Page 19

“What?”

“Those who lived anyway.” He smirked. “Though with every moment you hesitate, the other five will be the ones who are penalized. Brutally.”

Fear and dread slid over my skin, ramming my pulse in my ears, my stomach rolling with vomit. Yet I hung on the number. Five were still alive.

“You will be crewed withmy men.” Batara tilted his head with a cruel grin. “I need to know you will stay on task,Puss.” His gaze ran over me as if he suddenly realized I was a woman. He was notorious for his concubines and not being very nice to them. “So you won’t do something foolish.” He leaned into my face. “I hold everything you have. And if you have any doubt, I will take it all from you if you disappoint me.” He stood fully up, nodding at a guard near the door.

The buff man walked up, a piece of cloth in his hand, and placed it in Batara’s.

Batara peeled the fabric apart, lowering it for me to see clearly.

My stomach knotted, my throat tightening. I had seen a lot in my time. Death up close was brutal and pitiless. I had learned to curb my gag reflexes. But laying on top of the handkerchief was part of a bloody ear, with an earring I recognized.

Gage’s.

At least I knew he was alive, and Zuri, Moses, and the twins were captured too.

“A token for you to remember what is at stake,” the emperor stated. “I need your vow that you will locate the object for me.”

My throat dipped, going dry. Promises and vows were binding with fae. And he knew it.

“Pirates pull in a big crowd when I publicly execute them,” he threatened. No doubt he would torture and kill the rest of my family.

“They are to stay unhurt and safe?”

“If you get me what I want. Yes. Everything will be returned to you. And I will look away when I hear of your raids in the future.”

There was no choice here, but the words struggled on my tongue.

“I-I promise.”

Smugness filled his eyes as he moved in very close to me. “I own you now. Your life, your ship, and your men depend on you to locate it and bring it back to me.”

“What am I even trying to find?”

“A magicalnectar.”

Chapter 6

Katrina

Crates of food and supplies were being loaded onto the emperor’s gaff cutter. The ship was smaller than mine. Fast, but it resembled every other ship out there. Batara wanted my voyage to be covert. To appear as an average trading ship passing through, covering up my real objective.

Finding this nectar.

Batara’s information didn’t include exactly where in China it was supposedly located. It was a big country, and he didn’t have much to go on. All Batara told me was the first stop would be Hong Kong. From there, I had to figure it out.

What the hell had I gotten myself into? What the hell was this nectar, anyway? How did you even know what to look for? The chances of finding it were slim to none…if it even existed.

And everything was riding on it.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself, sensing eyes on me, my skin bristling.

One of Batara’s men stood not too far away, openly observing me, his aura screaming he would slice my throat at any moment if I blinked wrong. And I had no doubt he had orders to do just that. I could see no way out of this for me and would most likely be killed in the end.

Even with all I worked for, all I sacrificed, I would never fulfill my purpose—to avenge my father. I would die knowing Croygen was still out there, alive. I could think of nothing worse or more cowardly than a man turning on a friend, his first mate. My dad had been nothing but faithful to him.

The thought of my own crew burned tears behind my lids, but I blinked them back, knowing better than to show emotion. Privately, I mourned the ones I lost and set all my determination on saving the ones still alive.