Page 94 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

Lessia knew her sister had only been worried, and she’d felt guilty at the time, leaving Frelina to fend for herself with Raine, but Merrick—and if Lessia was honest,she—had needed the time together.

And so, instead of picking up any feelings Lessia might have about their father or perhaps her fate, Frelina had been shown a very detailed memory of Merrick’s skills with his fingers.

That’s at least what Raine had told them between wheezing bouts of laughter.

Her sister had panicked and sprinted into the room she’d apparently slept in, and it had taken Lessia hours to get her out again.

Frelina still couldn’t meet Merrick’s eyes, and Raine teased her sister about it every moment he got, which were many, given there wasn’t much else to do on this ship besides talk as they sailed toward the towering wall of white.

Lessia turned to where she knew Merrick was watching her.

His eyes flared when he picked up what feeling coursed through her body, and she could tell he was contemplating dragging her inside the cabin and locking her in the room where they’d spent the majority of the time in the past few days.

But when Raine spoke again, she subtly shook her head, letting her eyes drift toward Ydren, who popped her head overthe side of the vessel, curiously watching the four of them, before shifting back to her sister.

Frelina seemed to require some backup right now.

Lessia was certain of her decision to remain by her sister’s side when Raine spoke again.

“Little Rantzier, it’s been days, and you still light up like fire in winter whenever we mention it.” Raine leaned over the gunwale, his hazel eyes glittering even in the gray light enveloping them and the ship. “Where is the sass from our first night together?”

“It’s because it was my sister, you bastard.” Frelina took a step toward Raine, angling her scowling face to his. “I wish to scrub my entire mind after seeing it, and I’d prefer not to be reminded all the time.”

“But it’s such fun reminding you.” Raine grinned widely before unscrewing the top of his flask and taking a sip. “It’s almost as good a distraction as this.” He waved the small bottle in the air.

“If you come down here, I’ll distract you.” Frelina grinned back, although Lessia was unsure whether whatever her sister’s lips were doing could be called a smile. It was more of a warning teeth-showing.

Leaning his elbows on the wood, Raine cocked his head. “Such big words for such a small person.”

Lessia hid a smile when her sister’s leg twitched.

Frelina had definitely been seconds away from stamping her foot.

“Are you one to talk?” Frelina purred, and Lessia had to bite her cheek not to snort when her sister suggestively popped a hip. “I think we both know who would be a coward in the end.”

Lessia’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when Frelina went on to toss her hair, then dragged her other hand down herneck as she licked her lips, and she could sense Merrick turn around as well, facing the sea as he fought a deep chuckle.

Raine opened his mouth.

Then closed it again.

“Exactly,” Frelina challenged. “Go steer the little ship now, Captain.”

The giggle Lessia had suppressed burst out of her when Raine stomped back to the helm, and she could tell Merrick was laughing as well where he stood a few feet away, in the bow, the shaking of his shoulders betraying him.

“What was that?” Lessia asked as Frelina returned to her spot beside her, her words coming out softer than she meant because of the lack of air from her laughter.

“It’s just a dumb game we’ve come up with.” Frelina wouldn’t meet her eyes as she rested her hands on the railing, her gaze trailing Ydren swimming beside the ship.

Lessia mirrored the movement, grateful that the past week had healed her hands to the point that she didn’t need to wear bandages anymore, even if the broken one still ached at night.

“It doesn’t seem too dumb to me,” Lessia responded carefully, sensing her sister hadn’t been exactly truthful about her feelings, from how her shoulders tensed.

“It is.” Frelina’s face pinched for a second. “He pretended to flirt with me that first night to distract me from…”

They shared a look, and Lessia didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what Frelina was thinking about.

Her father’s cold body. The blood beneath him dripping through the wooden planks. The sorrow in Raine’s and Merrick’s deep voices as they sang the song Fae soldiers sang when one of their own died in battle.