, but Jewels had gone straight from cardiac arrest to being thrown from a boat and forced to tread frigid water, all while her brother was terrorizing everyone around her,includingher. That soaked sweatsuit looked cold as hell, her hair hanging in dripping strings that lashed her face. She sure was pretty, though.

As if she’d heard him thinking that, her green eyes flicked to his.

He looked away. Sucked in a breath of wet, salty air. “I don’t think he’ll be stopping anytime soon,” he replied. He’d thought he and Delaney were turning a new leaf the night they’d drunk together on Roman’s roof. Turned out, he was dead wrong for thinking that.