Page 64 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

“Jump,” the voice spiralled through Kora’s mind, and she welcomed the comforting guidance that had been disappearing lately. Her stare slid to the right—to a small, square shapedwindow. Through the iron-bolted door at her back, the sounds of chaos smacked against the barrier, vibrating through the air.

Digs frowned, nearing her and the door.

Damn the gods.

“Me? I’m leaving.” Kora ran and leapt, curling her body inward as she smashed through the window with flying force, using the sheer red drapes to protect her from shards of shattered glass.

The lavender hostess shrieked as Kora flung the red sheet, spiralling through the air before landing in a crouch in the dark alleyway beside The Abandoned Barnacle. Pain cracked up her legs, and she gritted her teeth from the impact. Being a mage would explain why she could leap from two floors high and not break a single bone. Her cheeks heated. As if she’d thought she’d inheritedgood bone density.

“Hey!” Digs leaned out of the window, his mask removed, and shock plastering his squared face.Double shit. He’d seen her survive the jump. She was a confirmed mage to the Skytors. No one could know that she, a captain, was a mage. Thank the gods her cloak still covered her white hair.

Glass rained around her, and she pushed into a running sprint down the filthy alley, darting around crates and yellow-tinted puddles to the main winding street that snaked through the heart of the port town.

27

As she rounded the corner at high speed, she smacked straight into a slab of muscle dressed in silver armour. Kora hastily removed the black silk from her face as the guard turned and stared down at her with unfeeling eyes.

“I found Miss Cadell,” he spoke with a gruff voice. She exhaled with irritated relief.

Captain Cadell, you bilge-sucking—no. She wouldn’t finish that thought. Her body crackled with energy, her veins alight with powerful thrumming. Was this her magic?

“Kora!” Bree squeaked from behind the line of guards. “What are you doing there? We thought you were still inside with the brawling!”

The guards parted like a shimmering silver wave, and Bree stood gracefully, smiling down at Kora as she motioned towards The Abandoned Barnacle with a sparkling hand.

Kora peered through the bay window at the figures scuffling and fighting, with Circe sprinting in between, flailing her arms. Conan excitedly leapt up at the crowds, his dual tails wagging,and sailors collapsed from the sheer weight and size of the hound.

“I took the back exit,” Kora’s voice strained as a tall figure with shaggy hair ran into the rupture of brawling males. “We should head back. Now.”

“We suggest not taking our lady somewhere so . . . raucous next time,” a guard spoke sternly.

Bree rolled her eyes, tugging Kora closer as they strolled through the streets towards the mid-district. There were no market stalls here, no crooked structures. The wooden and brick buildings were fresh, built within the last fifty years, in an array of colours. Tall and slender like Bree, with iron-glass panes, and not a single Devani god statue. Instead, banners and flags of the insignia lined the streets, with silver-armoured guards stationed at every corner to ensure peace.

Bree launched into a monologue of the sailor-filled attention she’d received, followed by the fantasticalunrulyfight that broke out after a sailor had knocked someone’s stein over—presumably because of Conan. Shame warmed Kora’s cheeks.

Yet, her mind kept drifting back to Finlay.

He’d been a gods-damned spy. Who were the Skytors? Why was the Mist growing?

Who were they looking for?

“They’re looking for you.” She blocked the voice. No. No way. On Thanos’ cloth she was not their target. Yet . . . Digs and the mysterious male had claimed they were searching for a female, and Finlay’s lead had brought him toHell’s Serpent. . .

Why would they be after her? She was nothing. Just a captain in the armada. Being a mage didn’t make her special. Not after discovering an obscene amount of them in a dingey room upstairs in an unsuspecting tavern. Clearly, mages have learned to hide in plain sight. A shiver skittered down her spine. Now she’d need to do the same. She couldn’t grapple with hernew reality, and deep-set lines marred her face as she failed to suppress her worry, questions swimming around in her mind until she felt dizzy.

“Kora?”

Her head whipped up as they neared the grand stone wall separating them from the residential districts. Blake stood at the end of a dark street connected to the main road, holding a leather-bound tan folio.

She stiffened as he approached, his eyes skimming over the guards, assessing the group of strangers she was with, and then they suddenly stopped at Bree as she stepped forward. He cleared his throat. “Captain Cadell.” Followed by a nod. Kora inclined her head in return, ignoring the huff emitted from one of the guards at the mention of her title.

“Mr Marwood.” The words twisted her tongue.

Bree nudged her elbow as her attentive stare raked over Blake. Observing, gauging—devouring. His raven hair glistened under the high sun, and his usual black attire fitted his strong frame; the golden empire insignia embossed over his chest.

“May I introduce Bree Hydrafort.” Kora’s voice choked at Bree’s blue eyes lighting up.

Blake bowed respectfully as Bree held out her diamond-adorned hand. Wrapping his hand around hers, he lightly placed his lips upon it in a kiss. Kora sucked in a sharp breath as his lips lingered a second—just a second.